The dedicated communication dongle between the PC and the headset sounds like a real game changer.
Right now getting fast enough and reliable wireless connection means either tweaking to death one's setup or spending car money on the entire setup. In particular normal people usually don't realize how crappy their wi-fi and assume it's all the same, which would end in blaming the poor perf on the headset.
At this point, the controller is the most exciting thing for me.
Steam machine is cool, but with how good handheld PCs already are, I'd be ok spending a bit more and just using those instead and docking it for TV gaming.
idk about that - integrated buttons, battery, screen, size constraints and the R&D work that goes into all of that is probably significant compared to 'box with hardware and usb ports' (oversimplifying to make a point here though - of course lots of design work went into this as well).
110 deg fov is a bit on the low side but I guess it'll have to do. I hate how 90% of VR headsets are designed to feel like you have binoculars strapped to your face, absolutely zero peripheral vision.
This is my concern as well. I suspect this will struggle versus a PS5 because even though the PS5 only has 16GB total, its unified, so it can be allocated more towards VRAM if needed.
If they are selling this for $300-400, it will be a hot item and I cant fault them at all. If it sells for $500+, its hard to recommend over a PS5 for most users.
1080p is already a struggle for some games with 8GB of VRAM in 2025, and this will probably be expected to have a service life of 5+ years.
It's funny - if you look at the most recent steam hardware survey results this new steam machine almost exactly matches the median system - 16gb ram, 8gb vram, 6 physical cores, and the GPU looks like be roughly similar in perf to a 3060 too.
If this gets enough adoption for gamedevs to prioritize support when testing games that's likely not going to be a huge problem. 16gb ram + 8gb vram is also similar to what all the current gen consoles have, although all three have the advantage of it being unified between the CPU and GPU so they can use more than 8gb vram if needed (16gb, 16gb, 12gb total system ram for PS5, XSX, Switch 2 respectively)
It's close to an RX7500/7600 paired with a Ryzen 5 7500/7600. Depending on the price it can be fine for gaming. Nobody expects enthusiast performance. It has to be priced to be competitive against consoles and lower end DIY PCs.
>Yes, Steam Machine is optimized for gaming, but it's still your PC. Install your own apps, or even another operating system. Who are we to tell you how to use your computer?
In a world of locked bootloaders and ever more locked down device, valve is pushing the envolope with a linux based gaming console.
I thought it looked pretty attractive? Small, understated, something that would fit in pretty much anywhere without clashing. It doesn't have anything resembling a "gaming" aesthetic, which is a huge plus in my book.
We wanted to do something that was bold and daring almost. We wanted something forward facing and future facing, something for the 2020s [...] The PS5's design is meant to demonstrate Sony's belief that the technology inside and the games that run on it are as eye-catching as the outside you see [...] that the form factor of [...] the PS5 is meant to "grace" your living room.
The PlayStation sits in the living area of most homes, and we kind of felt it would be nice to provide a design that would really grace most living areas. That's what we've tried to do. And, you know, we think we've been successful in that.
I find it weird that a new device in 2025 still comes with only one USB-C port and otherwise only USB-A. Is USB-C that much more expensive? Is it about power delivery?
USB-C is still not widely adopted for many specific uses, in particular peripherals (keyboard/mouse dongles)
Logitech finally got their USB-C dongle out last year I think ? Keychron only offers USB-A as far as I know. And many other keyboard and mouse brands are in the same boat. Depending on your setup that's already 2 USB-A ports needed. You can put an adapter, but you're then dongling a dongle.
PS: just realized Valve's own VR to PC adapter is also USB-A.
Little disappointing its not got colour passthrough. I am not convinced this generation of headsets will really be the ones that AR breaks through but still its a bit disappointing and has been useful with the latest Quest headsets. Other than that it looks fairly solid.
It was noted in some articles that the "expansion port" could hypothetically be used for a color passthrough module later. But I also read that the Index had a similar port and never did much of anything with it, so that may never happen.
