Valve Steam Frame — specification and verdict
Valve announced Steam Frame in November 2025 and has published a full spec sheet for it: two 2160 x 2160 LCD panels behind multi-element pancake lenses, 72, 90 and 120 Hz with an experimental 144 Hz mode, and a field of view Valve describes as “conservatively” 110 degrees. The core module weighs 185 grams and the strap another 245, so 440 grams as worn. Inside is a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with 16 GB of memory and either 256 GB or 1 TB of storage, expandable by microSD. Interpupillary distance runs 60 to 70 mm on a wheel on top, and the headset fits over glasses up to 140 mm wide. There is eye tracking, which is what makes Valve’s foveated streaming work, and four grayscale cameras — two of which give a monochrome see-through rather than colour passthrough. A wireless adapter for streaming from a PC, a Steam Machine or a Steam Deck is in the box. What Valve has not announced is the price and the date: the window is still “this summer”, and the numbers circulating online come from retailer databases and analysts, not from Valve, so they are not in this comparison.
The line that decides everything else for a training buyer is the operating system. Steam Frame runs SteamOS on an ARM chip, not Android — our courses are Android packages and cannot be installed on it, and that will still be true after launch. There is no device management programme, no fleet licensing and no distributor in Poland, because there is no product on sale yet. Treat it as a consumer and enthusiast headset with an unusually open hardware design: Valve publishes CAD and electrical specifications so third parties can build facial interfaces and straps, and the front expansion port can take colour cameras or depth sensors. That openness is genuinely interesting for a research lab. It is not a fleet.
What is known: the complete hardware specification, the platform, and a release window of summer 2026. What is not: the price, the exact date, and battery runtime — Valve states 21.6 Wh and 45 W charging and no hours. We deliberately quote no price here, including the widely repeated leak, because a figure Valve has not published is a rumour whatever it is dressed as. If you are choosing headsets for training and wondering whether to wait for this one, the honest answer is no: the reason is not the specs, it is that SteamOS will not run the courses. Wait for it if you want a PC-VR-first gaming headset with a standalone mode.
How it compares within its class
The axis runs from the lowest to the highest published figure among the VR — standalone devices in this catalogue. The grey tick is the median of that class.
Median for this class: 102°, from 24 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: 395 g, from 17 models that publish the figure.
Full specification
An em dash means the manufacturer does not publish that figure.
- ManufacturerWho makes it — and who you buy support from.
- Valve
- CategoryWhich kind of product this is. It decides which rows below make sense at all.
- VR — standalone
- Device typeWhere the computing happens, and therefore what you need to run it.
- Standalone VR, also PC-powered
- AnnouncedThe day it was shown, which is not the day it shipped.
- 2025-11-12
- ReleasedYear the model went on sale. Older is not automatically worse in this category.
- 2026
- AvailabilityWhether you can still order it new today.
- Announced for 2026-Q3
- Support endsThe date the manufacturer stops supporting it. Decisive for a fleet you are about to buy.
- Support ends: not published by the manufacturer
- PanelThe screen type. micro-OLED gives deeper blacks and higher contrast; LCD is brighter and cheaper.
- LCD
- OpticsThe lenses in front of the panel. Pancake stays sharp closer to the edges than older Fresnel, which decides how much a trainee has to aim their head to read something.
- Pancake lenses
- Eyes coveredOne eye or both. Over a full shift this is a real difference in fatigue.
- Eyes covered: not published by the manufacturer
- Resolution per eyePixels delivered to each eye. Higher means small text and labels stay readable.
- 2160x2160
- Refresh rateImages per second. Higher feels smoother and helps people prone to motion discomfort.
- 72/90/120/144 Hz
- Field of viewHow much of your view the image covers. Bigger is more immersive, not automatically better for work.
- 110° horizontal
- Pixel densityPixels per degree of view — the honest way to compare sharpness between a headset and a pair of glasses. Higher is sharper. Only shown where somebody published it; we never compute it ourselves.
- Pixel density: not published by the manufacturer
- BrightnessIn a plant or outdoors, brightness decides legibility more than resolution does.
- Brightness: not published by the manufacturer
- WeightThe device alone. Anything above roughly 150 g is felt within an hour.
- 185 g
- Visible field of viewWhat the eye actually sees through the optics, by axis.
- Visible field of view: not published by the manufacturer
- Rendered field of viewWhat the device draws. Never smaller than what you see.
- Rendered field of view: not published by the manufacturer
- Binocular overlapWhere both eyes see the same thing — this is where depth happens.
- Binocular overlap: not published by the manufacturer
- Average pixel densityPixels per degree across the image. More is sharper.
- 19.6 PPD horizontal (computed)
- Peak pixel densityThe sharpest point, usually the centre of the lens.
