Anker Nebula X1 assessment: a terrific residence theater that goes anyplace

I seldom sleep in the identical place for greater than a few weeks at a time, so I’m a giant fan of transportable all-in-one projectors. They’re small and arrange rapidly, making them very best for vanlife, gaming events, outside film nights, or a night in on the sofa — however they often sacrifice high quality for comfort. Anker’s new Nebula X1 projector guarantees to supply an extremely brilliant and color-accurate 4K picture with wonderful sound whereas remaining transportable and quiet.

Usually, if portability is on the prime of your want record, then sound and film high quality will undergo. Prioritize a cinematic expertise and also you’re an costly, hulking, noisy gadget that requires everlasting placement inside a house theater. Over a month of testing throughout infinite firmware updates and a wide range of viewing situations, the Nebula X1 did an outstanding job of placing the appropriate stability with only a few tradeoffs, delivering on Anker’s promise.

However with a worth beginning at $2,999, or $3,998 for a package that features the extremely beneficial satellite tv for pc audio system, it’s not precisely low cost. And at near 25 kilos (11.3kg) for the complete bundle — the Nebula X1 is extra luggable than transportable.

The Nebula X1 is a 3500 ANSI lumen triple-laser 4K projector with built-in four-speaker sound system. It runs Google TV so that you get built-in Chromecast, Google Assistant, and an official Netflix app (in contrast to many all-in-one projectors) that streams media over Wi-Fi 6. It features a pair of USB and HDMI 2.1 ports (one supporting eARC) to connect your favourite sport console or media drive. A satisfying, recessed deal with pops up with a push to make the 13.7 pound (6.2kg) projection unit transportable.

There’s a protracted record of options that make the X1 distinctive for a transportable projector:

Word: I did my finest with the images, however they’ll solely approximate the brightness, coloration, and distinction seen with the bare eye.

I’ll simply say it: the X1’s picture high quality is unmatched for a go-anywhere all-in-one projector. Its 3500 ANSI lumen output is healthier than many residence theater projectors, permitting it to supply a vivid picture throughout a variety of difficult environments with no obvious optical distortion. It seemed nice at default settings when examined in a wide range of lighting conditions on painted partitions, a conventional white-matte pulldown display screen, a grey Ambient Mild Rejection (ALR) display screen, and a small folding Ikea tabletop.

The X1 will try to dynamically stability the colours and distinction on no matter floor it detects. Largely it really works, however colours, particularly reds, are usually over-saturated out of the field, making Gwyneth Paltrow’s face overly ruddy, particularly on my ALR display screen. Anker affords loads of handbook overrides to dial within the actual picture you favor with only a few minutes of labor.

The X1’s lumen depend made informal viewings doable in areas flooded with ambient gentle. At instances, I discovered the picture to be too brilliant, particularly when all that gentle was targeted right into a 32-inch diagonal on a shiny Ikea panel from simply 5 toes (about 1.5 meters) away. Fortuitously, you may manually cut back the ability and iris settings to dim the picture. That class-leading brightness makes the X1’s HDR10 and Dolby Imaginative and prescient help extra than simply checkmarks on a gross sales sheet — coloration is generally correct with loads of distinction, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a DLP projector, so don’t count on true blacks. The X1’s lumen depend also needs to do a good job with 3D for those who personal DLP 3D glasses (I didn’t take a look at this).

Importantly for a transportable, the Nebula X1 options all the automated placement options you’d count on. These embody computerized focus, keystone correction, and impediment avoidance, in addition to computerized coloration adaptation to optimize the picture primarily based on the colour of the paint or materials used on the projection floor. These might be triggered manually from the gadget, Nebula app, or distant management, or set to interact at startup and when the projector is moved.

Autofocus labored 100 precent of the time, whereas the automated placement options labored properly when there was a transparent border. I needed to manually right the sides most of the time when projected onto a clean white wall.

Startup is comparatively quick. You may start navigating Google TV in about 45 seconds from a chilly boot, or only a few seconds if resuming from standby.

There’s additionally an “Excessive” sport mode that disables digital keystone correction and movement smoothing to commit all that background processing to quicker response instances. For informal sport play, the very slight lag is one thing you rapidly get used to. The bundled mics, I can affirm, are enjoyable for karaoke nights.

Sound is the killer characteristic of the Nebula X1. Even with out the satellites, the sound is obvious and immersive and simply fills a room. Connecting the elective battery-powered satellite tv for pc audio system over a direct, low-latency 5.8GHz Wi-Fi connection to the primary unit takes issues to a different stage.

The satellites hyperlink mechanically at startup and remodel the X1’s 4 inner audio system right into a makeshift subwoofer, whereas the three audio system in every satellite tv for pc take over duty for middle, prime, and facet channels. The ensuing soundscape is large and spectacular and many loud sufficient for a gaggle to take pleasure in outside — as long as you might have accommodating neighbors. There’s additionally a “Bluetooth Speaker Mode” that turns off the projection lamp to play music with loads of bass when full, wealthy, heat audio is all of the leisure required. I used this characteristic a number of hours a day which helps to maximise worth for cash.

With the audio turned down the projector is essentially silent due to its liquid cooling. The fan kicked in on an particularly scorching day of testing, however I might barely hear it (measuring simply 26dB from a distance of 1 meter) over the common din of a lounge or waves crashing past.

As anticipated, the X1 didn’t ship on the promise of 4.2.1 encompass sound. I struggled to listen to any simulated channel separation from overhead or behind. Anker lists some strict placement necessities that I couldn’t meet precisely in testing — you might need higher luck. These satellites additionally dropped connection often requiring handbook intervention that generally resulted in an audible pop. It’s a bit annoying, and has improved with every firmware replace.

I noticed 19 hours of battery life from these satellites (the projector does not have a battery) in my testing. That included two hours of movie watched outside at a loud 50 p.c quantity, and the remainder spent vibing to music at a relaxed 20 to 30 p.c. These IP54-rated satellite tv for pc audio system even survived a small rain bathe after I forgot them outdoors as soon as.

General, I don’t have any actual complaints. Typically the automated picture placement options can miss the mark, however I discover them much more helpful than annoying. Typically the satellite tv for pc audio system don’t pair correctly, however that may be rapidly mounted with an influence toggle. The Google UI verges on sluggish at instances, nevertheless it’s quicker than another transportable implementation I’ve tried. And I’ve seen far too many firmware updates, however issues hold bettering.

Anker’s Nebula X1 has left me totally impressed. It produces extremely immersive sound for its measurement, alongside a brilliant, vivid picture akin to residence theater projectors costing nearer to $5,000. The Nebula X1 with the satellite tv for pc speaker bundle is pricey at $3,998, however anybody who finds themselves in want of a projector that may rapidly approximate a house theater expertise anyplace they go will get their cash’s value.

Images by Thomas Ricker / The Verge