Valve has officially unveiled the Steam Frame, its first standalone virtual reality headset and the successor to the Valve Index. The device, powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, can run games natively or stream them wirelessly from a host PC using a 6 GHz dongle, marking a significant step in Valve’s continued push into immersive gaming hardware.
According to Valve, the Steam Frame delivers high visual fidelity with 2160 x 2160 resolution LCD panels per eye and a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz. The headset features pancake lenses and supports a 110-degree field of view, allowing use with glasses up to 140 mm wide. “The Steam Frame is designed to give players freedom — whether they want to play natively or stream from a high-end PC,” the company said in its announcement.
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A notable innovation is its foveated streaming technology, which tracks eye movement and renders only the area directly in the user’s line of sight. This approach helps optimize performance while maintaining sharp image quality where it matters most. Inside, the headset includes 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1 TB of storage, running SteamOS with a translation layer that enables x86 Steam titles to run on its Arm-based architecture.
The headset’s 21.6 Wh battery attaches to the back for balance and charges via USB-C at up to 45 watts. Tracking is handled by four outward-facing monochrome cameras and two internal cameras for eye tracking, supported by infrared illuminators for low-light environments. Connectivity comes via Wi-Fi 7, enabling direct online access and high-speed streaming.
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The accompanying controllers feature six degrees of freedom (6DOF), capacitive finger tracking, and TMR-based thumbsticks to prevent stick drift. Each controller weighs 130 grams and uses a single AA battery. The headset itself weighs 440 grams—or 185 grams without the battery pack—and includes an optional vertical strap for extra stability. Valve has not yet disclosed pricing or a release date for the Steam Frame.
Source: Steam