Movies and TV shows are on everything. They can be found on your phone, your laptop, on the back of a plane seat and, of course, that screen in your living room. But they’re also on the best VR headsets today, and Meta wants you to know it.
Meta continues to update its long-standing (and standalone) VR headsets, with the latest Connect 2025 delivering a handful of new features to its Quest 3 and Quest 3S. Any mention of a Quest 4? No, but one feature that stood out was one for all the binge-watchers: Horizon TV.
It’s a dedicated app with a smart TV-like interface that acts as a central hub for all streaming content, whether it be for shows, movies, immersive experiences, sports events and more. No more opening a browser on your Quest to watch a show or accessing a streaming app individually — VR now has a TV app.
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A smart TV for VR (sort of)
(Image credit: Meta / Tom’s Guide)
Meta has had issues with streaming services over the years. There was once a Netflix VR app that let you watch the likes of “Stranger Things” or “Squid Game,” but with its 480p standard resolution and lack of passthrough support, that was (thankfully) taken down in 2024.
Since then, the main way to stream any show (aside from the Amazon Prime Video app still going strong) was through the Quest browser. Sure, it still offered the ultra-large screen experience, but not exactly the wide-scale support or features we’d come to expect from a streaming service showing off what it can do in a virtual space.
The Horizon TV hub changes that. Now, it looks like Meta is putting effort into making its Quest 3 and Quest 3S a device not only for VR gaming and productivity, but for streaming, too.
(Image credit: Meta / Tom’s Guide)
I’ve been using the app to browse through shows and movies to watch, with Horizon TV recommending the latest films and classic flicks with different genre categories — just as a streaming hub or smart TV interface would do. It’s a perk to be able to add different content to my personal watchlist, which is a tab that’s easily accessible at the top of the menu.
But it isn’t just movies and TV shows, as Horizon also includes tabs for sports events, music and immersive content. So, you could watch the Wimbledon finals with courtside seats, play tunes on Spotify and get the live concert experience with Doja Cat and Sabrina Carpenter headlining. That’s the VR touch that no smart TV can deliver.
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I’ve been having a grand time giving shows like “Landman” and “Supernatural” the massive-screen treatment, but notice anything in common with those shows? That’s right, they’re all on Prime Video, and for now, it should be called the “Prime TV” hub.
Missing content
(Image credit: Meta / Tom’s Guide)
When Meta announced its Horizon TV hub, it stated it would be bringing streaming services like Prime Video, Peacock, Disney+ with Hulu and ESPN. So far, only two of those are available — Peacock and Prime Video (Pluto TV, too). In fact, as of writing, I have no way to watch Disney Plus on the Quest 3, at least in the U.K.
It’s no longer available to stream shows in the Quest browser or to download an app, and I’m not the only one with this problem. Along with Peacock being a streaming service primarily for the U.S., that only leaves me with Prime Video.
With this being the case, I only see recommendations for shows from Amazon’s streaming service, and it led me to notice another flaw with Horizon TV — it’s more of an interface layer than an actual app. Whether I needed to stream, rent or buy content, I needed to do all this within the Prime Video app, which Horizon TV would direct me to.
So…I may as well just use the Prime Video app, right? Horizon TV is a handy app to be a one-stop shop for all streaming content on the headset, but without other streaming services available, including Netflix, Apple TV and more, then it’s limited to what it can show. For me, in particular, that makes the app redundant (for now).
At least there’s also Twitch, Spotify and immersive apps available to jump into, but these are more bonus features compared to the scope a streaming service offers. However, Meta is bringing the 3D goods, and hopefully more sooner rather than later.
The 3D cinema treatment
(Image credit: Meta / Tom’s Guide)
One of the major advantages of using an XR headset is viewing movies in 3D. That’s what the Apple Vision Pro and Samsung Galaxy XR offer, even if their content libraries are limited (and the headsets themselves cost a premium).
With that in mind, it was exciting to see Meta announce its partnership with Universal Pictures and Blumhouse, aiming to bring special 3D effects in movies like “The Black Phone” and “M3GAN.” So far, these are the only two announced, and it’s done via the Blumhouse Enhanced Cinema app (which is also only available in the U.S.).
I’m a fan of giving VR headsets the ability to take the cinema experience beyond with more immersive, 3D special effects, and would adore to see Meta take this further with even more movies. Luckily, there was a clip I got to try out from James Cameron’s upcoming “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
(Image credit: Meta / Tom’s Guide)
As part of a partnership with the acclaimed director, the Quest 3 now has an exclusive 3D clip of the blockbuster sequel on Meta Horizon TV. And it’s quite the thrill.
The clip showed Spider, the human born on Pandora, reuniting with Na’vi before being ambushed by a flurry of fire arrows that whizzed around right off the screen, and it completely gripped me to see the depth of view of the characters and environment on display. It’s a naturally more immersive experience, and I was impressed by the intricate details of the main antagonist Varang’s facial paint and tribal marks.
It was only a two-minute clip, but I was fully engaged to watch more from the VR headset. More so that wanting to watch it on a big-screen TV. It offered a cinema-like experience, and really, that’s the goal of watching any movie at home.
Is it binge-worthy?
The Horizon TV hub is a step in the right direction for the Meta Quest 3 to become more of a viable binge-watching device, but there’s a lot more work to be done so it can become something more than just a “Prime TV” hub.
Taking the direction of bringing even more movies and shows with 3D effects should be Meta’s main aim, as it takes streaming to another level that only a VR headset can show off.
Sure, streaming the latest and greatest shows with a giant virtual display is a delight, but VR headsets have already done this for years. By bringing more streaming services on board and deploying more 3D content on the level that “Avatar: Fire and Ash” seems to be delivering (if you’ve got a Quest 3 or 3S, give it a go), then Meta may finally have another crack at its Quest VR headsets being a worthy streaming device.
Until that time arrives, though, I’ll be binging my way through another episode of “Supernatural.”
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