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Everyone is missing maybe the biggest point - this isn't just a VR device. You can run some/many (depending on your library) of your regular Steam games on a '

• ninininino 18d ago
  That's already true for most PC VR headsets. Edit: I missed the point here, see reply.
  • everyone 18d ago
    Also VR is just not somewhere you want to be.. Its worth it in short bursts for playing Alyx or golf with a friend, but it's not comfortable, you wanna get that thing off asap.. Playing a conventional 40+ hour game in it would be awful. I even downloaded some 3d movies to try watching in VR, pacific rim and avatar movies (there's not that many 3d movies) but I didnt get far into them, the 3d was more of a distraction than anything. Flat screen is just superior imo. Hopefully Valve make a sequel to Alyx to help sell the new headset.
  • MattCruikshank 18d ago
    Standalone? No. Most PC VR headsets require a PC. The Steam Frame will let you play 2D games (and some VR games), with no phone or PC attached.
    • ninininino 18d ago
      Thank you for the correction.
• thefz 18d ago
  > You can run some/many (depending on your library) of your regular Steam games on a 'flat screen' inside the VR environment I can already run 100% of my Steam games on a flat screen in front of my real eyes
  • teekert 18d ago
    Not cinema size, and not with your poor eyes focused on "infinite". And not any of this on a plane, or a train, or a self driving car, or an RV.
    • Zambyte 18d ago
      I like that you specified that the car was self driving, but didn't specify the RV was.
      • teekert 18d ago
        In my head the RV was parked and the VR provides a virtual office in the small space :)
        • ash_091 18d ago
          I actually did this. Six month lap around Australia in a caravan with a Quest 3. It was ok; better than squinting at a laptop screen, but not as good as a decent physical monitor. If I did it again I'd convert a bus to have a proper desk/monitor.
    • Zecc 18d ago
      I can't believe you forgot the toilet.
    • thefz 18d ago
      My eyes already show as much as I can see.
    • two_handfuls 18d ago
      Your eyes won't be focused on "infinite" in VR either. The focus distance is similar to the distance to the screen on your desk.
      • nico1207 17d ago
        Yes, it's around 1-2 meters People tend to forget that the human eye has 2 ways to adjust for distance: 1. Moving the eyes relative to each depending on parallax (works in VR) 2. Deforming the eyes' lens to match the focal length (is fixed)
• JeremyNT 18d ago
  Admittedly my VR glasses are older, but for me this is a really terrible experience. If a game lacks native VR support, it's far more comfortable to just use my widescreen monitor in the real world.
  • jayGlow 18d ago
    I'd agree even if the resolution is closer to a real monitor I'd really rather not have a headset strapped to my face to play the same games I could play on a tv or monitor.
    • bonestamp2 18d ago
      For sure. I think this is more for someone who wants something portable though.
      • JeremyNT 17d ago
        Agreed, I think that's the big selling point: a private screen you can take with you. But the Steam Frame specifically is not well suited for this. Something more minimal like the Big Screen Beyond 2 would be better, and XR-type glasses (like those from Viture) which present as standard monitors would be better still.
  • moffkalast 18d ago
    Same. I'd say it's ridiculous to even mention it as a feature, it's more like a compatibility fallback. A shitty monitor showing an even shittier monitor while you have a fat brick strapped to your face. Maybe this gen is better, but from what reviewers say the practical hardware changes are very minimal. What's more interesting is that it's a linux desktop open for tinkering. Maybe lots of virtual desktops all around, could probably get Blender to run in it too.
    • andybak 18d ago
      You don't need 4k in the headset panels to simulate a 4k monitor. The virtual screen isn't glued to your head.
• kakacik 18d ago
  How long is that comfortable? For sure not couple of hours in 1 go
  • idle_zealot 18d ago
    > For sure not couple of hours in 1 go Worry not! That's how long the battery lasts!
  • t-writescode 18d ago
    VR enthusiasts will be in VR 7+ hours on a weekend. I regularly clock 4+. Without a tether to the PC (I have battery in my pocket) it’s pretty okay!
  • r3trohack3r 18d ago
    Just used my Vision Pro nonstop on a 9hr flight. It’s a game changer for travel; you disappear into a private movie theater and come out at your destination.
    • Grombobulous 17d ago
      Despite that experience that I’ve heard is lovely, it does compete with the $300 used iPad Air I bought years ago. The screen on a used iPad Air really doesn’t look half bad, it is far smaller and lighter in a bag, and it can play movies for that entire flight without needing an external battery. Although, speaking of used devices, the Vision Pro is looking delightfully depreciated on eBay.
