Wish to know the way Valve’s newly introduced Steam Body standalone headset stacks up in opposition to the competitors? Learn on to search out out.
Steam Body is quite a bit like Steam Deck; it may well play just about all of Steam’s sport library out of the field, which incorporates flatscreen content material primarily based on x86 structure—mainly the whole lot on Steam—and likewise now PC VR video games. Meaning you’ll be able to obtain trendy flatscreen and VR titles and play on-the-go, no wires or PC wanted. Extra on that beneath.
Primarily although, Valve says it’s designed to stream PC VR video games wirelessly, which it does by way of a Wi-Fi 6E dongle you plug straight into your laptop (or the newly introduced Steam Machine). Our hands-on with Body’s streaming high quality was promising.
Quest 3 can stream PC VR video games too, albeit in a roundabout means that requires you to stream by way of your own home’s Wi-Fi router, which might trigger some bottlenecks because the video stream must go out of your PC, to the router, and then to the headset. Valve’s resolution cuts out that center man.
The massive distinction although is in energy and sport compatibility. Whereas each Quest 3 and Body function ARM-based Qualcomm Snapdragon processors (Body’s is extra highly effective), solely Body can natively play x86 Home windows and Linux content material because of its built-in compatibility layer.
Quest 3 can solely natively play video games compiled for ARM—albeit from an enormous library, all of that are licensed to work on the headset. The identical can’t be stated about Body simply but.
Valve is distributing Body dev kits forward of Body’s 2026 launch to verify PC VR studios can optimize; we count on the corporate to even have some type of badging system just like Steam Deck too so customers know what works nice, okay, or under no circumstances. That stated, Valve isn’t stopping you from attempting to obtain and play something (x86) obtainable on Steam.
One other huge distinction is the hackability of Body. The headset natively run SteamOS, though you’ll be able to technically set up any OS on it you need (or realistically can), because it’s an open platform and provides you direct entry to Linux for your entire hacking wants. That’s one thing you undoubtedly can’t do with Quest’s Horizon OS resulting from its locked bootloader (i.e. no root entry).
Valve is so assured in Body’s SteamOS that the corporate tells Highway to VR the working system “can be nice for different [VR] units.”
What’s extra, Body additionally has a person accessible enlargement gen4 PCIe port, which helps as much as two 2.5 Gbps cameras… or something you’ll be able to consider. Moreover, Body sports activities an microSD card slot for as much as 2TB of further storage—each of them clear wins for makers and avid gamers seeking to develop Body out of the field.
Steam Body may additionally promise higher consolation over Quest 3, though the jury remains to be out. The headset incorporates a entrance ‘core’ part, together with the shows and optics, which weighs in at solely 190g, placing the majority of the remaining 245g within the whole 435g bundle to the headstrap, which incorporates a rear-mounted battery (21.6 Wh lithium ion). The default config shipped within the field (above) notably lacks a prime strap although, which Valve is promoting as an non-compulsory add-on later to go together with Knuckles-style controller straps (beneath).
The place issues even out considerably (no less than on paper) is the headsets’ shows. Quest 3 serves up a 2,064 × 2,208 per-eye LCD, whereas Body has a 2,160 × 2,160 per-eye LCD. Each are clocked as much as a refresh fee of 72-120Hz, though Body is alleged to permit as much as 144Hz in an experimental mode.
Nonetheless, Body does let down within the passthrough division; it solely has monochrome passthrough, harkening again to the Quest 2 days—an odd (and possibly cost-saving) determination by the corporate. Alternatively, Quest 3 affords a full-color passthrough, which is undoubtedly the higher solution to not solely checking in your environment often whereas immersed in VR, but additionally play video games on a large display screen in your lounge.
It’s undoubtedly early days, however Body might be a really compelling bundle over Quest 3. In addition to the uncooked spec sheet (seen beneath), an enormous lacking piece within the equation although remains to be value and launch date. Valve says we’re certain to study extra on that entrance in “early 2026,” which they are saying may come someplace beneath Valve Index, which is priced ‘all-in’ at $1,000.
Within the meantime, you’ll be able to learn our deep dive assessment of Quest 3 and our hands-on with Steam Body for more information.
