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The TCL PlayCube is a 1080p portable projector with a clever design that falls somewhere between the Rubix Cube and Interstellar’s TARS robot. Torsion isn’t just for viewing: it lets you rotate the lens upwards so you can project an image much higher than where it sits. Inside there’s a Google TV for live streaming and a decently bright laser light engine. Oh, and it has a 66Wh battery that’s enough for 3 hours of play — some competitors struggle to watch a full movie.
Overall, performance is very good. The picture is bright for a portable device, colors are reasonably accurate, and the contrast ratio is better than most portable devices. It even sounds decent, which is good considering the unit can also function as a Bluetooth speaker.
There aren’t many negatives, other than some software issues that we hope will be resolved. The main factor is the price, which is several hundred higher than our preferred one Portable projectors. Some aspects of its design and performance justify the high price, but not entirely.
Specifications and so on
- Resolution: 1080p
- Lumens Specifications: 750 (ISO)
- Zoom: No
- Lens Shift: No (well, 3/4 of the subject’s axis)
- Battery life (claimed): 3 hours, 1 hour after 30 minutes of charging
- Light source type and age: Laser (age not specified but assumed age of projector)
The PlayCube vaguely resembles a variety of things: the aforementioned Rubik’s Cube, the 3D hologram from the original Star Trek, a type of toy for younger children that teaches shapes, or perhaps oversized Lego bricks. It is small in size and lightweight, and can be easily carried even by children. She doesn’t have it Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air Small handle, but a little smaller overall. I think it’s a smart design because it’s also practical. You can twist the larger part to point the lens upwards. Unlike TCLA1The PlayCube has an upward projection, so don’t always rely on keystone correction if you want to place the projector on a coffee table. There’s no optical zoom or other lens shift, but that’s not surprising given the price and size.
TCL claims the PlayCube emits 750 lumens. I measured it The 452 is in its most accurate mode, and the 569 is in its less accurate and noticeably greener business mode. That’s a bit less than they claim, but there are a variety of ways to measure brightness and the difference between 569 and 750 wouldn’t be particularly noticeable. For comparison, the Mars 3 Air only managed 252 lumens in its precise mode. Contrast was also decent at around 492:1, which is basically the average of all the projectors I reviewed for CNET and slightly higher than the 405:1 the 3 Air measured.
One of the PlayCube’s best features is its combination of a large internal battery and USB-C charging. The former, TCL claims, is good for about 3 hours of playback, and supposedly doesn’t run anywhere near its brightest. The latter lets you ship from a Portable battery bank For many hours of offline viewing.
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communication
- HDMI inputs: 1
- USB Port: 2 (1x USB-A, 1xUSB-C for charging)
- Audio: 3.5mm headphone output, Bluetooth
- Internet: Wi-Fi
- Remote control: Not backlit
Inside the PlayCube is standard Google TV interface, so you can access the full versions of all major streaming services. In general, portable projectors from major manufacturers like TCL have full versions of various applications, but smaller manufacturers have mobile versions that can be annoying to use.
The 5-watt speaker sounds surprisingly decent. For something the size of a Bluetooth speaker, it looks like a Bluetooth speaker. There’s not a lot of bass, but it plays fairly loud and sounds clear. You can adjust the sound using several presets, as well as increase/decrease treble and bass. It plays loud enough to fill a small room, but outdoors with a lot of people, it’ll probably be a little loud.
I encountered some bugs during testing which will hopefully be resolved in future updates. For example, like all laser projectors, it has an eye sensor to dim the laser so it doesn’t burn your retina if you’re in the foreground and look into the lens. However, the PlayCube thought everything was just an eyeball, including the light reflection it was creating on my screen. The eye warning would flash every 2-3 seconds without stopping until I could turn the feature off completely. Auto keystone correction cannot be turned off, even though there is a setting that claims otherwise. All of these things are rather annoying, and also unexpected and unwelcome for a fully updated $750 product from a major manufacturer.
Finally, and this isn’t entirely wrong but it’s still strange behavior, when you press the power button it goes into standby mode. This is fine, but in this mode the internal fan turns on every few minutes. This will definitely drain the battery and/or cause confusion when you try to figure out where the fan noise is coming from. To actually turn it off, you need to hold down the power button for several seconds until you see the on-screen notification that it will turn off.
Image quality comparisons
The Mars 3 Air is the logical contender. Lesser mobile devices can’t match any of these models in terms of brightness and are more traditional Home projectors It outperforms them significantly (even at the same or lower prices). Both are 1080p, reasonably bright, and have the option of battery operation. However, Anker’s MSRP is $150 cheaper, which is even more affordable at the moment. I connected them to a distribution amplifier (aka HDMI splitter) and displayed them side by side on a 102-inch screen with a gain of 1.0.
These are, in general, very well matched projectors. Both are surprisingly bright for their size, and the TCL even more so. The extra 200 lumens or so aren’t very noticeable, but they do seem a little brighter. Yes, the TCL is technically about twice as bright, but subjectively it doesn’t look any brighter, just a little brighter. These are eyes for you.
Contrast is evenly matched, as I mentioned previously. You can’t see such a small difference between the two. The black bars on postal box films appear dark grey. TCL’s 492:1 is better than many home projectors I’ve reviewed, and it’s a solid mid-range package for projectors I’ve reviewed overall. The TCL A1, despite some other oddities, was actually pretty standout in contrast ratio, likely due to its simple lens design. This means that the PlayCube looks good for a projector which is neither impressive nor disappointing. As I mentioned in its review, the Anker would probably look a little better if it had a brightness control because it enhances shadows in a way that can’t be adjusted. TCL has greater control over image reproduction through multiple image menus and settings.
Color is where these projectors differ the most. Neither is particularly accurate, but neither is particularly bad either. The Anker is a bit green, but skin tones on the TCL are a bit warm/red. The TCL is a little livelier, so I’m leaning a little towards it versus the Anker, but it’s close. Like contrast, both are “good” but neither is outstanding.
Sound-wise, the Anker has better bass but is a bit muffled while the TCL is a bit louder and clearer. Both have the aforementioned EQ settings to help get the right sound for your environment and content. Subjectively, I’d say TCL looks 10-20% better.
Anker has a handle, but TCL has a touch. TCL has USB-C, but Anker is cheaper. Neither feels as fast to use as the best phones, but the Anker feels slower and more sluggish. Overall, despite their differences, they are good options for just different reasons.
Hip to be square
Playcube is great. It’s bright for its size, looks good, and sounds good. Its smart design works simply and well, and the battery is large enough for a long movie or a batch of TV episodes. The presence of USB-C charging is the cherry on top.
Bugs aside, my only concern is the price. I felt like the price of the Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air was a little high at $600 when it was new. Everything is more expensive now Reasons But Anker has managed to lower the price of the 3 Air, making the PlayCube even more premium. For a few hundred extra, you can get a brighter projector with better sound, a larger battery, and USB-C charging. The PlayCube is a better portable projector, but I’m not convinced it’s nearly 50% better as prices suggest as of this writing. So, it’s not the king of portable pajamas right now, but if price isn’t a concern for you, this is the product to get.