Vivo Unveils ‘Vision’ MR Headset, Echoing Apple’s Name and Design

Get ready for another entry into the world of Vision Pro-like gadgets, and this one’s got the ‘Vision’ brand on it. We’re looking at Vivo, a name you might not immediately recognize, but they’ve definitely made waves in the smartphone arena with their dependable, mid-range devices. They consistently rank in the top five of global market share when it comes to smartphone creators.

Today, at the Boao Forum for Asia over in China’s Hainan Province, Vivo made their debut into the XR (extended reality) world with their latest device, Vivo Vision. Vivo is marking this launch as a major step in their journey to explore mixed reality technologies, which also ties into a broader pivot towards integrating robotics and XR devices in their lineup.

Although we won’t see the Vivo Vision officially unveiled until mid-2025, there are still a lot of mysteries surrounding the headset. Details like its specifications, operating system, release timeline, availability on the global market, and price are still up in the air. Nonetheless, the sneak peek at the Boao Forum did reveal that Vivo has borrowed several design elements from the Apple Vision Pro. For instance, the headstrap design, the digital crown button, and the magnetically-tethered external battery all take cues from Apple’s design playbook.

Currently, Vivo phones run on customized versions of Android: they use Funtouch OS for their international devices and Origin OS for those shipped within China. It’s a fair bet that Vivo’s XR device might venture to integrate Google’s forthcoming Android XR OS. This initiative comes in tandem with Samsung’s planned mixed reality project, ‘Project Moohan’, which hopefully we’ll see this year. Of course, this remains in the realm of speculation for now.

This movement is part of a broader trend of Vision Pro look-alikes emerging from Chinese manufacturers. The wave began notably with Play for Dream, whose MR headset was a standout at CES 2025 earlier this year. It even earned rave reviews from Amanda Watson, a former Quest engineer, who described it as “absolutely the best all-around HMD demo I saw on the floor today.”

So, as Vivo and other tech companies enter the mixed reality race, it seems like the days ahead will bring some exciting tech for enthusiasts and developers alike. Keep an eye out—it’s only a matter of time before we see what this new wave of competition brings to the XR landscape.