Steam Frame specs

Both kits have the same listed core hardware apart from storage. PC Gamer's launch review scores Steam Frame 80/100 and praises its ease of use, tracking, wireless streaming, SteamOS, comfort, and upgradeability while flagging the price and monochrome passthrough. The other review links below cover how that hardware behaves in use.

Valve lists Steam Frame with a 2160x2160 LCD display per eye. That is about 4.7 million pixels per eye, or about 9.3 million pixels total before accounting for lens distortion, panel use, and rendering strategy. On paper, it is a large jump over Valve Index’s 1440x1600-per-eye panels.

More pixels do not guarantee a clearer image. Lens clarity, binocular overlap, pixel persistence, brightness, contrast, streaming compression, and fit also affect what you see. Frame uses LCD panels, so do not expect OLED black levels.

Pancake optics allow a thinner design than older Fresnel lenses, at the cost of light efficiency. For a review of Frame's implementation, see Tested's optics and display chapter at 10:19.

The 72-144Hz range describes available display modes, not a frame-rate guarantee. Valve marks 144Hz as experimental.

For streamed PC VR, the host PC, encoder, wireless link, decoder, and headset display path all have to keep up. A high-end PC may make 90Hz or 120Hz realistic in many games. A weaker PC or a very demanding VR title may need lower settings, reprojection, or a lower refresh target.

Local games instead depend on the Snapdragon chip and its power budget. Their minimum targets are lower than the panel's maximum mode.

Valve’s Steam Frame Standalone Compatibility Review criteria give the clearest official baseline for local performance expectations.

Frame Verified applies only to games running directly on Steam Frame. It does not judge a game rendered on a PC and streamed to the headset.

Steam Frame’s panels are 2160x2160 per eye, but the local VR Verified floor is 1728x1728. That is 80% of the panel’s linear resolution and about 64% of the panel’s pixel area. Valve’s lower Verified target indicates that local VR games may render below native panel resolution to hold frame rate.

Current reporting says the headset does not support DisplayPort or HDMI input. Valve is relying on compressed wireless streaming rather than a traditional tether.

The included 6GHz adapter creates a dedicated connection without relying solely on your home router. Room layout, interference, drivers, and the host PC still affect it.

Gamers Nexus's September 14 review includes its latency test setup at 20:21 and results at 23:40. Start with the setup: the host PC, connection, and measurement method matter when comparing wireless headsets.

Valve's product page also introduces Multi-Link Streaming: it routes data over available headset connections simultaneously and adapts when a connection weakens. This supplements the dedicated adapter, dual radios, and foveated streaming. It is a description of Valve's streaming system, not an independent latency or image-quality measurement.

Eye tracking lets Frame prioritize video quality where you look and reduce it in the periphery. This happens after the game renders a frame, so the game does not need its own eye-tracked foveated-rendering support.

The quality boost has to follow your eyes quickly enough to stay unobtrusive. Gaze tracking, encoding, transmission, decoding, and display all contribute to that delay. GN's chapter at 27:55 discusses this part of the streaming system.

Valve's Steamworks documentation describes four ways local software can run:

Windows x86 games may need both Proton and FEX. That adds instruction translation to the Windows-to-Linux compatibility work familiar from Steam Deck. LTT's September 14 review covers standalone functionality at 6:50 and game performance at 9:35. Check results for the games you want to install, rather than assuming the whole PC library runs locally.

For mostly streamed play, 256GB may be enough because the large game files stay on the host PC. Choose local storage capacity around the games you intend to install on the headset. The 1TB option and microSD expansion provide more space, though a card will not necessarily match internal UFS loading performance.

The US price difference is $240. Both kits list the same Snapdragon chip, 16GB memory, display, controllers, and wireless adapter, so the larger kit should be chosen for storage rather than an assumed processing upgrade.

Both launch kits include Steam Frame Controllers, the wireless adapter, and Half-Life: Alyx. Neither includes a power supply. Valve says a Steam Deck charger or equivalent 45W-or-higher USB-C charger works.

Valve's launch accessory prices start at $29 in the US for a 45W supply with a 2.5m cable. The $59 Ergonomic Accessories Kit includes two controller hand straps/battery doors, a headset top strap, and an extended light blocker. The $49 Accessory Replacement Kit contains a face gasket, head cushion, and standard light blocker. The announcement describes these as checkout add-ons for customers receiving a purchase email.

The product page also lists compatible Arcturus Vision color-passthrough and Zenni prescription-lens accessories. They are separate from the standard kit; do not count their capabilities as built-in headset features.

Four outward cameras track the headset and controllers without external base stations. IR support helps in darker rooms. Their monochrome passthrough view lets you find controllers or check your surroundings; color passthrough requires the separate Arcturus Vision accessory.

Tested examines tracking at 17:56, following its roomview discussion. Pay attention to dim-room behavior and controller occlusion if your usual play space is cramped or poorly lit.

Steam Frame Controllers work with VR and non-VR games. They support 6DOF tracking, capacitive finger sensing, haptics, TMR thumbsticks, and a full gamepad layout. That layout provides familiar controls for non-VR Steam games alongside the tracked VR controls.

These are the headset's two tracked controllers, not the separate couch gamepad. Steam Controller Specs covers that other device and its charging Puck.

Valve lists an AA battery design and up to 40 hours of controller life. That is Valve's estimate. Replaceable cells let you swap batteries without opening a sealed rechargeable pack.

The 21.6Wh capacity alone cannot tell you how long a session will last. Streaming uses the radios and video decoder, while local play puts more work on the Snapdragon chip. Both keep the display, tracking, and audio running.

Gamers Nexus's battery tests begin at 30:04, followed by charging at 34:34. LTT covers battery life at 10:55. Compare the play mode, brightness, refresh rate, and workload before applying a review's runtime to your own use.

Valve's 185g figure is for the core module. The complete headset weighs 440g, including the rear battery and support hardware. Tested's comfort chapter at 2:40 is a useful companion to those figures: its review follows more than two weeks of use. Fit is personal, so compare its observations with your glasses, head shape, and usual session length.

Long-term battery wear and reliability remain unknown at launch. The September 14 reviews, including PC Gamer's 80/100 review, cover initial use, not months of ownership or every home network. Check for follow-up testing after software updates and for repair guides and replacement parts before relying on a particular repair.

The links on this page point to the reviewers' own tests, not measurements made by SteamGamer.com. Tested discloses a manufacturer-supplied review unit and an unsponsored review. Its video also contains a Valve interview; the chapter links above point to its separate review sections.