Conclusion below, but full read is highly recommended:
#The Frame
The Steam Frame is not for everyone; I’d argue VR isn’t generally. But despite taking far longer than it should have to materialize and costing more than I’d like, the Steam Frame is one of the most exciting pieces of hardware I’ve seen in the space in years, one that gave me that same feeling of optimism that the Index did so years ago. The Frame builds on the work done by its competitors in the years since the Index and solves so many friction points I’d had to actually engaging with VR as a medium at all. It is a device that is doing massive amounts of hard work to unify several different use cases into a single open platform, and, despite its individual parts being less novel, that unity is game changing. It is hardware whose importance may ultimately eclipse its remit, one with potentially massive consequences for PC gaming, but on its own terms it hits the sweet spot that I’ve yearned for so much from a successor. I only pray we do not have to wait another seven years for more.
I’m sure it’s great to use, which is why I was really interested in it, but for the price it’s at I can’t honestly justify getting one. Even if it were around $750, as it was rumoured, it would have felt a bit too expensive, with the current state of VR.
I have no money for this but i’m just here for ARM Linux.
Do you mean ARM Linux gaming more specifically? Because ARM Linux on its own has been around for a while, e.g. Raspberry Pi.
Yep that’s what i meant, specifically SteamOS on ARM, which mean android handheld device might in the future comes with the option of linux instead of just android. Project like ArmadaOS already half way there.
I loved my Lenovo Explorer WMR headset. When everyone else struggled to get much beyond 1080, this was 2880x1440 in 90hz. It also had the dots for tracking on the controllers, with 2 cameras mounted so you didn’t need room sensors. Beyond its time.
My 2x GTX670 SC 4GB in SLI ate every VR experience I threw a it!! I miss Pavlov VR, Assetto Corsa 2, and the freebie Steam game with mini stick figure people where you’re an archer shooting other stick people protecting your castle!! 🥹
In case you still have it laying around, a former Microsoft engineer released a free driver to Steam that makes these usable again, despite Windows having dropped support. It’ll get installed automatically the moment you connect it to your computer.
Can you tell me more, is this just for the Lenovo explorer, or other wmr headsets?
All of them. Here’s the driver:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3824490/Oasis_Driver_for_Windows_Mixed_Reality/
Really the only downside is that Intel GPUs don’t work. I modified the driver of my laptop’s underpowered iGPU back in the day to get my Lenovo Explorer to work on it (just barely).
Everyone keeps evaluating this device as a standalone headset. Valve claims it is a “streaming-first” headset. Can we not get an according review? What’s the battery life like while streaming?
Gamers Nexus has a pretty comprehensive review that covers both streaming and standalone play. Battery life is not particularly favorable but overall the sentiment is positive.
Sure, as usual his video is over an hour long, is full of unnecessary testing, and goes off on various unrelated tangents. And I have to wait several weeks for the written version.
It’s timestamped, skip to what you care about?
Edit: Here, I’ll save you even that amount of effort. Battery Life Benchmarks (4 minutes, 30 seconds)
“This review is not comprehensive enough”
Handed review that is more comprehensive
“This review is too comprehensive and also I have to wait for an extra thing they do as a bonus”
Quite the take
Is it really “quite the take” for one review to have not enough information, and another to have way more information than necessary?
No, but your reaction was. You were given the thing you asked for, then complained. Then complained the thing wasn’t in a different format not previously specified. Like, someone was trying to be helpful without much context and you were like, “No, this is the wrong kind of help”
I don’t know what you’re expecting from me. What I asked for was very specific, and was not provided. And I’m not going to watch a >1 hour video to find the single piece of information I was looking for. Your reaction is needlessly antagonistic though.
Im being blocked by YouTube again…
the Frame includes an additional magnetic spacer for people with glasses
That was my main concern, so good to hear. Sounds like it’ll easily fit 3rd party straps as well. I really prefer the halo type of head-strap as it takes pressure of my face, so I hope to be able to get one of those at some point.
Can also get prescription inserts from zenni, which is nice
I might even do that. Getting the lenses as close to your face as possible is an easy way to increase field of view
Its an open platform I’m excited to see what get created and all the 3Rd party addons
Yeah it is double the cost of what it should be.
Probably. The Deck and Machine got 45% price hikes, no reason to assume the Frame was spared.
Eh? I expected it to be in roughly the same price range as the Index and I don’t think that’s unreasonable for a high-end device.
Unfortunately, 16 gigs of RAM (double that of the Quest 3) is not cheap right now.
