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Valve has started selling the Steam Frame and we already know its prices. The new headset starts at US$1,059 or €1,049, so it will definitely not be a direct rival to the much cheaper Meta Quest 3. The device is aimed more at users who are deeply involved in the Steam ecosystem.
The Steam Frame is available in two versions that mainly differ in storage. The basic 256 GB variant is priced at $1,059 / €1,049, while the 1 TB model costs $1,299 / €1,279. Valve has opened a sign-up system, and those interested in buying will then be selected in a lottery. FlatpanelsHD notes that the price turned out to be considerably higher than some users had expected after Valve's earlier announcements.
The Steam Frame itself is an interesting hybrid. The headset can stream games wirelessly from a powerful PC, but some titles can also be run locally. Inside it has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and 16 GB of LPDDR5X memory.
The image is produced by two LCD displays with a resolution of 2160 × 2160 pixels per eye. The refresh rate ranges from 72 to 144 Hz, with the highest mode marked as experimental. These specifications are closer to devices such as the Meta Quest than to much more expensive headsets using micro-OLED panels. FlatpanelsHD also notes the limited contrast of the LCD panels used.
The Steam Frame runs SteamOS, uses inside-out tracking and, including the strap, weighs around 440 grams. Valve is also developing a standalone version of Half-Life: Alyx that runs without a PC. The game is tied to the device's launch, but the version running natively on a Snapdragon SoC is expected to be made available later.
Steam Frame therefore looks more like an attempt to expand Valve's entire ecosystem than a product intended to compete on price with the Quest. The problem is that at a price exceeding €1,000 the expectations for the whole package become considerably higher.
Sources: FlatpanelsHD and Official Steam website
