I've had a cheap Focus brand projector previous to this which was terrible, so going for a 'cheaper brand' again I was sceptical. When this dropped in price to £399 I decided to take the plunge as I wanted something for my new outside decking area. The plan was to use it to watch the upcoming Euros outside.
When I first got it I tried it inside my living room directly on a wall in a reasonably dark living room and I was immediately buoyed by the picture compared to the previous projector, it was night and day the difference. The autofocus works well and the added kick stand gives you options when resting on a table. The android system works well, Chromecast, Disney +, Amazon Prime, You Tube, the built in hidden side load of Netflix,. ITV Hub however is already there but doesn't work due to licensing issues (why include it Anker). I used my Now TV stick to get all the channels, but a slight word of caution, the weight of the stick and angle when using the built in kickstand can lean it to one side so you need to put something under one corner to rebalance, or you can adjust image using the keystone correction which works well.
When it came to testing the projector outside for the champions League final I was excited, the sun had moved round to the front of the house, I was in the back, I pulled the roof across on the pergola, I pulled the grey windbreak across to further darken it and to use as a screen as it was 8pm UK in the summer it was still light and fired up the screen. To my crushing disappointment I could not see anything watchable as it was too light outside,by about 9pm when it had got a touch darker I could start see a watchable image, and by the time it was dark it was perfect. I did wonder if it was because I was displaying on to a grey screen, so I ordered a portable 100" screen and tried it around the same time the following week but it made no difference, it needs to be dark to watch outside. I watched Jurassic Park inside with curtains and blinds closed at 7.30pm last night, so mostly dark with a bit of ambient light behind the screen and it was brilliant, you can not beat watching a film on a big screen, I tried my Xbox on it also and that was excellent, though I can't confirm lag times as I played a golf game which doesn't require fast reflexes like CoD.
The built in speakers are ok, not as bad as you think when you see 2 X 3w, I've seemlessly connected my Ultimate Ears Blast by Bluetooth to the projector for the extra loudness with no lip sync issues, though you do miss the stereo aspect. So they are decent if you have no external Bluetooth speakers already.
The remote is decent enough, sleek and compact with voice activation, though useless in the dark until you learn the button layout. You can download the Anker app to your phone and use that as the remote, which again works well.
To conclude at the reduced price I paid this is worth the money i.m.o, it's more than an android box with a light, it can get you the big screen experience at home with minimal fuss, just put it in a table and point it at a wall/screen and you're away. Don't expect to use it outside in anything other than near darkness however, it's not bright enough, though I don't think any projector could be used outside in daytime, stick to a TV. It has scratched an itch for a projector and I'm not going to lie got me wondering what the more expensive £500 - £800 brighter projectors could do, but for how often it will be used and ease of setup this is perfect.
P.s for the Euros I'll bring a TV outside and wall mount it as the projector will only work for the 2nd half of the 8pm kick offs, useless for the 2pm and 5pms outside.
