Apple Watch Ultra 3 VS Meta Quest 2
Verdict DROP IT BUY IT
The Reality The feature has a real, documented history of simply not being available to US buyers. After the US International Trade Commission ruled the blood oxygen sensor infringed two Masimo patents, Apple disabled blood oxygen sensing on US-sold Apple Watches in January 2024 to keep selling the watch at all, and it stayed off for roughly a year and a half. In August 2025 Apple restored a redesigned version -- but the workaround processes the sensor's raw data on a paired iPhone rather than the watch itself, and results can only be viewed on the iPhone, not the watch face. The ITC formally closed the case in April 2026, ending Masimo's ability to revive the ban, but the underlying legal fight ran for over two years. The comfort claim ran into a real, formal CPSC recall: Meta (then Facebook Technologies) recalled roughly 4 million removable foam facial interfaces in the US after receiving 5,716 reports of skin reactions -- including rashes, swelling, burning, itching, hives, and bumps -- as of the recall filing. Sales of the Quest 2 were briefly paused in the US while the recall was arranged. Meta's remedy was a free silicone cover offered to all affected owners, and no reports of injuries requiring hospitalization were part of the recall filing.
SHORT ANSWER
Apple Watch Ultra 3: Apple Watch's blood oxygen feature was legally disabled for US buyers for about 20 months (January 2024-August 2025) after Apple lost a patent case to Masimo, and its restored version now only works by processing data on a paired iPhone rather than the watch itself.
Meta Quest 2: The Quest 2's original foam facial interface was formally recalled by CPSC after 5,716 US reports of skin irritation, rashes, and hives out of roughly 4 million units sold, but Meta's response -- a sales pause and a free silicone-cover remedy for every affected owner -- addressed it properly.