BOBOVR E3 Pro Review for Meta Quest 3/3S

Welcome to my Ultimate BOBOVR E3 Pro Review. In this article, I share my firsthand experience with the BOBOVR E3 Pro Battery Strap, from unboxing to real-world performance testing. If you're a Meta Quest 3 or Meta Quest 3s user looking to extend your gameplay and enhance your VR/MR experience, read on.

The VR accessory market is always evolving, and choosing the right Meta Quest accessories for your favourite use cases can be challenging. When I saw the BOBOVR E3 Pro Battery Strap for the first time on X, I was intrigued by its status as the first BOBOVR product in the Made for Meta Program, a certification that ensures quality and compatibility.

In this review, I cover everything you need to know about the E3 Pro, from its design and comfort compared to other popular head straps in the BOBOVR range, such as the BOBOVR M3 Pro, to an in-depth look at its unboxing and battery performance. Regardless of the reason you ended up here, this detailed outline of my experience with the E3 Pro should help you decide if this accessory is going to meet your needs.

STICKY NOTE: You'll notice in all of my videos throughout this post that I'm using the E3 Pro with a Meta Quest 3. However, I just wanted to make it abundantly clear before sharing my experience, that the BOBOVR E3 Pro is compatible with both the Meta Quest 3 & Meta Quest 3S. So regardless of which device you have, you can expect all benefits discuss throughout this post if you decide to choose to purchase an E3 Pro.

BOBOVR E3 Pro vs M3 Pro

When it comes to choosing the right VR accessory, every detail is important. I started this journey off by comparing the BOBOVR E3 Pro with the BOBOVR M3 Pro because I wanted to understand the differences in their designs and why I would even consider switching to the E3 Pro at all considering my experience with the M3 Pro was actually really good and what I have considered to be the best strap I've tried so far. Here is what I discovered during my initial comparison of these 2 Meta Quest head straps.

[00:00.0] Today we're going to be unboxing the Bobovr E3 Pro Head Strap. I am so excited for this one. Actually, little side note, after uploading my Bobovr M3Pro review, as well as the Kiwi Design Comfort strap with battery review, I had an influx of VR accessory companies sending me things to try out.

[00:18.1] So most of my videos on this channel have been unboxing videos of Meta Quest accessories. Bobo, however, have never reached out to me directly to try more of their products. And because they didn't contact me, I actually went in pursuit of them. I hit them up and I hey, look, I'm doing these Meta Quest videos.

[00:34.1] I'm not charging anything. Here's the review I did of the M3 Pro. I'd love to have a go of your other headsets, including the E3 Pro. They said, oh look, we're a bit exclusive, you've got to apply to our program. If we like your profiles, then we'll put you on the list to send test products to so you can try them out for free.

[00:50.7] And I got on the list, so I'm officially part of the Bobovr family. They've sent me the E3 Pro to look at. They've also got an S3 Pro on the way. And then also in my review I was talking about how the M3 Pro doesn't actually fit in my Meta Quest carrying case and they offer to send me the C3, which would alleviate that for me.

[01:07.3] So I'm super excited about that. The E3 Pro is the first of Bobo's line to be accepted into the Made for Meta Program. For those of you who don't know what the Made for Meta Program is, basically what it is, it's a set of guidelines that Meta say, hey, when creating for our products, these are our expectations.

[01:22.3] If you can meet them, we'll put you in the program. The benefits of the program are you get to say that your product is Facebook approved and have you as a listed partner. So getting this across the line for Bobo would have been very, very big for them. I know that Kiwi Design have done it. The G4 Pro Grips that I unboxed not long ago, I've still got to do a review on them as well.

[01:40.7] They're part of the Made for Meta program and I'm sure from here what we're going to see is a slew of VR accessories being made for this program so that they can get that status. And yeah, the E3 Pro is one of them. The E3 Pro is also compatible with Meta Quest 3 and 3S.

[01:56.6] So if you're either of those users, this one is one for you to watch. And I'm really intrigued by this head strap because there's been some major upgrades and that's something I've already explored. In a previous video to this one, I did a comparison video of the E3 Pro versus the M3 Pro. What the differences are, who they're probably best aimed for.

[02:13.3] And then now in this later part of this new series, I'm going to be unboxing and testing out this E3 Pro and the other products in the Bobovr line and comparing them all together to get a really well rounded view of who should buy what. Because I'm telling you, when it comes to Meta Quest head straps in the Made for Meta program or not, any of these straps is better than the standard one that comes with the actual headset device itself.

[02:36.2] It was something notable. As soon as I got my Quest three, I was like, I hate this thing. And I've been on pursuit of finding the best Meta Quest head strap since. So now that We've got the E3 Pro, the latest one in the line, the first made for Meta one from Bobovr, we're gonna get into it. So let's unbox.

