Quest 3 Backlight Flickering When Charging Off with Original Charger - Persistent Bug Since v74

I am writing to report a persistent software bug that has been affecting the Meta Quest 3 since the v74 system update, and which still exists in the latest Meta Horizon OS version as of May 2026.

 Bug Description

 When the Quest 3 is completely powered off and charged using the original Meta 18W PD charger, the headset's display backlight will flicker briefly at regular intervals. This issue does not occur when using any third-party USB-C PD charger.

 Detailed Observations

 - The flickering frequency decreases as the battery level increases:

​- At 20-40% battery: Flickers approximately every 30 seconds

​- At 60-70% battery: Flickers approximately every 60 seconds

​- Above 90% battery: The flickering almost completely stops

​- The charging indicator light on the side of the headset remains solid orange (charging) or green (fully charged) throughout, confirming that the charging process itself is functioning normally.

​- The issue does not occur when charging in sleep mode (short press the power button instead of fully shutting down).

 Preliminary Analysis

 Based on extensive testing and community research, this appears to be a system-level bug where the power management module incorrectly sends a brief wake signal to the display backlight controller during periodic PD protocol renegotiations with the original Meta charger.

 Third-party chargers do not support the exact 9V/2A PDO (Power Delivery Object) that the original Meta charger uses exclusively for the Quest 3. Therefore, the system falls back to a generic charging mode that bypasses the faulty protocol negotiation logic.

 Official Response Received

 I have contacted Meta customer support regarding this issue. Their only suggested workaround is to charge the headset in sleep mode instead of fully powering it off, which they explained works because "the system has more stable backlight control in sleep mode." This workaround has been confirmed to be effective.

 Outstanding Questions

 1. Hardware Batch Variation Concern: After extensive searching across multiple forums and communities, I have noticed that relatively few users have reported this specific issue. Could this be related to hardware batch differences in either the headsets or the original chargers?

​2. Official Recognition and Fix Timeline: While customer support acknowledged the issue, there has been no official public acknowledgment from Meta's engineering team, nor any indication of when a permanent fix might be released.

 Request

 I urge Meta to prioritize investigating and fixing this long-standing software bug. Although it does not affect the core functionality of the device or damage the hardware, it is an annoying and unnecessary issue that has persisted for over a year across multiple major system updates.

 Thank you for your attention to this matter.