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After years of rumours, leaks, and speculation, Valve has officially unveiled the Steam Frame, its second VR headset. Just as the rumours predicted, it'll run on Steam OS (the same operating system as the Steam Deck) as a standalone device that doesn't need to be tethered to a PC to run games. While that's great news on its own, it seems like this device will combine some of my favorite parts of all the best VR headsets.
We're yet to receive a price for this new headset, which could really determine its place in the market. We do, however, know that it'll launch in early 2026, which corresponds with rumours about the previously codenamed Valve Deckard we've heard up until now.
Whenever it launches, Steam Frame is arriving in a vastly different market than the Valve Index did. It's going to face direct competition from the likes of PSVR 2, the Quest 3 devices, and the Pico 4 Ultra, but there's also the new Galaxy XR and the HTC Vive Focus Vision to think about. In my eyes, I think the Steam Frame is set up for success, not least because it combines some of the best features of PSVR 2 and the Meta Quest 3, either of which could be dubbed the best head-mounted display for gamers, depending on who you ask.
For starters, Valve's Frame will utilize the pancake lenses from the Meta Quest 3, combining them with PSVR 2's foveated rendering and eye tracking capabilities. Like the Quest 3 and Pico 4 Ultra, it'll utilize an LCD display, but at a higher resolution, like PSVR 2, that means you get 4K resolution per eye.
Integrated speakers in the headstrap, like the ones found on the Quest 3, mean you'll get spatial 3D audio, but since this isn't a mixed reality device and it's geared specifically at gamers, its passthrough is in black and white and mainly functions to track you within a room-scale boundary, like PSVR 2.
Processor | 4nm Snapdragon ARM processor |
Memory | 16GB Unified LPDDR5 RAM |
Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7, 2x2 |
Storage | 256GB or 1TB UFS + MicroSD card slot for additional storage upgrades |
Lenses | Pancake |
Display type | LCD |
Resolution | 2160 x 2160 per eye |
Refresh Rate | 72-120Hz (144Hz experimental) |
FOV | Up to 110 degrees horizontal |
To prevent the need for some of the best Meta Quest accessories, the Steam Frame will utilize a rechargeable battery on the back of the headstrap, which isn't too dissimilar to what the HTC Vive Focus Vision uses.
It doesn't seem like the Steam Frame has any connectivity for HDMI or Display Port, however, which means you won't be able to directly tether it to a gaming PC's GPU for a visually lossless gaming experience. Valve says you can use an included wireless adapter that uses a Wi-Fi 6E, low-latency connection to stream between the headset and PC, though, presumably using an app like Steam Link.
Last, but certainly not least, the Steam Frame's controllers will use TMR thumbsticks (which is a first for this type of gaming), highly detailed haptic feedback, and capacitive sensors to detect various touches and small movements you make on their grips. Valve also says there will be input parity with more traditional gamepads too, which makes sense, since the left controller even has a D-pad, which is often overlooked on VR controllers.
The news comes by way of a larger announcement that sees Valve also launching a new version of the Steam Machine, as well as a brand new Steam Controller.
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