As a non-VR user, what is the appeal of Valve’s Steam Frame?

Kacho

Gold Member
From a tech standpoint I get it. No crazy setup required, no cables, state of the art streaming option, etc.

But Meta already offers a hassle free experience.

The biggest thing seems to be the games. Meta is investing in seriously compelling exclusives that won't be available to Steam Frame people afaik. Deadpool, Vampire Survivors, RE4, etc.

So what's the draw? Buy in and hope for the best?
 
I don't get it either. I wouldn't recommend the SF over the MQ3 because you lose excellent exclusives and with MQ3 you can play anything on PC VR.

There has to be more to this. The only reason on paper is hardcore Steam nerds who don't want to make a Meta account, but who doesn't have a Meta account?
 
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I heard it have better wireless VR latency ,and better quality via the eye tracking stuff .

But yea ,still not impressed . The controller look more interesting .
 
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I don't get it either. I wouldn't recommend the SF over the MQ3 because you lose excellent exclusives and with MQ3 you can play anything on PC VR.

There has to be more to this. The only reason on paper is hardcore Steam nerds who don't want to make a Meta account, but who doesn't have a Meta account?
That's where I'm at. If I were in the market for a VR headset I would pick a MQ3 without hesitation.

Steam Frame can play Half-Life VR which is cool, no doubt about that. But that's just one game. Once you finish that, then what?
 
Much better / more stable connection.
NO Meta in your household. Cannot be overstated how important that is. Fuck this company.
Native Linux support. Can't use Meta shit on Linux or macOS.
 
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My daughter has a Quest 3 and I find it somewhat compelling, but the concept of having an entire Steam library available on the go with a Quest 3 level set is extremely appealing to some I'd imagine. The question is whether there's enough people like that to validate this business strategy, which I honestly don't know that there is. That being said, even I'm curious about it and I don't really play VR, that must mean something.
 
Much better / more stable connection.
NO Meta in your household. Cannot be overstated how important that is. Fuck this company.
Look, I get it.

Fuck Zuck and fuck Facebook

Everyone agrees with this.

But what about the games man? What else are you buying a VR headset for? Don't you want the best experience possible? Does good tech matter if you ain't got no games?

Even BennyBlanco BennyBlanco has a MQ3 and he hates big tech companies with a passion. He knows what's up.
 
Seems like Steam Frame is overall more advanced than Quest 3(?), including eye tracking. Personally I don't care much for the Quest exclusives either.
 
If the Frame can play steam VR games natively then I can see some appeal. But that is a big IF.
 
-Much lighter / better weight distribution
-Foveated Streaming/Rendering
-Wireless dongle to allow for more reliable streaming
-Expandable storage
-Ability to play light Steam VR games without requiring a dedicated PC (I've read it's about twice as powerful as the Quest 3 for standalone gaming)
-Controllers that mimic a regular gamepad configurations allowing for use with more flat/hybrid games

Unless you're really into mixed reality or Meta exclusives, it seems better in every way.
 
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Quest 3 will be nearly 3 years old when Frame launches. The fact that they've made a product so bad this is even a conversation is confounding and embarrassing, doubly so at the expected pricing of $800 - $999. Genuinely how retarded do you have to be to think a 2K 100nit global lit LCD headset is a good idea and good product in 2026+. Imaging telling people in 2016 with the OG Vive that in a DECADE, Valves new headset would be a 2K 100nit LCD for the same price or more.
 
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My main issue with the Quest 3 is it's a separate platform. It's own thing. All the games I've bought on Quest 3 are 'trapped' on there.
It's a console for VR.
Steam Frame is a PC on your face.

Though you can side load stuff onto the Quest 3, so it's not all that closed.
 
-Ability to play light Steam VR games without requiring a dedicated PC (I've read it's about twice as powerful as the Quest 3 for standalone gaming)

It might be more powerful than Quest 3 but it has to run everything through a translation layer. Rosetta on Mac OS is ~30-50% slower than native so there goes that extra power. I bet Valve ports their games like Portal 2 so it runs native, not sure how much of a draw a 2011 game is, but they can do that.

The Frame controllers are like a gamepad split in two. The Quest controllers have 2 face buttons in each hand and no equivalent of R1/L1 (just the triggers).
That's not true, there is a trigger for your pointer and middle fingers.
 
It's nice that the Steam Frame has way more buttons on the controller.
The Quest 3 is already in need of more buttons, especially when connecting it to a PC. Trying to navigate menu's is frustrating with only 1 button on each controller.
Using Virtual Desktop like me? That menu gets in the way of the Steam menu that gets in the way of the Meta menu. It's not good, too many things tripping over one another, then you trip over your coffee table. :)
 
I don't care about in-VR headset compute since the wifi streaming is good enough and I would rather process/render games on my desktop PC.

