Valve introduced Steam Body at the moment, however what’s the distinction between the corporate’s first VR headset, Valve Index? Learn on to search out out.
Index is a tethered PC VR headset that makes use of the corporate’s SteamVR monitoring commonplace, requiring laser-emitting basestations that the headset and Index controllers use to localize spatially for room-scale gameplay. You additionally want a VR-ready PC, because it’s not a standalone system.
When it was launched in 2019, there have been a number of VR headsets available on the market that made use of optical monitoring, generally referred to as ‘inside-out’ monitoring, like Rift S, Home windows Combined Actuality, and the unique Quest—which weren’t as exact as SteamVR’s decidedly extra cumbersome monitoring commonplace. Should you have been primarily a PC VR gamer searching for the perfect all-around headset on the time although, Index was a no brainer.
However PC VR headsets are lighter now, and the ‘no-brainer’ award for customers within the SteamVR monitoring ecosystem has moved on to slim and lightweight PC VR headsets—like Bigscreen Past 2, which helps the total gamut of SteamVR monitoring gadgets, like Tundra trackers, Index controllers (aka ‘Knuckles’) and extra.
Early subsequent yr although, there will probably be a brand new headset on the town: Steam Body. Like Index, Steam Body can play PC VR video games, though you possibly can ditch the basestations and two-meter tether, as a result of Valve’s newest and best makes use of optical monitoring and comes filled with a Wi-Fi 6E dongle within the field, which plugs into your pc for immediately streaming Steam video games (VR or in any other case). Meaning you’ll be sacrificing these hard-earned SteamVR monitoring equipment, however possibly going totally wi-fi will probably be value it.
Because it’s a standalone sporting a Qualcomm Snapdragon Collection 8 Gen 3 (launched in 2023) operating SteamOS, you possibly can really immediately obtain flatscreen and PC VR video games to play natively. No wires, PC, or anything required. Whereas not all PC VR video games performed natively are assured to work properly out of the field, Valve appears to have a plan.
Valve says flatscreen video games ought to play on Body simply high-quality, though extra demanding PC VR video games will should be optimized by builders first: precisely why the corporate is first releasing dev kits to studios. We additionally anticipate to see some kind of badging system on Steam sooner or later (à la Steam Deck) that permits you to know when natively downloaded PC VR titles run nice, okay, or in no way. Regardless of the case, Valve isn’t stopping you from making an attempt.
However as a result of dev kits are solely now simply heading out the door, which means value and launch data remains to be MIA, resulting from are available in “early 2026,” Valve says. Within the meantime although, you possibly can take a look at simply what Valve has cooked up for its long-awaited first standalone VR headset in our hands-on with Body—which handily beats Index in almost each measurable class.
Almost. Whereas Body’s 2,160 × 2,160 per-eye LCDs and pancake lenses beat Index’s 1,440 × 1, 600 per-eye LCDs and Fresnel lenses by a protracted shot, Body’s monochrome passthrough positively feels final (final) gen over the full-color passthrough on Index.
Hackers might be able to treatment that by jacking into the gen 4 PCIe slot within the user-accessible port, which helps as much as two 2.5Gbps digital camera sensors. Like Index’s ‘frunk’ USB port, Valve isn’t making something first-party for the PCIe slot, which is a bummer. Regardless of the case, gen 4 PCIe actually has extra bandwidth than the ol’ frunkster.
Steam Body vs. Valve Index Specs
| Steam Body | Valve Index | |
| Base Retail Value | Anticipated decrease than Index (TBD early 2026) | $1,000 (headset, controllers, 2 SteamVR basestations) Gaming PC required. |
| Weight | 190g core, 435g (with headstrap, incl. facial interface, rear battery) | |
| Chipset | Snapdragon Collection 8 Gen 3 (SM8650), 8 core CPU ARM processor (4nm) | N/A |
| RAM | 16GB Unified LPDDR5 RAM | N/A |
| Working System | SteamOS | No native OS. Tethered connection to Home windows or Linux PC |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7, 2×2 – Twin 5Ghz/6Ghz streaming for simultaneous VR and Wi-Fi | N/A |
| Storage | 256GB / 1TB UFS storage choices | N/A |
| Expanded Storage | microSD card slot for prolonged storage | N/A |
| Optics | Pancake optics | Twin-element canted Fresnel lenses |
| Show | 2,160 × 2,160 LCD (per eye), 72-120Hz refresh charge (144Hz experimental) | 1,440 × 1, 600 LCD (per eye), 144Hz refresh charge |
| FOV | as much as 110 levels | 108 levels horizontal, 104 levels vertical |
| Monitoring | 4x outward going through monochrome cameras for controller & headset monitoring | SteamVR 2.0 basestations for controller & headset monitoring |
| Darkish Surroundings Monitoring | Outward IR illuminator for darkish environments | Basestations enable for monitoring with out ambient mild |
| Passthrough | Monochrome twin digital camera passthrough (1,280 × 1,024 decision) | Coloration twin digital camera passthrough (960 × 960 decision) |
| Eye-tracking | 2x inside cameras for eye monitoring | N/A |
| Rendering enhancements | Eye-tracking drives video stream, sending highest decision to the place you’re trying | Decision scaling attainable through SteamVR |
| Different | Wi-fi Adapter included, Wi-Fi 6E (6Ghz) | Third-party gadgets out there for wi-fi streaming |
| Audio | Twin speaker drivers (per ear), built-in into headstrap | Twin speaker drivers (per ear), built-in into headstrap |
| Mic | Twin microphone array | |
| Port | USB-C | |
| Enlargement Port | Person accessible growth port – (2x 2.5Gbps digital camera interface / gen4 PCIe) | Faceplate ‘frunk’ growth port: USB 3.0 Kind-A |
| Battery | 21.6 Wh Li-On Battery | N/A |
Extra Steam Body Announcement Protection
Valve Unveils Steam Body VR headset to Make Your Whole Steam Library Moveable: Valve exhibits off Steam Body, the standalone headset that may stream and natively play your whole Steam library—with only some caveats proper now.
Fingers-on: Steam Body Reveals Valve’s Trendy 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 probably be cheaper than $1,000 for the total Index package.
Valve Says No New First-party VR Sport is in Improvement: 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 will not be the final.
Valve Plans to Provide 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. Quest 3 Specs: Higher Streaming, Energy & Hackability: Quest 3 can do so much, however can it go toe-to-toe with Steam Body?
