this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2026
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  • Steam Frame 256GB: 1,059 USD / 1,529 CAD / 1,049 EUR / 889 GBP / 1,609 AUD / 4,539 PLN
  • Steam Frame 1TB: 1,299 USD / 1,859 CAD / 1,279 EUR / 1,089 GBP / 1,969 AUD / 5,549 PLN
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[–] Smaile@lemmy.ca 5 points 11 hours ago

1500 can? Hell naw, I'll wait for Sam altmen to get fucking merked by the repo men before I shell out for any electronics at this point.

[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago

I don't play lotteries and I only have one kidney left.

I'm out.

[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The integrated computer killed it.

If it were just a headset that depended on the Steam Machine/PC it could have been significantly cheaper. Adding enough RAM to make it a useful computer was probably most of the price.

[–] ExperiencedWinter@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

How would you do wireless streaming without some kind of compute to handle the networking and video decoding? The frame is primarily a wireless streaming device

[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

There are third party wireless streaming devices that function with the Index. It doesn't take much compute to operate wifi and process minimally compressed video.

A headset with Chromebook equivalent hardware would be significantly cheaper than a headset with Steam Deck equivalent hardware.

They wanted a device like the Quest that would let people play decent VR without needing a strong PC. I think that was the right decision when it was being planned. But now that we're mid-RAM apocalypse, the better move may have been to iterate on the Index and not try to make a new platform.

[–] WolfLink@sh.itjust.works 8 points 23 hours ago

That’s not at all a bad price for the product. Honestly I’m surprised it’s not more.

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 day ago (3 children)

$1500 CAD, plus another like $130 for straps and a charger that should be included. Then I have to order prescription lenses.

I don't think this one is for me.

I hope Sam Altman rolls over in his grave over what he's done to prices.

[–] ExperiencedWinter@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

You don't have a USB c charger already? Please don't mix valid criticism (the ergonomics kit pricing is ridiculous) with a positive move to reduce e-waste. I have multiple USB c chargers that will work for the frame, I'm glad they won't be manufacturing and shipping me a new one.

[–] Smaile@lemmy.ca 4 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (1 children)

Wait for him to blow up and the bankruptcy tide to wash the price down, Chinese chips will push that further.

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

There’s too much money involved.

They’ll cry “national security” and too big to fail, then force the bailouts on US citizens.

[–] Smaile@lemmy.ca 1 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

Then the USA bond market will crash, and them along with it. No shot it'll happen and if it does, the dollar has a good chance of lossing national reserve status.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 3 points 15 hours ago

Consumable light gaskets are US$50. For a piece of injection molded plastic.

[–] iamthetot@piefed.ca 38 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Beginning of this year, I was stoked to get the controller, machine, and frame.

After the controller came out, decided it was a bit too pricey for the partner and me, not to mention how impossible it was to get your hands on one anyway, so we decided to skip.

Then the Machine comes along, and could not justify that cost either. Wanted a small living room box and it looks so sleek, but the price to power ratio just is not there for me, so decided to skip this too.

Well, all money saved for the Frame right? Sigh... Nah man, not at this price. Not to play Beatsaber and Pistolwhip every one in a while. Ah well.

Good luck to all on the lottery, hope you enjoy it.

[–] artyom@piefed.social 22 points 1 day ago
[–] dlsloop@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 day ago

I don't have any advice for the controller and frame, unfortunately. But check out mini PCs for a potentially cheaper Steam Machine replacement. You can easily put SteamOS on it and get a very similar experience.

[–] Thwompthwomp@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I was super pumped about these as well, and same experience. I have a steam deck and I really just leave docked to my TV for 99% of the time. The steam frame is somewhat surprising (I thought it might come in at a higher price point), but based on my experience just trying out a few other VR sets, it feels like a really expensive gimmick.

[–] Kyrias@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago

I had to give up my index 3 years ago but thought I'd get back into VR with the frame.