- Peak pixel density: not published by the manufacturer
- Subpixel layoutHow the coloured dots sit in a pixel. A stripe looks cleaner on text than PenTile.
- RGB stripe · 3 subpixels per pixel
- Foveated renderingWhether detail is dropped outside where you look, to save performance.
- Foveated rendering: not published by the manufacturer
- PassthroughWhat the front cameras give you: colour, grayscale, or nothing.
- Grayscale
- Passthrough camerasResolution, density and frame rate of that camera feed.
- 1280x1024
- IPD adjustmentMatching lens spacing to the eyes. Motorised is fastest when one headset passes between people.
- Manual
- IPD rangeHow far the lenses travel to match eye spacing. A narrow range excludes part of any group of adults, which matters when one headset is shared.
- 60–70 mm
- Works with glassesWhether people who wear glasses can use it — fits over them, or takes prescription lens inserts.
- Yes
- Vision correctionHow somebody who wears glasses uses it, and in what dioptre range.
- Lens inserts available
- DimensionsWidth, height and depth of the device itself.
- 175 × 95 × 110 mm
- Weight with strapWith the strap it ships with — the weight you actually wear.
- 440 g
- Head strapSoft band or a rigid one. Decides how the weight sits over an hour.
- Head strap: not published by the manufacturer
- MaterialsShell and facial interface, in the vendor’s words.
- Plastic · fabric facial interface
- ColoursColours the manufacturer sells it in.
- Black
- Haptics in the headsetVibration in the headset itself, not in the controllers.
- Haptics in the headset: not published by the manufacturer
- TrackingWhether content stays put in the room (6DoF), follows head rotation (3DoF) or is simply fixed.
- inside-out 6DoF
- Base stationsWhether boxes have to be mounted on the walls before it works.
- Not needed
- Tracking camerasHow many cameras it uses to know where it is.
- 4
- Tracking rateHow often position is recalculated. Higher is steadier.
- Tracking rate: not published by the manufacturer
- Depth sensorA dedicated sensor for distance, on top of the cameras.
- Depth sensor: not published by the manufacturer
- Hand trackingWhether bare hands can operate the interface, without a controller or the phone.
- No
- Eye trackingThe headset knows where the trainee is looking. Enables sharper rendering where they look, and attention analytics.
- Yes
- Face trackingTracks facial expression — for avatars, not for training scenarios.
- No
- Body trackingHow much of the body the device knows about. Estimated legs are not tracked legs.
- None
- Controllers includedWhether motion controllers come in the box, or are bought separately — or the device is hands-only.
- Yes
- Controller modelThe manufacturer's own name for the controller.
- Steam Frame Controller
- Controller tracking6DoF controllers track position and rotation, so a hand reaches in space; 3DoF only point. “None” means hands only.
- 6DoF
- Finger tracking on the controllerWhether the controller senses individual fingers, and how.
- Full
- Controller inputsButtons, sticks and triggers the controller offers.
- Face buttons · joystick index trigger · middle finger trigger · D-pad
- Controller hapticsVibration feedback in the hand.
- Yes
- Controller powerDisposable cells or a built-in rechargeable — a fleet question.
- AA batteries
- Controller weightOne controller, as the vendor weighs it.
- 130 g
- Other input methodsWays in beyond controllers and bare hands.
- Other input methods: not published by the manufacturer
- PerformanceHow much the headset can run — sharper scenes, more objects, smoother mixed reality. Higher is better.
- Performance: not published by the manufacturer
- ProcessorThe processor and memory inside. This is what the performance grade above is derived from.
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
- CPUCores and clocks, where the manufacturer publishes them.
- CPU: not published by the manufacturer
- GPUThe graphics part of the chip.
- GPU: not published by the manufacturer
- MemoryRAM on the device. Together with the chipset it sets how complex a scene can be.
- 16 GB
- PlatformThe platform an application is built against — and what an MDM has to speak.
- SteamOS
- StorageOn-board space for downloaded courses. More matters for an offline library in several languages.
- 256 GB · 1024 GB
- SD card slotWhether storage can be added with a card.
- Yes
- BatteryRuntime as the manufacturer states it. A hot-swappable pack matters more than the figure.
- Battery: not published by the manufacturer
- Battery capacity (Wh)Energy in the cell. Bigger is longer, given the same power draw.
- Battery capacity (Wh): not published by the manufacturer
- Battery capacity (mAh)The same fact in the other unit vendors use. We never convert between the two.
- Battery capacity (mAh): not published by the manufacturer
- Charge timeFrom empty to full. Rarely stated by the manufacturer, so it usually comes from whoever timed it.
- Charge time: not published by the manufacturer
- ChargerPower of the supplied charger — it decides the charge time above.
- Charger: not published by the manufacturer
- External batteryBattery on a cable or a puck instead of on the head.
