...this is the first VR headset i've ever seen consider something like this. like, this may actually make VR usable for me, that's insane.

Will try give it a listen, as a big rusty quill, Mozzarella, and video game accessibility fan ;)

As someone who owned a Quest 2 until very recently (gifted it to my mum who is big into VR), I didn't have the same experience with the Quest 2 after the 3 launched, so can't factor that into my review, but am sorry you had that experience.

Same end result, buying the non evil one costs over twice the price for the same features, which is hard to justify for many regardless of who the blame rests with

Oh for sure. I encourage those who can to pick frame over quest, but as a reviewer I can't ignore that it's a hard sell for most given feature comparison

No sorry needed :)

As someone who owns both i knpw switching is the logical choice, but it also means downgrading battery life, AND buying all my software a second time, and that's a messy transition for sure

I agree, but as I acknowledge in my review, double the price for a basically identical feature set is a tall ask when "we aren't the evil other guy" is your main tangible advantage

I am looking into if I can find a good 45W portable power bank that's lightweight, and comparable in shape to the existing battery, that could somehow be mounted / clipped to the headset to extend battery life. Shouldn't be needed, but might be what it takes for me to switch over from Quest 3.

One of my biggest Steam Frame complaints in my review is the headset's relatively poor battery life compared to the Meta Quest. Alledgedly the latest firmware improves battery life aprox 12%. Not enough to fix my issue, but a welcome improvement nonetheless. Will test soon.

Very important accessibility update just dropped for the Steam Frame VR headset. You can now set it to track (for foveated rendering) a single dominant eye, rather than it requiring two eyes to set a tracking point. You can set which eye to track in by showing advanced settings.