China-made Play For Dream’s headset is a cheaper, higher-resolution Apple Vision Pro clone

Chinese-made Play For Dream’s headset is more comfortable than the Apple Vision Pro, has a much higher resolution and can run Android apps

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It may look just like the Apple Vision Pro, but the mixed reality headset from Shanghai-based Play For Dream (above) is cheaper, puts out higher-resolution images and can run Android apps. Photo: Ben Sin

Published: 12:53pm, 26 Jun 2024Updated: 5:44pm, 28 Jun 2024

When Chinese smartphones started appearing on the market in the mid-2010s, they had unoriginal hardware designs lifted wholesale from Apple. But they offered more specs and features for the dollar, so as long as you were OK with the unoriginal design, they were excellent devices.

It appears the nascent mixed reality (MR) headset market is going the same route.

Shanghai-based Play For Dream recently launched its first MR headset in Singapore, and it is significantly cheaper than Apple’s Vision Pro, while pumping out sharper visuals that appear more immersive.

Just based on those factors, I am tempted to call the Play For Dream MR a better product. But there’s a giant elephant in the room: it looks almost exactly like the Vision Pro, save for a darker shade of paint. Here are our first impressions of the product.

Hardware and design

The Play For Dream MR is one of the first devices running on Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 silicon, which was unveiled six months ago specifically for Vision Pro competitors.

Play For Dream’s mixed reality headset (above) is a clear clone of the Apple Vision Pro. Photo: Ben Sin