Hold on a minute—does the Apple Vision Pro come in black? Not quite, but the Play For Dream MR does, and it made quite an impression at CES 2025. Dubbed by some as the ‘Android Vision Pro’ due to its Android-based operating system, Play For Dream is definitely catching people’s attention.
Having launched its latest headset in Asia last year, the Chinese company behind Play For Dream is now targeting the Western market. They rolled out a Kickstarter campaign in September, successfully raising HKD 2,271,650, which translates to about USD 292,000.
The Play For Dream MR is jam-packed with cutting-edge extended reality features. It boasts the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset running on Android 15, features dual 3,840 × 3,552 micro-OLED displays operating at 90Hz, and includes eye-tracking, automatic IPD adjustment, both wired and wireless PC streaming capabilities, and a Quest Pro-inspired rear-mounted battery with Touch-style controllers.
Essentially, this headset seems to have it all—even echoing the Vision Pro’s user interface.
Setting aside its design inspirations, former Quest engineer Amanda Watson got a hands-on experience with Play For Dream’s MR headset. She tweeted it was “absolutely the best all-around HMD demo I saw on the floor today.”
“It’s almost literally an ‘Android Apple Vision Pro’, but what stood out was its excellent execution. Stellar performance, great optics, a user-friendly interface, and impressive media capture and playback capabilities,” shared Watson, who left Meta in 2022.
While at Meta/Oculus, Watson had her hands in numerous Quest-related endeavors, including both the tethered Link and the Air Link Wi-Fi streaming tool. Remarkably, she was the sole developer of Air Link for over a year before its debut. So when Watson gives praise, it’s usually spot on.
“The headset supports USB and wireless PCVR streaming (I tested the USB), and while this was still a work-in-progress with frame rate and latency, it’s apparently a newer feature. However, they’ve nailed basic functions like controller motion, and the resolution is quite sharp,” she added.
Watson went on to praise the Touch-style controllers, stating they were “very good,” although hand tracking wasn’t showcased despite existing. Meanwhile, the pancake lenses were highlighted for “excellent distortion correction,” which Watson noted was a significant feature personally.
Launched in 2020 under the banner YVR, Play For Dream has already released two generations of standalone VR headsets in China—the YVR 1 and YVR 2—in 2022.
As of now, there’s no confirmed release date or pricing for the Play For Dream MR, though the company has hinted that it will cost less than $2,000. For those interested, it’s worth checking out Play For Dream’s website for detailed specifications and future ordering opportunities.
