Valve has introduced the Steam Frame, its latest VR headset, announced alongside the Steam Machine and Steam Controller. This innovative headset supports both VR and non-VR gaming and stands out by offering native standalone gaming capabilities powered by an onboard Snapdragon processor.
Primarily designed as a streaming VR headset, the Steam Frame comes equipped with a wireless adapter featuring dual radios. This adapter plugs into your PC, Steam Machine, or Steam Deck, enabling seamless streaming of games directly to the headset. The dual radios handle separate connections—one dedicated to game streaming and the other to Wi-Fi—to ensure reduced bandwidth congestion and smooth gameplay.
The headset boasts dual LCD displays, each with a resolution of 2160x2160 pixels and a refresh rate adjustable between 72Hz and 144Hz. Valve’s foveated streaming technology enhances visual quality by streaming only the areas in the user’s direct line of sight at high resolution. This is made possible by integrated eye-tracking cameras. For precise tracking of the headset and controllers, four additional high-resolution monochrome cameras are mounted externally, supplemented by infrared LEDs to facilitate use in low-light settings. The Steam Frame also features built-in stereo speakers designed to cancel vibrations through force-cancellation technology for an immersive audio experience.
The Steam Frame comes with split controllers that incorporate a standard gamepad button layout, ensuring compatibility with both VR and traditional non-VR games. These controllers utilize Valve’s improved second-generation magnetic joysticks, similar to those found on the latest Steam Controller, and each is powered by a single AA battery which offers up to 40 hours of gameplay.
One of the most remarkable features of the Steam Frame is its ability to function as a standalone SteamOS PC. It runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, paired with 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and available storage options of 256GB or 1TB UFS, expandable via microSD. A built-in 21.6Wh battery supports untethered gaming sessions. The headset can execute native games by emulating x86 architecture titles to run on ARM64 through a custom emulator called Flex, as well as running Android games natively.
Valve plans to release a Steam Frame developer kit soon to enhance game compatibility further. In addition, the company intends to offer preconverted versions of x86 games, enabling direct play without on-the-fly emulation for improved performance.
Following the launch pattern of the Steam Machine and Steam Controller, the Steam Frame is expected to arrive in early 2026, with pricing details yet to be announced.