[02:51.7] All right, so here's the package. They've given us this shiny looking bubble wrap. It's actually quite cool. Different to anything else I've gotten. There we go. Whoa. Here she is. Wow. Made for Meta.

[03:07.3] This packaging looks really nice, actually. Ooh, here we go. Okay, our instruction manual. Beautiful. So, packing list. We've got the strap itself, the battery, we've got a cable, we've got the honeycomb pads. So these are great if you're bald.

[03:23.4] We've got assembly. Yeah, nice. And a heap of detailed instructions. Grand. We can get into those later. Look. Oh, yeah. This is eerily similar of the Kiwi design vibes. It looks like they've got a really nice, thin, refined padding, though. This feels ultra comfy as well. Oh, my gosh.

[03:40.3] Yep, we've got that similar Velcro design that the M3 Pro has. And then here we've got where the battery connects. So we'll get the battery out surely and have a look at all of that. But then if we move over to the actual head strap itself, so we've got it here with our click wheel.

[03:55.7] Yep, that's pretty standard. Okay. On the side, got our little side panel here. So this is where the amount of battery power we've got left will show up. Nice that obviously clips in there. All right, why don't we start assembling? Pretty intuitive is not my first rodeo.

[04:12.6] So that clipped in super easy. Don't know about this cable. These cablings actually are something that I do find a little bit irritating. Particularly like with all of the extra dangly bits. One thing Kiwi Design did really well with their latest edition on the K4 Boost is the actual cable itself.

[04:28.0] They've worked out how to get the cabling to go through that very thin arm and be the exact length that you need in order to plug into the headset, making it really minimal. And there's no extra dangly pieces. Whereas that's obviously something that's still to come on Bobo Designs.

[04:44.6] I'm sure I can mangle this around in some way to make it more inconspicuous. But yeah, I don't love all of the cabling. Just makes it look a little bit more like blah, you know. Anyway, so there's the head strap in its assembled form. So there is quite a bit of rotation there. Does it go back the other way? Oh, yes.

[05:00.4] So Bobo kept the full rotation. I like that by having the hinges do that full rotation, it allows you to be a bit more dynamic with the placement of the cradle on the back of your head. And as I was explaining in my Bobovr M3 Pro review, when bending these back down like that, slightly lowering the rotation a little bit more down the back of my head for my head shape actually feels a lot more comfortable for me.

[05:22.7] And the drawback of the Kiwi Design ones is the rotation actually only goes up. It doesn't actually go down. So Kiwi stopped there. But it looks like Bobo have kept that feature and I'm really happy for that because it is a great one. Now when we look at this as well, we've got our headphone jack under there. I don't even own a pair of cabled headphones anymore, so I won't be using that.

[05:40.0] I also have the quest 3, so there's no need for me to use it. But yeah, overall, quite sexy. Here's our honeycomb patch. Pretty sure There should be two of those. There was two on the with the M3 Pro, but never mind. Hey, this will reveal our battery. Hey, got our cable on top.

[05:55.1] This appears to be USB C to USB C. That's great for the battery as well. We've got a little instruction manual and details. All right. Whoa. Immediately this feels quite heavy actually. And I'm going to go and grab. I can't help myself. I'VE got to go and grab the M3 Pro battery, just to compare.

[06:11.9] Okay, here she is, my beloved M3 Pro, the battery. So let's grab that when comparing this. So this is the M3 Pro battery. This is the E3 Pro battery. This is significantly heavier. You can immediately feel it. I'm guessing that's because this battery has more capacity.

[06:28.2] They've obviously had to add more lithium or whatever it is in batteries that makes it heavy. Ooh, they're sticking together. Oooh, yeah, the E3 Pro battery is way heavier. Interesting. Pop that back on. If you haven't seen my M3 Pro review, by the way, go and check it out. It'll be linked in the description. Okay, back to E3Pro.

[06:44.4] Okay, let's go and plug that on. Okay, we've got a beep. Oh, look, we've got 31% battery. Cool. So it's got a little bit of charge. Just noting as well the smoothness of the plastic on this is really, really beautiful. If you have a look at these two side by side, I don't know if you can see it on the camera. This has got more of a shiny plastic.

[07:00.6] This is more of a really smooth matte finish. Super beautiful, actually. Weight check. Yeah, you can feel that little bit of extra heaviness, that extra 15 grams. I believe the Bobovr is about 430 grams. This one is 445 grams. And holding it here, I can definitely feel it.

