Valve has just announced the Steam Frame, a new standalone VR headset that can stream games from a PC and play games locally thanks to the onboard Arm chip. The headset is significantly different from Valve’s previous model, the Index, which had to be connected to a gaming computer with a physical wire. But it’s also different from many of the other major VR headsets on the market right now, like the Meta Quest 3, Samsung Galaxy XR, and Apple Vision Pro.
One big way Frame separates from the pack is its focus on streaming your games. This is all made possible thanks to a wireless dongle that comes with every Frame: Plug it into your PC, and you can stream both your flat and VR games to the headset over a low-latency connection. I got a chance to try out streaming for myself at Valve’s headquarters while playing Half Life: AlexAnd I didn’t see any obvious gaps.
You can even play games on the Frame itself as Valve has got SteamOS working on the Arm; The headset is equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. Other headsets can also play games locally – usually games created specifically for their respective platforms. But Frame is actually able to run Windows x86 code and recompile it in real time using an emulator, meaning a huge amount of the Steam library will be playable directly on the headset without you or any developers.
That said, you shouldn’t expect to be able to play high-end games locally on the Frame. Valve designer Lawrence Yang explains The Verge Developers should aim for lower performance than games on the Steam deck. Real-time emulation of frames may affect performance; while playing Hollow Knight: Silksong And Hades II On the headset, which are both relatively low-end games, I noticed some stuttering that I never saw on my Steam deck. (According to Valve hardware engineer Jeremy Sellon, this was a bug and something the company hopes will be fixed before and after launch.)
Valve isn’t sharing pricing yet, but hardware engineer Gabe Rowe has reported The Verge The company is aiming for a cost that is below the index. The Meta Quest 3 costs $499.99, while the Samsung Galaxy If you’re curious how this all compares to the outgoing index, we’ve prepared a comparison below; Valve sold the Index for $999 with the necessary controllers and base stations.
Valve is set to release Steam Frame in early 2026. I recently had a chance to try it out at Valve’s headquarters, and I think the company is onto something.