Neither both are problematic and the quest 3 besides being slimmer still uses out of date (obsolete) hardware. Look into the PICO 4.

Originally posted by Watchan:

Valve Index or Quest 3 in 2024

I'm very close to buying the Index at the moment but one of my friends recommends me the Quest 3 a lot. The problem is that I'm not really a big fan of Meta's whole "privacy" thing. If that is a big issue for me then should I get the Index or is the whole privacy thing overblown and should I get a Quest 3?

It depends on what you care about.

VR headsets with cable have their own amazing advantages, you can connect quest 2, quest 3 with a cable, but it's not the same.
The cables for the vr headsets transmit uncompressed high-quality video, and are well attached.
And Quest, those USB cables, it's not very suitable, these plugs wear out, they're too fragile if you play heavily moving games where the cable flies in all directions.
If you want to fly a helicopter in vtol I would also take the index, tracking in quest is enough for most games, ...for most it is precise enough. But when you reach where the goggle cameras can't see...

Quest 3 if you want to connect to a computer, it causes problems for many people. Apparently, you need to have knowledge and willingness.
Many people have problems due to poor wifi connection, for example. Because they don't understand how wifi works, connect the phone and watch the video - ok, but it's not the same as sending a huge amount of data steadily for a long time.

So you ask for an answer, and there is no answer.
It depends on what games you want to play. What you care about.
What is your knowledge and willingness. How much is your time worth.
What kind of computer you have, and what image quality (quality not resolution) you expect.
How important comfort is to you, after buying a few accessories, the price of the Quest 3 exceeds the Index.
How deep do you sit in vr, maybe it's better to buy a cheap Quest 2 and try if it's what you like. Quest 3 costs much more, and in reality it does not give a huge increase when it comes to PC VR (edit: Quest 3 has better WiFi, if you want to use WiFi I guess it's better to buy q3).

As you can see, you have to answer for yourself.

ДА

index if you want a broken product in a few months.... its made of the worst plastic

my quest 2 got hacked when i had monkeymodmeno how do you get the virus out i tried support i tried to delete and nothing changed i tried to delete the mods but they wont delete what do i do?

I recommend using Index base stations (if needed) and Index controllers along with a lighthouse headset of your choice. look up reviews for each one, they all have their pro's and con's.

A few examples would be:
Vive Pro 1 (same res than Index but oled, worse mic/audio, but often affordable on used market. GearVR lens and/or Odyssey+ display mod can get your some really juicy visuals. Lens mod is easy to do, display mod not so much.)
Vive Pro Eye (same as Pro 1 but the best eyetracking you can get, quite nice for socialVR like VRchat. People know this though so its not really affordable)
Vive Pro 2 (same as Pro 1 but 4896x2448 LCD instead of index-res oled. lens mod no longer possible)
Bigscreen Beyond (high-res microOLED give you incredibly good visuals, and its comparingly small)
Varjo Aero (high-res 5670x2720 LCD and built-in eyetracking)

The Pimax Crystal and Crystal light also work with base station tracking if you use their faceplate addon, though I generally do not recommend their hardware.

Note that while all lighthouse headsets except the Index, OG vive, vive pro 1 and vive pro eye use their own software on top of steamvr, they all use steamvr's built in base station tracking, the software is not nearly as much as with space-calibrator and a self-tracked headset. They also all basically work out-of-the-box with Index controllers, which are (in my opinion) still the best VR controllers out there.

I own both an Index and Quest 3, and the Quest 3 is the way to go, and more affordable even if you go with the 512gb model and an elite strap, where the extended battery doubles as a perfect counterweight that completely negates neck strain. Compared to the Index where you WILL need to tape a roll of quarters to the back of the headset if you want to use it for more than 30 minutes at a crack without getting a sore neck.

Also the Quest 3 has the option of being completely wireless, so you're not tethered to the computer like you are with the Index, although for extended play sessions you will still need to plug the headset into a wall to charge, but you don't need to be tethered to the PC specifically. I personally like to do VR out on my deck, with my PC streaming wirelessly through the window.
(Note: It requires a 6ghz router to stream wirelessly, so if you don't have one, that's an added expense. You can also play tethered via USB-C.)

You do need to create a Meta account, but you do NOT need a Facebook account anymore. And you're not obligated to ever use your Meta account--you can use it entirely for PCVR if you want. But I did download a couple games to the headset directly to take it on the road. Which is something else you can't do with an Index--take it with you, unless you want to lug your whole PC.

It's also important to remember that the Quest 3 is brand spankin' new at less than 1 year old, while the Index is pushing 5 which for VR makes it a dinosaur. (The fact that they're still charging $1000 for it is just ludicrous. It was barely worth that in 2019, certainly not today!) The Index is a solid piece of hardware in its own right, but it's absolutely showing signs of aging. Plus that cable is a custom deal, and once they're gone, they're gone. And they DO need to be replaced, they kink something fierce. Compared to a Quest 3, where any old USB-C cable works.

The one distinct disadvantage the Quest 3 has is that it doesn't use the lighthouse system that full-body trackers do. So if you intend to go that route with a Quest 3, you'd need a hybrid setup with lighthouses for the trackers, and the Quest 3 for everything else. That's not something I'd want to mess with personally, full-body tracking isn't important to me.

Edit: I mistakenly said the Index doesn't have built-in audio. I was erroneously remembering my HTC Vive, and how I had to adapt the deluxe audio strap for use with the Rift S. The Index DOES have built-in audio, and it's actually really good.

Quest 3 by far. Cheaper, better build quality, and can play standalone games (which sure, you may not need that feature but it's there in case that you need it). Get a 5m cable from AliExpress and boom you're done.
Either that or wait till meta releases the quest 3a

I don't really care about privacy since at the end of the day who doesn't use YouTube, Spotify, Google maps, Instagram, Whatsapp, etc... Idk that's not important to me, seems more like an inconvenience rather than something positive

Quest 3 is the best Headset at the moment.