[07:17.8] So this is everything we get in the box. Let's get rid of some of this packaging. Got our instruction manual, honeycomb patch. We've got the box, the strap itself, once assembled. Got the battery. We've got our cable. Beautiful. Obviously, next we're going to, like, put this bad boy on the quest three and see how it goes. Sorry.

[07:36.6] K4 Boost, you're out of here. The K4 Boost, I will say, is a really nice head strap. Wait, do you guys see my review on this as well? Kiwi designer also, you know, doing really well when it comes to thinking of the customer and enhancing your experience. But for now, K4 can take a back seat.

[07:52.0] E3 Pro, let's go. Isn't it beautiful? Stick that down. Also, this is the silicon facial interface from Meta. Actual game changer. Enhances the comfort. I really, really love this. Although I probably would have just bought the silicon face cover for the original strap, just like they had on the the quest 2.

[08:11.4] But they never brought it out. They only brought it out for the 3s. So whatever. Meta rob me of another $70 now that's all clipped in. Yep, that went on nice and easy. Oh, by the way, the Quest 3S users, that's where our audio jack is for Quest 3.

[08:27.3] If you have a 3S, that will just be nothing. And you'll be using this jack over here. Ooh. Oh, my God. Look, I don't know if this makes me sound like an idiot, but I just feel like this is correct. Like, that's the words that are coming to my mind straight away. This strap is corre.

[08:42.3] We don't know how good it's gonna be yet, but it just feels correct. And then sky plugs in. Yeah, I'm really not a fan of all the cabling. Like, we've gotta be real. If Kiwi can get the cabling down to mere nothing, then there's no reason why all these other guys can't be doing it as well. There we go. Nice.

[08:59.7] We obviously need to chuck that battery on as well. There you go. You can now see the strap talking to the headset. We can see that it's charging. We've got our 31% there. What happens when you click this button? And there it is. Screw it. Let's do a first impression of just putting it on our head. Welcome back.

[09:16.4] So here he is, the E3 Pro. What I've been doing in all my other unboxing videos is sort of just assembling it and then going, oh, I'll check in at the review time, but I really want to try this. The hinges actually feel a little bit rigid. Ooh. I like it a little bit further down on my head like this.

[09:31.9] So when I tighten it, I feel real supported. Then what we can do is change this so it feels nicer. Ooh, pretty damn comfy. Feels very supportive. Doesn't feel heavy. Yeah, I can't wait to have a go over this properly. Ay, yay, yay.

[09:47.4] Yeah, the words I've got is, it feels correct, super comfortable, straight up. I'm gonna leave it there. That's it for this video. In the next one, regarding the E3 Pro, it will be the review. If you haven't watched my comparison video for these two yet, go back and watch that. And yeah, I'm looking forward to making more content for you guys.

[10:04.4] Make sure you subscribe, Hit the like button, and I will see you in my next video. Bye for now.

Key Design Differences

The BOBOVR M3 Pro was my initial go-to accessory due the comfort and support it gave me with the signature halo-style design BOBOVR are known for. Additionally, the extra forehead padding helped distribute the weight evenly, especially with the added weight of the detachable battery, which I noted was quite heavy in full review. However, instantly when looking at the E3 Pro, you'll notice BOBOVR has deviated from their signature halo-style design and added a few unexpected features including:

Clamshell/Elite Design and Display Screen:
Unlike the M3 Pro’s halo design, the E3 Pro features a sleek clamshell/elite design similar to that of the Kiwi Design K4 Comfort Strap. One thing I will say BOBOVR have done better Kiwi Design though, is they've included kept the full hinge rotation that we got on the M3 Pro. I found the full hinge rotation to be monumental feature in terms of achieving a fully customise fit. BOBOVR have also included a nifty display screen on the E3 Pro, so you can see exactly how much charge you have remaining at any given time.

Battery Capacity and Form Factor:
One of the most significant differences I noticed was the battery size. The M3 Pro uses a 5200 mAh battery, which gave me an extra boost of about 1.5 to 2 hours of gameplay. In contrast, the E3 Pro’s 10,000 mAh battery promised and delivered up to 4 hours of extra playtime. Holding the two batteries side by side, I could immediately sense the difference. The E3 Pro Battery felt heavier, by roughly 15 grams, which is understandable given the increased capacity. Despite this, the strap’s design kept things balanced and comfortable during prolonged sessions.

Integrated Headphone Jack:
Another notable feature was the integrated headphone jack on the E3 Pro. For users of the Meta Quest 3s VR Headset, which lacks a built-in headphone jack, this is a game-changer. While I personally do not use cabled headphones at all, I can see how this feature will be invaluable for those who crave a more immersive audio experience without the need for additional adapters or workarounds.