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Freeman [soylentnews.org] writes:

https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/vr-hardware/steam-frame-specs-availability/ [pcgamer.com]

Valve has announced a brand new VR headset. It's called the Steam Frame, and it's set to launch next year. While pricing is not yet confirmed, I've been to Valve HQ to try it out and get all the details.
[...]
The Steam Frame is a standalone VR headset. It doesn't require a PC in order to play games or watch videos in VR. It doesn't need base stations or a cable, either. It's powered by SteamOS, Valve's own Linux distro used on the Steam Deck, and an Arm chip. So, what makes this a PCVR headset again?

"We see Steam Frame as a streaming first headset," Lawrence Yang, a designer at Valve, tells me.
[...]
Streaming in this context does not refer to cloud streaming
[...]
Rather streaming means playing a game on a gaming PC and streaming it over to the Steam Frame via a wireless connection. So, you're streaming the game from one PC to another PC on your head, without using any cables.
[...]
wireless adapter beams the game over a dedicated 6 GHz connection to the Steam Frame. Essentially, Valve intends for players to use the Steam Frame in the traditional sense of tethering to a gaming PC—just without the physical tether.
[...]
It uses clever software to play games developed for Windows and x86 on its Linux and Arm stack. It also natively supports games programmed for Arm, which many VR titles are designed for these days.

So, it supports a bit of everything: standalone, PCVR, Linux, Windows, Arm, x86… though a user shouldn't have to be conscious of many, if any, of these technical divisions. You put the Steam Frame on, choose a game from your Steam library, VR or no, and play.
[...]
With new hardware, software, and much expanded capabilities, Valve is keen to point out that this is not the Valve Index 2. Hence the name change.

"So Steam Frame, I would say, represents a fundamental shift in the way that we look at VR," says Yang.

"Rather than being a PC VR accessory to play your PCVR games, we see it just as a new way to play your entire Steam library, whether it's VR or non-VR titles."
[...]
[Steam frame vs Quest 3] [adapted table]
- **LCD screens**
    - Steam Frame: Two
    - Quest 3: Two

- **Resolution (per-eye)**
    - Steam Frame: 2160×2160
    - Quest 3: 2064×2208

- **Refresh rate (Hz)**
    - Steam Frame: 72, 90, 120, 144 (experimental)
    - Quest 3: 72, 90, 120

- **Optics**
    - Steam Frame: Pancake
    - Quest 3: Pancake

- **IPD adjustment**
    - Steam Frame: Variable dial
    - Quest 3: Variable dial

- **Field of view (horizontal)**
    - Steam Frame: Up to 110°
    - Quest 3: 110°

- **Field of view (vertical)**
    - Steam Frame: TBC
    - Quest 3: 96°

- **SoC**
    - Steam Frame: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
    - Quest 3: Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2

- **RAM**
    - Steam Frame: 16 GB LPDDR5
    - Quest 3: 8 GB LPDDR5

- **Storage**
    - Steam Frame: 256 GB / 1 TB
    - Quest 3: 128 GB (discontinued) / 512 GB

- **Battery**
    - Steam Frame: 21.6 Wh
    - Quest 3: 19.44 Wh

- **Passthrough**
    - Steam Frame: Mono
    - Quest 3: Colour

- **Cameras**
    - Steam Frame: 6 (4 mono + 2 eye track)
    - Quest 3: 6 (2 RGB + 4 IR)

- **Speakers**
    - Steam Frame: Twin-driver strap
    - Quest 3: Stereo strap

- **Connectivity**
    - Steam Frame: Wi-Fi 7 2×2
    - Quest 3: Wi-Fi 6E

- **Controllers**
    - Steam Frame: 2× Steam Frame
    - Quest 3: 2× Meta Touch

- **Controller battery**
    - Steam Frame: 1× AA each
    - Quest 3: 1× AA each

- **OS**
    - Steam Frame: SteamOS (Linux)
    - Quest 3: Meta Horizon (Android)

- **Weight (g)**
    - Steam Frame: 435 (190 core only)
    - Quest 3: 515 (461 no strap)

- **Price**
    - Steam Frame: TBC
    - Quest 3: 512 GB = $500

Valve hasn't confirmed pricing for the Steam Frame, nor the exact release date. What we do know is the headset will launch sometime in 2026, alongside the [Steam Machine [pcgamer.com]] and Steam Controller [pcgamer.com].
[...]
The Steam Frame is a diminutive device, much slimmer than the Valve Index [pcgamer.com]. On the right-hand side of the headset there's a power button, which supports fast suspend and resume for quickly jumping back into your games, and an auxiliary button that controls the cameras or selecting options in the menu without the use of controllers. On the left-hand side sits the volume controls.

Glasses wearers can breathe a sigh of relief as there's a spacer to extend the space behind the lenses to accommodate for glasses included in the box.
[...]
The core module, as Valve calls it, houses the processor, optics, cameras, and necessary cooling. This can be removed from the strap—it simply pops out. It's surprisingly lightweight in hand, weighing only 190 grams. It's also very slim. Even with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (SM8650) system-on-chip sitting between the pancake lenses and face plate, and cooling, and cameras, it extends, at a guess, 2–3 inches from the face.
[...]
The strap contains the battery, speaker system, microSD card slot, and a USB 2.0 Type-C connector, which lets you charge the device via an outlet or power bank as you play.
[...]
I didn't feel much pressure on the front of my face wearing it, though I didn't wear the Steam Frame for long enough to truly test the ergonomics of it.

