Anker Soundcore Nebula P1i projector review: Huge ears, bright image, affordable price

The Soundcore Nebula P1i has foldable and rotatable speakers. They look very much like little elephant ears. They are also grey. So, if you add a torso and a second eyeball – and it transforms a lot — So it’s like a little robotic elephant. It’s actually a ProjectorOf course, and a budget one at that.

What’s even more impressive other than the cool and functional “ears” is the fact that the P1i’s performance is much better than you’d expect for a projector that includes Google TV and costs less than $400. It has a simplified lens that requires it to be positioned at about the midpoint of the image it projects (no upward projection), but as long as you don’t mind that, a trapezoidal image or a bit of keystone correction, this is a great budget projector.

Specifications and so on

• Resolution: 1080p
• Lumens Specifications: 380 (ANSI)
• Zoom: No
• Lens shift: No
• Light source type: LED

To avoid confusion, a quick explanation about the nomenclature. Parent company Anker seems to hate the Anker name and has several sub-brands, but it also regularly drops and combines sub-brands. So the sub-brand Nebula was absorbed into Soundcore, the famously quite decent sub-brand Bluetooth headphones and Speakers. It’s a strange pairing in my mind, but what do I know? So you can alternately call this the Anker Soundcore Nebula P1i or the Anker Soundcore Nebula P1i. This mouth. Also, there seems to be a lowercase “S” in their branding, but no, sorry, that’s a bridge too far.

The P1i has a 1080p resolution, which is a significant step up from the 720p resolution that was common in budget projectors not long ago. Unless you’re sitting exceptionally close to a normal-sized image or trying to view an abnormally large image, this resolution is more than adequate—you won’t see pixels.

Soundcore claims a light output of 380 ANSI lumens. I measured it 382 in its most accurate position. I think this is the closest the company’s claims have ever come to my real-world measurements. They are usually more… let’s say “optimistic”. What’s even more impressive is that the P1i is actually capable of doing more. In the lower resolution conference mode, it is capable of 603 lumens. This is good for an inexpensive projector, brighter than many portable devices and not far behind something like Epson Flex Pluswhich I measured as 655 at its brightest setting, although it is a much brighter 817 at its brightest.

The biggest problem with the P1i is the lens, as it has a simple design similar to other budget projectors such as the P1i TCLA1 and Fimgo P10. While there are benefits, not least the lower cost, the drawback is not the high. The vast majority of projectors create an image slightly higher than their lens. This allows the coffee table to be placed or mounted on the ceiling, and the projected image appears somewhere near the middle of the wall.

Instead, the P1i displays its image directly from the front. The middle of the lens is basically the middle of the image. It’s rare for anyone to mount a projector up in the air about four feet high to project onto the middle of a wall, so if you put it on a low table, that gives you two options: The easiest is to just work with a trapezoidal image, but almost as easy is to use the built-in P1i. Cornerstone correction. This is not ideal because it only uses part of the imaging chip, so you lose resolution and brightness as well as potentially adding some artifacts. For a $370 projector, that’s not a huge deal, but it’s worth taking into consideration.

communication

• HDMI inputs: 1
• USB port: 1 USB-A
• Audio output: 3.5mm headphone, Bluetooth
• Internet: Wi-Fi
• Streaming interface: Google TV
• Remote: background

The main attraction of the P1i is the adjustable speakers. For a projector clearly designed for use in improvised spaces, this seems like a great idea. People may gather in front of, next to, behind, or all of these places. Many small projectors have speakers facing only one direction, maybe two, and if they’re not facing you, the sound is often quieter or muffled. The P1i’s speakers can rotate 90 degrees to face backwards, and then they can rotate to face forwards or upwards. They are independent, so one can face one direction and the other a different direction. It’s a clever idea and I imagine a lot of people will use it.

