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Valve Steam Frame · Valve, exact official product photograph; complete supplied canvas and background
Valve · Steam Frame
Steam Frame
Valve's wireless VR headset running SteamOS on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, built mainly to stream VR and flat games from a PC but also able to run games on its own, for Steam users who want a cable-free PC VR headset.
- Works
- Standalone or with a PC
- Per eye
- 2160 × 2160
- Refresh
- 144 Hz
- Weight
- 440 g
What reviewers say
Reviewers agree PC streaming over the included dongle works very well and the headset is comfortable, better balanced than the Quest 3. Both find it hard to justify over the Quest 3 at its price and criticise battery life of 1 to 2 hours; Road to VR found the interface cluttered and missed a top strap, and Engadget found the speakers poor and the fit tight with glasses.
From roadtovr.com and engadget.com
Specifications
Report a wrong or missing specDisplay
- Resolution per eye
- 2160 × 2160
- Panel
- LCD
- Refresh rate
- 144 Hz
- Field of view
- 110° horizontal
- Display details
- Two 2160 × 2160 LCD panels, one per eye; 72, 80, 90, 120 and 144 Hz (144 Hz experimental)
- Lenses
- Custom pancake lenses with glass and non-glass elements; field of view up to 110° (Valve gives 110° horizontal and vertical to UploadVR); eyeglasses up to 140 mm wide
- Lens spacing (IPD)
- 60–70 mm target range, adjusted with a wheel on top of the headset
Tracking and input
- Eye tracking
- Yes
- Hand tracking
- No
- Controllers in the box
- Yes
- Colour passthrough
- No
- Sensors
- Inside-out; 4 outward-facing monochrome cameras for headset and controller tracking with IR illuminators for low light; 2 interior cameras for eye tracking and foveated streaming; no controller-free hand tracking (UploadVR)
- Controllers
- Steam Frame Controllers with 6-DoF tracking, ABXY buttons (right), D-pad (left), full-size magnetic TMR thumbsticks with capacitive touch, analogue triggers, bumpers, dual-stage grip buttons, capacitive finger tracking and a haptic motor; one AA battery each, about 40 hours; 130 g each with battery
- Passthrough
- Monochrome passthrough from the outward-facing cameras; front expansion port (dual MIPI camera interface or PCIe Gen 4 x1) takes accessories such as the Arcturus Vision colour camera
Performance
- Works
- Standalone or with a PC
- Chip
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
- Storage
- 256 GB, 1 TB
- Chip details
- 4 nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, ARM64; runs SteamOS 3 (Arch-based) with KDE Plasma desktop
- Memory
- 16 GB unified LPDDR5X; 256 GB or 1 TB UFS storage; microSD card slot
- Connections
- Streams from a PC, Steam Deck or Steam Machine over Wi-Fi; headset has Wi-Fi 7 2 × 2 with dual radios (5 GHz Wi-Fi and 6 GHz VR streaming at once); Wi-Fi 6E (6 GHz) USB wireless adapter included; Bluetooth 5.4; no DisplayPort cable connection
Design
- Battery
- Built in
- Weight (headset)
- 440 g
- Battery details
- 21.6 Wh Li-ion battery at the back of the headstrap; charges over USB-C 2.0 at up to 45 W (15 V, 3 A); Valve doesn't give a battery life
- Audio
- Dual speaker drivers per ear built into the headstrap; dual microphone array
- Strap
- Modular headstrap (245 g) holding the speakers and battery; the 185 g core module detaches for other straps; core module and facial interface 175 × 95 × 110 mm
- In the box
- Headset, two Steam Frame Controllers, Wi-Fi 6E wireless adapter, standard light blocker, face gasket and head cushion; Half-Life: Alyx licence. No power supply; Valve sells a 45 W one separately
Pros and cons
Pros
- Eye tracking drives foveated streaming from a PC, with a Wi-Fi 6E adapter in the box
- 2160 × 2160 LCD per eye with pancake lenses, 72 to 144 Hz
- 440 g with strap and battery; the 185 g core module can be used with other straps
Cons
- Monochrome passthrough only; colour needs a third-party camera accessory
- No controller-free hand tracking
- No power supply in the box
Closest rivals
Model | Works | Per eye | Refresh | Weight | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standalone or with a PC | 1832 × 1920 | 120 Hz | 514 g | Oct 2024 | |
| Standalone | 3552 × 3840 | 90 Hz | 545 g | Oct 2025 | |
| Standalone or with a PC | 2064 × 2208 | 120 Hz | 515 g | Oct 2023 |
Sources
- store.steampowered.com/hardware/steamframe
- store.steampowered.com/news/group/45479024/view/692020124159311887
- uploadvr.com/valve-steam-frame-official-announcement-features-details
Photo: Valve, exact official product photograph; complete supplied canvas and background
- Steam Frame headset and controllers in the supplied studio scene with the manufacturer’s identifying mark: Valve, official exact-model product page; complete supplied photograph and background
- Steam Frame worn by a player in a bedroom, complete supplied rear-view photograph: Valve, official exact-model product page; complete supplied photograph and background
- Steam Frame worn by a woman, complete supplied side-profile photograph: Valve, official exact-model product page; complete supplied photograph and background
