[Frame] The true cost of Steam Frame
(midwest.social)
NeryK
Steam HardwareBeing 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.
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 😂
Me too Fanny Pack, me too.
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 got LASIK so I can play Steam Frame without glasses. $1700! WTF Valve!? /s
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.
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.
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
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.
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
I know it's not the same device, but mine keeps up with my steam deck
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?
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.
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 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
