Photos of Valve’s Steam Frame, as well as a manual for it, have appeared online, highlighting that you’ll be able to prolong playtime with the device through a hot-swappable battery module. However, this feature seemingly isn’t universal, and looks as though it requires an additional accessories kit.
Documents pertaining to the Steam Frame, including teardown photos of the system’s controllers, were uploaded to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) website on June 17. Following their publication, it didn’t take long to uncover references to a Frame Enthusiast Kit.
The full contents of the aforementioned kit are relatively scarce for the moment, but the manual does reveal that it will include an ‘Enthusiast Hot-Swappable Battery Pack.’ The documents describe this accessory as having magnets, presumably for attachment purposes.
Other VR headsets have similar accessories to complement their built-in rechargeable batteries, such as the Elite strap for the Meta Quest 2. This Enthusiast Hot-Swappable Battery Pack will undoubtedly prove tempting for wireless play, but the manual also confirms the system is usable while charging via USB-C.
Around the time of announcement, I was told by a few individuals that there was a “first party hard strap” already fully designed by Valve that used newer Index-style BMR speakers
But at the time, the sources were unsure if Valve would go through with mass producing it https://t.co/d5qPqcPKkb
— Brad Lynch (@SadlyItsBradley) June 17, 2026
Regular Valve leaker Brad Lynch claims to have received word of a “first party hard strap” around the time of the Steam Frame’s announcement. Interestingly, Lynch’s sources claimed the strap used Index-style BMR speakers, but the FCC documents provide no confirmation as to whether that improved audio system features in the Enthusiast Hot-Swappable Battery Pack.
There’s still no firm release date for the Steam Frame, beyond a broad summer 2026 launch window. However, with Steam Machine benchmarks now appearing on Geekbench, combined with these FCC documents, it’s possible we won’t be waiting too much longer for either system.
Check out our Steam Controller review for more chatter on Valve hardware.
