There’s yet another contender stepping into the mixed reality ring, and it’s sporting a name that sounds eerily familiar: Vivo Vision.
You might not instantly recognize Vivo, but in China, they’re renowned for crafting smart, dependable, mid-range smartphones. Consistently, they find themselves among the top five smartphone manufacturers by market share. So, it’s not entirely surprising to see them enter a new tech segment.
Presented today at the Boao Forum for Asia, situated in Hainan Province, Vivo has officially unveiled its ambitious dive into XR technology. The initiative is dubbed Vivo Vision. According to a press release, Vivo sees this as a strategic move, tying in with their broader ambitions to explore robotics and XR devices. They describe Vivo Vision as a “significant milestone” in their journey into the world of mixed reality.
The details on Vivo Vision are still pretty much under wraps. While the grand reveal is set for mid-2025, the company hasn’t spilled the beans on crucial specs like the headset’s features, operating system, release timeline, global reach, or pricing. Essentially, everything beyond what meets the eye remains a mystery at this point.
At the Boao Forum, Vivo did display a model of the headset that made it clear—they’ve taken a few style notes from Apple’s Vision Pro. This includes a distinctive headstrap, a digital crown button, and even a magnetically-tethered battery design.
It’s worth noting that Vivo’s smartphones use a customized version of Android, with Funtouch OS for the global market and Origin OS in China. Given this, there’s a chance Vivo might try something similar for their XR device, possibly aligning it with Google’s anticipated Android XR OS. This move would echo Samsung’s upcoming mixed reality venture, ‘Project Moohan’, set to hit later this year—though that’s largely speculative for the moment.
There seems to be a burgeoning trend of Vision Pro look-alikes emerging from Chinese tech companies. Take ‘Play for Dream’ as an example; their MR headset caught significant attention at CES 2025 earlier this year. It even earned commendations from Amanda Watson, a former Quest engineer, who hailed it as “absolutely the best all-around HMD demo I saw on the floor today.”
As the XR field grows denser with competition, Vivo’s foray will certainly be one to watch closely.
