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In a nutshell: VR users looking for whatever cheap headset they can get their hands on should consider snagging a discounted Valve Index while they can. However, those happy to wait and pay (a lot) more might want to hold off, as recently leaked code suggests a mid-generation refresh of the Steam Frame is on the horizon.
Valve has unsurprisingly ended production of its first VR headset, the Index, and has begun clearing stock with a 20% discount on the headset and all accessories. Meanwhile, although the company only recently launched the Index’s successor, the Steam Frame, hints of an upgraded model have already emerged.
The Index headset is currently available from Steam for $400 while supplies last. The replacement tether is now just $103.20, while the base station and replacement left controller are discounted to $120. The bundle is no longer available, but its individual components would now total $741, down from $926.
Meta’s Quest 3 and Quest 3S have long since eclipsed the Index in both price and performance, but some VR enthusiasts might want to take the opportunity to acquire a relatively cheap headset that doesn’t require a Meta account. Plus, while Valve’s new standalone Steam Frame includes more modern hardware, its RAM-crisis-inflated $1,060 starting price likely puts it out of reach for many shoppers. Meanwhile, the Steam Frame’s kernel source code, which evlaV mirrored on GitHub, reveals early work on an updated model with OLED lenses and higher frame rates.
Codenamed “Plano,” the new model would replace the current Steam Frame’s 2160 × 2160 per-eye LCD panels with 3552 × 3840 OLED displays. The new OLED panels support a 90Hz refresh rate, with an experimental 120Hz mode in development.
However, because Plano reuses the original Steam Frame’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, its default operating resolution is limited to 1776 × 1920, with an experimental 1.5x scaling mode that increases this to 2368 × 2560. According to <a href="https://steamframehub.com/exclusive-here-we-go-again-valve-is-making-an-oled-steam-frame/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>Steam Frame Hub, the panels are likely the same MicroOLED displays used in the Samsung Galaxy XR.
To save horsepower and enhance performance, Plano would also introduce foveated scaling, using the Steam Frame’s eye-tracking capabilities to detect where users are looking and render only those pixels at native resolution. The current Steam Frame uses eye-tracking for foveated streaming, which applies the same basic concept to conserve bandwidth when wirelessly streaming software from PCs.
The leaked code includes development records from as recently as October 2, indicating Plano remains deep in development. However, there is no telling how close the refresh is to launch.
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