"We put an enormous amount of effort into making that as lightweight as possible. And then furthermore, the rear is balanced as well. So because we've split the weight between the front and the rear, and because this sits so close to your face, it's one of the most comfortable VR headsets we've ever used, and we're very proud of that," Jeremy Selan, an engineer at Valve, says.
[...]
Back to the modularity a moment, there's also an unused connector on the front of the core module, above the cutout for your nose. This is a PCIe 4.0 interface, which can also be used for 2.5 Gbps camera feeds, opening it up for use by a variety of things. While Valve is not announcing any accessories to go with this right now or any alternate straps, it is happy to talk about the potential this modular approach offers in general.

"The interesting thing about the modular architecture is we know there's a lot of strong opinions and diversity about where people want the battery, for example, what type of audio they want, and there's just a lot of perspectives on that," Selan says.
[...]
The idea behind the controllers is to offer a way to interact with both VR games and non-VR games.

"This looks like a traditional game pad design split in two," Valve engineer Jeff Leinbaugh says.

The controllers have all the buttons required to play as if you're using a standard controller, including rear triggers and shoulder buttons. These maintain the same six degrees of freedom expected of any good VR controller, with a comfortable if quite minimal design.
[...]
Only a single AA battery is required per controller, offering up 40 hours of battery life. Haptic feedback is included along with capacitive finger sensing on the buttons, grips, triggers, handle, and thumbsticks. This means it can track individual fingers to some degree, though it's notably less pronounced than the Index implementation.

The analogue sticks are using tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) sticks, which are similar to Hall effect in their use of magnetic force to measure stick movement with higher levels of accuracy and reliability than potentiometer sticks used almost exclusively until quite recently.
[...]
There is also a microSD card slot for further expansion, which should be a fairly affordable way to bulk up the internal storage. Valve has confirmed that games should run just fine from a reasonably speedy microSD card, too. The Steam Frame will support microSD cards up to 2 TB using the SDXC format, same as the Steam Deck.
[...]
"There's a SD card slot. So you can take your catalog from your Steam Deck or from your Steam Machine, and they're fully interoperable, so you can plug it in here and just bring it along with you," Selan says.
[...]
The content available for streaming is any game or software available on Steam, including VR games and non-VR games. Valve makes a point of pushing the Steam Frame as a new way to enjoy games whether intended for VR or not, via a cinema-like viewing experience for 2D titles.

"You just browse your games, and sometimes you feel like a VR game. Sometimes you don't." Selan says.
[...]
"So for partners and developers who have developed applications for other mobile VR, they'll just work on this headset," Selan says. "We're trying to minimize the amount of friction. If you've ever heard of a Tilt Brush that was one of the classic, original VR apps, they have an application open brush. When they open sourced it, you can download today, the open, the tilt, brush apk from their website, side load it, which we're happy to let you do, and just double click it, and it runs."
[...]
On the other hand, attempting to play VR games already available on Steam, largely programmed for x86 processors and Windows, on the Steam Frame's Arm processor and Linux-based operating system comes with its own challenges.

Valve has the Windows to Linux translation down pretty well these days with Proton. This being the secret sauce for the Steam Deck's success. However, Valve has had to introduce something new to convert the x86 code to Arm. For this task, it's using FEX.

FEX is an open source emulator for Arm systems.
[...]
"One of the superpowers of SteamOS is that it decouples the games you're playing from the hardware you're running it on. And so we've introduced a new technology with this device called FEX, and it's now part of the Proton umbrella. And what FEX allows you to do is continue to run your x86 PC catalog on Arm," Selan says.
[...]
Though compatibility is a consideration for FEX. Valve didn't want to put a number on the titles that will run via FEX, though it says it already exceeded its original targets for game support.

"We're actually already at the point now where we're trying games and just seeing if they run, and a lot of times they run, and it's very pleasantly surprising how well it's going already," Yang says.
[...]
Nevertheless, Selan tells me the performance hit from using FEX is "way less than you'd expect."

I'm able to play a VR game running through both Proton and FEX at Valve HQ. A haunting puzzler from Fireproof Games called Ghost Town. It's a smooth experience, for what it's worth considering the sample size of one, with zero frame rate issues or any noticeable latency dips despite the multi-layered translation going on under the hood.

"This is a PC game made for x86 running on SteamOS on an Arm chip, and the average customer wouldn't have to worry about all that. We're just excited because this is a huge amount of the tech tree that gets unlocked from Proton and SteamOS now supporting these capabilities," Yang says.
[...]
"It's capable of playing the entire Steam catalog," Pierre-Loup Griffais says of the Steam Frame.

So long as you have a PC capable of playing it, it can be streamed to the Steam Frame over the included wireless adapter, which includes both VR and non-VR games and applications.

However, there's also the ability to play locally, on the Steam Frame's Arm processor. This may require the use of Proton, which translates code from Windows to Linux; and FEX, which translates code from x86 to Arm. These tools will have some compatibility and performance considerations, and Valve has said it will be rolling out a Frame Verified programme—similar to the Deck Verified programme already in use—within Steam at a later date to help clear things up.
[...]
The Steam Frame will be available in all the same regions where the Steam Deck is currently available, including those where Komodo is the official distributor. That means it's set to launch in the following countries:

• USA
• Canada
• UK
• Germany
• France
• Australia*
• Japan**
• South Korea**
• Taiwan**
• Hong Kong**

• *Valve began shipping direct to Australia later than other countries
  **Distributed by Komodo

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