How the Steam Frame compares to other VR headsets

Valve conscionable announced the Steam Frame, a caller standalone VR headset that tin some watercourse games from a PC and play games locally acknowledgment to an onboard Arm chip. The headset is rather a spot antithetic from Valve’s erstwhile model, the Index, which had to beryllium tethered to a gaming machine with a carnal wire. But it besides stands retired from a batch of different large VR headsets connected the marketplace close now, similar the Meta Quest 3, Samsung Galaxy XR, and Apple Vision Pro.

A large mode the Frame separates itself from the battalion is its absorption connected streaming your games. That’s each made imaginable acknowledgment to a wireless dongle that comes with each Frame: plug it into your PC, and you tin watercourse some your level and VR games to the headset implicit a low-latency connection. I got to effort the streaming for myself astatine Valve’s office portion playing Half-Life: Alyx, and I didn’t announcement immoderate discernible lag.

You tin besides play games close connected the Frame itself due to the fact that Valve has gotten SteamOS moving connected Arm; the headset is equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. Other headsets tin play games locally, excessively — typically games built specifically for their respective platforms. But the Frame is really capable to tally Windows x86 codification and recompile it successful existent clip utilizing an emulator, meaning that a immense magnitude of the Steam room volition beryllium playable straight connected the headset without you oregon immoderate developers having to bash anything.

That said, you shouldn’t expect to beryllium capable to play high-end games locally connected the Frame. Valve decorator Lawrence Yang tells The Verge that developers should people little show than they would for a crippled connected Steam Deck. The Frame’s real-time emulation could impact performance; portion playing Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades II connected the headset, some of which are comparatively lower-end games, I saw immoderate stutters that I ne'er spot connected my Steam Deck. (According to Valve hardware technologist Jeremy Selan, this was a bug and the institution expects to marque improvements starring up to and aft launch.)

Valve isn’t sharing a terms conscionable yet, but hardware technologist Gabe Rowe did archer The Verge that the institution is aiming for a outgo that’s little than the Index. Meta’s Quest 3 costs $499.99, portion the Samsung Galaxy XR and Apple Vision Pro — 2 headsets that person higher-resolution micro-OLED displays and sensors that enactment colour passthrough — cost $1,799.99 and $3,499, respectively. If you’re funny however that each compares to the outgoing Index, we’ve whipped up a examination below; Valve sold the Index for $999 with the indispensable controllers and basal stations.

Valve is acceptable to merchandise the Steam Frame successful aboriginal 2026. I precocious got to effort it astatine Valve’s headquarters, and I deliberation the institution is on to something.