// PC GAMER — GAMING
Steam Frame review
The Steam Frame gets a whole lot right. It's comfortable and straightforward. Above all else, it's convenient. It's admittedly a tough sell as an upgrade to a Quest 3, or as someone's first step into VR when other options are much cheaper, but the Steam Frame is the best all-round VR headset I've used to date. After weeks of non-stop virtual reality testing, it's the headset I keep reaching for when I'm off the clock.
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The Steam Frame is a great way to game in virtual reality. I've been testing it for three weeks and I've played more VR games in that time than I have in many months. That's because, above all else, it's convenient. What used to slow me down with other headsets is mostly a thing of the past. I place the Steam Frame on my head and pick a game to play; VR has never been easier.
But I haven't always been sold on the Steam Frame. I spent the week prior to its arrival playing on the Pimax Dream Air, which includes the most spectacular Micro-OLED displays. That is a tough act to follow for any VR headset, let alone one with optics not dissimilar from the three-year-old Quest 3. As a long-term VR user and someone that's been privileged to play most of the best VR headsets in recent years, the Steam Frame felt too familiar an experience out of the box.
Over many weeks of testing, I've noticed more how the Steam Frame has eased a few of my fundamental gripes with virtual reality; things that cause me to leave my other headsets to gather dust on the shelf. Like how often I need to set up my playspace, set the floor height, peer out from my headset at my computer, adjust the strap, or untangle myself from a cable.
A wireless dongle included with the Frame takes care of the cable, delivering a seamless and reliable connection between it and a gaming PC. The fully-featured SteamOS means the first step upon donning the headset is choosing a game, and the second step playing it. The included controllers work with every game, VR or non-VR, and are tracked with pinpoint accuracy. And with such a lightweight design, this is one headset I'm not in a rush to take off.
I want to use the Steam Frame more than any other headset I own right now. That includes some that are double the price. Ack, I've mentioned money. Now I have to do the hard thing and bring this spiralling back down to Earth: The Steam Frame starts out a $1,059 for the 256 GB model. I haven't spoken to anyone, even Valve employees, who has much positive to say about the price. The memory crisis has done a number on the Steam Frame, as it did the Steam Machine.
The Steam Frame isn't a cheap way into virtual reality for the masses. It has to be viewed as an enthusiast offering; or, at the very least, you have to care a bit about VR to purchase one. Those of us wanting to try VR for the first time are still better off with a Quest 3 or Quest 3S for value for money; and those of us that already own a Quest 3—that's a lot of us—it's a tough upgrade, lacking any major visual overhaul. There are undoubtedly better options for enthusiasts looking for that, like the Bigscreen Beyond 2. Yet it is far more convenient than high-end headsets that still rely on Base Stations or heavy tethers.
Ultimately, I believe VR to be a holistic experience. Focus all your efforts on one aspect of a headset and the user experience is likely to suffer moreover for something else; the weakest link. Take it from me, even high-end optics fall flat after the umpteenth time resetting your playspace due to poor tracking. The Steam Frame does, then, have its virtues: It's by far the best all-round VR headset for user experience, with no major faults besides the price; it's just that price matters more than most.
✅ You want it quick and easy: Set-up is easy on the Steam Frame, thanks to excellent in