Valve’s New VR Headset Is (Thank God) All About Gaming

At lengthy final, Valve’s new headset is right here. The maker of the Steam Deck has lastly unveiled its long-rumored “Deckard” headset, which is definitely referred to as the Steam Frame, alongside its Steam Machine console. While the VR/XR headset area is now saturated with large names like Apple, Meta, and most just lately, Samsung, Valve hopes to carve out a distinct segment subsequent to Sony and its PSVR 2 by making the Steam Frame extra about gaming than the rest.

The Steam Frame, which is wi-fi not like the Valve Index from 2019, clearly takes benefit of Steam in a giant approach, and may stream your complete Steam library. Naturally, which means the Steam Frame is for VR gaming, clearly, but additionally non-VR gaming, when you’re simply trying to put the headset on and use it as a giant ol’ digital display.

If you noticed “streaming” and rolled your eyes, I don’t blame you. Anyone who’s ever streamed video games is aware of that the expertise may be aggravating relying in your connection and the way steady it’s. But earlier than you write the Steam Frame off, it’s price contemplating that Valve appears to have gone to some lengths to make sure that its Steam Frame delivers a serviceable streaming expertise. Included with the Steam Frame is a 6GHz dongle that makes use of two separate radio alerts to make the connection extra steady. One of these radios is devoted to streaming audio and graphics, whereas the opposite is supposed to your Wi-Fi router. This setup, based on Valve, additionally helps guarantee there’s no competitors for bandwidth.

That’s not the one trick Valve is utilizing to optimize the streaming a part of the Steam Frame. Valve says its headset will even use one thing referred to as foveated streaming, which leverages eye monitoring to optimize the a part of the display you’re really taking a look at. Valve claims that this system provides a “10x improvement in image quality and effective bandwidth” over commonplace streaming, and it’s all taking place “behind the scenes” and “without you noticing.” On the floor, it appears like a reasonably ingenious option to improve the streaming expertise, however clearly, we’ll have to check that for ourselves earlier than we declare it a breakthrough.

If streaming isn’t your factor, the Steam Frame does help standalone play, too. The headset runs SteamOS and is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip with 16GB of RAM. There are 256GB and 1TB storage choices, and that’s expandable with an non-compulsory microSD card. Valve doesn’t provide a battery life estimate, however it says that the Steam Frame makes use of a 21.6Wh battery that prices by way of USB-C. As far as weight goes, Valve has Meta beat. The Steam Frame is 440g with the primary headset and headstrap, whereas the Quest 3 is 515g with each included.

Inside the Steam Frame, Valve is utilizing customized pancake lenses that supply a 2,160 x 2,160 decision per eye and a refresh fee of between 72Hz and 144Hz. Oh, and the display has a 110-degree area of view, which is identical because the Quest 3. If you had micro OLED panels in your wishlist, I’m sorry to say the Steam Frame doesn’t have it. Valve is utilizing LCD panels this go-around, which is probably not as premium as shows on the Vision Pro or Samsung’s Galaxy XR headset, however will at the least assist maintain the fee down (hopefully).

In the spirit of VR gaming, the Steam Frame is delivery with controllers, tracked by the 4 cameras on the skin of the headset. Valve’s controllers look just like what you’d get with the Meta Quest, although the suitable controller has A, B, X, Y buttons, and the left controller has a D-pad. Both controllers provide monitoring, and Valve says the joysticks are magnetic, which ought to alleviate any worries about drift.

Two vital bits of data we don’t have concerning the Steam Frame to date are the value and launch date, although Valve has stated it can share extra on that entrance in 2026. In the meantime, it’s at the least clear that Valve is providing a spin on the everyday VR headset expertise by leaning into streaming, which (if executed effectively) might make the act of gaming in a headset really feel extra seamless. VR headsets is likely to be in a tough place, however I’ve to say, Valve is likely to be bringing me again into the fold.