Wait, does the Apple Vision Pro come in black? Not quite, but that’s where Play For Dream MR steps in. Dubbed the “Android Vision Pro” by some due to its Android OS, this headset made quite a splash at CES 2025.
After launching in Asia last year, Play For Dream, a China-based company, aimed to introduce its Vision Pro-inspired mixed reality headset to Western markets. A Kickstarter campaign kicked off in September and successfully raised $2,271,650 Hong Kong dollars, roughly translating to $292,000 USD.
The Play For Dream MR headset is loaded with a host of contemporary XR features. It boasts a Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset powered by Android 15, sporting dual 3,840 × 3,552 micro-OLED displays with a 90Hz refresh rate. The device includes eye-tracking, automatic IPD adjustment, as well as both wired and wireless PC streaming. Even its design nods to the Quest Pro with a rear-mounted battery and controllers reminiscent of the Touch series.
In essence, it seems to offer everything, including a user interface that mirrors the Vision Pro’s.
While its design draws clear inspiration, the functionality speaks for itself. Former Quest engineer Amanda Watson took it for a spin and declared it “absolutely the best all-around HMD demo I saw on the floor today” in a post on X.
“To put it simply, it’s an ‘Android Apple Vision Pro,’ but it truly stands out in its execution. Performance, optics, UI, and media handling shine bright,” Watson shared. Having left Meta in 2022, her insights carry weight; she played a pivotal role in developing various Quest projects, including the tethered Link and Wi-Fi streaming tool Air Link, which she single-handedly developed for 13 months before launch. If she praises something, you’re probably on to a winner.
“The USB and wireless PCVR streaming feature (which I tried via USB) still feels like a work in progress, particularly with frame rate and latency,” she explained. “However, the basics like controller motion worked perfectly, and the resolution was spot on.”
Watson was also impressed with the Touch-style controllers, noting they were quite effective. Although hand tracking is supposedly a feature, it wasn’t demonstrated. The pancake lenses deserve a special mention for their “excellent distortion correction,” something Watson personally finds critical.
Since its inception in 2020, initially known as YVR, Play For Dream has launched two standalone VR headsets—YVR 1 and YVR 2—both of which hit the Chinese market in 2022.
As for the Play For Dream MR, neither a definitive release date nor exact pricing has been announced, but the company plans to keep it under $2,000. To dive deeper into specs and future purchase options, check out Play For Dream’s website.
