Being one of the lucky few to get my Steam Frame a few weeks ago, I have been using it quite a bit since then. I have been buying some third-party accessories to mitigate some of its weaknesses.
First the obvious one: it is surprisingly light and small, but overall not comfortable enough due to my glasses. To solve that I went ahead and bought prescription lenses from VR Optician (119€ including fast shipping and additional prescription fee).
Then I figured I had better protect it against sunlight because I do not have one of those fancy head mounts nor do I want to pack it in its box between each use. Thus I got an AMVR lens cover that fits quite well (13€).
And finally the battery life situation is… Well it’s bad. I got decent VR legs and can play for hours, but the battery only lasts at most 1h30 when running PCVR at 120Hz. So I got myself a UGREEN Nexode 145W 25000mAh Power Bank (56€), 2 short angled USB-C cables (24€), round magnetic USB-C adapters (16€) and a small fanny pack (10€).
I will also say there has been some trial and error regarding the magnetic adapter. The idea is to protect the headset port in case the cable snags on anything. I wanted to plug it directly in the headset port, but it tends to disconnect when I turn my head. The tradeoff I landed on is : one very short cable plugged in, magnetically coupled with a longer one that goes to the battery. The 240W-rated USB-C cables are also overkill but hey, not that much of a price difference (they are quite thick though and contributed some in my disconnect issue).
So there you have it, 238€ on top of the initial Steam Frame + ergonomic accessories kit purchase (which is a must-have if you ask me), not counting said trial and error.
Update: there are strong arguments in comments against using magnetic adapters. I’ll be ditching that and keeping the 2 cables approach so that there is a straight connection (hopefully weaker than the angled plugs) that can unplug more easily than the battery or headset side if the cable snags on something.
Me too Fanny Pack, me too.
My face when Steam Frame (or any Steam hardware) doesn’t ship to my country.
No steam frame in nz? Really? I thought Valve liked nz. Is there a reason why no frame there?
Nah I don’t believe any of the hardware has ever been sold in NZ. Just not a big enough market I guess.
I had an Index and had to use freight forwarding to get it here, and IIRC some sort of trick with the store to get it to think I was in the US and then I shipped to the US and freight forwarded on.
That’s ridiculous and sucks, I’m sorry.
money
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My paradolia was going hard as soon as I saw this
Mr. Popo
How long into wearing a fanny pack do you regain your virginity 😂
Steven??
I got LASIK so I can play Steam Frame without glasses. $1700! WTF Valve!? /s
I got ICL after the Oculus DK2 for the HTC Vive, worth it during the peak VR years lol.
I’d only need the prescription lenses. There’s no way I’d go for more than an hour in the thing.
For what it’s worth, it’s really comfortable without glasses, a step above all headsets I’ve owned (Vive, Index, Quest 3S). But if you mean you get VR sick… Well once you get the high refresh rate, stable frame pacing and in-game movement/vignette options sorted out, then it’s up to your body to cope or not.
Note that the magnet connector limits you to USB 2.0, because it does not have enough pins. This limit the charging speed at total maximum 15W* (5V 3A). This is enough to keep you streaming (around 11W usage), but not enough for standalone (19W usage or so)
*Not all chargers can go there, your usage may vary, and it might be lower
FYI USB 2 data pins does not prevent use of Power Delivery on USB C for higher charging speeds, the real limit is you can’t really certify a good safe connection on magnetic adapters without a shitton of work
You require to have the CC pins (CC1 for left and CC2 for right) to be able to use power delivery, these are the data pins that the device and adapter communicate on for highering the supplied voltage (and using power delivery).
I do not know what magic you use to get PD working on an USB 2 cable. So please share
I’ve attached a photo of the pins of an somewhat higher end magnetic cable, showing these pins are not available on an magnetic USB C cable
Passive USB C cables can use resistors to signal up to 20V 3A (60W) under Power Delivery with just USB 2.0 data pins (as compared to classic USB 2 which is capped to around 5V 2A). You can even do cables with the chip which only makes the 2.0 wires available for data while still getting 100W
That way a cheap manufacturer can put weakass cables in for negotiation rather than USB 3 data rate compatible ones
I think you got some things mixed up maybe? There is a resistor in an USB C to USB C cables but, this tells the power supply the max rating of the cable so it can respect this. This has nothing to do if both device and adapter actually agree on a higher voltage to change to.
Also my point was that most magnet connectors only carry 2, maybe 4 connections. Which is enough for power only (2) or USB 2 data (4-5 wires), but not enough for Power Delivery.
It can and will still charge, just at a slower speed.
I looked around and can definitely see multiple stores holding 100W USB PD USB C cables with 2.0 data speeds. You can’t do 100W without being PD compatible with negotiation.
