Former Quest Engineer Praises Vision Pro Replica

Wait a second, does the Apple Vision Pro come in black? No, it doesn’t, but that hasn’t stopped Play For Dream MR from offering their own version in sleek black. Dubbed as the ‘Android Vision Pro’ because of its Android operating system, Play For Dream managed to catch some serious attention at CES 2025 just last week.

Originally launched in Asia last year, the Chinese company Play For Dream aimed to introduce its Vision Pro-inspired mixed reality headset to Western markets as well. They kicked off a Kickstarter campaign in September, and it was quite successful, raising a hefty HK$2,271,650, which is roughly $292,000 USD.

This headset is loaded with all the cutting-edge features you’d expect. It’s powered by the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset running on Android 15. Plus, it boasts dual 3,840 × 3,552 micro-OLED displays with a refresh rate of 90Hz, eye-tracking, automatic IPD adjustment, and both wired and wireless PC streaming. They’ve even adopted a rear-mounted battery and Touch-style controllers inspired by the Quest Pro.

To sum it up, the Play For Dream MR seems to offer everything you’re looking for—even mimicking the Vision Pro’s interface.

Putting those design inspirations aside for a moment, Amanda Watson, a former Quest engineer, got her hands on the Play For Dream MR headset and shared her thoughts in a post on the platform X. She described it as “the best all-around HMD demo I saw on the floor today.”

“This is essentially an ‘Android Apple Vision Pro,’ but I have to say, the execution is top-notch. Wonderful performance, impressive optics, a user-friendly interface, and excellent media capture and playback capabilities,” Watson elaborated. She left Meta in 2022, but during her time there, she worked on several Quest projects, including the tethered Link and Air Link for Wi-Fi streaming. Impressively, she was the sole developer of Air Link for 13 months prior to its release. So if Watson gives something a thumbs up, you know it’s legit.

She also mentioned, “It can stream PCVR content both via USB and wirelessly (I tested USB), and while this feature still feels like a work in progress in terms of frame rate and latency, it’s relatively new from what I gather. The fundamentals like controller motion were spot-on, and the resolution was solid.”

Watson further noted that the Touch-style controllers were “very good.” Although they mentioned hand-tracking capabilities, they did not demonstrate it. Additionally, Watson was particularly impressed with the distortion correction of the pancake lenses, calling it “the biggest thing to me personally.”

Since its establishment in 2020 under the name YVR, Play For Dream has rolled out two generations of standalone VR headsets, the YVR 1 and YVR 2, both launched in China in 2022.

As for a release date and pricing, the Play For Dream MR doesn’t have specifics yet, but the company indicates it will cost under $2,000. For more details and to stay updated on ordering opportunities, you can visit Play For Dream’s website.