After being first unveiled at the WWDC 2023 event, Apple’s Vision Pro mixed reality glasses have finally been officially launched, promising to open up a completely new line of devices – the Next Big Thing – after more than a decade of relying on the iPhone.
Accordingly, Apple expects the Vision Pro to enhance the concept of “spatial computing”, surpassing what competitors like Meta and Microsoft are offering. Specifically, the term spatial computing is a new technology that combines the physical and digital worlds, providing a powerful and engaging computer interaction experience.
After Apple began pre-ordering the Vision Pro mixed reality glasses, the first glasses were sold in the US market on February 2nd at a retail price of up to $3,500. By February 5th, the first Apple Vision Pro glasses had also been brought to the Vietnamese market through import channels.
On this occasion, some reviewers and technology users in Vietnam had the opportunity to experience the Vision Pro early and give their initial reviews:
The version brought to Vietnam has an internal storage capacity of 256GB, with a fairly large product packaging. According to leaked information, these first Vision Pro glasses were sold for prices ranging up to nearly 170 million VND – double the price of each luxury scooter of the Honda SH series. Of course, this price is also much higher than the listed price.
When looking at the design of Apple’s Vision Pro, one can see the elegant combination of technology and aesthetics. This virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) glasses model has an elegant style, but is also powerful with a sturdy aluminum frame.
One highlight is the front side of the glasses, where there is a curved glass panel meticulously crafted and harmonized with the frame. It is accompanied by a soft protective case made of fabric, which helps protect the glasses from impacts and scratches during use.
Inside, the Apple Vision Pro provides comfort and a good fit for all types of faces thanks to the rim hinges wrapped in a soft padding, available in two sizes.
The head strap design is another standout feature of the Vision Pro. Accordingly, the Solo Band headband is also wrapped in a soft fabric, with good stretchability, allowing users to easily adjust the tightness through a convenient twist knob.
The real-world experience shows that the Solo Band headband of the Vision Pro still provides a comfortable feeling for users even when used for a long time.
Apple Vision Pro’s Light Seal is designed to fit snugly on the face and provide precise, comfortable fitting while effectively blocking light from entering. However, the part that comes into contact with the wearer’s cheekbone may slightly touch the skin.
Apple Vision Pro is also equipped with high-quality lenses from ZEISS, providing sharp and vibrant images. At the same time, Vision Pro also has two additional pairs of lenses, assisting users with refractive errors to have the most convenient experience. Of course, these users will need to remove their own glasses before using Vision Pro.
Vision Pro is designed with a heat dissipation vent on the top and two buttons on the sides. The scroll button on the right switchs smoothly between virtual space and reality mode – depending on the user’s rotation level. Meanwhile, the button on the left acts as a function button, by default used for taking photos.
If you look closely when looking horizontally, you can see the design of 2 layers of glass inside – outside of Vision Pro.
An unusual point of Vision Pro is that the device does not have a power button. After use, users simply place it on the table, and Vision Pro will switch to Sleep mode on its own.
Vision Pro also comes with an external battery pack. The battery of the device weighs about 353 grams and is connected via a Type-C cable. This battery provides about 2.5 hours of use, but in case of running out of battery, users cannot replace it immediately but need to completely disconnect from the device.
Notably, users can rest assured about the length of the cable connected to the external battery, which is designed to meet the height of many different users.
Vision Pro, with multiple cameras and sensors equipped on the device, allows flexible hand gestures. Whether waving hands in front or keeping hands in other positions, the wearer can still easily control the device, especially useful for giving commands by double-clicking fingers.
Despite its small size, the display performance of Vision Pro is truly impressive. The Vision Pro display is not only sharp enough to easily read text, but also ensures clear visibility in all lighting conditions or even for watching movies. It is known that Apple has calibrated the color at the factory, so the display shows vibrant and accurate colors without being overly saturated.
Unlike some other VR glasses that can cause dizziness, Vision Pro did not cause this sensation in some Vietnamese users who experienced it, whether in reality mode or virtual space. This may be due to the microLED screen technology and the excellent image processing of the glasses.
In terms of the internal hardware, Vision Pro owns an Apple M2 processor and Apple R1, providing powerful support for processing VR/AR data from the cameras and sensors on the device. This helps with recording and recognizing the surrounding environment accurately, providing an impressive virtual experience for users.
Although using the Vision Pro glasses for a relatively short period of time, the majority of Vietnamese users who had the opportunity to experience them early believed that the VisionOS operating system provides users with an intuitive, easy, and convenient user experience, similar to iPadOS.
Vision Pro has a “see-through” mode called Passthrough: This mode allows the camera to capture images outside and then display them accurately on the glasses’ screen.
Thanks to the high-quality camera and the sharpness of Vision Pro’s viewfinder, users can safely move outdoors when enabling the “see-through” mode. According to the perception of many Vietnamese users, the images displayed in this mode have a slight filtering effect but still very realistic, only slightly inferior to the naked eye.
Apple Vision Pro virtual reality glasses are not only an entertainment device but also very useful in work, especially when combined with other additional hardware. The integrated virtual keyboard of Vision Pro is suitable for short and concise input but may become more complex for tasks that require more input.
Although the experience time was not long, most Vietnamese users agree Vision Pro is not only a significant breakthrough in virtual reality technology but also provides a comfortable, intuitive, and efficient user experience. Despite the high price, with outstanding features and performance, this product promises to create a new wave in the Vietnamese technology market.
