Former Quest Engineer Praises Vision Pro Imitation

Does the Apple Vision Pro come in black? It doesn’t, but the Play For Dream MR certainly does, and it’s making waves in the tech community. Dubbed by some as the “Android Vision Pro” for its Android operating system, this sleek headset caught quite a bit of attention at CES 2025 last week.

Initially debuting in Asia the previous year, the Chinese company Play For Dream is now setting its sights on Western markets. After launching a Kickstarter campaign in September, the Play For Dream MR managed to raise an impressive 2,271,650 Hong Kong dollars, which is about $292,000 USD.

This headset isn’t just about looks; it is packed with cutting-edge XR features. Under the hood, you’ll find a Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset running on Android 15. It boasts dual micro-OLED displays with a resolution of 3,840 × 3,552 and a 90Hz refresh rate. Other features include eye-tracking, automatic IPD adjustment, and both wired and wireless PC streaming. Plus, there’s a rear-mounted battery and Touch-style controllers, reminiscent of the Quest Pro.

In essence, it offers the complete package, even sporting a user interface akin to the Vision Pro’s.

Beyond its design influences, Amanda Watson, a former engineer at Quest, got hands-on experience with the Play For Dream MR headset. She shared her thoughts on social media, saying it was “absolutely the best all-around HMD demo I saw on the floor today.”

“It’s essentially an ‘Android Apple Vision Pro,’ but the execution was superb,” Watson explained. “With great performance, optics, UI, and media capture/playback features.”

Having worked on various Quest projects during her tenure at Meta/Oculus, Watson’s endorsement carries weight. She was heavily involved in developing Quest’s tethered Link and Air Link, being the sole developer of the latter for 13 months prior to its release. When Watson praises something, it’s likely worth taking note.

She further mentioned, “It has USB and wireless PCVR streaming (I tried USB)—this felt more work-in-progress in terms of frame rate and latency compared to other features, but it’s relatively new from what I understand. Controller motion was spot-on, and the resolution was impressive.”

Watson had positive things to say about the Touch-style controllers, commenting that they were “also very good.” Although hand tracking is reportedly available, it wasn’t showcased. The headset’s pancake lenses stood out for their “excellent distortion correction,” which Watson personally valued highly.

Founded in 2020 as YVR, Play For Dream has already introduced two generations of standalone VR headsets—the YVR 1 and YVR 2—both released in China in 2022.

While the Play For Dream MR doesn’t have a set release date or price yet, the company aims to keep the cost below $2,000. For more information, including detailed specifications and potential ordering opportunities, you can visit Play For Dream’s website when they become available.