My partner and I got our purchase emails about a month apart, but the boxes are different. What does it mean?

Valve could've garnered way more praise for this device if they had stuck microoled or higher rez displays at a more expensive price or cheaper as a A headset, but I'm really glad they didn't.

I'm sorry guys I know a lot of you (myself included) don't like to hear it but: *size does matter*.

This thing makes my quest 3 and PSVR2 feel last gen just in pure bulk/weight. It almost reminds me of those early put your phone in VR's in terms of feel but of course infinitely higher quality. The specs undersell it, because the weight seems similarish to the quest 3 but the key difference is that the weight spec of the frame includes what is essentially a counterweight comfort strap: compared to Q3 with bobo this thing is easily half the weight and a fraction of the bulk.

From an individual product perspective this was probably a stupid approach but in terms of what VR needs: comfort is one of the main issues and it's amazing for the industry moving forward that the frame is setting this bar. It's truly a baffling piece of engineering: we already have SFF headsets in the form of the BSB and Dream Air of course...but those are just displays and lenses.

Would've been nice if it was cheaper, but as meta has showed us even getting headsets dirt cheap might sell them but most of them will just collect dust. I've always enjoyed VR but this is the first time I just want to and feel comfortable enough just hanging out for hours and hours (a couple of no man's sessions pushing through discomfort on my Q2 aside).

It's actually frustrating seeing so many reviews just gloss over the comfort and size. I get it: it's not fancy like oled true blacks or 4k screens, but honestly who cares about all that if you're not going to put the damn thing on regularly because it's uncomfortable? I think this matters less for simmers because being wired is not bad at all while seating...but for general gaming I think this is a turning point.

Also even though I have a way better screen and audio at my desktop I genuinely might never sit down again, because I cannot begin to describe how much chiller it is after a day of work to lay on the couch and stream my PC and be able to lounge while I play it, instead of sitting at my desk. I like it better than the steam deck because I can put the screen up high and don't have to hold the controllers up or twist my neck.

YMMV of course comfort is highly subjective but I don't think it's a coincidence that this is the one thing that has been almost universally praised, and I think it's a much bigger deal than it's being credited for.

The only thing bringing it down currently is the software, get your shit together valve, lol.

First off, I'm loving the Frame! Sure it has its faults, but I'm having a blast!

While the Frame is a great time, playing in my not so well ventilated office, not so much. Ideally, I wanted to play in my living room, its spacious and where I spent most of my time with my Quest 2 when I didn't have to be tethered to my PC. It's the best place to play in my home.

So starts the obsession to find a way to extend the adapter to the living room. While my office is literally next door, the adapter simply doesn't work through walls. So what do I do? Go through the wall!

I installed low voltage mounting brackets in my office and in the entry way to my house. I my office I installed a brush wall plate for the USB-A to A (male to male) cable to go through. In the living room, I installed a USB 3.0 wall plate for the Frame adapter.

IT WORKS!!!

Just got done playing a session of HLA and Arizona Sunshine 2, no lag, dips, or connection issues!

Here are the items I used for the project:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0GXPT3Y34?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0B18CQ71H?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B071X8RLJL?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0DYSJVKG4?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

By the way.

The USB plate doesn't sit flush with the listed low voltage mounting brackets listed. It's not awful by any means, just letting everyone know!

Modified my Steam Frame to accept an Apple Vision Pro Dual-Knit strap, Index headphones, all mounted to a Halo Strap (CMQ3 v2) using poorly modified 3D prints (and way too much hot glue...)

Vivecraft on Minecraft v26.3 was one of the coolest games I tried when I first got the frame, however was pretty disappointed to see that most older versions of the game would refuse to load in VR due to missing ARM support.

I've spent the last couple of days trying to get an ARM version of the missing library working on one of the most common versions by recompiling the source code (not very easy as a beginner), and I finally just got in-game!

The setup is a little complicated due to needing to replace one of Minecraft's built-in libraries, however if anyone else wants to give it a shot, I've uploaded the files and guide to GitHub https://github.com/gingerphoenix10/lwjgl3/releases/tag/3.3.3.0

On my way back from a birthday dinner, I decided to put my frame on and try it out on the train. Worked pretty well, but when the train went through some track switches, the G-forces made my dashboard float to the outside of the train, lol.

