is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.
Valve just announced the Steam Frame, a new standalone VR headset that can both stream games from a PC and play games locally thanks to an onboard Arm chip. The headset is quite a bit different from Valve’s previous model, the Index, which had to be tethered to a gaming computer with a physical wire. But it also stands out from a lot of other major VR headsets on the market right now, like the Meta Quest 3, Samsung Galaxy XR, and Apple Vision Pro.
A big way the Frame separates itself from the pack is its focus on streaming your games. That’s all made possible thanks to a wireless dongle that comes with every Frame: plug it into your PC, and you can stream both your flat and VR games to the headset over a low-latency connection. I got to try the streaming for myself at Valve’s headquarters while playing Half-Life: Alyx, and I didn’t notice any discernible lag.
Category Steam Frame Meta Quest 3 Apple Vision Pro Samsung Galaxy XR Colors Black White Silver Silver Weight (grams) 185g (core unit), 440g (with head strap that adds audio and rear battery) 515g 750–800g (depending on light seal and headband configuration) 545g, though weight may vary if you wear the light shield or not OS SteamOS Meta Horizon OS visionOS Android XR Lenses Pancake Pancake Pancake Pancake Screen type LCD LCD micro-OLED micro-OLED Resolution 2160 x 2160 per eye 2064 x 2208 per eye 3660 x 3200 per eye 4K per eye Refresh rate 72-144Hz refresh rate (144Hz experimental) 72Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz 90Hz, 96Hz, 100Hz, 120Hz 60Hz, 72Hz (default), up to 90Hz Processor Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 Apple M5 chip Snapdragon XR2 Plus Gen 2 FOV Up to 110 degrees Up to 100 degrees horizontal and 96 degrees vertical Estimated to be about 100 degrees 109 degrees horizontal and 100 degrees vertical RAM 16GB unified LPDDR5 RAM 8GB 16GB, reportedly 16GB Storage 256GB / 1TB UFS storage options, microSD card slot 512GB 256GB, 512GB, 1TB 256GB Connectivity Wi-Fi 7, includes dedicated Wi-Fi 6E adapter for low-latency streaming games Wi-Fi 6E Wi‑Fi 6 Wi-Fi 7 Tracking, passthrough, and sensors 4 outward-facing monochrome cameras forcontroller and headset tracking, 2 interior cameras for eye tracking, outward IR illuminator 2 RGB cameras with 18 PPD for full-color passthrough 2 high‑resolution main cameras, 6 world‑facing tracking cameras, 4 eye‑tracking cameras, TrueDepth camera, LiDAR Scanner, 4 inertial measurement units (IMUs), flicker sensor, ambient light sensor 2 high-resolution passthrough cameras, 6 world-facing tracking cameras, 4 eye-tracking cameras, 5 Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), depth sensor, flicker sensor Eye tracking Yes No Yes Yes Battery capacity 21.6Wh 19.44Wh Up to 2.5 hours of “general use” Up to 2 hours of “general usage” Starting price TBA $499.99 $3,499.00 $1,799.99 Availability Early 2026 October 2023 October 2025 October 2025
You can also play games right on the Frame itself because Valve has gotten SteamOS working on Arm; the headset is equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. Other headsets can play games locally, too — typically games built specifically for their respective platforms. But the Frame is actually able to run Windows x86 code and recompile it in real time using an emulator, meaning that a vast amount of the Steam library will be playable directly on the headset without you or any developers having to do anything.
That said, you shouldn’t expect to be able to play high-end games locally on the Frame. Valve designer Lawrence Yang tells The Verge that developers should target lower performance than they would for a game on Steam Deck. The Frame’s real-time emulation could affect performance; while playing Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades II on the headset, both of which are relatively lower-end games, I saw some stutters that I never see on my Steam Deck. (According to Valve hardware engineer Jeremy Selan, this was a bug and the company expects to make improvements leading up to and after launch.)
Got any burning questions about Valve’s new hardware? We’re holding a subscriber-exclusive AMA today, November 12th, at 3PM ET. Drop your questions here and we’ll do our best to answer them.
Valve isn’t sharing a price just yet, but hardware engineer Gabe Rowe did tell The Verge that the company is aiming for a cost that’s less than the Index. Meta’s Quest 3 costs $499.99, while the Samsung Galaxy XR and Apple Vision Pro — two headsets that have higher-resolution micro-OLED displays and sensors that support color passthrough — cost $1,799.99 and $3,499, respectively. If you’re curious how that all compares to the outgoing Index, we’ve whipped up a comparison below; Valve sold the Index for $999 with the necessary controllers and base stations.
Category Steam Frame Valve Index Colors Black Black Weight (grams) 185g (core unit), 440g (with head strap that adds audio and rear battery) 809g OS SteamOS N/A Lenses Pancake Fresnel Screen type LCD LCD Resolution 2160 x 2160 per eye 1440 x 1600 per eye Refresh rate 72–144Hz refresh rate (144Hz experimental) 80/90/120, 144Hz experimental Processor Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 N/A FOV Up to 110 degrees Up to 130 degrees RAM 16GB unified LPDDR5 RAM N/A Storage 256GB / 1TB UFS storage options, microSD card slot N/A Connectivity Wi-Fi 7, includes dedicated Wi-Fi 6E adapter for low-latency streaming games Must connect headset to PC via DisplayPort, plug cameras to USB 3.0 port, and into a power outlet for power Tracking and passthrough 4 outward-facing monochrome cameras forcontroller and headset tracking, 2 interior cameras for eye tracking, outward IR illuminator At least one base station for tracking, dual 960 x 960 passthrough cameras Eye tracking Yes No Battery capacity 21.6Wh N/A Starting price TBA $499 (standalone), $999 (with controllers and base stations) Availability Early 2026 June 2019
Valve is set to release the Steam Frame in early 2026. I recently got to try it at Valve’s headquarters, and I think the company is on to something.