Definitely a cost measure to not include color passthrough, I'm not in the market to replace my Quest 3S but I'm very curious to see what price they hit with this.
Nice that it has a microSD slot so you can buy the low storage on and not be stuck with 256 GB forever.
Being in the park kinda loses its lustre when you've got a headset strapped to your face - I'd prefer a laptop with a screen that's still visible in sunlight.
It's a regression from the original in all the same ways that the Deck is, and it has less to offer over and above what conventional controllers like the DualSense do.
I'm willing to give it a try, but the smaller and less central trackpads compromise the only use cases that make it distinctive as a controller. (Same for the lack of dual-stage triggers.)
If I want to use analog sticks, I already have a ton of controllers with two analog sticks, some of which are generally excellent and have various advantages over the new Steam Controller.
There are some things that only a Steam Controller has ever made possible (e.g., dual trackpad movement), and others that only a Steam Controller has ever done as well (e.g., programmable dual-stage analog triggers, back paddles you can hit from basically anywhere). In the new design, each of them is either removed altogether or compromised and largely reduced to an ancillary role.
According to LTT the VR controllers have two stage triggers. Is the controller confirmed to not have them? Would be odd. PS5's triggers are the most advanced though, would be cool to have those. I'll reserve judgement on the new trackpad location until I try it. Though personally I was never a fan of the trackpads on the original or indeed any controller with trackpads.
My usecase for the steam controler was limited (robots); I've always used the dongle, and never needed/desired to explore direct bluetooth as an alternative.
Saw that the Steam Frame was wireless and lost interest. Wireless is always an extra complication that never improves things. I've learned lots about framing to hardwire my home network. Sure, make it an option, but I won't pay for latency, battery life, battery weight, cost, or pairing issues of wireless solutions. Give me (replaceable, standard) cables anyday!
That said, there is hope, because if there is a wireless version and it takes off, it can't be hard to make a wired version.
It doesn't improve quality and latency, but for VR it absolutely improves not dealing with a cable that you can't see and will tangle yourself up with if you turn either direction more than once
Two notes on how Steam Frame is handling this
- It's a standalone headset, less demanding games run directly on the Steam Frame and the wireless connection doesn't factor in to anything.
- It makes two simultaneous wifi connections, one on 5 ghz for connecting to your wifi network / internet, and another on 6 ghz for connecting to your streaming PC. They include an official 6 ghz USB dongle for the PC so you don't have to deal with finding which 3rd party option will work reliably.
The dedicated communication dongle between the PC and the headset sounds like a real game changer.
Right now getting fast enough and reliable wireless connection means either tweaking to death one's setup or spending car money on the entire setup. In particular normal people usually don't realize how crappy their wi-fi and assume it's all the same, which would end in blaming the poor perf on the headset.
At this point, the controller is the most exciting thing for me.
Steam machine is cool, but with how good handheld PCs already are, I'd be ok spending a bit more and just using those instead and docking it for TV gaming.
The non-handheld will likely be pricier than the handheld, due to the beefier specs. You may as well just buy one now.
idk about that - integrated buttons, battery, screen, size constraints and the R&D work that goes into all of that is probably significant compared to 'box with hardware and usb ports' (oversimplifying to make a point here though - of course lots of design work went into this as well).
2160x2160 in each eye for the headset
110 deg fov is a bit on the low side but I guess it'll have to do. I hate how 90% of VR headsets are designed to feel like you have binoculars strapped to your face, absolutely zero peripheral vision.
8GB vram in 2026?!
This is my concern as well. I suspect this will struggle versus a PS5 because even though the PS5 only has 16GB total, its unified, so it can be allocated more towards VRAM if needed.
If they are selling this for $300-400, it will be a hot item and I cant fault them at all. If it sells for $500+, its hard to recommend over a PS5 for most users.
1080p is already a struggle for some games with 8GB of VRAM in 2025, and this will probably be expected to have a service life of 5+ years.
