Today's Tech News and Reviews
Portable projectors used to involve small pico options that lacked brightness and features while providing minuscule battery life. However, the industry has already come a long way thanks to the shift toward LED and more dependable lithium solutions. With this, we have seen a number of portable solutions that break through all of these limitations to provide a bright solution filled with options. Solutions like the WEMAX Dice Portable 1080p LED Android Projector.
This is a small profile projector that packs a lot of features. Features like a bright image with plenty of detail (for its size), Android, a built-in battery, speakers, and auto-focus. All of this is tucked away into a neat design that looks great.
The body of the projector is a mix of plastic and aluminum spread out into a number of silver/gray colors with patterned mesh grills across all sides. And then there is the detachable pleather carrying strap as well. The overall body of the projector feels solid and offers a noticeable amount of weight to it (without being too heavy).
Besides a power button on the top, there are no physical controls on the projector and the backside contains all of the connectivity. Including an HDMI 1.4 port, a USB port (for content), and a headphone jack (that can be used for either headphones or stereo line-out to a speaker solution of your choice).
There is, of course, a power connection as well for the included cable that is used to charge the project. It will also work plugged in, allowing you to watch as much content as you wish without being limited by the battery life.
As for the battery life, it has a 16,000 mAh lithium batter inside that is capable of providing up to 3 hours worth of use when there is no power outlet nearby to make use of. Allowing you to take this on vacation and watch a movie of your choice in the middle of nowhere (as long as you have something to project against, at least).
Having Android TV 9.0 onboard helps any projector (or TV) turn into a powerhouse of entertainment thanks to the sheer amount of apps you have access to. You can take advantage of most of your favorite options, leading the way toward all of your favorite movies and TV shows when you have access to Wi-Fi (2.4Ghz or 5Ghz).
The only thing the project seems to lack is Netflix, which is something we run into more times than not lately for whatever reason(s). However, you can still gain access to Netflix if you use an external solution like a Roku or Fire TV Stick via the HDMI port. You can also cast Netflix from an Android phone since the project does offer Chromecast support.
When you aren’t using it for video content, the project also acts as a Bluetooth speaker. Allowing you to connect to it using any mobile device. Just like you would any Bluetooth speaker. There are two 5W speakers inside that deliver that sound to your ears and they do a noticable job for how small they are.
You’d think 2x5W doesn’t sound like a lot of power but it is noticable. It won’t compare to any speaker system or a nice soundbar, but it can still get quite loud and has somewhat of a range to it. Good for when you are mobile and don’t have access to a larger sound solution. Or when basic sound is all you need (or for a kids room or den).
As mentioned, there is only one button on the projector (a power button on the top). Everything else is handled via its Bluetooth remote that comes in the box. You may find that it looks quite familiar if you’ve ever used a WEMAX projector model.
It’s a simple remote with all the right options to get you to what you need to watch. You have a power button along with a Google Assistant button. The latter of the two allows for voice control of your projector so that you can search using your voice instead of having to type something out manually by clicking around the screen (as you’ve had to in the past). You can also open your favorite programs with your voice and more .
Then, there is a directional pad with an enter/select key in the middle. Clearly, for getting around menus/options. Below that is an app interface button, back button, and home button. Followed by a volume up/down toggle. There is nothing else to it. A simple remote design like you find with most of the smaller or portable projectors on the market at the moment.
I’ve already shared a few thoughts about the projectors performance, but digging down, we have to point out the brightness of this model. It isn’t as bright (700 ANSI lumens) as some of the others in this price category, but it still holds its own with a large image. So much that we had to drag the projector and the screen closer to each other as our initial assumption of how far it would likely have to be was way of. Causing the image to blow past the size of the screen and larger than it’s “max 120″ image.
This was impressive, although I’m sure it’s still best to keep it within its advertised range of screen size in order to get the max performance out of the focus (not to mention a bright image the smaller the screen). Regardless, we ended up using a 100” tripod screen, which can be seen in the below image (as well as the video at the end of this article).
That advertised range is 40″ to 120″ depending on the distance between the projector and the screen. The distance is something you’ll have to play with to get the right size as the listed distances online seem to vary. One place WEMAX says 3.9 to 11.9ft for the 40″-120″ image, but then another WEMAX has it listed as up to 9.8ft.
For how small the proctor is, the image is bright and detailed enough to impress the eyes. Great for watching movies and TV. Maybe even some casual gaming, although anything beyond that and you’ll likely want to skip using projection as online or competitive play does depend heavily on a screen with minimal latency (which brings you back to using TVs).
It does offer auto-focus, which is a popular feature with many of these portable options as of late. Although it doesn’t extend further into the auto-feature territory like some other. You do get a 4-point keystone correction, but it is manual. There is also no auto-sizing of any kind (ie, object avoidance, etc).
That last part was a little unfortunate to see as there are other models out there within the same price range that offers all of the above (focus, keystone, size, etc). So for the price of this one, we were kind of expecting to see the same despite it being missing from the specs. In the end, the specs didn’t lie as it was indeed just the focus that is auto-handled.
Wireless performance is great when it comes to streaming your favorite shows/movies online. We tested a number of items from sources like YouTube and Disney+, all of which resulted in a solid image. YouTube, for some reason, crashed out and back to the home screen a few times for whatever reason. We couldn’t quite figure out why that happened, but it started performing properly after.
As for Android TV, in general, we are always a big fan of it. In case that wasn’t already obvious. The Play Store is filled with all sorts of content that can be downloaded and it comes with support for Google Assistant for voice control, making the experience all the better. However, it is 9.0, which is a bit dated as 10 released in 2019 and Android TV 11 last year (given that, we haven’t run into a lot of 11.0 devices just yet).
This is a formidable projector. It offers a bright image for its size and the auto-focus performs quite well on boot. It’s small and can be used literally anywhere with only a restriction on time when using it on battery power. It is a great option for traveling to places without power. Like camping in the middle of the woods (or your backyard).
The price creates a bit of a handicap for it, though. As it just doesn’t quite live up to or beat certain models within the same price range when it comes to options. It lacks auto keystone and positioning and is slightly less in brightness and battery than models like the XGIMI Halo+. WEMAX also opted for Android TV 9.0 instead of 10 for whatever reason. It does feel that this model should have come in at a more slightly affordable price range. Maybe $499, at most (this would make a significant improvement on the score).
Thankfully, the company is offering a $199-off coupon via its own WEMAX Store (button below) if you use the code “VIP199”. It was available at the time of writing this, although we can’t say for sure how long the sale will last.
*Average price is based on the time this article was published
Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.
Don’t forget to subscribe for a chance to win cool prizes!
Designer, Editor and Product Reviewer Poc Network Ryan is an avid gamer that spends most of his time either commanding teams on the Xbox One or out on the grass kicking the soccer ball around when others are willing to take the challenge. He comes with a bachelors in electrical engineering and a hobby in the installation of advanced audio-video environments.
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.