Steam Frame v Meta Quest 3: What are the differences in price and specs?

The VR battle of our time has arrived, but who comes out victorious in the Steam Frame v Meta Quest 3 debate?

The Steam Frame is now available to reserve, and whether you're looking for your first VR headset or considering switching from the Meta Quest, it's a tantalising prospect.

So, to help you make your decision, we've put together a quick comparison between the two on price and specs.

The Meta Quest 3, released in 2023, costs £549/$649 for the 512GB version – the 128GB model is no longer available for purchase.

In comparison, the Steam Frame costs a mighty £899/$1059 for the 256GB version, while the 1TB version will set you back £1089/$1299.

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Naturally, the Steam Frame is the newer hardware, and the price will likely have been hit hard by recent RAM shortages, but that's still a pretty eye-watering price.

So, if you're going to spend nearly double the price of the Meta Quest 3, you would hope for some mighty specs, right? Well…

Above, you can see a comparison of the key specs of both the Steam Frame and the Meta Quest 3.

Understandably, being a more modern piece of tech, the Steam Frame has the Meta Quest beaten on sheer hardware alone, but hardware alone does not a headset make.

When incorporating the software into the equation, the Meta Quest 3 is effectively designed to be a computer in and of itself.

Everything runs on and is stored in the headset, and connecting to a PC is an optional, additional step.

In comparison, the Steam Frame is designed to run with a PC you already have – perhaps a Steam Machine – which gives you a much higher ceiling when it comes to playing games, but also means you have a higher floor to start from.

It really all depends on who you are and what you want from a VR headset.

If you don't have a gaming PC, or perhaps one that isn't particularly powerful, then you might want to go with the Meta Quest 3 and its in-built software.

The same can be said if you're someone who cares about mixed reality, and of course, if you're baulking at that enormous Steam Frame price tag.

But if you're someone with a gaming PC, with a vast library of Steam titles to play, and you don't mind paying the extra money for better specs that will no doubt stay relevant in the market longer than the alternative, then the Steam Frame is probably the choice for you.

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