  • esskay 18d ago
    Valve thought of that. Its got a 1 hour battery life and you have to wait 3-5 hours for it to charge back up!
    • freehorse 18d ago
      It is 21.6 Wh capacity and charges at up to 45W, so it should take less than half an hour to fully charge from zero. Not sure where you got the 3-5 hours from?
• chaosharmonic 18d ago
  I think even that's an understatement. My tinfoil-hat take is that Lepton looks like it's just aimed at Facebook but will ultimately make Google's Android less... uniquely impenetrable. Certain hardware-dependent stuff will probably never fully work here (GPS for instance), but having a registry of what is and isn't compatible with a third-party Android derivative, on a specific reference device, will benefit every third-party Android derivative. And not that it won't have similar anticheat issues, but having a games ecosystem outside of Google Play will also cover some of the infrastructure that would require that dependency otherwise -- including payments. And not that I don't see a net positive if gacha games never successfully make the jump... but as a Linux device there's also a lot of stuff where you just don't have to care about Play Integrity, because instead you can just run the PC version and/or a desktop browser. (edit: shameless plug for my recent, longer writeup on this @ bhmt.dev/blog/frame)
• wolvoleo 18d ago
  Honestly as a VR enthusiast this is the least interesting feature by far. If I want to game with glasses I'll just use my $200 xreal airs. I do sometimes on holidays using Samsung DeX and a gamepad, and GeForce now. Works well, I played through half of Cyberpunk that way.
  • Forgeties79 18d ago
    Man GeForce now is surprisingly stable/smooth. I barely use it now (built a PC) but I got the $5 founders rate and have no intention of getting rid of it
  • corysama 18d ago
    But, now you can play through the second half in VR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXho2LdD1qo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXho2LdD1qo A flood of VR mods for popular games have been coming out lately.
    • wolvoleo 17d ago
      Yes I've already played those ports on my quest 3 (streaming). That was fun! But they were talking about playing on a virtual 2D screen which I have no interest in
    • wolvoleo 17d ago
      Sorry I thought you were talking about the half-life ports. I played the original "Luke Ross" Cyberpunk port but it was pretty horrible due to his mediocre alternate eye rendering and the lack of controller support. I saw the new mod (dariulone?) but I didn't yet install it because it comes with a huge list of dependencies of other mods to install and I haven't had time for all that. I'm kinda hoping he makes a quick installer that packages everything :)
      • wolvoleo 17d ago
        Actually there seems to be one on nexusmods: https://www.nexusmods.com/games/cyberpunk2077/collections/bpbppe https://www.nexusmods.com/games/cyberpunk2077/collections/bp... I'll try that soon. Right now it's still a bit too hot to be in VR anyway. It's more of a winter activity for me.
• Waterluvian 18d ago
  Not trying to proselytize an opinion here, but every time I think about VR Goggles + a virtual flat screen, I think about how entire industries exist to make us comfortable while we watch our real flat screens. A VR option would allow me to just lay comatose-like in my bed, goggles affixed to my face, as I watch whatever. It terrifies me, partly because of how good I bet it could feel.
  • RIMR 18d ago
    Honestly, with apps like Immersed, custom two-hand keyboards, and trackball mice, it is already feasible to lie comatose in bed with a VR headset strapped to your face and get through an entire day of software development.
    • nntwozz 18d ago
      Just like nature intended.
  • qzw 18d ago
    I don’t know. I can’t even take a nap while having my glasses on, so the thought of lying down with a much weightier VR headset pressing down on my face doesn’t sound super comfortable.
    • t-writescode 18d ago
      I know lots … and lots … of people that sleep in VR. I don’t know how they do it either, but there we are! This product doesn’t look half bad for sleeping in VR for people that are used to doing so with other headsets. Definitely easier than some offerings.
      • prmoustache 18d ago
        > I know lots … and lots … of people that sleep in VR. Funny how demographics work. I don't know a lot of people who use VR. In fact I don't know a single person who is remotely interested in ehat looks to me and my friends like a very niche technology.
• MBCook 18d ago
  I don’t see that as the biggest point. I really don’t have much interest in playing normal games in VR. I could see how a kid might want that on Quest when they don’t have their own TV. And it might be nice on a plane. But $1000 is a lot for that. I know people say that watching video in the Vision Pro is really nice, I wasn’t that thrilled when I tried it, but it felt to me more like a “you can do this because you have the hardware“ not a “this is why you buy it” feature.
