Valve's new device, the Steam Frame, recently underwent nearly three weeks of hands-on testing. While comfortable to wear and offering diverse ways to run games, frequent crashes and feature failures make the current usage experience feel more like participating in hardware beta testing.
The Steam Frame is not just a VR headset, but a wearable spatial computing device designed for gamers. The 256GB version is priced at $1,059, while the 1TB version costs $1,299. With the optional top head strap installed, the entire unit weighs 469 grams; testers reported no significant pressure marks on their faces even after wearing it continuously for several hours.
The device can stream regular Steam games and VR titles from a PC, and can also emulate less demanding Windows games using its built-in Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. Additionally, it can run VR works originally developed for Meta Android headsets, as well as games natively developed for Linux on Arm, including the new standalone version of Half-Life: Alyx.
The Steam Frame can also display multiple virtual screens simultaneously. In testing, three screens were streamed from a desktop PC monitor, while the other three ran natively on the headset, allowing Windows and Linux desktops to be displayed side by side. However, the two desktop environments require different input devices for control, and the controller pointer occasionally failed to respond to clicks.
When streaming Star Wars: Squadrons, the device struggled to properly choose between home Wi-Fi and the included 6GHz wireless adapter, causing latency and frequent frame drops. Fully streaming the computer desktop also resulted in the loss of passthrough visuals. The controllers cannot emulate an Xbox controller, and Bluetooth keyboards and mice connected to the headset are unable to operate the streamed computer.
Stability is the main issue in the current experience. Games have crashed severely, forcing device reboots, while virtual objects, control interfaces, and audio would suddenly disappear. The entire unit has also experienced power loss resulting in a black screen. After adding a seventh virtual screen, all visuals and system interfaces disappeared simultaneously, requiring another reboot.
Beyond streaming, the Steam Frame's built-in chip can still run Half-Life: Alyx and its player mods, as well as lighter titles like Dave the Diver, Prince of Blue Road, and Streets of Rage 4. However, in terms of general gaming performance, it currently lags behind the Steam Deck, with Hi-Fi Rush nearing the upper limit of what testers found acceptable.