Anker Nebula X1 evaluation: a terrific dwelling theater that goes wherever

I seldom sleep in the identical place for greater than a few weeks at a time, so I’m an enormous fan of moveable all-in-one projectors. They’re small and arrange shortly, making them ideally suited 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 vibrant and color-accurate 4K picture with wonderful sound whereas remaining moveable and quiet.

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

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

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 moveable.

There’s an extended record of options that make the X1 distinctive for a conveyable projector:

Notice: I did my finest with the images, however they will solely approximate the brightness, shade, 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 best than many dwelling theater projectors, permitting it to supply a vivid picture throughout a spread of difficult environments with no obvious optical distortion. It regarded 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 and dynamically steadiness 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 gives loads of guide overrides to dial within the actual picture you favor with just some minutes of labor.

The X1’s lumen rely made informal viewings doable in areas flooded with ambient mild. At occasions, I discovered the picture to be too vibrant, particularly when all that mild was targeted right into a 32-inch diagonal on a shiny Ikea panel from simply 5 toes (about 1.5 meters) away. Happily, you possibly can 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 help extra than simply checkmarks on a gross sales sheet — shade is generally correct with loads of distinction, but it surely’s nonetheless a DLP projector, so don’t anticipate true blacks. The X1’s lumen rely must also do an honest job with 3D if you happen to personal DLP 3D glasses (I didn’t take a look at this).

Importantly for a conveyable, the Nebula X1 options all the automated placement options you’d anticipate. These embrace automated focus, keystone correction, and impediment avoidance, in addition to automated shade adaptation to optimize the picture based mostly 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 have interaction 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 most of the time when projected onto a clean white wall.

Startup is comparatively quick. You’ll be able to 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” sport mode that disables digital keystone correction and movement smoothing to dedicate all that background processing to sooner response occasions. For informal sport 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 characteristic of the Nebula X1. Even with out the satellites, the sound is obvious and immersive and simply fills a room. Connecting the optionally available 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 mechanically 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 heart, prime, and aspect channels. The ensuing soundscape is huge and spectacular and many loud sufficient for a bunch to take pleasure in outside — 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 characteristic a number of hours a day which helps to maximise worth for cash.

With the audio turned down the projector is essentially silent because of 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 guide intervention that generally resulted in an audible pop. It’s a bit of 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 remaining 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 once I forgot them exterior 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 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, but it surely’s sooner than some other moveable 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 measurement, alongside a vibrant, vivid picture akin to dwelling 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 wherever they go will get their cash’s price.

Pictures by Thomas Ricker / The Verge