Several sites are reporting on Valve source code that show development for an OLED frame; Codenamed Deckard Plano

https://steamframehub.com/exclusive-here-we-go-again-valve-is-making-an-oled-steam-frame/

OLED Steam Frame References Appear in Steam Frame Kernel Code

Similar to the Galaxy XR a per eye panel resolution of 3552x3840, but a default of 1776×1920 at 90hz.

The code is a long way off from complete but had recent Oct commits. It appears they are still tooling with how to get 120hz off the current snapdragon chipset... but it looks to be a mid gen refresh as we've seen with the Deck.

If its anything like the original Deckard wait.. we're looking at maybe 2029? Interesting developments though!

https://www.printables.com/model/1877371-steam-frame-head-strap-accessories

I've been using both sune-ku's Steam Frame  - DIY Top Strap and NININ's remix model, Steam Frame - Cross strap mod, but came across two issues that I have solved for myself. First, my straps are too loose in both models and won't stay fastened, so I designed these small clips that snap on the top to keep them in place. Second, I wanted to keep the two straps fastened to each other where they meet. I found a model that does this, and then added a Steam Frame logo for use with an MMU-capable printer.

I'll need to get around to printing this all (minus the cross strap) in a different color, orange isn't really for me. Either the black I've got now, or I'll order yellow PETG filament.

Posting this to have more success stories about Frame use when it seems like the only people posting have issues, sometimes major, that might be skewing impressions of people still on the reservation/wait list. I received my purchase email last week, ordered it Wednesday, and it was delivered yesterday evening.

I only had one slight hiccup during setup. Downloading/installing the software update for the Frame it glitched 90% through, gave me a "Try Again" button, and completed on second try (taking maybe three more minutes). I should add in order to access the internet (to download the update) I used the B&W passthrough to read my upstairs router's password on my iPhone to enter it on the Frame. Yes, the passthrough relatively sucks but it's not completely useless. Adding the Frame to my Steam account (using the Steam iPhone app) was quick. The dongle auto-setup within maybe 5-8 seconds.

My PC is in my basement, the back of it facing the room, so the dongle has clear line of sight to me/the Frame. I only looked at transmission speeds last night but it was stable at about 6 ms ping/latency. I also have a 6 Ghz router connected to my PC that I had only used for VR gaming with my Quest 3 (that router is not connected to the internet). That was less stable/higher latency than the dongle so I may just unplug/box it up and rely just on the dongle.

I had one other weird issue playing last night (don't even remember if it happened today) in invoking/starting a VR game (Beat Saber) from the Frame but that ran on my PC. The Steam Frame store/library window stayed active even with the game taking up the rest of the 360 degree view. It took me a minute to realize I could hit the "Steam" button on the controller to banish the window and fully immerse me in the game.

One last note. I played Half Life: Alyx (running from PC) today while it the PC was simultaneously downloading a recently bought Steam VR game. HFA ran fine (should have checked latency) although I think the game downloading slowed down, maybe even paused downloading (it wasn't done after quitting Alyx maybe 15-20 minutes later). I am running with a RTX 3080.

For now I do not regret buying the Frame, even if it's almost identical to the Quest 3 I had. On the Quest I just seemed to have enough latency/game image burps that made me want to use the Quest less often. I have been an early adopter of VR headsets since the beginning. I have owned:

HTC Vive, Valve Index, Quest 2, BigScreen Beyond, Quest 3, and now the Fame. I had bought the BigScreen Beyond hoping the amazing imaging would made me forget it was tethered. It didn't.

And here we go ! Elite Dangerous running in standalone on the Steam Frame :p

I had to lower the FOV at maximum (can be larger) and enable AMD FSR 1 (everything is in low) but I played more than an hour like this).
You can see my settings at the end.
Even in the station, Framerate is not that bad. Could be better, but it's playable with these settings.

I decided to finally test using the frame with my power bank, and this was the result. I tried using two different usb-c cables, the one that came with my iPad and the one that came with the frame, and both yielded the same results. Granted, I think the battery on the frame did drain slightly slower than it does without the battery pack.