Only to find there are only one or two new games/experiences even worth trying out. In 3 years...

[–] eurodyne@piefed.world 32 points 1 day ago (3 children)
[–] IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 60 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's higher than I'd like, but lower than I feared. All you had to do is look at flagship phone prices to get a feel for where the floor of the price could be.

[–] eurodyne@piefed.world 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

oh, you're not going for the Steam Frame Duo? :P

[–] GreyEyedGhost@piefed.ca 2 points 1 day ago

The Steam Frame Mono lacks depth.

[–] inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah, fuck AI.

As much as I would like to upgrade to this, the price is just too steep at this point for me.

[–] steelplatedmech@piefed.ca 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah price hurts but less than I thought.

I am glad they went with the lottery again, since I know trying to snipe it as it comes into stock would just leave me clicking refresh for hours and coming up empty handed like the first steam controller release day.

And I don't want to be having to use bots or discord channels to get alerts to try and get something that will go out of stock in seconds.

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 day ago

100% buy for me at HALF this price, which sounds closer to what they wanted to release at if not for the PC components price spikes.

[–] moonlight@fedia.io 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I was looking forward to getting this, but not at that price. Guess I'll check back in with VR in another 5-10 years.

[–] artyom@piefed.social 22 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Honestly I'm shocked at the price. In a good way. They originally said last year it would be less than the Index, which was about $1k, so I fully expected it to have the same 33% increase as the Steam Deck and Machine.

[–] Humanius@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

It is a high quality VR headset with an integrated computer inside of it. It was always going to be ~$1000. I'm impressed they actually managed to keep it at only $1050, given the current RAM shortage

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 2 points 15 hours ago

They are likely making no money on these.

[–] artyom@piefed.social 7 points 1 day ago
[–] iamthetot@piefed.ca 6 points 1 day ago

For all we know, it did. They may have been hoping to release at US$750.

[–] PlzGibHugs@piefed.ca 6 points 1 day ago

It sucks that this is the current market, but for what it is, this is unfortunately pretty much what I expected. Its similar hardware to a flagship phone, but with custom VR hardware and software, so flagship phone, plus about 25%

[–] jlow@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

A foldable Iphones or two of these? I'm taking neither but if I had to choose I'd never take the first option.

[–] artyom@piefed.social -2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You'd probably get a whole lot more use out of a phone...

[–] Jako302@feddit.org 10 points 1 day ago (2 children)

You could also buy a phone that's one third of the price and has about the same specs as the expensive one. That isn't really true in the VR market

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 1 points 15 hours ago

Quest 3 but it pervs everything around you.

[–] artyom@piefed.social -2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Mmmmm same specs, no. Same usefulness, sure.

[–] Jako302@feddit.org 6 points 1 day ago

Phones havent really evolved in the last few years, they at most got minor increments in specs. Get last years flagship for half price or this years "midrange" series for 1/3 and the only thing that might be worse is the camera.

[–] steelplatedmech@piefed.ca 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I do less now with phones or at least expect less, since I don't do gaming on them. Just basic messaging, emails, and basic apps.

Its one of the devices where specs have mattered less and less where before upgrades were desired because just running the OS felt sluggish.

[–] artyom@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Specs mattering less is not the same as having the same specs.

[–] steelplatedmech@piefed.ca 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If all someone is doing for instance on a mac is browsing the web and emails and some light program use they aren't going to notice the difference going from a m1 mac to a m4 mac.

Same with phones. These days unless somone is using resource hungry applications only noticeable area is battery, and its usually battery life that pushes people to upgrade these days.

Phones aren't exactly consoles either pointing to how amazing the graphics are compared to the past gen. People just use the same apps like tiktok or whatever on whatever phone they picked up and experience is pretty much the same. Phones aren't that novel anymore.

[–] artyom@piefed.social 1 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

None of this has anything to do with them supposedly having the same specs.