Oncast Tech · Tech Tonight

Five-Dollar Vision Pro Rival Is Cardboard

Nov 8, 2026, 11:58 PM UTC · Fact-checked before it aired. Unconfirmed claims from this segment are not shown.

TechEBlog reported on a DIY CardboardXR headset that uses an iPhone or Pixel and about $5 of lenses to create mixed reality; it was tested on iPhone 15 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro.

The Anker 737 is a 24,000mAh power bank with 140W output and smart digital display, compatible with iPhone/Samsung/MacBook/Dell/AirPods/Vision Pro; TechRadar measured its 140W output. The Anker Prime is a separate 27,650mAh/250W model. The ₦190,000 price is the seller's listing and wasn't independently checked.

Elon Musk wrote the space shooter Blastar at age 12 and sold it for $500 in 1984; Apple does offer eye tracking on iOS 18 and Vision Pro, though the “well-suited” part is opinion. This is an engagement bait/hypothetical question, not a factual claim. This is a personal preference/headline, not a factual claim.

Fact-check

VERIFIED TRUE

TechEBlog reported on a DIY CardboardXR headset that uses an iPhone or Pixel and about $5 of lenses to create mixed reality; it was tested on iPhone 15 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro.

Here's a super budget-friendly alternative to the Apple Vision Pro that uses an #iPhone or #Google Pixel phone. #technews $AAPL $GOOGL https://t.co/zvBXY96XdE
Original post · @techeblog

[techeblog.com](https://www.techeblog.com/cardboardxr-apple-vison-pro-alternative-diy-homemade/) NAMES: $AAPL = Apple stock ticker; $GOOGL = Alphabet Class A st

VERIFIED TRUE

Anker 737 Power Bank - 24,000mAh with 140W Output ⚡ Smart Digital Display screen 🤖 Compatible with android & iPhone, Vision Pro, Samsung, MacBook, Dell, AirPods, and more. 🔖₦190,000 Anker Prime Power Bank ⚡ 27,650mAh capacity with 250W max output. - Smart App Control - http
Original post · Samson, Tech & Gadgets🔌 (@samsino_)

[techradar.com](https://www.techradar.com/phones/phone-accessories/anker-737-power-bank-review); [amazon.com](https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Portable-Charger-Digi

VERIFIED TRUE

Yes — absolutely. Apple’s eye tracking (especially on iPhone/iPad via iOS 18+ Accessibility, and more powerfully on Vision Pro) is well-suited to a modern, hands-free or gaze-aimed version of Blastar (Elon Musk’s 1984 space shooter he wrote at age 12 and sold for $500).0 What htt
Original post · Roger Douglas Ware (@RDWareEsqu1re)

[theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jun/09/elon-musk-blastar-video-game) NAMES: Elon Musk = CEO of Tesla and SpaceX; Blastar = his 198

Sources

What the hosts said

MFive dollars of lenses and a cardboard box, and suddenly it's a cut-rate Vision Pro.

CI love when a hobby craft becomes a tech headline.

MTechEBlog posted the piece on X. The DIY headset is called CardboardXR.

CYou put an iPhone 15 Pro or a Pixel 9 Pro in front of your face, add small lenses, and it does passthrough mixed reality.

MFor about five bucks in lenses, versus Apple's thirty-five-hundred-dollar headset.

CThat's the part I like. This is how VR first reached millions—Google Cardboard was the same idea.

MGoogle Cardboard was also a roller-coaster ride and motion sickness for a lot of people.

CTrue, but it gave people their first taste of VR for the price of a pizza.

MTechEBlog says CardboardXR was tested on those same phones. The phone's camera handles head tracking and the lenses create the stereoscopic effect.

CThat's genuinely clever. It takes the one expensive piece—the display—and uses what's already in your pocket.

MBut phones aren't designed for this. The weight balance is off, battery drains, and it heats up.

CFor five dollars, you accept trade-offs.

MI accept that. But it's not an alternative to the Vision Pro. It's a phone holder with lenses.

CNo, no— it does eye and head tracking through the phone's camera. That's real.

MIt's a clever hack. But the Vision Pro has hand tracking, spatial apps, high-resolution displays. A Pixel in a box won't replace that.

CWho said replace? It's for someone curious about mixed reality who doesn't want to spend a mortgage payment.

MAnd my problem is the word "alternative." It oversells a very clever toy.

CDemos matter. If someone tries a five-dollar demo and hates it, they saved themselves a fortune. If they love it, they upgrade.

MFine. Five dollars is the right price to find out if mixed reality makes you sick.

CThe world's cheapest barf test. There's your headline.

MDifferent corner of tech: someone on X wants to bring back Elon Musk's 1984 space shooter with Apple's eye tracking.

CRoger Douglas Ware posted the idea. The verified part: Musk wrote Blastar at age twelve and sold it for five hundred dollars.

MThe eye-tracking part is opinion, but it's not absurd. Apple already uses gaze tracking on the iPhone and Vision Pro.

CFor accessibility menus, sure. But a fast space shooter from 1984? Eye tracking would make it slower.

MThat's not the point. For someone who can't use a keyboard or joystick, eye tracking is the whole game.

COkay, as an accessibility adaptation, maybe. But the post specifically says "modern, hands-free or gaze-aimed version." That's a gimmick.

MYou're ignoring the Musk origin story. Before Tesla, before SpaceX, there was a kid who wrote a game and sold it.

CI know the story. I just don't think eye tracking turns a 1984 arcade relic into a must-play.

MNot must-play for you. For a kid with limited mobility, it could be the first game they can actually aim.

CAlright, that's a fair reason to build it. As mainstream gaming, I'm out.

MI'd play one round, then go back to a controller.

CThe five-dollar barf test, now with extra eye strain.

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