The best Apple Vision Pro alternatives in 2024 — save yourself at least $1,500

With the Apple Vision Pro destroying people's bank accounts with its sky-high $3,499 price tag, there are plenty of great alternatives you can get for far cheaper!

That's because while the Vision Pro does somewhat justify its cost with technically superior hardware, including the best display technology (micro-OLED with 23 million pixels) and incredible tracking made possible by over 15 sensors, the truth is you can get just as good of an experience (if not better) in key areas that matter.

And these alternatives may not be what you expect. Of course, a few of the best VR headsets appear on this list — packing things that Apple does not like a wider viewing angle or an integrated battery pack onto the headset itself. But the world of AR glasses is exploding with the potential to give you a full spatial computing experience in a simple pair of specs.

That's why each of these options below stand out. Not only that, but you are guaranteed to save at least $1,500 by taking your pick from this bunch. Read below to see what they are.

The quick list

The best Apple Vision Pro alternatives you can buy today

The best overall Apple Vision Pro alternative

There's a reason why the Meta Quest 3 is considered the best VR headset (with Apple Vision Pro coming in a close second place). The Quest 3 offers a lot of what Cupertino's headset offers at a fraction of the price.

It all starts with the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor and a 2K resolution per eye in the twin LCD lenses, which means a full 4K picture that is crisp, vivid and smooth thanks to the 90Hz refresh rate. Plus, based on user opinion (as Apple has not confirmed the specifics), but according to Nilay Patel at The Verge, the Quest 3 has a perceptibly wider field of view at 110 degrees.

There are some unsurprising shortcomings, such as the battery life coming in at under two hours, and the lack of mixed reality apps (at the time of writing) to make the most of that full-color passthrough.

But this continues to be a top headset choice that anyone will be happy they bought. Meta's years in this market means it has the biggest, broadest catalogue of apps, the Link cable opens up a world of PC VR games, and the $499 price tag gives you a huge saving of three bags over the Vision Pro.

If the Quest 3's $499 price is still too expensive, Meta just announced the Quest 3s, a lower-cost version of the headset. It runs on the same processor as the Quest 3, with less sophisticated lenses to cut the starting price down to $299. Quest 3s preorders start now, with the device going on sale October 15.

See our full Meta Quest 3 review.

The best AR glasses alternative to Apple Vision Pro

Of course, when it comes to discussing Apple Vision Pro alternatives, AR glasses are becoming an increasingly impressive low-profile way to get spatial computing capabilities. As of right now, it's not about buying one pair of glasses and calling it a day — pairing the Xreal Air 2 Pro with Xreal Beam Pro gives you the best experience.

The price is steeper than usual at just shy of $700, but that's still a significant amount less than the $3,500 Apple Vision Pro and you're getting some impressively immersive experiences on two small devices that barely take up any backpack space.

The glasses themselves pack a pair of gorgeous OLED panels, a thoughtfully-designed comfortable frame with a USB-C cable that plugs in the back of the glasses arm. With it being this USB standard, you can also plug it into any video supported device like any of the best laptops or gaming handhelds. But even more fun is unlocked with Beam Pro.

Yes, it may look like every other Android phone, but the Nebula OS app gives you a...let's say heavily inspired Apple Vision Pro home screen of all your content. Even better, with Google Play Services, you've got access to all Android apps presented in an AR space. This is huge because you can do anything from download Netflix shows for offline viewing on long haul flights, to multitask between Chrome and Google Docs to get stuff done.

But what about tracking like in a VR headset? At the moment, you're limited to the gyroscope and touchpad on the Beam Pro, which is fine, but it's not that whole reaching out and tapping icons. Well, we may be seeing that soon, as the Xreal Air 2 Ultra are just around the corner — offering 6DOF positional tracking and a premium titanium finish. 

See our full Xreal Air 2 Pro and Xreal Beam Pro review.

The best gaming VR headset

When it comes to gaming, there are some fun experiences on the Apple Vision Pro like Fruit Ninja, and the Meta Quest 3 has a deep library of titles too. But let's be honest, if your sole focus is going to be playing in immersive worlds, Sony's PSVR 2 is the clear choice for you.

From its drop dead gorgeous OLED display tech and fantastic controllers with the same haptic feedback in DualSense, to that ever-expanding ecosystem of PlayStation experiences and 3D audio support, you'd be hard pushed to find a better AAA gaming headset than this.

The PSVR 2's main obstacles come in the form of requiring a PS5 to work (that means you're spending over $1,000 to get this experience), and the Quest 3's game library is far more vast (with the option to play PC VR games through it too). But with the likes of Horizon Call of the Mountain and Gran Turismo 7's VR mode legitimately blowing me away, this is the ultimate alternative for gaming purists.

See our full PlayStation VR2 review.

The best premium alternative to Apple Vision Pro

The Meta Quest Pro is a solid premium alternative to the Apple Vision Pro, which shaves $1,500 off the total cost of what you'd be paying for the Cupertino option. Contrary to the Quest 3, this is aimed more towards advanced productivity needs, such as engineering, prosumer creativity, and big design projects like architecture.

But it would be a fair opinion to opt for the cheaper third-gen Quest headset for being able to do the vast majority of what the Quest Pro is capable of. That being said, there's no denying this is a great VR headset with a sleek, comfortable design, which doesn't isolate you from the outside world.

That $999 price tag is a hard sell when you've got the Quest 3 for half of that. But if you fit into the commercial niche that could make the most of the upmarket tech this offers, it's a good buy.

See our full Meta Quest Pro review.

More from Tom's Guide

• Best VR games
• Best Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 2 games
• 11 best Apple Vision Pro apps so far — AR apps, games and more