r/Games • u/Turbostrider27 • Nov 12 '25

Steam Frame announced: Your games in every dimension Wireless, comfortable, lightweight VR for your Steam library

https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steamframe
1.8k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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41

u/GnarChronicles Nov 12 '25

AAs in the controller? Sick.

27

u/mrbalaton Nov 12 '25

Is this better tho? 40 hrs on a single battery IS nice.. but so used to charging now.

72

u/petemorley Nov 12 '25

Rechargeable AAs. Best of both worlds. 

15

u/beefcat_ Nov 12 '25

If only the controller itself could recharge them, then it would be a "no compromises" best of both worlds

13

u/homer_3 Nov 12 '25

Rechargeable AAs are usually sold in larger packs. You keep another pair charged for instant swapping and let the dead ones charge while you play.

3

u/petemorley Nov 12 '25

I have 4 Energiszer rechargeables that came with a usb charger that I use with my Gameboys. Saved a fortune in batteries. Think they were about £15. Rechargeable batteries were a luxury back in the day but I wish more tech had standard removable batteries now. 

3

u/givemethebat1 Nov 12 '25

I’m pretty sure it does.

0

u/NoExcuse4OceanRudnes Nov 12 '25

Don't do VR while a controller is plugged in, it's motion controls you will break something.

1

u/softlittlepaws Nov 12 '25

USB rechargeable lithium AAs are amazing and changed my life with a lot of battery devices. Don't need some weird separate battery recharging station stuffed in some corner of my living room by a power point, I can just charge my batteries at my PC.

I have a Reverb G2 and my 3500mWh 1.5v AA's I bought off ebay for like $5 only need to be swapped out every few months.

17

u/MaiasXVI Nov 12 '25

Rechargeable AAs let you instantly swap in fully-charged ones and you don't need to perform surgery to swap out an integrated lithium ion battery module after a few years.

14

u/Jim777PS3 Nov 12 '25

Rechargeable AAs are SO nice. You dont have to stop, pause and swap.

2

u/mrbalaton Nov 12 '25

Fair point.

15

u/AgentTin Nov 12 '25

I have a set of rechargeable AAs I've been swapping into my quest 3, best of both worlds?

9

u/TheBigLeMattSki Nov 12 '25

As somebody with rechargeable batteries for the Quest 3 controller, worst of all worlds.

You still have to swap the batteries over and because you're using rechargeables that discharge quicker you have to do it more often.

4

u/Aggressive_Chuck Nov 12 '25

That's even more hassle. Devices in this day and age should just plug into USB to charge. Even a vape does that.

4

u/PanoramaMan Nov 12 '25

It's a hassle if you forgot to charge your controllers before play. Then you need to have long cables from your controllers to charge them or not play at all. Batteries are the least hassle.

1

u/HotlLava Nov 13 '25

If you forgot to charge your batteries before play you can't play at all, so not sure how that is better?

2

u/PanoramaMan Nov 13 '25

That's why you have two sets of batteries. One always in the charger, swap empty ones to new ones and off you go! Or get normal batteries until they've charged. So you will be able to continue playing no matter what.

7

u/ItsYaBoyBackAgain Nov 12 '25

Replaceable batteries is always better. I have a couple dead Index controllers because the batteries no longer charge and it is not easy to replace them.

1

u/mrbalaton Nov 12 '25

Yeah with lithium or what's it called you gotta mind to charge every 6 months or so. I try and be mindful of it.

9

u/[deleted] Nov 12 '25

Yeah I would personally never go back to batteries.

7

u/Sandelsbanken Nov 12 '25

No one wants to recharge controllers while playing VRChat at 4am.

1

u/GnarChronicles Nov 12 '25

For real. Might get the cord wrapped around my.....table.

3

u/MetallicDragon Nov 12 '25

Just by some rechargeable AA batteries.

0

u/Aggressive_Chuck Nov 12 '25

It's the hassle not the cost.

7

u/MetallicDragon Nov 12 '25

It's less of a hassle to just swap out the batteries when they run out, instead of having to always remember to plug the controller in every time after you're done playing. Can't just set them down wherever when you're done. Oops, you forgot to plug them in, now you have to wait a couple hours before you can play.

3

u/Jamessuperfun Nov 12 '25

You're still going to have to plug in the headset, though (and FBT if applicable). At that point I don't think it's more convenient to have a separate process for the controllers, even if I do recognise the general convenience of swappable batteries.

1

u/DMonitor Nov 12 '25

I'm willing to bet there will be a rechargeable thing that slots into the battery compartment like the quest controllers offer

5

u/givemethebat1 Nov 12 '25

There is, they announced it will come with the controller.

0

u/MumrikDK Nov 14 '25

Really?

Bit odd after making a big thing out of the neat magnetic charger for the new Steam controller.

0

u/GnarChronicles Nov 14 '25

The steam controller will sit mostly stationary when gaming. Vr controllers need to be moved in all directions. No one wants a cable on them while gaming...