Chinese smartphone giant Vivo is entering the XR headset market with a device called the Vivo Vision that is drawing comparisons to Apple’s Vision Pro in name and looks. The headset debut coincides with the announcement of the Vivo Robotics Lab, signaling a strategic expansion beyond mobile phones. Vivo EVP and COO Hu Baishan said that AI and robotics currently represent the height of technological achievement in the digital and physical worlds, and that the mobile phone industry, with its massive consumer base and advanced infrastructure is well-positioned to bridge the two worlds, “blending digital connectivity with physical capabilities.”

“Forget Android XR, I’ve got my eyes on Vivo’s new Meta Quest 3 competitor as it could be the most important VR headset of 2025,” suggests TechRadar, adding that “Vivo’s Vision Pro clone could herald XR robots.”

“Currently in prototype stage, the [Vivo Vision] showcases Vivo’s commitment to exploring spatial computing as a critical component of its future product ecosystem,” XR Today writes, adding that “while specific technical details remain limited, the company positioned Vision as a platform that will complement its newly established robotics initiatives.”

Vivo’s experiences in mixed reality development — “particularly in environmental mapping, gesture recognition, and real-time rendering — will directly inform how future robotic products perceive and interact with their surroundings,” XR Today reports.

Much like its phones, Vivo’s robotics will have a consumer orientation rather than the industrial thrust of most other first movers. “This consumer-first strategy leverages Vivo’s deep understanding of user needs gained through serving over 500 million users globally” in the mobile phone market, according to XR Today.

In a written summary of Baishan announcing the new initiatives at the Boao Forum for Asia conference, Vivo says it “has been the number one domestic mobile phone brand in the Chinese market in terms of market share for four consecutive years” and serves users in more than 60 countries and regions.

The prototype Vivo displayed at the conference (pictured above) “looks nearly identical to an Apple Vision Pro — right down to the battery pack you put in your pocket to keep the device powered and portable,” TechRadar explains, suggesting that “you could have both the Apple and Vivo headsets next to each other and most people wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.”

The Vivo Vision is expected to get a more formal introduction later this year, writes Road to VR, noting that the phonemaker’s mixed reality entry “marks a growing trend of look-alike Vision Pros arriving from Chinese manufacturers, with the first notable arriving from Play for Dream” at CES 2025.