Specs: Steam Body vs. Quest 3
| Steam Body | Quest 3 | |
| Base Retail Value | TBD (early 2026) | $500 (launched in 2023) |
| Weight | 190g core, 435g (core, headstrap, incl. facial interface, audio, rear battery) | 515g (with inventory fabric headstrap) |
| Chipset | Snapdragon Sequence 8 Gen 3 (SM8650), 8 core CPU ARM processor (4nm) | Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, 6 core CPU ARM processor (4nm) |
| RAM | 16GB Unified LPDDR5 RAM | |
| Working System | SteamOS | Horizon OS (Android primarily based) |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7, 2×2 – Twin 5Ghz/6Ghz streaming for simultaneous VR and Wi-Fi | WiFi 6E |
| Storage | 256GB / 1TB UFS storage choices | 528GB / 1TB storage choices |
| Expanded Storage | microSD card slot for prolonged storage | N/A |
| Optics | Pancake optics | Pancake optics |
| Show | 2,160 × 2,160 LCD (per eye), 72-120Hz refresh fee (144Hz experimental) | 2,064 × 2,208 LCD (per eye), 72-120Hz refresh fee |
| FOV | as much as 110 levels | 110 levels horizonal, 96 levels vertical |
| Monitoring | 4x outward going through monochrome cameras for controller & headset monitoring | 4x outward going through monochrome cameras for controller & headset monitoring (contains depth sensor) |
| Darkish Setting Monitoring | Outward IR illuminator for darkish environments | N/A |
| Passthrough | Monochrome digital camera passthrough (1,280 × 1,024) | Coloration digital camera passthrough (1,280 × 960) |
| Eye-tracking | 2x inside cameras for eye monitoring | N/A |
| Rendering enhancements | Foveated Streaming: eye-tracking drives video stream, sending highest decision to the place you’re trying | Fastened Foveated Rendering: constantly renders highest decision in middle of show (no eye-tracking) |
| Different | Wi-fi Adapter included, Wi-Fi 6E (6Ghz) | Wi-fi streaming by way of Hyperlink/Router chain |
| Audio | Twin speaker drivers (per ear), built-in into headstrap | Twin speaker drivers (per ear), built-in into headstrap |
| Mic | Twin microphone array | A minimum of 3 microphones (unconfirmed) |
| Port | USB-C | USB-C |
| Enlargement Port | Consumer accessible enlargement port – ( 2x 2.5Gbps digital camera interface / gen4 PCIe ) | N/A |
| Battery | 21.6 Wh Li-On Battery |
Extra Steam Body Announcement Protection
Valve Unveils Steam Body VR headset to Make Your Complete Steam Library Transportable: Valve reveals off Steam Body, the standalone headset that may stream and natively play your total Steam library—with only some caveats proper now.
Fingers-on: Steam Body Reveals Valve’s Fashionable Imaginative and prescient for VR and Rising {Hardware} Ambitions: We go hands-on with Valve’s newest and best VR headset but.
Steam Body’s Value Hasn’t Been Locked in, However Valve Expects it to be ‘cheaper than Index’: No value or launch date but, however Valve implies Steam Body will likely be cheaper than $1,000 for the total Index package.
Valve Says No New First-party VR Sport is in Growth: Valve launched Half-Life: Alyx (2020) a number of months after releasing Index, however no such luck for first-party content material on Steam Body.
Valve is Open to Bringing SteamOS to Third-party VR Headsets: Steam Body is the primary VR headset to run SteamOS, however it might not be the final.
Valve Plans to Supply Steam Body Dev Kits to VR Builders: Steam Body isn’t right here but; Valve says it wants extra time with builders first to allow them to optimize their PC VR video games.
Valve Publicizes SteamOS Console and New Steam Controller, Designed with Steam Body Headset in Thoughts: Discover out why Valve’s new SteamOS-running Console and controller will work seamlessly with Steam Body.
Steam Body vs. Valve Index Specs: Wi-fi VR Gameplay That’s Generations Forward : Valve Index was once the go-to PC VR headset, however the occasions have modified.
