Valve Steam Frame

Where reviewers disagree

• ±Performance · 1 positive, 2 negative, 4 mixed
  Which sources said this

  • Gizmodo — mixed: Capable of running many lower-end 2D games, some older AAA games, and even a few less-demanding VR titles, but the Control remake suffered from bugged shadows that would inevitably crash the game.
  • BBC News — mixed: Games run well - really the bare minimum considering the price tag - and it's easy enough to use.
  • Club386 — mixed: The experience isn't without compromise running locally on the headset, with a 36fps frame rate, 72Hz refresh rate, and Cyberpunk 2077 proving unplayable at sub-30fps averages.
  • Rock Paper Shotgun — negative: This Snapdragon processor has even less horsepower than that of an original Steam Deck... Wheel World's lowest visuals can barely scrape 30fps in places where the Deck would have it hitting 60fps.
  • Engadget — positive: It delivers an expansive and sharp VR experience without the need for any cables, and games load faster than the Quest 3, but standalone Alyx is noticeably less sharp with muddy textures.
  • Tom's Hardware — mixed: Performance while streaming from a PC was excellent, while standalone gaming takes a hit due to the emulation required for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Arm SoC.
  • The Verge — negative: In terms of flat-screen gaming performance, it currently feels less powerful than the aging Steam Deck, with welterweight games like Hi-Fi Rush at the very edge of what I'm comfortable playing.

• ±Tracking and controllers · 2 positive, 2 negative, 3 mixed
  Which sources said this

  • Gizmodo — negative: It only offers you a warning if the headset crosses the threshold of your set play space, not the controllers. I ended up punching my TV twice while trying to play VR games.
  • Road to VR — positive: I've had zero complaints with the latency and accuracy of head-tracking and controller-tracking on Frame. The upper side cameras do a good job of addressing common controller-tracking dead zones.
  • Club386 — mixed: Four outward facing cameras facilitate inside-out tracking and do a solid job, but there's currently no way to bring outside-in tracking via base stations to the Steam Frame.
  • Rock Paper Shotgun — positive: Their inside-out tracking is plenty accurate... Borrowing the grippy, drift-resistant tunnelling magnetoresistance (TMR) thumbsticks from the new Steam Controller was an especially wise move.
  • Engadget — mixed: Valve's new Steam Frame controllers are practically copies of the designs from Oculus and other VR headset makers, with two sticks, triggers and grip buttons.
  • Tom's Hardware — negative: The controllers communicate directly with the Steam Frame using a dedicated Bluetooth wireless link, yet he couldn't use the included Steam Frame controllers with a non-VR game.
  • The Verge — mixed: The headset can't track your hands without the wands yet; Valve's engineer said controller-as-gamepad for an entire remote PC was 'already on the way' but had not shipped.

• ±Setup and software · 1 positive, 2 negative, 1 mixed
  Which sources said this

  • Road to VR — negative: Frame essentially combines the interfaces of Steam Deck and SteamVR; the result technically works, but does not feel cohesive... Frame really needs a new interface built from the ground up.
  • Eurogamer — mixed: Set-up, as you'd hope, is all very simple, aside from an unexpected 40-minute halt as the headset installed its first update.
  • Tom's Hardware — positive: Setting up the Steam Frame was honestly about as low-impact as you can get with a VR headset, with the wireless dongle automatically recognized and ready to use.
  • The Verge — negative: Every day I spend with the Steam Frame, I feel like a beta tester. I've seen games crash so hard I needed to reboot the headset... I've seen the entire device lose power more than once.

• ±Value · 1 positive, 4 negative, 3 mixed
  Which sources said this

  • Gizmodo — negative: Gizmodo scores it 3.5/5: despite the fact it costs $1,060, the Steam Frame can sometimes feel like a less-advanced headset compared to Meta's 3-year-old Quest 3.
  • Road to VR — mixed: The key buying decision comes down to whether you think Frame's extra capabilities justify a $460 premium ($1,060 total) over Quest 3's $600 price point.
  • BBC News — negative: It carries a price tag which will make a lot of people roll their eyes, and doesn't do much to dispel criticism that increasingly-costly VR headsets are pricing people out of the hobby.
  • Club386 — positive: Club386 scores it 4/5: this headset's price breaks my heart. At $1,059 / GBP 889, the system is notably more expensive than a Quest 3 128GB which you can find for GBP 549.
  • Rock Paper Shotgun — mixed: The 1TB version I tested is GBP 1,089 / US$1,299, almost double the UK price of a top-spec Quest 3... The Frame is the best there is, but good lord, does it make you pay for it.
  • Engadget — negative: Engadget scores it 6.5/10: it's not something I can recommend at its current price, not when the Quest 3S and Quest 3 can deliver similar VR experiences for $350 and $600, respectively.
  • Tom's Hardware — mixed: What will make or break the Steam Frame is its price, which starts at $1,059. That's a tall order in this economic climate, yet you can't go wrong with the Steam Frame.
  • The Verge — negative: Verge Score 5/10: if you write off the Steam Frame, it should be because you don't want to pay $1,000-plus for early access hardware.