• wnevets 18d ago
  That sounds like a worse experience to me.
  • Zambyte 18d ago
    When sitting, the optimally comfortable angle to look, and the optimal place to hold a controller are very far from each other. The Deck is basically only fun for long sessions if you can play it laying down. VR is more flexible in this regard.
    • imthatsteve 18d ago
      I have used my deck (multi hour sessions) for a long time from the couch, bed, and gaming chair and i found them all very comfortable. As long as your chair has arm rests then it shouldnt be too bad. The only place i havent used a deck much is at a table or from a bench with no arm rests,and i could see how either might be uncomfortable.
• tapoxi 18d ago
  This machine runs Linux, it comes with KDE. This is the open Apple Vision Pro alternative that you can use as a real computer. It comes with a black and white passthrough camera but you can add on a 5K color one. There's ongoing work for a full Plasma XR mode, so you aren't restricted to a "virtual desktop" experience: https://invent.kde.org/plasma/kwin/-/merge_requests/8671 https://invent.kde.org/plasma/kwin/-/merge_requests/8671
  • nine_k 18d ago
    So it may be a good wirk machine to use during long flights, with a compact wireless keyboard. Unless you fly first class, using a laptop on a plane is painful.
    • esskay 18d ago
      Also only possible if you've got a power outlet (Surprisingly even today many long haul flights do not) as its only got just over an hour of battery life.
      • freehorse 18d ago
        It has a 21.6 Wh battery. You can easily get a power bank 3+ times this capacity, thus can last 4x longer. If anything, I would rather have that weight in my pocket or backpack than on my head, all things considered.
        • killingtime74 18d ago
          Can't use power banks on many flights now
          • papascrubs 18d ago
            Anecdotal, but on the last few flights that I've taken. I was told that you can use them, but you can't charge them on the flight. This was inside the US, American Airlines, and United. I can't speak to the other airlines.
• nvarsj 18d ago
  Except far less comfortable and motion sick inducing for a non-trivial portion of the population. No thanks. HL Alyx was awesome though, nothing else on VR has been worth it for me.
• stonedivot 18d ago
  Let's ignore that fact that you're saying "this isn't just a VR device" and then immediately describe the basic functionality of a VR device. You really think people have been waiting to drop $1k for a device that lets them play games designed for a monitor inside of a headset rendering a larger virtual monitor with all of the additional complexity that brings?
  • fragmede 17d ago
    For those priced out of getting an AVP at more than 3x the price on locked down hardware? You don't seem to think that market exists, but I think it does. $3,500 and Apple, or whatev but Facebook are total non-starters for some people while Valve and Linux are.
• juiceland 18d ago
  Yes, this ability at this price point is very attractive indeed. I currently do this with Vision Pro, but it involves a mac and a capture card in addition to the steam deck.
• month13 17d ago
  I was really hoping to realise the "Spatial Computing" dream of the Vision Pro, but was largely priced-out of the experience, considering it basically necessitates a MacBook to complete it too. I would wager a simple browser and terminal session is probably all I need, so was looking forward to this device. However, the screen resolution is likely to be too small, I had done some experiments with Virtual Desktop, but the Rift S was too low-res, everything had to be like 48pt. Reviews showing the desktop being fully accessible, does give quite a bit of hope, however.
  • stokedmind 17d ago
    I have both a Rift S and a Quest 3. The Quest 3's displays and optics blow the Rift out of the water! I've used it for coding using Immersed, and would be happy to use equivalent or slightly better (as the Steam Frame should be) for this purpose.
• mortsnort 17d ago
  You can do this really well on $200 AR headsets that fit on your face like sunglasses and uses the battery of the device it's plugged into to last many hours. If this is the biggest point, then I don't see why Xreal isn't more popular.
  • probablyStimmed 17d ago
    Maybe some of the non-xreal brands or some combinations of hardware provide usable experiences, but all my experiences with xreal have been abysmal.
  • makeitdouble 17d ago
    XReal is only replacing the screen part and needs another device as a core, this headset works standalone. As the form factor is already pretty bulky, keeping it as a single device helps a lot IMHO.
• sureglymop 17d ago
  I think its performance is quite underappreciated. It has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. I have a tiny handheld with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and among many other things it plays GTA V and RDR2 almost perfectly, using FEX nonetheless. And because it's arm, battery life is so much better than on my laptop that I use it as a tiny mini linux laptop now.
• whatevaa 17d ago
  They are simply uncomfortable for that. That is a niche for a niche use case.