After years of silence, Valve has finally revealed the [Steam Frame](https://amzn.to/4pYEjQS), and it’s quickly become my most anticipated VR headset of 2026. Not because the competition is fierce, but because Valve is doing something different. This isn’t just a VR headset. Valve openly calls it a PC, and once you see how it works, that label makes sense.
The Steam Frame packs pancake lenses with 2160 x 2160 panels per eye, up to a 144Hz refresh rate, eye-tracked foveated streaming, and controllers that feel like a regular gamepad split in two. It’s clearly built for both VR games and traditional PC titles, not just one or the other.
But one spec stood out immediately: the processor.
Valve chose Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, a chip that launched back in 2023. By the time the Steam Frame arrives, newer chips, such as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, will already exist. So why use older silicon?
The Gen 3 is still a powerful chip. It’s the same processor found in phones like the Galaxy S24 and OnePlus 12, offering far better CPU and GPU performance than the XR-focused chips used in today’s headsets. More importantly, Valve didn’t want an XR chip.
Headsets like the Meta Quest 3 use the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, which is tuned for efficiency and sustained VR workloads. Valve instead prioritised higher CPU clocks and general gaming performance. That matters because the Steam Frame supports Proton and FEX emulation, letting Windows PC games run on ARM hardware. In short, it’s designed to play real PC games, not just VR-native ones.
Still, the processor almost feels secondary compared to the Steam Frame’s real strength: wireless PC streaming.
Unlike the Quest 3, which relies on 5GHz Wi-Fi or a USB-C cable for consistent results, the Steam Frame ships with a dedicated 6GHz wireless adapter. Plug it into your PC for a direct, low-latency connection to the headset. Valve even uses a dual-radio setup, one for streaming visuals and audio, the other for regular Wi-Fi, reducing congestion and stutter.
That means you can play games like Half-Life: Alyx, powered by a high-end GPU, streamed wirelessly straight to your face. At that point, the Snapdragon chip barely matters.
Yes, the Steam Frame will support standalone games, complete with a Steam Frame Verified program similar to Steam Deck. But when performance isn’t enough, you stream from your PC and keep playing.
So while the Steam Frame doesn’t use Qualcomm’s latest chip, it doesn’t need to. Valve isn’t chasing specs. It’s building a headset that removes friction between VR, PC gaming, and wireless play. If it delivers on that vision, the Steam Frame could redefine how we think about VR hardware.
The Steam Frame packs pancake lenses with 2160 x 2160 panels per eye, up to a 144Hz refresh rate, eye-tracked foveated streaming, and controllers that feel like a regular gamepad split in two. It’s clearly built for both VR games and traditional PC titles, not just one or the other.
But one spec stood out immediately: the processor.
Valve chose Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, a chip that launched back in 2023. By the time the Steam Frame arrives, newer chips, such as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, will already exist. So why use older silicon?
The Gen 3 is still a powerful chip. It’s the same processor found in phones like the Galaxy S24 and OnePlus 12, offering far better CPU and GPU performance than the XR-focused chips used in today’s headsets. More importantly, Valve didn’t want an XR chip.
Headsets like the Meta Quest 3 use the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, which is tuned for efficiency and sustained VR workloads. Valve instead prioritised higher CPU clocks and general gaming performance. That matters because the Steam Frame supports Proton and FEX emulation, letting Windows PC games run on ARM hardware. In short, it’s designed to play real PC games, not just VR-native ones.
Still, the processor almost feels secondary compared to the Steam Frame’s real strength: wireless PC streaming.
Unlike the Quest 3, which relies on 5GHz Wi-Fi or a USB-C cable for consistent results, the Steam Frame ships with a dedicated 6GHz wireless adapter. Plug it into your PC for a direct, low-latency connection to the headset. Valve even uses a dual-radio setup, one for streaming visuals and audio, the other for regular Wi-Fi, reducing congestion and stutter.
That means you can play games like Half-Life: Alyx, powered by a high-end GPU, streamed wirelessly straight to your face. At that point, the Snapdragon chip barely matters.
Yes, the Steam Frame will support standalone games, complete with a Steam Frame Verified program similar to Steam Deck. But when performance isn’t enough, you stream from your PC and keep playing.
So while the Steam Frame doesn’t use Qualcomm’s latest chip, it doesn’t need to. Valve isn’t chasing specs. It’s building a headset that removes friction between VR, PC gaming, and wireless play. If it delivers on that vision, the Steam Frame could redefine how we think about VR hardware.