First reviews of Steam Frame: a convenient VR headset with many compromises
Along with the price announcement, the first reviews of Steam Frame have appeared. Reviewers praise the VR headset for its comfort and high-quality wireless game streaming from PC, but the standalone mode currently suffers from compatibility issues, short battery life, and immature software.
Convenience is Steam Frame’s strong suit
Almost all reviewers separately highlight the ergonomics of the Steam Frame. The headset weighs 440 grams, and the battery is positioned in the rear part of the headband, so weight is better distributed between the front and back of the head. Ars Technica writes that the Steam Frame presses noticeably less against the face than many other headsets, and it can be worn for several hours without needing to remove it for rest. For comparison, the Meta Quest 3 weighs 515 grams.
Not everything is perfect. The rear battery can interfere when using a chair with a headrest, and users who wear glasses may need the included spacer, which slightly reduces the field of view. But overall, comfort has become one of the most frequently mentioned strengths of Steam Frame.
Journalists also gave positive feedback on the wireless connection to the computer. A bundled USB adapter operating in the 6 GHz band is used for image transmission. In Ars Technica’s tests, connection latency was typically 5-10 ms, and image quality and stability were high enough for full VR gaming. Occasionally, restarting the stream or SteamVR was still required to establish a connection. It is precisely when paired with a gaming PC that Steam Frame currently demonstrates its most convincing performance.
Raw mode is offline
Steam Frame can launch games without a computer, but results here are noticeably less stable. Some projects run normally, while others fail to launch entirely, exhibit graphical glitches, or cause system crashes. For example, Ars Technica could not launch Doom VFR and I Expect You To Die 3, and encountered serious graphical issues with Fruit Ninja and The Lab.
PC Gamer also found that even Steam Deck Verified status does not guarantee compatibility with Steam Frame. In addition to Proton, which enables running Windows games on SteamOS, the headset must use FEX to translate x86 code for the Arm architecture. Therefore, Valve uses a separate compatibility verification system for Steam Frame.
Battery life remains an issue. ComputerBase recorded about 1 hour 11 minutes when running Half-Life: Alyx locally at maximum performance. In other tests, demanding VR games also drained the battery in roughly one to one and a half hours. During streaming from a PC, power consumption drops: PC Gamer achieved 1 hour 54 minutes of gameplay in Half-Life: Alyx.
Tracking works great, but controllers are not so straightforward
One of Steam Frame’s key strengths is its headset and controller tracking system. It uses four monochrome cameras and infrared illumination, so the external base stations required by Valve Index are no longer needed. PC Gamer separately praised the tracking accuracy and stability of the play area boundaries.
The Steam Frame controllers themselves, in shape and layout of the main controls, resemble the Meta Quest 3. Valve added more buttons: a full ABXY block on the right controller, a D-pad on the left, and additional bumpers on both. This is especially convenient when launching standard games on a virtual screen.
After the Index controllers, the design looks more traditional. Additional straps from the Ergonomic Accessories Kit allow for a wider palm opening and better finger position tracking, which is convenient, for example, in Half-Life: Alyx. However, PC Gamer notes that some users find it harder to reach all buttons with the straps.
Half-Life: Alyx runs without a PC, but with compromises
One of the key features of Steam Frame is a full ARM64 version of Half-Life: Alyx, which runs directly on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 without a gaming PC. Valve spent over a year refining Vulkan, SteamVR, and other components of the software platform to enable standalone game execution.
The result is unusual for a mobile processor, but compromises were unavoidable. By default, the standalone version runs at 72 Hz, while the game renders at a base rate of 36 frames per second. To achieve smoother visuals, Valve uses depth reprojection.
Simultaneously, eye tracking enables foveated rendering: the area where the user is looking is displayed with higher detail, while the peripheral part of the image is rendered with lower detail. In regular gameplay, the effect is less noticeable than on static images, but the streamed version from a gaming PC still looks better.
Assessments of Half-Life: Alyx’s battery life vary. Ars Technica considers the visual compromises relatively minor, while PC Gamer noticed a more pronounced drop in image quality in the peripheral area. Nevertheless, the fact that the full version of Half-Life: Alyx runs directly on a mobile chip remains one of the most interesting technical achievements of Steam Frame.
The main drawback of Steam Frame is its price
Steam Frame is noticeably more expensive than mainstream VR headsets.
- Steam Frame, 256 GB – $1059 / €1049
- Steam Frame, 1 TB – $1299 / €1279
For comparison, the Meta Quest 3 with 512 GB of storage currently costs $$600 in the US, while the 128 GB Quest 3S is priced at $$350. Thus, the base Steam Frame is nearly twice as expensive as Quest 3.
Moreover, even at this price, Valve does not include a USB-C power adapter in the box. The separate adapter costs $29 in the US and €39 in Europe. However, the Steam Frame bundle includes Half-Life: Alyx, which can be launched directly on the headset or from a gaming PC.
Against this backdrop, the advantages of Steam Frame are quite specific. The headset is lighter than Quest 3, offers tight integration with Steam, high-quality wireless game streaming from a PC, local execution of part of the Steam library, and a more open software platform. However, for a user whose primary need is a VR headset, justifying such a price difference is harder. PC Gamer explicitly calls Steam Frame a difficult recommendation as a first VR headset or a replacement for Quest 3, even though the publication’s author considers it the best all-around model they have used.
Registration for the first wave of sales will run until September 17. After that, Valve will randomly select buyers from the first batch and begin sending them offers on September 18. You will have 72 hours to complete your order; other users will remain in the queue.
As a result, the first reviews leave Steam Frame in an unusual position. Valve has managed to create a very comfortable wireless headset that performs especially well when streaming games from a gaming PC. However, the standalone mode still needs improvement, game compatibility remains unpredictable, the battery life is short, and the price above $1000 significantly narrows the circle of potential buyers.
