Wait a minute—are we talking about an Apple Vision Pro in black? Not quite, but the Play For Dream MR certainly fits the bill for those on the lookout for a sleek, dark-hued headset. Dubbed by some as the “Android Vision Pro,” this intriguing gadget stirred the pot at CES 2025 last week with its debut.
Originally making waves in Asia last year, the creators behind this China-based device, Play For Dream, are now making a push toward the Western markets. Their venture was kick-started with a crowdfunding campaign in September, which impressively raked in 2,271,650 Hong Kong dollars, roughly equivalent to $292,000 USD.
Packed with a slew of cutting-edge features, the Play For Dream MR sports a Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset running on Android 15. It boasts dual 3,840 × 3,552 micro-OLED displays with a refresh rate of 90Hz, eye-tracking capabilities, auto IPD adjustment, and both wired and wireless PC streaming options. Thanks to its rear-mounted battery, reminiscent of the Quest Pro, and Touch-style controllers, this headset seems to encompass everything—right down to a user interface that echoes the Vision Pro’s.
Beyond the design inspirations, ex-Quest engineer Amanda Watson got a firsthand experience with the headset. She took to social media platform X to share her impressions, describing it as “absolutely the best all-around HMD demo I saw on the floor today.” According to Watson, it’s “practically an ‘Android Apple Vision Pro’, yet executed flawlessly. Top-notch performance, optics, UI, and media capture/playback features,” she noted. Considering her departure from Meta in 2022, her thoughts carry weight.
In her stint at Meta/Oculus, Watson was instrumental in various Quest-related projects, such as the tethered Link and the Air Link for Wi-Fi streaming. She was even the sole developer of Air Link for over a year before it launched. When Watson vouches for a product’s quality, it’s worth paying attention.
She further elaborated, “It offers both USB and wireless PCVR streaming (I tried USB) — still a bit of a work-in-progress compared to other features, particularly with frame rate and latency, but I gather it’s a relatively new addition. The essentials, like controller motion, are spot-on and the resolution holds up well.”
On top of that, she found the Touch-style controllers “very impressive” and mentioned they claimed hand tracking was available, though it wasn’t demonstrated at CES. A standout feature was the “excellent distortion correction” on its pancake lenses, a critical aspect for her personally.
Founded in 2020 under the brand YVR, Play For Dream has previously rolled out two generations of standalone VR devices—the YVR 1 and YVR 2—which hit the Chinese market in 2022.
While there is yet no confirmed release date or exact pricing for Play For Dream MR, the company promises a price tag under $2,000. For further details, specs, and future ordering information, keep an eye on Play For Dream’s official website.