You can be PD compatible AND limited to 2.0 speed without the number of functional conductors being the limiting factor. But they’re saying that the magnetic cable IS limited by the number of functional conductors and consequently cannot be PD compatible.
I think this is indeed where the confusion has maybe stemmed from?
An device can just ask for USB 1 transfer speeds over the CC pins of an USB C cable, or data pins on USB2 cable (I don’t know why you would, but it can). Usb is fully backwards comparable.
Limiting the conductors to (I think 2 in the photo), you won’t have the CC wires (or even data wires in this case) and thus are limited to the default speed of that wire combination.
There is also nothing wrong with limiting the charging speed (this would also result in a less warm and thus more happy battery). But the question is if the charging speed is enough for your use case.
Our battery pack packs run at 16W max charging rate, which is enough to keep streaming. But the battery level won’t go up on standalone. Thus is a sacrifice we are willing to make to avoid buying a new powerbank stack
I know it’s not the same device, but mine keeps up with my steam deck
Yhea it depends on what game, Factorio runs below 15W for me, and would work. But some games drain the battery a bit more on the Deck. You can also set a power limit, but this is quite sickening on the Frame.
If you look at you decks light when charging, you can see that is yellow (slow charging) instead of white
I don’t think you can call it “true cost” because you purchased some accessories.
However I do agree that there are accessories missing that I would call mandatory. A battery pack being one of them. It seems Valve prioritized weight and comfort over longevity, which is probably a fair compromise. But you really do need some sort of external power.
I ordered the other UGreen battery pack with 20% less capacity but 50% less price (45W).
And I’m still waiting for 3rd party accessories comparable to the “ergonomic accessory kit” like the hand straps that absolutely should have been included for like $10 extra and not $60.
I thought that title sounded better than “Here are all the thingies I bought to go along with the Frame” 😇
The ergo kit is indeed pricey but I doubt you can get that low. Somewhere in the 20-30 range would have been more reasonable. I am not sure I understand why they made the top strap optional at all. Plus coming from the Index, the controller straps feel more natural.
I haven’t felt the need for a top strap, personally. Plus it would mess up my hair :( but I’ve seen lots of people saying that should be mandatory included as well. Seems like Valve was really trying to get the price as low as humanly possible without compromising the hardware itself. I am glad they left out the charger though, as I’ve already got a drawer full of them, including 2 Valve ones I never even opened…
I had heard from reviews that the top strap was basically not needed. Then I tried it for myself. What it does is alleviate the pressure on your cheekbones as the headset no longer sags and allows you to loosen the horizontal strap a little, also lessening the overall pressure on your face.
It is not needed in the sense that the headset is wearable and has that “ski mask” look without it. I for one will never be taking it off.
I haven’t noticed any pressure there, but of course everyone’s bone structure is different, which is part of what makes VR headsets so hard to make!
I did read some info online in the months before receiving mine and many people suggested moving the rear further up on the head, which might alleviate that pressure.
There’s a reason they put the battery in the band and made it replaceable. I think they wanted more but decided to cut costs. They said the upcoming one with those Index-like speakers would include bigger batteries (I’m definitely getting that). So eventually the Frame will effectively be able to do all the things, but you’re gonna have to buy extras for it.
Even in the future, the openness of it means that once it’s getting too weak for standalone play you’ll be able to stream from other portable decides which are strong enough, like future gaming phones (or something like the Xreal Aura puck).
IMHO the biggest long term limit is the resolution, but given how repairable it is, as long as there’s enough bandwidth available on those ports I think that can be upgraded too.
Isn’t the battery literally glued in? I’m sure it’s more replaceable than a lot of electronics these days but it’s not like a hot swappable battery (that would have been awesome)
Yeah but it’s glued in an easily accessible and openable part that you can replace. You could make a third party strap with hotswapping because the entire strap can be replaced.
Beware that USB-C extensions are unavoidably non-compliant to the USB spec
Especially the magnetic kind. Have been known for frying stuff, even. Because conductive dust can be pulled into the connector by the magnet.
I gave up magnetic connectors for this reason. Nothing fried but the port got hot to the touch and that was it for me
Did Apple’s old magnetic ports (on their macbooks) have the same issue?
No.
Magsafe chargers/charge circuits would be designed for the purpose, down to the charger/charge controller checking for problems with the connector before sending/accepting full power through it.
There are ways to make a magnetic power connector safe, they just aren’t part of the USB PD spec, and hence they are absent from both the charger and device being charged, if all you do is add the magnetic connector to an existing power negotiation standard.
Well shit, I had not thought of that. So basically it’s a choice between risking damaging the connector with physical movement or damaging the electronics inside with conductive dust. I do not expect there is much metal dust floating around in my home but I’ll keep that in mind.
