Wait a second, does the Apple Vision Pro even come in black? Nope, it doesn’t. But here’s a twist—Play For Dream MR does. Dubbed by some as the ‘Android Vision Pro’, this headset made quite an impression at CES 2025 last week, thanks to its Android-based operating system.
After making its debut in Asia last year, the ambitious China-based company, Play For Dream, set its sights on winning over the Western market. Their Kickstarter campaign, launched in September, proved to be a big success, amassing over $2,271,650 Hong Kong dollars, which translates to about $292,000 USD.
The Play For Dream MR headset is loaded with a host of cutting-edge XR features. It boasts a Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset on Android 15, impressive dual 3,840 × 3,552 micro-OLED displays running at 90Hz, eye-tracking capabilities, automatic IPD adjustment, and both wired and wireless PC streaming. There’s also a rear-mounted battery inspired by the Quest Pro and Touch-style controllers, making sure it ticks almost every box.
In essence, this headset has a lot going on—even to the point of mirroring Vision Pro’s user interface.
Setting its design influences aside, former Quest engineer Amanda Watson got a firsthand experience with the Play For Dream’s mixed reality headset. Taking to social media, she shared that it stood out as “absolutely the best all-around HMD demo” she experienced at the event.
“It’s indeed somewhat like an ‘Android Apple Vision Pro’, but the execution is spot on. The performance, optics, UI, and media capture/playback features were top-notch,” Watson commented. After leaving Meta in 2022, her insights carry weight, given her vast experience in the field.
While Watson was with Meta/Oculus, she contributed to several Quest projects, including both the tethered Link and the company’s Wi-Fi streaming tool, Air Link. She even spent 13 months as the sole developer behind Air Link prior to its debut. So when Watson praises something, it’s worth paying attention to.
“It offers both USB and wireless PCVR streaming. I tried the USB option, and although the frame rate and latency were still being fine-tuned, it’s understandable given that it’s a newer feature. The fundamentals like controller motion were solid, and the resolution was impressive,” she elaborated.
Additionally, Watson praised the headset’s Touch-style controllers as “very good.” Although hand tracking was mentioned, it wasn’t demonstrated during her session. She also highlighted the pancake lenses’ impressive distortion correction, saying, it’s the most crucial aspect for her personally.
Launched under the name YVR in 2020, Play For Dream has rolled out two generations of standalone VR headsets, the YVR 1 and YVR 2, both released in China in 2022.
As for when the Play For Dream MR will be available or how much it will cost, we’re still waiting on definitive details. However, the company promises it will be priced under $2,000. For more updates, check out Play For Dream’s website, where you can find further specifications and eventually place an order when they’re ready.
