Former Quest Engineer Praises Vision Pro Imitation

Wait a minute, the Apple Vision Pro isn’t available in black, right? Correct, but guess what? The Play For Dream MR headset is, and it’s been making waves as the so-called “Android Vision Pro” ever since it wowed the crowd at CES 2025 last week.

Originally launched in Asia last year, the company Play For Dream from China is trying to make a splash in the West with their mixed reality headset that has a striking resemblance to the Vision Pro. They kicked things off with a Kickstarter campaign in September, raising an impressive 2,271,650.00 Hong Kong dollars, or about $292,000 USD.

What’s so exciting about the Play For Dream MR? It’s jam-packed with the latest XR features, including a Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset running on Android 15. Those dual 3,840 × 3,552 micro-OLED displays run at 90Hz, and it boasts eye-tracking, automatic IPD adjustment, and options for both wired and wireless PC streaming. Plus, it’s got a rear-mounted battery and Touch-style controllers inspired by the Quest Pro.

To put it simply, this headset seems to have covered all the bases—even borrowing the user interface from Vision Pro.

Putting design inspirations aside for a moment, former Quest engineer Amanda Watson got her hands on Play For Dream’s MR headset. She shared her thoughts in a post, exclaiming it was “absolutely the best all around HMD demo I saw on the floor today.” That’s high praise from someone who knows the field inside and out.

“It’s quite literally an ‘Android Apple Vision Pro’ but with outstanding execution. Great performance, optics, UI, and media capture/playback features,” Watson explained. She left Meta in 2022 after developing key Quest-related features like the tethered Link and Air Link.

Given her background at Meta/Oculus, where she led the development of Air Link for over a year before its launch, if Watson says this headset is impressive, you better believe it.

She also mentioned she tried out the USB PCVR streaming, noting it’s still somewhat a work in progress in terms of frame rate and latency. Regardless, the controller motion was on point and the resolution was solid.

Moreover, Watson was impressed with the Touch-style controllers, describing them as “very good.” Although hand-tracking was mentioned, it wasn’t demonstrated during her hands-on session. The headset boasts pancake lenses with “excellent distortion correction,” which she says is a personal highlight.

Launched originally as YVR in 2020, Play For Dream has released two standalone VR headsets, the YVR 1 and YVR 2, both debuting in China back in 2022.

As of now, there’s no set release date or pricing details for the Play For Dream MR, though the company has hinted at a price under $2,000. Keep an eye on Play For Dream’s website for more detailed specs and ordering information as they roll out.