Steam Frame arrives with a four-figure price tag, reservation lottery and no power adapter

After months of leaks, rumours, speculation, and straight-up coping, the Steam Frame has finally arrived. Valve’s standalone VR headset comes with a premium price tag, but that is to be expected, given it packs some seriously impressive hardware. Valve throws in Steam Frame controllers and Valve's dedicated wireless streaming adapter in the box, but, for some reason, no power adapter is to be found.

As foretold earlier, Valve is once again using a reservation system for the Steam Frame. Eligible Steam users can enter the queue from September 14, provided their account has previously made a purchase on Steam. Valve will start selecting buyers on September 17, with the first purchase invitations expected to arrive from September 18. Those who are not initially selected will be randomly placed on a waitlist. Users based in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, or Hong Kong have to buy one through Komodo, the regional distributor for the region. 

Under the hood, Steam Frame uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 paired with 16 GB of LPDDR5X memory. Buyers get either 256 GB or 1 TB of UFS storage, and a microSD card slot provides an inexpensive way to expand that capacity. The headset runs SteamOS on Arm and uses compatibility technology including FEX to run existing x86 games locally. Valve has already certified around 130 titles as "Great on Steam Frame".

Two 2,160 × 2,160 LCD panels behind custom pancake lenses handle display duties. Refresh rates range from 72 Hz to 120 Hz, with an experimental 144 Hz mode, while the quoted field of view reaches 110 degrees. Four outward-facing monochrome cameras provide inside-out headset and controller tracking, while two inward-facing cameras handle eye tracking. The latter also powers Valve's foveated streaming system, which concentrates image quality where the user is looking.

PC streaming is arguably Steam Frame's headline feature. Valve includes a dedicated 6 GHz Wi-Fi 6E adapter that creates a direct wireless connection between the headset and a gaming PC, while a second radio handles normal Wi-Fi traffic. This avoids competing for bandwidth on the same wireless link. Steam Frame itself supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3. Valve says Steam Machine streaming support will arrive after launch.

The complete headset weighs 440 g, including its rear-mounted 21.6 Wh battery and head strap, while the removable front module alone weighs 185 g. Valve supports charging at up to 45 W over USB-C, but, as stated earlier, you’ll have to get your own charger or pay an extra $30 for the privilege.

There are also some additional expenses. Valve's optional Ergonomic Accessories Kit costs $60 and includes controller hand straps, a top head strap and an extended light blocker. Steam Frame otherwise ships with the headset, two controllers, a wireless adapter, a glasses spacer, and a USB-C cable.

The Steam Frame starts at a hefty $1,060 for the 256 GB version, while upgrading to 1 TB of onboard storage raises the price to $1,300. And did we mention there's no charger in the box? But hey, at least you get a free copy of Half-Life: Alyx.