- External battery: not published by the manufacturer
- Charging caseExtra runtime carried in the case the glasses ship with.
- Charging case: not published by the manufacturer
- Hot-swap batteryWhether a charged battery can replace the empty one without ending the session. This is what decides if a headset can hold an all-day training station.
- No
- Runs Skillsive appsOur own statement about whether Skillsive training applications run on it today.
- No
- Suitable for trainingOur judgement on whether it survives real deployment: comfort, hygiene, fleet management.
- No
- Kiosk mode / MDMVendor tooling to enrol devices, push an app and lock the headset to it. Practically required above ten devices.
- No
- Business tierAn official business tier, so devices belong to the company rather than to employees’ personal accounts.
- No
- Swappable facial interfaceRemovable, wipeable face padding. A consumable, and the difference between shared use and complaints.
- Yes
- CertificationsIndustrial certifications stated on the manufacturer's own page. Empty means unconfirmed, never "probably fine".
- Certifications: not published by the manufacturer
- PortsPhysical sockets and charging contacts.
- USB Type-C
- Wi-FiThe Wi-Fi generation — it decides how well wireless streaming holds up.
- WiFi 7
- BluetoothFor controllers, headphones and accessories.
- Bluetooth 5.3
- Video from a computerWhether a computer can drive it, over a cable or wirelessly.
- Wireless (Foveated streaming)
- AudioBuilt-in sound. Matters most where somebody has to hear a remote expert while working.
- Built-in speakers
- MicrophoneBuilt-in microphone — the other half of talking to a remote expert.
- Yes
- MicrophonesHow many. An array picks a voice out of a noisy hall; one does not.
- Microphones: not published by the manufacturer
- Price bandThe band it sits in, rather than a price that goes stale.
- Price band: not published by the manufacturer
- Launch priceThe manufacturer's launch price. Fixed history, so it never goes stale.
- Launch price: not published by the manufacturer
- Price by configurationWhat each configuration cost at launch.
- Price by configuration: not published by the manufacturer
- Price todayApproximate current net price in USD — a general figure, since these barely differ between regions once tax is stripped out. A snapshot from the date shown, not an offer.
- Price today: not published by the manufacturer
- Comfort (from reviews)How it wears over a full session. Scored from agreement between independent reviewers, not from our own testing.
- Comfort (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer
- Edge clarity (from reviews)Sharpness away from the centre of the lens. Scored from agreement between independent reviewers.
- Edge clarity (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer
- Tracking reliability (from reviews)How tracking holds up in poor light and fast movement. Scored from agreement between independent reviewers.
- Tracking reliability (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer
- Hand tracking quality (from reviews)How usable controller-free hand tracking is in a training scenario. Scored from agreement between reviewers.
- Hand tracking quality (from reviews): not published by the manufacturer
Average pixel density is our own arithmetic: panel pixels divided by the field of view on the same axis. It is the standard approximation, and it runs lower than a published peak figure because a lens packs pixels denser at the centre.
Who this device is for
Steam Frame is the device to keep an eye on rather than to plan around: a 185 g standalone headset running SteamOS, announced for the second half of 2026, with eye tracking and a 144 Hz panel. For a training organisation the interesting question is not the hardware but the platform — a third standalone ecosystem alongside Horizon OS and PICO OS, and one our applications do not currently target.
What is missing, and what the manufacturer does not publish
Valve has published neither a price nor a release date beyond a window, so both are absent here rather than guessed — the leaked figures circulating are not specifications. Hand tracking is not among the announced features, there is no device management, and our courses do not run on SteamOS. Everything on this page will be re-checked against the manufacturer's own material at launch.
Valve Steam Frame — frequently asked questions
- When is the Valve Steam Frame released and what will it cost?
- Valve has confirmed the headset and a 2026 window but has published neither a price nor a launch date. We deliberately leave both blank rather than repeat the figures circulating in leaks — an announced device with an invented price is worse than no entry at all.
- Is Steam Frame a successor to the Valve Index?
- Not in the usual sense. The Index is a PC-tethered headset with base stations; Steam Frame is a standalone device running SteamOS with inside-out tracking, weighing 185 g. It replaces the Index in Valve's line-up while being a fundamentally different kind of product.
- Will corporate VR training run on Steam Frame?
- Not at launch. Our applications target Android-based standalone platforms, and SteamOS is neither of them — a port would be a project, not a build setting. If the headset gains traction in business use, that assessment is worth revisiting; today it is a consumer and enthusiast device.
Compare this device
Consider these too
The nearest devices in the same class, ranked by availability and launch price — not by our opinion of them.
Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-03. Manufacturer's specification
Product and company names used here are the trademarks of their respective owners and appear only to identify the hardware being compared. We are not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any of these manufacturers. Illustrations are our own.