Alan North
Combined with the X1’s four speakers, you’ve got 200 watts of lossless audio power through one cable, and with Dolby Audio support (although no Dolby Atmos) and 25 ms latency on screen there’s no synching issues I could spot. Range for the speakers is up to 100 feet, but you’ll want them closer for cinematic sound.
I missed the cinema release of the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, but streaming it via Disney + in 4K Ultra HD, I was sucked right into 1960s Greenwich Village, and both concert, dialog, and studio audio were superb, with instrumentation, crowd noise, and FX impressively balanced. Even the bang-crash-wallop of Tom Hardy’s dreadful Netflix caper Havoc sounded powerful and engaging.
Features, Connectivity, and Cost
For streaming, the Nebula X1 uses the Google TV platform with Netflix built in and Google Cast. If you want to connect to a Blu-ray player or gaming console there are two HDMI ports (one with eARC). There’s also USB-A and USB-C options and a 3.5 millimeter headphone socket.
Back in my living room and with a karaoke YouTube channel loaded, the microphones in the speaker kit really came into their own, especially if you’re a ten-year-old girl and her mother. Enthusiastic warbling aside, the quality was rock-solid, and battery life far too long!
It’s worth remembering that while the retractable handle makes this projector “portable” it does weigh 13.7 pounds (6.2 kilograms) and requires a power outlet. If you want a true go-anywhere battery-powered design, like the excellent XGIMI Go+ ($699), you’ll need to sacrifice brightness and audio power. I’m yet to be sold on backyard movies, but I live in a cold, overpopulated part of the world. If you have the space for a dedicated outdoor screen, and can punch up the volume without bothering the neighbors, you’re in for a treat. Just make sure your Wi-Fi signal is strong enough.
The X1 also connects to the Nebula Connect smartphone app (iOS, Android). I was unable to use it due to early beta testing, but having connected and controlled four or five different projectors with it, I’ve no doubt it will work fine. If anything, it tends to be easier than the remote, although finding menus for manual control is a bit of a fiddle if you don’t know where to look.
At $3,000, the X1 is currently the most expensive portable projector. It’s comparable in price to a quality home cinema projector, but those often lack streaming capabilities or audio. Despite the wonderful image quality, AI smarts and streaming, I’m not sure it’s worth the money on its own.
But add in the speakers and the microphones—the bundle is available for $3,427—and the proposition is entirely different. The impact the satellite speakers has on your enjoyment of a movie, combined with excellent image quality and whisper-quiet operation makes it an easy, albeit it expensive, product to recommend.