When I get some free time, possibly this weekend, I’ll try it again, but from a full charge, and then I can test it in different games and different uses.

In this first test, I played beat saber on standalone for like 30 minutes and it drained by ~20%. I then took the head set off for like 30 minutes and it charged up by about 40%. I then played for another 30ish minutes and it drained by ~20% again. Again, I’ll need to try again without the battery pack to see if the power drain actually is slower or not, but for now…that projected charging time is a bit ridiculous.

EDIT: So at the time, I didn’t know the output of my power bank (Anker 325 Powercore ll), but I did know that is was 20,000mAh, and so I was hoping that it would be enough, but it turns out that it’s only 15W output, which is about half of what the frame needs. I will still do some more testing with it to see how much it can extend the frame’s playtime, if at all.

Valve may be experimenting with CPU schedulers to reduce latency on the Steam Frame and they shipped scx to dynamically handle scheduling.

/etc/default/scx is owned by scx-scheds 1.1.2.linux.steamos.3-1
/usr/lib/systemd/system/scx.service is owned by scx-scheds 1.1.2.linux.steamos.3-1
/usr/bin/scx_lavd is owned by scx-scheds 1.1.2.linux.steamos.3-1

And Valve's settings:

[steamos@frame ~]$ cat /etc/default/scx
# List of scx_schedulers: scx_beerland scx_bpfland scx_chaos scx_cosmos scx_flash scx_lavd scx_p2dq scx_rustland scx_rusty scx_tickless
SCX_SCHEDULER=scx_lavd

# Set custom flags for each scheduler, below is an example of how to use
SCX_FLAGS='--pinned-slice-us 500 --lb-local-dsq-util-pct 0'

Out of the box, this is disabled, but it looks like it's somewhat tuned and ready to be used.

In games such as Metal Hellsinger and A Fisherman's Tale I was noticing juddering in rendering, but I didn't want that to be the sole evidence on possible improvements in changing the scheduler.

Benchmarking with perf:

Before:

[steamos@frame ~]$ perf bench sched pipe
# Running 'sched/pipe' benchmark:```
# Executed 1000000 pipe operations between two processes

 Total time: 11.614 [sec]

  11.614539 usecs/op
      86098 ops/sec```

After:

[steamos@frame ~]$ perf bench sched pipe
# Running 'sched/pipe' benchmark:
# Executed 1000000 pipe operations between two processes

 Total time: 3.452 [sec]

   3.452527 usecs/op
     289642 ops/sec

To turn it on you'll need to enable developer mode, and have a password set so that you can use sudo.

The command to enable it immediately in a konsole terminal is:

sudo systemctl enable --now scx

And it'll be active until steamos updates.

To revert it run:

sudo systemctl disable --now scx

It's possible Valve will make this the default in future.

Hey all, I’ve spent a couple of days fine tuning a battery mount for the Iniu P55 (slim one @ 18mm thick) power bank. At first I was making it in two parts but have now merged them and it has much better balance making the extra 180g battery as close to the Frame battery as possible. Also added some 2mm deep indents designed for 20mm heavy duty Velcro to sit in. Without Velcro everything push fits nicely but could fall off in active gaming sessions.

My mount is a remix of the v1 Steam Frame Battery Addon for the Anker Zolo MagSafe power bank by Yatyas on Makerworld, so thanks to him for providing the STEP files so I was easily able to remix this in Fusion.

Original here: https://makerworld.com/en/models/3395725-steam-frame-battery-add-on

Anyway I’m away until tomorrow but will upload the latest version to Makerworld by the weekend ✨

It looks like Arcturus is willing to work with those who are unable to get a frame till 2027 but still bought a camera module wile under the impression that all reserve headsets would ship within a short time frame. This is probably only worth it if you have decided to cancel your reservation.

It seems like they are quite flexible so they might be even willing to hounor warrantys for units orderd during the first order rush. Someone who ordered and received one but is stuck waiting till 2027 should reach out to their support and see if they would be willing to shift the warranty till when a headset is received and let us all know.

