Valve has announced the Steam Frame, a new VR headset joining the Steam hardware lineup. Shipments will begin in early 2026, with specific dates and pricing to be announced after the New Year.
The Steam Frame is a standalone VR headset powered by a Snapdragon CPU and SteamOS. It supports both VR and non-VR games, so you can use it with your entire Steam library.
The headset is quite lightweight, weighing only 440g including the headstrap and battery (21.5Wh). It comes with an in-built 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 ARM64 processor and 16GB Unified LPDDR5X RAM, so you can use it on its own, without the need for a separate gaming PC. As for internal storage, the Steam Frame will come in a 256GB and 1TB model, both of which will support MicroSD cards for extra storage.
The VR device uses pancake lenses (like the Meta Quest 3), and is equipped with dual 2160 x 2160 LCD displays. The refresh rate ranges from 72 to 144Hz, with a maximum field of view of 110 degrees. Four external cameras track the headset and its dedicated controllers (described below in the article), while an internal camera handles eye tracking. The device also appears to support foveated rendering, which reduces load by rendering high-resolution detail in the center of the player’s vision, while reducing the resolution in the periphery.
The Steam Frame comes bundled with dedicated controllers, which allow 6DoF tracking with IMU support, as well as finger tracking and haptics. The controllers allow inputs equivalent to standard gaming controllers, with analog sticks equipped with TMR magnetics sensors (these offer higher accuracy and responsiveness). They’re powered by AA batteries and can run for up to 40 hours.
The Steam Frame is scheduled to begin shipping in early 2026. It will ship to all regions currently shipping the Steam Deck (US, Canada, UK, EU and Australia) as well as Komodo regions (Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan).
