I mean, I'm not sure why your expectations were so high. Valve is a buisness, not a wizards' order. Short of effectively strapping a desktop PC to your back, theres a strict limit in how powerful a computer you can make wearable.
Also, notably, the Index Headset alone was $500, but for the full index system its meant to replace it's more like $1000. When they said "less than the Index" this is likely what they're refering to since the headset is pretty useless without tracking and controllers. Even with heavy subsidization from data collection and attempts at monopolizing the market, Facebook still only managed to get the price down to $500 on the Quest 3, so its be ridiculous to expect a lower price from a headset that does neither and has better hardware.