I made a strap battery cover for my tiny hands! The actual issue with the Frame Controllers isn't that they're too big, it's that with the stock straps they simply place your hands way too low. Likely so that the hand tracking still works. But I don't care about having high fidelity hand tracking, so I made this. Now I find that the controllers are actually incredibly comfortable with this mod! I absolutely love them now!

This is a difficult print, so if you decide to print it yourself make sure to max out your printer's overhang performance.

You'll also need a bit of velcro on the inside so that you can attach the strap. Otherwise you can reuse all the original stuff.

These are based on the original Valve CAD files, so they should fit perfectly if your printer is good enough to print the fine details!

More details about it in the printables link! Let me know of any feedback ya'll have or suggestions for improvements! I'll do my best to win the fights with Fusion 360 to get what I want. It was a struggle modifying this file lmao.

Anyone else having the issue of motion smoothing not being able to be enabled? Like I can enable it pwr application, but it doesn't seem to work even then... Maybe on No Mans Sky? Like it does seem to half the framerate on NMS, not certain if it's smoothing it though.

But yeah, in the Steam VR settings it tells me "Not Supported"

I have a 4080 and updated drivers/software.

Hi everyone!

I've been using my Steam Frame for several days now, and I've noticed something strange with the image that I'd like to compare with other owners.

I previously used a Valve Index, and while the Steam Frame is noticeably sharper thanks to its higher resolution and pancake lenses, I've noticed some geometric distortion that I don't remember experiencing on my Index.

Here's what I'm experiencing:

• In standalone Desktop Mode, when I open Firefox and look at a browser window, the edges of the window and even the text appear to bend or warp slightly when I move my head up and down.
• I can also notice straight lines changing shape when I move only my eyes, without moving my head.
• It looks like a slight fisheye or warping effect, almost as if the image geometry changes depending on where I'm looking.
• I've already tried adjusting the IPD, but it doesn't seem to make any difference.
• I'm running the latest SteamOS beta.
• This happens directly in standalone mode, so it doesn't seem related to PCVR streaming, compression or network latency.

From what I've read, this might be something called pupil swim, caused by residual lens distortion or imperfect distortion correction.

In VR games, it's less obvious, but when looking at desktop windows, straight lines and text make it much easier to notice.

I'd really appreciate it if other Steam Frame owners could try the following:

1. Switch to standalone Desktop Mode.
2. Open Firefox, another browser, or any other window containing some text.
3. Look at a window with straight borders and several lines of text.
4. Slowly move your head up and down while observing the borders and text.
5. Then keep your head still and move only your eyes across the window.

Do you notice the borders or text bending, warping or changing shape?

I'm particularly interested in knowing whether this is a normal optical characteristic of the Steam Frame or something specific to my unit.

Has anyone found a way to reduce it through positioning, settings or software adjustments?

I'd love to hear your experiences, especially from people who also own a Quest 3 or Valve Index.

Thanks!

Constantly have to readjust and tighten the straps on my Steam Frame as they become loose.

A valve to tighten the straps would have been perfect, missed opportunity from Steam.

For those wanting some more detailed photos of the way I Laid out my Amazon Basics case to fit the Steam Frame. I didn’t really have a great way of describing it other than giving direct measurements of where everything is laid out.

What I can say is that the perimeter of the foam around the controllers got down to a 1x1 block and around the front of the case a 3x3 block. I included the tape measure in mm to better showcase how everything should roughly to be laid out. You can obviously modify this to your liking.

I made the central pocket for the Frame quite generous in space. I have seen others take the battery pack and really push it up into where the lenses are, but I preferred a little space to allow the straps to fit inside.

I would start by using the measuring tape I used to square out the central pocket first. Use the toothpick method of locating which blocks to pluck out first. By this I mean, place the frame in the rough position of where I have mine, then use toothpicks to locate the outer edges of the frame into the foam. From there you can use measuring tape to space out the Frame so that it is located centrally within the foam. Build out your controller spaces and charger brick after that.

You will need to go down 2 layers for the Frame and the charging brick. Only one layer for the controllers if you wish. Any more questions and I’ll be happy to help as best I can. Cheers!