The N3 Ultimate Projector from JMGO is the new portable 4K champion

Sorry Anker: JMGO now makes my favorite portable projector.

The N3 Ultimate is an excellent portable 4K projector that overcomes moderate ambient light at extreme angles and can rival more expensive home theater installations at night. After a few weeks of testing, I think the raw adaptability he showed JMGO’s N3 Ultimate It justifies its current price of $2,399 ($500 off the $2,999 list).

Modern all-in-one displays built around Google TV are very convenient when it comes to placement. Place one on a living room table or camp rock and it will begin scanning for a blank screen or wall while avoiding obstructions to display a properly focused, color-corrected, and compatible image. But these technologies usually resort to digital enhancements that reduce the brightness, resolution and responsiveness of the image. To avoid this, it is always best to place the projector directly in front of the display surface.

JMGO’s N3 Ultimate projector promises “lossless mode” by being mounted on a motorized gimbal that rotates both horizontally and vertically. This, combined with optical zoom and large lens shift, increases off-center placement flexibility without resorting to digital trickery. You can also drag the image Wiimote style to the exact location you want using the included remote. useful!

However, the N3 Ultimate doesn’t live up to its marketing hype. It’s shown as a 5800 lumen ISO projector which I found unwatchable in its brightest mode for reasons I’ll explain later. In the modes you can actually use, you get around 4,600 ISO nits, which drops to 3,000 ISO nits if you want more accurate colors – that’s noticeably brighter than Anker’s Nebula X1 flagship 4K portable playback in comparable modes.

Although the N3 Ultimate lacks the advertised ceiling, its class-leading brightness and great picture could make this a TV alternative for some.

The first spec I look at on portable projectors is the lumen rating. If the number is listed as anything other than ANSI or ISO, I assume they are lying. The JMGO doesn’t exactly lie with its 5,800 lumen ISO spec, but it’s not exactly transparent either.

The N3 Ultimate only comes close to hitting that incredibly bright mark (I measured around 5,200 ISO nits) when running in Dynamic mode, which results in terribly green color skew and causes the cooling fans to roar. The colors produced by this triple-laser RGB DLP projector are more accurate in movie mode, but at about half the advertised brightness.

Out of the box, I found the factory-reset colors and tones of the N3 Ultimate to be more realistic than many projectors in this category. I usually select Vivid during the day and then switch to movie mode in dark rooms. I sometimes forgot because the differences weren’t always clear. The brightness of the projector with Dolby Vision support allows for meaningful improvement of picture quality in both dark and dark rooms.

I tested the N3 Ultimate for an unhealthy number of hours on screens as large as 110 inches and as small as 32 inches; On painted walls, a glossy table top, a matte white screen increases intensity, and an ambient light gray (ALR) screen enhances contrast. She adapted admirably to every scenario with little interference.

The projector is usually quiet – I had to strain to hear it. In warmer rooms and with adaptive brightness turned on, I could hear the fans up about 30dB from the usual 26dB, at a distance of one meter. At maximum brightness, the fans peaked at a very dispersive 50dB.

Optimizing image placement is a bit difficult at first due to all the menu options and descriptions that are not very consumer friendly. Fortunately, there’s an optimization button right on the remote that takes the guesswork out of it. Hold down the button and you can drag the projected image around the room to center it wherever you want. Double-click the button and you’ll see four menus that walk you through image adjustment options like Lossless Lens Shift, Gimbal Motion, Zoom, and Rotate. It’s very well done and makes the projector quick and easy to set up in new locations.

The sound is decent for a portable all-in-one of this size. It’s basically Anchor Nebula X1 It’s turned on its side, but it lacks the optional satellite speakers that make Anker’s portable projector unbeatable in terms of sound. However, without those satellites, the Anker and JMGO sound almost the same. The N3 Ultimate produced clear, detailed, room-filling sound with a respectable amount of bass. So, it’s a shame that JMGO doesn’t make it easy to quickly switch the projector into Bluetooth speaker mode from the screen off like many portable devices – instead, you have to clumsily enable it through the settings menu.

The N3 Ultimate plays Netflix out of the box and menu navigation is fast — two things you can’t take for granted with portable Google TV projectors. The only thing missing is the integrated handle, which makes this a handheld device. Fortunately, JMGO ships the N3 Ultimate inside a reusable carrying case which came in handy when transporting it by car.

I also found the projector’s automatic eye protection feature wonky. Even at the default sensitivity, it can be triggered for no reason. Worse still, they are slow to respond when your eyeballs are already at risk from the laser’s optics. Besides the on/off button, the N3 Ultimate lacks on-device controls – don’t lose your remote!

“Ultimate” is a seriously high bar to set when naming your projector, but the JMGO comes close to the mark. If sound quality is your absolute top priority, Anker’s larger Nebula X1 speaker bundle It remains an attractive alternative – although it will cost you a lot more money. But if you’re looking for class-leading brightness and unparalleled physical flexibility from a 4K all-in-one projector, then JMGO N3 Ultimate is $2,399 is the way to go.

Photography by Thomas Ricker/The Verge