Being one of the lucky few to get my Steam Frame a few weeks ago, I have been using it quite a bit since then. I have been buying some third-party accessories to mitigate some of its weaknesses.

First the obvious one: it is surprisingly light and small, but overall not comfortable enough due to my glasses. To solve that I went ahead and bought prescription lenses from VR Optician (119€ including fast shipping and additional prescription fee).

Then I figured I had better protect it against sunlight because I do not have one of those fancy head mounts nor do I want to pack it in its box between each use. Thus I got an AMVR lens cover that fits quite well (13€).

And finally the battery life situation is… Well it’s bad. I got decent VR legs and can play for hours, but the battery only lasts at most 1h30 when running PCVR at 120Hz. So I got myself a UGREEN Nexode 145W 25000mAh Power Bank (56€), 2 short angled USB-C cables (24€), round magnetic USB-C adapters (16€) and a small fanny pack (10€).

I will also say there has been some trial and error regarding the magnetic adapter. The idea is to protect the headset port in case the cable snags on anything. I wanted to plug it directly in the headset port, but it tends to disconnect when I turn my head. The tradeoff I landed on is : one very short cable plugged in, magnetically coupled with a longer one that goes to the battery. The 240W-rated USB-C cables are also overkill but hey, not that much of a price difference (they are quite thick though and contributed some in my disconnect issue).

So there you have it, 238€ on top of the initial Steam Frame + ergonomic accessories kit purchase (which is a must-have if you ask me), not counting said trial and error.

    • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
      0·
      11 hours ago

      Especially the magnetic kind. Have been known for frying styff, even. Because conductive dust can be pulled into the connector by the magnet.

      • NeryK@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
        0·
        8 hours ago

        Well shit, I had not thought of that. So basically it’s a choice between risking damaging the connector with physical movement or damaging the electronics inside with conductive dust. I do not expect there is much metal dust floating around in my home but I’ll keep that in mind.

        • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
          0·
          8 hours ago

          The entire head strap is technically replaceable, but the USB PD power circuit, as far as I know, is in the core module, not the headstrap battery thing. (When charging, the power goes first to the HMD itself, then loops back to the battery. This makes sense, as it would have to be this way for any future headstraps that run wired with no battery to be possible.)

          So if you fry it, you’d be replacing/repairing the core module, not the head strap.

          So I’m risking the port.

          • NeryK@sh.itjust.worksOP
            0·
            7 hours ago

            Alright you have convinced me. I’m ditching the magnet connectors and taking my chances with regular angled cables.

      • glimse@lemmy.world
        0·
        10 hours ago

        I gave up magnetic connectors for this reason. Nothing fried but the port got hot to the touch and that was it for me

        • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
          0·
          11 hours ago

          Then you haven’t been around metal dust. Which most people won’t be.

          We’re pointing out that magnetic connectors are not a part of the spec, which means the ways they can go wrong is NOT accounted for.