I think this is fine for a mass market device.
It might be easy to forget, but most gamers are not using the higher-end hardware that enthusiast discussions tend to focus on.
https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey
Perhaps an 8GB limit will encourage game studios to allow more time for optimization, which seems to have fallen out of fashion in recent years.
I imagine this will also help keep the price down, which is always nice.
It's funny - if you look at the most recent steam hardware survey results this new steam machine almost exactly matches the median system - 16gb ram, 8gb vram, 6 physical cores, and the GPU looks like be roughly similar in perf to a 3060 too.
If this gets enough adoption for gamedevs to prioritize support when testing games that's likely not going to be a huge problem. 16gb ram + 8gb vram is also similar to what all the current gen consoles have, although all three have the advantage of it being unified between the CPU and GPU so they can use more than 8gb vram if needed (16gb, 16gb, 12gb total system ram for PS5, XSX, Switch 2 respectively)
It's close to an RX7500/7600 paired with a Ryzen 5 7500/7600. Depending on the price it can be fine for gaming. Nobody expects enthusiast performance. It has to be priced to be competitive against consoles and lower end DIY PCs.
what game needs more?
Many do, especially at higher resolutions.
Especially if you do stuff like "AI" upscaling, frame generation, and raytracing.
>Yes, Steam Machine is optimized for gaming, but it's still your PC. Install your own apps, or even another operating system. Who are we to tell you how to use your computer?
In a world of locked bootloaders and ever more locked down device, valve is pushing the envolope with a linux based gaming console.
16 GB of RAM, 4K@60 FPS, with USB3.
I’m afraid that this steam machine is so underpowered that it is no better if not much significantly slower than a MacBook Pro with a M4 Max.
The specs appear to be from late 2019. Might as well get a PS5 instead.
No thanks and No deal.
Looks like the og Nintendo Gamecube but modernized.
Or the NeXTcube.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/NeXTcube...
https://www.inexhibit.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/NeXTcub...
So no Half Life 3? (':
Rumor has it that it’d be released with the VR set in 2026 ;)
It's a shame patent trolling killed the OG Steam Controller. But this one's got trackpads and seems like a decent substitute.
Indeed a massive shame. The case was ultimately thrown out but by then Valve had stopped production. I still boycott Corsair today over this.
It looks pretty bad on the photos.
I thought it looked pretty attractive? Small, understated, something that would fit in pretty much anywhere without clashing. It doesn't have anything resembling a "gaming" aesthetic, which is a huge plus in my book.
It does kinda look like a regular SFF PC case rather than a bespoke piece of hardware, but maybe they were going for that.
is that good bad or bad bad?
Irrelevant bad. It's a gaming product, you're not expected to wear it in public so the look doesn't matter.
"the look doesn't matter"
I think Sony would disagree:
We wanted to do something that was bold and daring almost. We wanted something forward facing and future facing, something for the 2020s [...] The PS5's design is meant to demonstrate Sony's belief that the technology inside and the games that run on it are as eye-catching as the outside you see [...] that the form factor of [...] the PS5 is meant to "grace" your living room.
The PlayStation sits in the living area of most homes, and we kind of felt it would be nice to provide a design that would really grace most living areas. That's what we've tried to do. And, you know, we think we've been successful in that.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-boss-explains-why-the...
I find it weird that a new device in 2025 still comes with only one USB-C port and otherwise only USB-A. Is USB-C that much more expensive? Is it about power delivery?
I would imagine because most peripherals you'd connect to this are still mostly USB-A. Controllers, mice, keyboards, USB sticks, ...
USB-C is still not widely adopted for many specific uses, in particular peripherals (keyboard/mouse dongles)
Logitech finally got their USB-C dongle out last year I think ? Keychron only offers USB-A as far as I know. And many other keyboard and mouse brands are in the same boat. Depending on your setup that's already 2 USB-A ports needed. You can put an adapter, but you're then dongling a dongle.
