There’s a new knock-off of the Vision Pro making waves, and intriguingly, it even shares part of the iconic name.
Vivo, a Chinese company perhaps not as dominant in conversation but well-regarded for its reliable mid-tier smartphones, consistently holds a spot among the top five global smartphone makers by market share. Today, at the Boao Forum for Asia held in China’s Hainan Province, Vivo introduced its first foray into the XR (Extended Reality) arena with their latest offering: the Vivo Vision.
Vivo has framed this development as a part of a larger strategy to delve into robotics and XR technologies. Vivo touts the Vivo Vision headset as a “significant milestone” in its journey into mixed reality.
While many details remain under wraps as we anticipate its official unveiling in mid-2025, a few interesting features have been revealed. So far, there are significant question marks regarding the headset’s technical specifications, operating system, pricing, and global availability—leaving us with mere glimpses of its design aesthetics for now.
Displayed prominently at Vivo’s booth during the Boao Forum for Asia, the Vivo Vision shows a striking resemblance to Apple’s Vision Pro. It features design elements such as the unique headstrap design, a digital crown button, and a magnetically-attached external battery that echo Apple’s innovations.
Currently, all Vivo smartphones operate on customized versions of Android, utilizing Funtouch OS for international users and Origin OS for the domestic market in China. It’s possible their new XR headset may follow suit with Google’s upcoming Android XR OS. This OS is being developed for Samsung’s upcoming mixed reality project, ‘Project Moohan,’ expected to launch later this year, though this is speculative at this point.
This trend of Vision Pro look-alikes from Chinese manufacturers is undeniably growing. Earlier this year, the Play for Dream’s MR headset not only captured attention at CES 2025 but also received accolades from former Quest engineer Amanda Watson, who deemed it “the best all-around HMD demo on the floor today.”