Steam Frame was disappointing for me because I want a headset with better optics than my Quest 2, but with in-headset compute, the price of the Frame will be increased because of a feature I don't care about.
 
That's where I'm at. If I were in the market for a VR headset I would pick a MQ3 without hesitation.

Steam Frame can play Half-Life VR which is cool, no doubt about that. But that's just one game. Once you finish that, then what?
They say steam frame is much comfier than any other headset and comfort is top 3 priority with an headset.
 
I mean it works as a 2nd screen to play conventional games while your gf/wife watches whatever shit Disney puts out that month. That's gotta be something.
 
I'd totally get it if I didn't already have a psvr2 and expect linux vr support to make a great leap, here. It's been far behind the whole time.

But to your point.... i'd still be trying to decide between the two because of gt7.... It's spectacular.
 
I had the same reflection back in Quest 2 days and really its pretty clear now

  • META
    • Yes you have the advantage of having Meta's store and exclusive games.
      • Yes the games are quite good
      • Probably nobody else than Meta invested as much into VR games. With some flop projects too with the metaverse etc.
      • You also get access to PCVR, huge modding community
    • You are the product
      • There's a reason they are cheap, you are the product, the headsets are subsidized because of data.
      • Those room scans for AR or guardian zone? Neat in theory but now Meta can basically map every inside houses of peoples using this. Be it for marketing targetting or just having the layout of where you live, I don't care too much honestly I'm a quest user but these are questions to ask.
    • Meta's lenses clarify are some of the best around, to be seen how Valve compares when it releases.
    • Customer support sucks.
      • Go on oculus subreddit to check how many headsets are bricked and they are fucked over by Meta.
  • FRAME
    • Valve's strong principles on the right-to-repair
      • Much like Steam deck, its made with repairability in mind and DIY repais accessible for many components
    • Battery not in the compute unit
      • Lighter headset by far over Meta's solutions so far
      • Easy to repair
      • Easy to keep the compute unit intact and buy 3rd party solutions which could be even better.
    • Steam deck / Steam machine game sharing.
      • On Meta's side if you go out their store its all streaming and nothing native.
      • Here the fact you can play games you have in your steam library and on a microSD card between steam deck, steam machine or just to download the game in your standalone headset to play natively the game on a 2D screen or have a VR experience is quite cool. It doesn't need to run from your PC if the performance of the game runs on the standalone chip.
    • Valve's long term goal is to turn VR into a Von Neumann architecture.
      • The headset is modular heaven. The compute unit snaps on the headband, there's expansion ports, etc. In the future if you want to upgrade say to microOLED displays, you don't rebuy controllers/headband/battery etc if you don't want it. No longer replacing the entire device every time you change model. Valve has patents to eventually even replace just the displays but that's probably a technology bottleneck for now and not implemented in this version.
    • Eye tracking
      • Been compared to near displayport quality streaming thanks to eye tracking for a fraction of the processing power in the unit.
    • Streaming
      • Comes with a dongle. That might seem minor but it solves so many headaches that other headsets had with streaming from PC to wireless headset over network honestly. If you have a solution already for that good for you but its a huge headache removed from the equation.
    • Display comfort
      • Valve has some of the lowest persistence displays in the industry to be honest. If you ever felt sick by motion in VR, motion persistence was probably a big culprit.
    • Standalone chipset
      • as of now, the frame will have a newer more powerful version of the snapdragon than Quest 3's, but I don't see that much of a factor as its easy for Meta to release a 2026 headset that jumps this.
TLDR : Meta's fun exclusive games but sell your soul to Satan for cheap prices vs an ecosystem that will respect its user in the future with modularity, good customer support, etc.

I'm personally waiting maybe late 2026 to see if microOLED pops up on Frame device and I switch.
 
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The Frame controllers are like a gamepad split in two. The Quest controllers have 2 face buttons in each hand and no equivalent of R1/L1 (just the triggers).
Ah yes. 8 more "buttons" (2 face, Dpad and 2 more on grip).
 
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Playing non VR game on it. I dont think you can do that on other VR headsets.
Yeah, this has been the biggest take away from me, aside from the whole step up in streaming from PC to headset thing. I respect VR, and after dabbling in it, there's definitely some neat things. BUT, it still does feel pretty niche. But offering the ability to play non VR games on it does open the door to more people that are curious but on the fence, etc.
 