PS: just realized Valve's own VR to PC adapter is also USB-A.
Source https://store.steampowered.com/sale/hardware
Little disappointing its not got colour passthrough. I am not convinced this generation of headsets will really be the ones that AR breaks through but still its a bit disappointing and has been useful with the latest Quest headsets. Other than that it looks fairly solid.
It was noted in some articles that the "expansion port" could hypothetically be used for a color passthrough module later. But I also read that the Index had a similar port and never did much of anything with it, so that may never happen.
Definitely a cost measure to not include color passthrough, I'm not in the market to replace my Quest 3S but I'm very curious to see what price they hit with this.
Nice that it has a microSD slot so you can buy the low storage on and not be stuck with 256 GB forever.
Looks exciting! It would be amazing if the headset turns out to be useful for coding without a monitor. Say, in the park.
Being in the park kinda loses its lustre when you've got a headset strapped to your face - I'd prefer a laptop with a screen that's still visible in sunlight.
It's doable. But you need 8k per eye to read text comfortable. But what would you use for input?
RIP Steam Controller. This headless Steam Deck is no substitute. The only halfway decent FPS controller has no substitute.
You're in luck! New one coming out.
https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steamcontroller
think that comment was saying that they don't like the new steam controller
Seems strictly better than the old one, what's not to like?
It's a regression from the original in all the same ways that the Deck is, and it has less to offer over and above what conventional controllers like the DualSense do.
I'm willing to give it a try, but the smaller and less central trackpads compromise the only use cases that make it distinctive as a controller. (Same for the lack of dual-stage triggers.)
If I want to use analog sticks, I already have a ton of controllers with two analog sticks, some of which are generally excellent and have various advantages over the new Steam Controller.
There are some things that only a Steam Controller has ever made possible (e.g., dual trackpad movement), and others that only a Steam Controller has ever done as well (e.g., programmable dual-stage analog triggers, back paddles you can hit from basically anywhere). In the new design, each of them is either removed altogether or compromised and largely reduced to an ancillary role.
According to LTT the VR controllers have two stage triggers. Is the controller confirmed to not have them? Would be odd. PS5's triggers are the most advanced though, would be cool to have those. I'll reserve judgement on the new trackpad location until I try it. Though personally I was never a fan of the trackpads on the original or indeed any controller with trackpads.
A niche usecase: it switches to a bluetooth connection instead of a usb dongle.
It has a USB wireless dongle that doubles as a charging dock with magnets and pogo pins
Indeed it does, I now see. Interesting!
The old one also used Bluetooth.
My usecase for the steam controler was limited (robots); I've always used the dongle, and never needed/desired to explore direct bluetooth as an alternative.
Meh, I'm hopeful, but I'll wait for specs.
[dupe]
Steam Frame https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45903325
Steam Machine https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45903404
Saw that the Steam Frame was wireless and lost interest. Wireless is always an extra complication that never improves things. I've learned lots about framing to hardwire my home network. Sure, make it an option, but I won't pay for latency, battery life, battery weight, cost, or pairing issues of wireless solutions. Give me (replaceable, standard) cables anyday!
That said, there is hope, because if there is a wireless version and it takes off, it can't be hard to make a wired version.
I agree with you for most things, but a VR headset is definitely something where the pros outweigh the cons vis a vis avoiding wires for me.
It doesn't improve quality and latency, but for VR it absolutely improves not dealing with a cable that you can't see and will tangle yourself up with if you turn either direction more than once
Two notes on how Steam Frame is handling this
- It's a standalone headset, less demanding games run directly on the Steam Frame and the wireless connection doesn't factor in to anything.
- It makes two simultaneous wifi connections, one on 5 ghz for connecting to your wifi network / internet, and another on 6 ghz for connecting to your streaming PC. They include an official 6 ghz USB dongle for the PC so you don't have to deal with finding which 3rd party option will work reliably.
It's also wired, and you could even take out the battery for the weight.