Meta has paused sales of the Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery at retail, reportedly over a charging defect affecting some customers, according to Road to VR. Meta told the outlet that it’s not recalling the faulty device but is working to send out updated replacements to affected customers and retailers.
For around a month, users had been sharing their problems with their Elite Strap with Battery, which provides an additional few hours of battery life to the Quest 3 VR headset on Reddit and Meta Community Forums.
Some customers reported that the battery status wouldn’t turn green even after around five hours of being plugged in, while others complained that it would charge for a few seconds and then disconnect itself.
On a thread with similar complaints on the Meta Community Forums, Meta Quest Support acknowledged the issue and said, “We’ve seen some people having trouble with their Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery not being recognized by the headset or not charging.”
They added, “We’re happy to help look into this with anyone having trouble, and we recommend contacting our support team here so we can take a closer look.”
Meta confirmed with Road To VR that the issue was firmware-related.
The Meta store page and retailers Best Buy and Amazon have made the $130 accessory unavailable for purchase; however, we did see that Wal-Mart and GameStop are still selling them for the time being. So, if you plan on buying the accessory, exercise caution and perhaps wait until the restock.
We have also reached out to Meta for a comment on the issue as well as for a timetable on when the Elite Strap with Battery will be available for sale again on the Quest 3 store page and other major retailers. In the meantime, Meta is directing folks to its support page for anyone who owns a faulty Elite Strap in order to get a replacement.