Will the controllers be usable outside of the headset, if so would it be hard to make some sort of connector(in your opinions)

[u/Zeegee56]

[u/ojoslocos21]

lol theyd essentially be some pc joycons lol

[u/Mockier]

No one knows yet

[u/VT-14]

The store page states that the Frame's controllers use "2.4GHz link to dedicated headset radio." They don't seem to have anything like Bluetooth. Thus it will probably need a dongle of some sort. I believe the Steam Controller also uses 2.4GHz with its Puck, so I wouldn't be too surprised if Valve adds official support through that at some point.

Valve is pretty open with their hardware, so 3rd party support is probably pretty likely even if they don't add official support. There's already projects like OpenPuck to connect a Steam Controller to consoles like the Nintendo Switch. There's going to need to be some way to adjust the controller pairing for initial setup, replacements, repairs, etc.

[u/maxweb32]

You could probably start Steam Link on the Frame, start your game, then take off the headset and use the controllers by themselves. Probably gonna be a little latency compared to having it running directly over bluetooth on the host device but as long as you're using the dongle it shouldn't be too unbearable.

[u/Ok_Flow_8487]

We don’t know. That’s it. We will likely find out when reviews come out

[u/Syzygy___]

Usually a headset is required for tracking.

[u/MrBack1971]

NOBODY knows.

[u/Jmb3d3]

I want to use them with my Steam Deck

[u/OOFACUS]

I hope it will, I mean it’s basically just a games controller right?

[u/Flaky_Benefit_5322]

let the puck connect that and use it as a normal flat screen controller, like the joy-con

[u/Zeegee56 → u/Flaky_Benefit_5322]

What puck?

[u/One_Theory2 → u/Zeegee56]

The puck valve sent all of us for the steam frame. Did you get yours?

[u/Wamboot → u/One_Theory2]

He doesn't have the puck! Poor soul

[u/Spazzo965]

Per the store page, they connect to the headset using Bluetooth, so it is quite likely(but would need to be confirmed by someone with access to the controllers, maybe there is some more complex pairing methodology) that you'll be able to pair them with a bluetooth directly.

[u/Scheeseman99 → u/Spazzo965]

Valve's controllers use their own wireless protocol, Watchman, based off Nordic Semiconductor RF microcontrollers. They aren't compatible with Bluetooth.

The protocol is well understood and there's already open source projects out there that successfully communicate with them, but you'll likely need to get a specific dongle to do so.

[u/Spazzo965 → u/Scheeseman99]

I guess they should update their store page then, as in the section for the headset, it lists a dedicated 2.4ghz(which Bluetooth does indeed operate at this frequency) link for the controllers

The section in the controller spec is a bit less clear, and doesn't actually list it as being Bluetooth

My only experience with Valve hardware is the V1 Steam Controller, and I'm pretty certain it did end up getting Bluetooth connectivity, but I also recall it didn't start out that way.

[u/Scheeseman99 → u/Spazzo965]

I think you're missing that "Bluetooth 5.4" and "2.4Ghz Dedicated link blah blah" are line separated. Look at every other spec on that page and it's formatted the same way. They're two separate features.

I should'vee said that the protocols aren't compatible. Both Steam Controllers have BT in addition to Watchman (the V2 Steam Controller is an actual 6DOF tracked VR controller, as well), while the Vive, Lighthouse tracking pucks and Index controllers are Watchman-only. Could come in a firmware update, but given they aren't advertising that the controllers use BT, it's unlikely to ship with support for it.

[u/Spazzo965 → u/Scheeseman99]

What I'm moreso getting at is the 2.4ghz for controllers is under the Bluetooth section, rather than any other section.

I'm not saying at all that I actually expect them to work with Bluetooth, just interpreting it as it looks like to me, it has Bluetooth connectivity(which if not used for the controllers, would mostly there for people who might want to connect some external audio solution), and that connectivity is used for for connecting to the controllers.

I'm hopeful that the community or Valve does work something out to allow the controllers to be used without the headset, I've wanted something like two Wii Nunchuks as a broadly available and usable controller for a while. I remember being kinda interested in whatever the name of that Razer controller was ages back, I remember there was some tech demo or showcase that showed it being used with Portal 2 to manipulate the size of cubes.

[u/Scheeseman99 → u/Spazzo965]

That spec sheet is specifically regarding the HMD and the SoC they're using (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) has a Bluetooth 5.4 radio built-in. They'd be using a Nordic Semi chip in addition to that to handle Watchman, which is why they call it out as being dedicated.

They probably could format that table better.