The Steam Frame price is $1,059 for the 256GB kit and $1,299 for the 1TB kit, and Valve’s wireless VR headset is one of the best-selling items on Steam right now: it sat third on the US top sellers chart when we checked at 13:00 UTC on October 17, behind only Modern Warfare 4 and AION 2. Most buyers still can’t order one on demand, though. Valve sells it through a reservation queue, and its latest timing update says reservation holders get a purchase email either by December or in 2027.
What Valve's unboxing video lays out: the headset, both controllers, the 6GHz wireless adapter and a cable. Image: Valve
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Steam Frame price in every region
Valve listed these prices in its September 14 launch post, VAT included where it applies. Both kits come with the headset, two controllers and the 6GHz wireless adapter, plus a free copy of Half-Life: Alyx that you redeem in the headset’s settings (one copy per device; you can’t get a second one if you already own it).
| Region | 256GB kit | 1TB kit |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $1,059 | $1,299 |
| Canada | CA$1,529 | CA$1,859 |
| European Union | €1,049 | €1,279 |
| United Kingdom | £889 | £1,089 |
| Australia | A$1,609 | A$1,969 |
Three first-party extras are sold only as checkout add-ons once your purchase email arrives: the 45W power supply ($29), the Ergonomic Accessories Kit ($59) and the Accessory Replacement Kit ($49). The power supply isn’t in the box, so budget $1,088 for a US 256GB order if you don’t already have a 45W USB-C charger. Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong order through distributor KOMODO; South Korea comes “at a later date”.
Steam Frame specs at a glance
From the official product page (Valve notes some specs may still change):
- Chip and memory: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 16GB LPDDR5X, 256GB or 1TB storage plus a microSD slot
- Display: 2160 x 2160 LCD per eye behind pancake lenses, 72-144Hz (144Hz is experimental)
- Tracking: four outward monochrome cameras for inside-out tracking, two inside for eye tracking; passthrough is monochrome
- Battery and weight: 21.6Wh battery in the rear strap; 440g with the strap, 185g for the core module alone
- Wireless: Wi-Fi 7 with dual radios, so one link streams from your PC over the included 6GHz adapter while the other stays on your home Wi-Fi
- Software: SteamOS 3 with a KDE Plasma desktop mode
Valve calls it “streaming-first”: Foveated Streaming uses eye tracking to send the sharpest pixels only where you’re looking. It also plays games standalone, and Valve’s Steam Frame Standalone Verified list passed 100 games at launch.
Each Steam Frame controller has full gamepad inputs and runs about 40 hours on one AA battery. Image: Valve
The controllers also suit flat-screen games, with ABXY, a D-pad and the Steam Controller’s magnetic thumbsticks; each runs about 40 hours on one AA battery.
When can you buy a Steam Frame?
Sign-ups closed for the first draw on September 17, when Valve shuffled each model’s list once per region (North America, UK/EU and Australia) and sent everyone a reservation or waitlist email. Purchase emails started on September 18. If you hold a reservation, the Steam Frame store page now shows your window while you’re logged in: “by December” or “in 2027”, and the 2027 group gets more detailed timing by January. You get 72 hours to buy once the email lands, or the unit passes to the next person.
Anyone can still join the waitlist; new sign-ups go to the back. Valve says waitlists are only tapped once a region’s reservation queue runs out, so nobody on a waitlist jumps ahead of a reservation holder.
Valve released Steam Frame CAD files for non-commercial use on October 9. Image: Valve
What changed this week
- October 15 software update: a Steam client update for Frame improves pairing reliability with the wireless adapter, stops the adapter sleeping on Windows and fixes a Wi-Fi power-saving bug. SteamOS 0.5.6 on the beta channel adds echo cancellation and noise suppression for external microphones (Steam Frame news).
- Valve Index is done: on October 13 Valve said the Index “is no longer being produced”; remaining stock is on sale while supplies last, and existing headsets stay supported (Valve). That leaves the Frame as Valve’s only VR headset in production.
- OLED rumor: Club386 reported on October 14 that Steam Frame Hub found a “deckard-plano” branch in SteamOS kernel code, which it reads as an OLED version in testing. Valve hasn’t announced anything, so treat it as a rumor.
What’s next
The next firm date is January, when Valve says it will give 2027 reservation holders more precise timing. Until then, watch your email and the store page. Software updates keep arriving roughly weekly. More from Valve: the Steam Achievement Sets beta, Deadlock’s newest heroes and our 2021 report on Valve’s handheld plans; for something to play now, see next week’s new releases.
Sources: Steam Frame product page and FAQ, Valve launch post (Sept 14), Valve reservation update (Oct 9), Steam Frame update notes (Oct 15), Valve Index notice (Oct 13), Steam top sellers (checked Oct 17, 13:00 UTC), Club386.
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Featured image: Valve
