I was one of the lucky ones that got a Steam Frame from the first Batch so figure I share my thoughts on it now I been using it for about 2 days now.
To start off with for me the Steam frame is basically unusable without the Ergonomic Kit and at the price of the steam frame it is insulting they did not include everything in the Ergonomic Kit and instead made me pay an additional $59.
While I acknowledge there are people who face structure/nose size etc would allow them to use it without the Ergonomic Kit but I am not one of those people and I doubt I will be alone.
Going through each things that comes with the Ergonomic Kit
Head Band - Without it I could not find a way to get it to stay on my head without the side straps pinching or hitting the top of my ears. Once I installed the Head band I was easily able to keep it stable with movement at a higher position where the side straps stayed above my ears.
Head Band made a huge difference to me going from uncomfortable too the most comfortable VR head set I have ever wore. The light weight mixed with the battery being on back give it a good weight distribution and stays on my head even with fast movement very well. The fans seem to keep it from fogging up a issue I often had with my Vive Pro 2. I also notice no neck strain with them an issue I been having lately with my vive pro 2.
The Frame is well design from a comfort stand point which just makes it even more insulting they could not include the head band with the Frame as it the only thing missing out of the box that is required from a comfort level.
Next the large Nose Gasket - without I had ALOT of light bleed coming from below my eyes. Installing the larger nose Gasket Completely solved the issue for me. Again there really no excuse this did not come with the Frame.
Final Item that came with the Ergonomic Kit is the controller wrist bands that let you use them like the index controllers. I love the index controllers and the ability to open my hands in VR without dropping my controllers is something am so use to that I could not live without. That being said I do understand not everything body care about this so I would of been ok buying these separate for let say $15 but making me pay $59 for them plus two things that should come with the frame is as I already said multiple times insulting.
On the plus with the Ergonomic Kit the Steam Frame is well design and very comfortable VR head set. The controllers will they down grade from the index controllers for me but I think as I get use to them they be fine. Playing beat saber I was accidently pausing the game a lot which got annoying but over time I get better at not accidently hitting the buttons. For VR I much prefer the index controllers but if you someone that want to play none VR games in VR I could understand how all the additional buttons could come in handy.
IPD adjustment worked well for me and once you have it set there a switch on the inside to lock it in place so you don't accidently change them. The fan blowing inside of it some may find annoying on the eyes for me it was a nice improvement over other VR headsets I use.
The Panel it self I have mixed feeling with. In a perfect world they would of use the same panel the Big screen Beyond 2 uses. Hell I would of paid a lot more over it already expensive price to have that panel but I also understand I in the minority and Valve had to make decisions to keep the price down. This is defiantly one of those compromise. Is the Panel bad defiantly not it quite good actually but since it not OLED you not going to get the inky blacks that my original VIVE had 10 years ago, It don't even have the color accuracy and contrast of my 5 year old VIVE pro 2 in idea conditions.
That being said it still clearly a upgrade over both of those, Original Vive resolution was too low so could see pixels, wont have that problem with Frame, Vive Pro 2 looks great if you in the sweat spot but it got a VERY VERY small sweet spot and anything outside that sweet spot good luck reading text etc. Frame have a much much larger sweet spot where once I got the fit correct I can just put it on and not worrying about adjusting it on my face constantly to find sweet spot. The panel looks good and it only a small visual down grade compare to vive pro2 when the vive pro2 is in that small sweet spot.
That being said cant help but be a little disappointed it not using something like the Beyond 2 panel which would of been a upgrade in every possible way.
Back to plus as a light house user I was very worried inside out tracking would not be as good. So far I cant tell the different the tracking seem to work great kept up with me in beat saber and did not notice any lost tracking.
Foveated streaming seem to work great no matter how fast I moved or how fast I move my eyes I never notice any change in resolution so they seem to have the tech working at a level where is faster then I can tell.
Performance seem good, Beat Saber worked great in standalone mode. Half life alyx works but to me a notiable visual downgrade but ran great over PC streaming. Most games I probably run through PC streaming but the option to exercise without my computer is nice for games life beat saber.
Battery life nothing special but will work with usb cable in back so can use a battery bank in pocket for extended play time if needed.
The included wireless dangle seem to work great for PC streaming the games.
For me it came down to getting a Big screen Beyond 2 for the better panel or frame for the wireless freedom. I ended up choose Frame for the wireless freedom and ability to use it without a PC for trips etc. I don't regret my choice as I think the overall package make it a great VR headset but I do wish I did not have to give up having the better panel.
wrapping things up, other things I not mention pass through camera crap but it good enough to navigate your house safely with the frame on but not for mixed reality. If you want to use it for mixed reality you need to buy the 3rd party Camera that snaps into the front of frame. it will cost you another $150.
I personally refuse to use Meta products because of the way they can use/sell your data so cant compare it to quest 3. Quest 3 through is a much cheaper option to get into VR if you don't mind Meta owning any data that collected from the VR headset.
Conclusion
Good over all package but Ergonomic Kit is going to be a MUST buy for a lot of people to use it and should of came standard with the frame
Panel Good but wish they given us a pancake OLED option like the Beyond 2 even if it was a separate more expensive version.