Each speaker has 10 watts of power at its disposal, so it can play fairly loudly. However, the sound is rather thin, without much bass so it’s graded on the curve of small drivers in a small box. While the audience is more likely to hear what’s going on with the P1i than with some portable speakers, they won’t be impressed with the sound quality. That’s probably fair, given the price, but as you’ll read in the next section, price isn’t exactly a valid excuse.

The streaming interface is Google TV, like almost all modern projectors. It’s great enough for everyday use and gives you access to all the major streaming services and countless secondary ones as well. If you want to connect your gaming console or console Flow wandLike Roku or Amazon, there’s an HDMI input on the back. Oddly enough, the 3.5mm audio output is labeled AUX, which means a line-level input, but it is a headphone output.

Image quality comparisons

TCLA1

The most logical competitor to the P1i I’ve recently reviewed is TCL’s A1. This is also a budget projector with built-in streaming. It also has a simple lens, so there’s no upward throw. The price at launch was much more expensive, at $500 versus $370 for the P1i, but currently the A1 is cheaper almost everywhere. I compared them side by side on a 1.0 gain monitor.

Physically, the P1i is larger, almost twice the overall size of the A1. The gray-on-gray exterior uses cheaper-looking plastic with none of the A1’s sleek design. While the A1’s have a handle that can double as a stand, it’s the P1i’s rotating ears that steal the show. The ability to direct sound directly to the audience is an absolute boon to a low-power sound system. That doesn’t mean the P1i sounds better, exactly. The A1 has a fuller sound with better bass. The P1i has a sharper treble. So I would say the A1 has a slight advantage in sound quality, but the P1i is much more versatile and will be heard better by more people sitting around the projector.

In their normal modes, both the Anker and TCL have similar brightness. I measured 382 and 433 lumens respectively. This is not enough of a difference to be noticed. However, you can get more light from the Anker using the less-resolution standard mode, which is a bit cooler/bluer than the movie mode. This results in about a 45% increase in brightness, which is noticeable and will likely be used by most people. However, there’s also a lot of fan noise compared to Dim Mode or the TCL A1. The low noise mode reduces the fans as well as the brightness, and this returns to about the same brightness as the A1.

In terms of contrast ratio, the A1 is definitely better, measured at 2,522:1 versus 826:1 for the P1i. So the darker parts of the A1’s image appear less grey, but given the P1i’s greater light output, this is a lower factor than if they had the same brightness. The contrast ratio is great, and is generally the most important aspect of a screen’s performance, but the extra light output is more practical as you can create a larger image that’s still watchable.

Color is probably the biggest difference between the two. The P1i’s color is more saturated and more accurate than the A1’s more dull colors. The grass is greener. The red color is richer and deeper. After the overall brightness, the color difference is the most obvious. The A1 is decent for the price, but in terms of colour, the P1i looks like a more expensive projector.

TCL A1 wins by a little in beauty and sound quality. However, the P1i creates a better picture than its price suggests, and the rotating speakers are likely to be more useful in a variety of situations. There are two other options that are not direct competitors but are worth considering. Both denied own Mars 3 air and TCL Playcube They’re about twice the price of the P1, but both are smaller and have built-in batteries. If portability is your main goal, it’s worth checking out.

It’s all in the ears

Soundcore (nee Nebula, nee Anker) has built some real stuff Eccentric projectors Lately, and to be honest, I’m here for it. I’ve been reviewing projectors for a very long time, and it’s refreshing to see companies trying different things.

The P1i is one of the best budget options I’ve seen for movie night or a wall-sized gaming session. I think the price is great, especially considering you get streaming via Google TV, which was a rarity at this price not too long ago. Performance, overall, is better than you’d expect for one of the least expensive projectors I’ve ever reviewed.

My only issue is the lack of an upward throw, which essentially requires you to use keystone correction if you don’t place it too high off the ground. This isn’t a big deal, especially since I doubt anyone buying a sub-$400 projector expects a perfect image. Overall, the image is better than the price suggests, so if it’s a little trapezoidal, so be it.