The entire head strap is technically replaceable, but the USB PD power circuit, as far as I know, is in the core module, not the headstrap battery thing. (When charging, the power goes first to the HMD itself, then loops back to the battery. This makes sense, as it would have to be this way for any future headstraps that run wired with no battery to be possible.)
So if you fry it, you’d be replacing/repairing the core module, not the head strap.
So I’m risking the port.
Alright you have convinced me. I’m ditching the magnet connectors and taking my chances with regular angled cables.
What I did with my old quest was to plug the cable into the headset, leave a little loop of slack in a way that doesn’t get in the way and secure the cable itself to the headset strap. So if anything yanks on the cable it’ll yank on the headset strap and the slack loop will keep it from torquing the port. I used velcro cable ties and it worked pretty well. Make sure the cable is long enough to have slack at the battery end too to account for movement. I’d usually run the cable down my shirt and it did just fine.
I did something close with my Quest 3S when using it seated: angled usb-c connector into the port and cable velcro’d to the strap. However the placement of the port is very different on the Frame so I cannot figure out how to reliably (and comfortably) secure the cable to headset. Hence my experiments with magnet connectors.
Maybe run the cable along the strap to the back plate and use something to secure the cable firmly to that so again it can’t pull on the port. Some kinda clip or cable tie or harness you can affix solidly to the back.
I’ve used one with my steam deck for a few years and have had zero problems.
Then you haven’t been around metal dust. Which most people won’t be.
I’m pointing out that magnetic connectors are not a part of the spec, which means the ways they can go wrong is NOT accounted for. And that I have seen what that can lead to.
Extensions are dangerous because they break the way USB C cables communicate their compatibility. If you extend a length of 100W cable with an 50W extension, the charger can try to push a 100W without knowing there is a section that can’t handle that much.
Edit: Why would you downvote this? By all means, do whatever. But there is a real risk. Just because it’s been fine for you, is no reason to downplay how careful one should be.
Not if they’re active and re-negotiate correctly. Passive extension cables are not compliant.
I’ve been loving my frame, but I didn’t realize how much I needed those prescription lenses in there. I just ordered them for about $60. I was going to get a smaller pair of glasses that would fit in the headset, then I remembered seeing the lenses on the store page.
The ergo kit was out of stock unfortunately, but I can’t say it’s “mandatory” like some others do. I might buy it when it’s back in stock, but I’m not in a rush as it feels alright as-is.
The fanny pack is interesting, but I think I’d rather just get a long cable and tether to a wall. Maybe I’ll feel differently after some extended use.
I think I’d rather just get a long cable and tether to a wall.
Depending on what you’re playing, it can be an option. If you’re playing a high movement VR game - something like H3VR - that’ll send you to yoink city eventually. I had to specifically lay out my Rift and Index cables with games in mind.
If you’re on the couch or maybe playing Beat Saber, a game that doesn’t have lots of 360° movement it might be doable.
Mrs. Noodle just got smaller frames with her new prescription so they’d fit better in the Steam Frame. And a long enough USB-C cable can let you plug in to the wall for indefinite play.
Lucky for her it was time to renew ! I would wager changing glasses to fit the Frame would be a lot more costly than the inserts for most people. In my opinion, using the Frame as a wired device kind of defeats its whole purpose (except for seated games). One might as well get a second-hand HP Reverb G2 or something like that for a fraction of the cost if it’s to play wired.
I also bought from VR Optician when i got my quest 2 years ago. Kinda sucks to make that extra investment when you wear glasses, but it is nice that they double as protection for the actual lenses underneath. For protecting it from sunlight i just put a microfiber cloth over the lenses when i’m not using it. I recently bought a new faceplate from amazon cause the original plate material started to flake
i actually switched to contact lenses. from my experience lens inserts is a lot better than glasses but still stops you from getting maximum fov possible
I always wondered, if I need trading glasses because getting older means you can’t read close anymore, does it also mean VR needs me to wear those glasses?
I think the other replies are missing that you probably meant to type “reading glasses.” If all you need glasses for is reading up close, you may not need them in VR. Most headsets are designed to let your eyes focus as if the image was 2-3 meters away, so if you can read at that distance unassisted, you’ll probably be fine. In some cases all you can do is just to try it and see.
This! Thank you for understanding my confusing way of asking a simple question
Yes.
The optics mimic reality. If you need glasses to see normally, you will need glasses to see in VR.
Tldr the optics bend the relative angles of incoming light to mimic the relative angles of the same image coming from a screen a few meters away, closer to your eyes’ natural “resting focal point” to not strain them.
![[Frame] The true cost of Steam Frame](https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/66aa94ce-58e8-469e-9a9b-4bfce10b80a4.jpeg){kind=link}