You want OLED (or better) - not LCD + Pancake lens. That's the next big upgrade. Only get 1 of those and you have a product that is not fully realized aka compromised in a significant way.
 
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Look, I get it.

Fuck Zuck and fuck Facebook

Everyone agrees with this.

But what about the games man? What else are you buying a VR headset for? Don't you want the best experience possible? Does good tech matter if you ain't got no games?

Even BennyBlanco BennyBlanco has a MQ3 and he hates big tech companies with a passion. He knows what's up.
I'm sure you can find good VR games on Steam as well.
 
How one bricks the headset?

Many cases even the software update bricks it throughout the past years

Or melting cables which render the unit useless and Meta says tough luck, out of warranty 🤷‍♂️ almost burned your house not my problem

Locked out of account, then spend weeks to review the request to give it back, etc
 
Time will tell if VR sticks around, I think these past resident evil games show promise. I like shooters like fire point, I know people will bang on the price but let's bundle VR with consoles in a higher tier package that's how you make it mainstream.
 
From a tech standpoint I get it. No crazy setup required, no cables, state of the art streaming option, etc.

But Meta already offers a hassle free experience.

The biggest thing seems to be the games. Meta is investing in seriously compelling exclusives that won't be available to Steam Frame people afaik. Deadpool, Vampire Survivors, RE4, etc.

So what's the draw? Buy in and hope for the best?
Honestly? I think this derives mostly from people who only dabble into VR from time to time and aren't well informed beforehand. Countless youtube channels championing the Steam Frame like it is the first time a VR headset can do wireless streaming from a PC, or that it's the first one without base stations and cables, both of which have been a thing for half a decade if not more.

There is also this delusion that the Steam Frame will "change VR forever!", which is something I've been hearing whenever a new hyped headset is announced. (Still hoping against hope I'm wrong this time and Steam Frame actually ends up moving the needle, because I love VR gaming so much, it made entire genres unplayable for me in flatscreen, like racing or shooting)
 
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The main selling point is to be able to play whole Steam catalog on a big screen within VR by streaming from your PC. Or in some cases nateviley running on headset.
 
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From a tech standpoint I get it. No crazy setup required, no cables, state of the art streaming option, etc.

But Meta already offers a hassle free experience.

The biggest thing seems to be the games. Meta is investing in seriously compelling exclusives that won't be available to Steam Frame people afaik. Deadpool, Vampire Survivors, RE4, etc.

So what's the draw? Buy in and hope for the best?

Easy for me: I don't have to use a Meta account, which is an absolute deal breaker for me.

This headset will integrate with Steam seamlessly and allow me to play my library on it in addition to accessing any ARM-based VR game. It's a no-brainer to me.
 
Look, I get it.

Fuck Zuck and fuck Facebook

Everyone agrees with this.

But what about the games man? What else are you buying a VR headset for? Don't you want the best experience possible? Does good tech matter if you ain't got no games?

Even BennyBlanco BennyBlanco has a MQ3 and he hates big tech companies with a passion. He knows what's up.

true.gif
 
I might get it but the specs seem pretty average considering the quest 3 is 2 years old. They can't box with the meta exclusives though. Batman and Asgard Wrath sequels coming and we just got deadpool.
 
I might get it but the specs seem pretty average considering the quest 3 is 2 years old. They can't box with the meta exclusives though. Batman and Asgard Wrath sequels coming and we just got deadpool.
I've poo pooed VR a lot over the years but Meta is starting to win me over. There's a number of games I know I want to play and it keeps growing.
 
I think if you've made it this far without caring about VR, then keep going without it. The library hasn't really improved that much. I think the appeal of the Frame is running some of the lightweight non-VR games natively and its ability to sideload Android apps.
 
I've poo pooed VR a lot over the years but Meta is starting to win me over. There's a number of games I know I want to play and it keeps growing.

I dislike the company but their ambition is there for games. They're the only ones carrying the torch forward on that front.
 
I own a couple of headsets including Q3, no moneyissue here, but I see absolutely no point of getting frame? And, as i often see people writing things like "i dont want to have anything to do with meta" i might have been like that to before, but my honest opinion is that when it comes to vr.... meta is absolutely amazing.

I dont like subscriptionservices, but damn, horizon+ is the real deal, awsome bang for ze buck.

And, it does pcvr to, nah, i'm waiting for Quest 4 😍
 
Cheap all-in-one low-profile PC. Most people forget that not everyone is a neckbeard that enjoys and knows how to build a PC. That's why the pre-built market exists.
 
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