Can I setup my Meta quest without needing a phone?

Oculus Quest already have an android OS . Now, the kind of permissions the app from the phone required for the initial setup raise a red flag because those requirement were not disclosed anywhere.  To me it is just a trap for personal data collection.

i cant get the stupid goggles to pair. charged it, installed the app, then restart and  retry. support is a myth so in the trash they go.    the future, me thinks not!

If you are Developer (only, unfortunately) u actually can activate (in my case Quest 3) headset with Meta Quest Developer Hub (I just did).
It's a little bit chunky but works:
- After factory reset, on your headset connect to Wi-Fi and all follow steps until u get Access Code (in Headset) which ask for Mobile App. Ignore that.
- Connect Headset to USB
- In Meta Quest Developer Hub select "Set Up New Device" (even if u did previously before factory reset), select headset with proper Serial Number, accept Wi-Fi (supposed to be green already as we made it in headset) and accept all steps. One of which would be to accept account from Developer Hub to be activated on headset.
- Get Your Headset and accept USB Debug Access.
- Restart Headset (can do it from Developer Hub at this point).
- At this point at bottom right corner of whole window with Access Code you supposed to get "Continue" button (click it).
- You are ready to go. 😉

PS. That's all i remember, will update this post after activating another headset.

Unfortunately, you need a phone.  This is terrible because the suggestions are to use someone else's phone.  Personally, I believe they are just trying to get information so they can sell it.  If I had known this and if I had not purchased other stuff to go along with this, I would return it immediately.  

Requiring a phone to setup the system should not be required.

Unfortunately it's been 7 years now since the Oculus Go came out (the first Meta headset to need a mobile) and they haven't given any indication of stopping that requirement.

It's crazy, since the Quest is basically an Android phone (without the phone bit) anyway, and other Android headsets like the Pico can do the setup in-headset.

I want someone to create a petition to make Meta remove any requirement to connect a phone or install a phone app at all to use our standalone Quest 3 headsets. Right now, we can't even use the device we've bought and paid for out the box unless we link it to some smartphone first in some way--that should literally be illegal in my opinion. Any option to link phones and phones apps should be just that, optional and at each users discretion.

You can set up a Meta Quest without always relying on a phone, but the initial setup usually requires the Meta app on a mobile device to link your account. After that, most features can be managed directly on the headset.

The data mining BS phone requirement has forced us to shelve these devices and all the after market accessories we bought with them (cases, comfort kit, batteries, charging stands...). After a $2K learning experience, they're now shelfware and no longer in use. If anybody would like to buy a pair cheap let me know. We dont do Oculus or Meta in our house...

Another issue has just come up for me: my Quest 3 doesn’t seem to be updating to the newer OS versions. I was thinking of doing a factory reset to start fresh, but the problem is that this requires the Meta Horizon phone app—presumably the latest version. I can no longer update the app on my old phone, so if I do a reset, I might not even be able to set up my headset again.

There’s a chance it might work with the older version of the app I currently have, but if I ever delete that version, I wouldn’t be able to reinstall it, since the phone tries to install the newest version, which fails.

Having to worry about doing a factory reset—and similarly about reinstalling the phone app just to use the headset—is completely absurd. The Quest 3 should not require a phone or external app at all just to be set up and used.