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.

  • plissken@piefed.socialEnglish
    0·
    10 hours ago

    I always wondered, if I need trading glasses because getting older means you can’t read close anymore, does it also mean VR needs me to wear those glasses?

    • Thunderbird4@lemmy.world
      0·
      4 hours ago

      I think the other replies are missing that you probably meant to type “reading glasses.” If all you need glasses for is reading up close, you may not need them in VR. Most headsets are designed to let your eyes focus as if the image was 2-3 meters away, so if you can read at that distance unassisted, you’ll probably be fine. In some cases all you can do is just to try it and see.

    • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
      0·
      8 hours ago

      Yes.

      The optics mimic reality. If you need glasses to see normally, you will need glasses to see in VR.

      • Natanael@infosec.pub
        0·
        8 hours ago

        Tldr the optics bend the relative angles of incoming light to mimic the relative angles of the same image coming from a screen a few meters away, closer to your eyes’ natural “resting focal point” to not strain them.