Anker Nebula X1 evaluate: 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 shortly, making them supreme for vanlife, gaming events, outside film nights, or a night in on the sofa — however they normally sacrifice high quality for comfort. Anker’s new Nebula X1 projector guarantees to provide an extremely shiny and color-accurate 4K picture with glorious sound whereas remaining transportable and quiet.

Sometimes, if portability is on the high of your want listing, then sound and movie high quality will undergo. Prioritize a cinematic expertise and also you’re an costly, hulking, noisy system that requires everlasting placement inside a house theater. Over a month of testing throughout limitless 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 all the 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 (not like 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 recreation 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 an extended listing of options that make the X1 distinctive for a conveyable projector:

Observe: I did my finest with the images, however they will solely approximate the brightness, coloration, and distinction considered 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 best than many residence theater projectors, permitting it to provide 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 standard white-matte pulldown display screen, a grey Ambient Gentle 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 typically 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 precise picture you like with just some minutes of labor.

The X1’s lumen depend made informal viewings doable in areas flooded with ambient gentle. At occasions, I discovered the picture to be too shiny, particularly when all that gentle was centered right into a 32-inch diagonal on a shiny Ikea panel from simply 5 toes (about 1.5 meters) away. Happily, you’ll be able to manually scale back the facility and iris settings to dim the picture. That class-leading brightness makes the X1’s HDR10 and Dolby Imaginative and prescient assist 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 anticipate true blacks. The X1’s lumen depend must also do a good job with 3D in case you personal DLP 3D glasses (I didn’t check this).

Importantly for a conveyable, the Nebula X1 options all the automated placement options you’d anticipate. 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 could be triggered manually from the system, 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 nicely when there was a transparent border. I needed to manually appropriate the sides as a rule when projected onto a clean white wall.

Startup is comparatively quick. You possibly can start navigating Google TV in about 45 seconds from a chilly boot, or just some seconds if resuming from standby.

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

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

The satellites hyperlink robotically at startup and rework the X1’s 4 inside audio system right into a makeshift subwoofer, whereas the three audio system in every satellite tv for pc take over duty for middle, high, and aspect channels. The ensuing soundscape is huge and spectacular and lots loud sufficient for a bunch to take pleasure in open air — as long as you’ve got 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 function a number of hours a day which helps to maximise worth for cash.

With the audio turned down the projector is basically 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 sometimes requiring handbook intervention that generally resulted in an audible pop. It’s a little 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 open air at a loud 50 % quantity, and the remaining spent vibing to music at a relaxed 20 to 30 %. These IP54-rated satellite tv for pc audio system even survived a small rain bathe after I forgot them exterior as soon as.

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

Anker’s Nebula X1 has left me totally impressed. It produces extremely immersive sound for its dimension, alongside a shiny, vivid picture corresponding 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 shortly approximate a house theater expertise anyplace they go will get their cash’s price.

Images by Thomas Ricker / The Verge