Former Quest Engineer Praises Vision Pro Imitation

Hey, did Apple Vision Pro ever come in black? The answer is a clear no, but let’s talk about what’s catching the attention of many: the Play For Dream MR. Dubbed by some as the ‘Android Vision Pro’, this device managed to turn quite a few heads at CES 2025 last week.

The journey of Play For Dream began in Asia last year, where this China-based company aimed to bring its Vision Pro-inspired mixed reality headset to a Western audience. Launching a Kickstarter campaign in September, they impressively raised HKD 2,271,650 (roughly $292,000 USD).

The Play For Dream MR is loaded with a suite of modern XR features. Key highlights include the powerful Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset running on Android 15, alongside dual 3,840 × 3,552 micro-OLED displays operating at 90Hz. The headset also sports eye-tracking, automatic IPD adjustment, both wired and wireless PC streaming capabilities, a rear-mounted battery reminiscent of the Quest Pro, and Touch-style controllers. Essentially, this headset seems to offer it all—right down to a user interface akin to Vision Pro’s.

Aside from the design cues, former Quest engineer Amanda Watson had the opportunity to go hands-on with Play For Dream’s headset. She shared on social media, “absolutely the best all-around headset demo I saw on the floor today.”

“It really is an ‘Android Apple Vision Pro’. The execution, in terms of performance, optics, UI, and media capabilities, was top-notch,” Watson added. Her credentials are noteworthy, having left Meta in 2022 after contributing to various Quest projects, including the development and release of the Air Link Wi-Fi streaming tool. With such expertise, if Watson is impressed, there’s reason to pay attention.

Watson further explored its features, stating, “It has USB and wireless PCVR streaming (I tried USB)—the performance here was more of a work-in-progress (frame rate and latency) compared to other functionalities. But fundamental aspects like controller motion were well-executed, and resolution was solid.”

On the controller front, Watson remarked that the Touch-style controllers performed admirably, even though hand tracking wasn’t demonstrated. She especially noted the headset’s pancake lenses, which she found to have “excellent distortion correction”—a feature she emphasized as particularly important to her.

Founded in 2020, initially called YVR, Play For Dream has already put out two generations of standalone VR headsets in China, known as the YVR 1 and YVR 2, both of which dropped in 2022.

As for when we can expect the Play For Dream MR to hit the shelves or at what price, those details remain under wraps. The company has, however, hinted that the price will be under $2,000. For all the details, keep an eye on Play For Dream’s website, where they’ll share full specs and release information once available.