One of China's Largest Tech Companies Just Copied Apple's Biggest Flop

Gizmodo

6 hours ago

Apple has had some misses in the past (looking at you, G4 Cube), but in recent times, arguably no piece of hardware has been a bigger flop than the Vision Pro. But just because sales for Apple's $3,500 face computer have been tepid at best hasn't stopped competitors from conjuring up their own lookalikes. That includes Samsung and its upcoming Project Moohan headset running Android XR, and now, an almost laughably close lookalike out of China from smartphone maker Vivo.
If Project Moohan takes some inspiration from the Vision Pro, Vivo's headset, called (and I'm not making this up) Vivo Vision, is basically a copy/paste situation, except it allegedly addresses one of the Vision Pro's biggest downsides: the weight. According to Vivo, which just released lots of key specs about the Vivo Vision this week, its headset weighs in at 398 grams, which is a ridiculous 40% weight reduction compared to the Vision Pro. That even beats Meta's Quest 3 in the weight department by 117 grams. Needless to say, that's a wild claim.
As for the similarities to the Vision Pro, the Vivo Vision has plenty; there's the knitted head strap, a similar glass front, a battery pack, and it supports 'move and pinch gestures' and eye tracking, which sounds similar to Apple's visionOS. There's no Vision Pro-esque EyeSight feature (the front-facing display that shows your eyes) on the front of the headset, however, which could account for the difference in weight between the two.
This is Vivo Vision. pic.twitter.com/lbCbWHJqbD
— 91mobiles (@91mobiles) August 21, 2025What makes that potential weight reduction even more wild is the fact that Vivo Vision also seems to match the Vision Pro on one of its biggest selling points: a very premium display. According to Vivo, the headset has a micro-OLED display with a resolution of 3,552 x 3,840 and a PPI (pixel density) of 4,032. Both of those specs match the Vision Pro, which has a resolution of 3,660 x 3,200 pixels per eye and a PPI of 3,386. In other words, Vivo is promising a headset that theoretically looks as premium as the Vision Pro but weighs a hell of a lot less.
There's also one other eye-opening bit: Vivo says the Vision could cost less than half the price of a Vision Pro when it's released. According to early rumors, price estimates are ranging around the $1,400 mark, though there is no official pricing from Vivo just yet.
So, hypothetically, we're looking at a headset that has a display that's as nice as the Vision Pro, if not nicer, costs less than half, and absolutely crushes both Apple and Meta on weight… hmm. Listen, I'm open-minded, but I'll believe all of that if and when I see the Vivo Vision for myself. It's worth noting here that the Vivo Vision isn't quite a real product yet, since the version announced this week is a 'Discovery Edition.' There's still a lot I need to see before I buy into the hype, but if this headset is legit, it kind of dunks on the competition.
Though, I guess it's worth noting that even if it does actually trounce Apple at its own game, it's not quite real competition since the Vivo Vision will likely only be released in China. Plus, Apple is rumored to be in the lab working on another Vision Pro iteration with a beefed-up M5 chip, so maybe its hard work on that front will help keep pace with a carbon copy rival if and when it does launch. For now, I'm labeling the Vivo Vision too good to be true until proven otherwise.