I have to admit that I didn’t know what to expect when Epson sent me the EpiqVision Mini EF12 Projector to review. But what I found was a very capable projector in a really compact size that allows you to take it anywhere so that you can stream your content anywhere. But before I get to the streaming part, let’s look at the projector:
Here’s a look at the business end of the projector.
This projector is tiny. I measured it to be 6.8 inches square 5.3 inches high. The fabric speaker enclosure with a logo that says that the sound is powered by Yamaha gives it a kind of retro vibe.
Connectivity is present and correct with the following:
2 HDMI ports. One of which has eARC support.
2 USB ports: one USB-A port and one mini USB port, the latter of which is for servicing only based on my Google searches.
A Kensington lock to prevent theft.
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
There’s also a power brick, a remote control, and a pair of AAA batteries for said remote control in the box as well.
In terms of resolution, this is an HD projector. So that is going to put off some who insist on 4K resolution. But here’s why you should consider this projector. For starters it’s powered by Android TV. It felt snappy navigating through menus and starting up apps. Plus it has ChromeCast built in which I can see how that can be useful. The second reason is the picture quality. The laser-powered picture is colourful and clear, with a distinct lack of blurring in fast-moving images. Mostly. I tried playing a game via this projector and that didn’t go so well because there was a significant amount of lag. But that was one of the few areas that I could get this projector to trip up. Watching the European Football Championship Final was fine.
You’re best to use this projector in an environment where it is roughly 80 inches or less from the screen. I say that because picture quality seemed to suffer for me when I got beyond 80 inches. What I found really cool was the fact that when you first turn it on, or moving it while switched on, it will auto-keystone. Plus there’s auto focus which will work better than any human trying to focus will. Both of those features will help to keep the picture sharp at all times. The EF12 is bright enough to project in a room that isn’t completely blacked out. Which given the fact that this projector puts out 1000 lumens is a big plus. The projector supports HDR and to test that, I ran a couple of HDR movies using Netflix on this projector. HDR content that is really dark isn’t going to wow you. In fact, I found some scenes to be way darker than the SDR version of the same content. But everything else that I tried was pretty great.
In terms of sound, speech and music are both clear and crisp. There’s honestly nothing to complain about with the Yamaha powered sound. And for bonus points you can use the projector as a Bluetooth speaker.
There only one thing that I should point out. And that is the fact that there’s no optical zoom. Which means that you have to move the projector back or forth to get the picture size that you want. It’s not a deal breaker by any means as I wonder how you could put optical zoom in a projector this small. But other than that, I really have nothing negative or quasi negative to say about this projector.
The EpiqVision Mini EF12 Projector is $1000 CDN. But if you look around, you can find it for less. Like I said at the start of this review, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting going into this review. But on the other side of this review I can say that I was impressed by this projector as it is small yet mighty.
This entry was posted on July 15, 2024 at 8:41 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Epson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Review: Epson EpiqVision Mini EF12 Projector
I have to admit that I didn’t know what to expect when Epson sent me the EpiqVision Mini EF12 Projector to review. But what I found was a very capable projector in a really compact size that allows you to take it anywhere so that you can stream your content anywhere. But before I get to the streaming part, let’s look at the projector:
Here’s a look at the business end of the projector.
This projector is tiny. I measured it to be 6.8 inches square 5.3 inches high. The fabric speaker enclosure with a logo that says that the sound is powered by Yamaha gives it a kind of retro vibe.
Connectivity is present and correct with the following:
There’s also a power brick, a remote control, and a pair of AAA batteries for said remote control in the box as well.
In terms of resolution, this is an HD projector. So that is going to put off some who insist on 4K resolution. But here’s why you should consider this projector. For starters it’s powered by Android TV. It felt snappy navigating through menus and starting up apps. Plus it has ChromeCast built in which I can see how that can be useful. The second reason is the picture quality. The laser-powered picture is colourful and clear, with a distinct lack of blurring in fast-moving images. Mostly. I tried playing a game via this projector and that didn’t go so well because there was a significant amount of lag. But that was one of the few areas that I could get this projector to trip up. Watching the European Football Championship Final was fine.
You’re best to use this projector in an environment where it is roughly 80 inches or less from the screen. I say that because picture quality seemed to suffer for me when I got beyond 80 inches. What I found really cool was the fact that when you first turn it on, or moving it while switched on, it will auto-keystone. Plus there’s auto focus which will work better than any human trying to focus will. Both of those features will help to keep the picture sharp at all times. The EF12 is bright enough to project in a room that isn’t completely blacked out. Which given the fact that this projector puts out 1000 lumens is a big plus. The projector supports HDR and to test that, I ran a couple of HDR movies using Netflix on this projector. HDR content that is really dark isn’t going to wow you. In fact, I found some scenes to be way darker than the SDR version of the same content. But everything else that I tried was pretty great.
In terms of sound, speech and music are both clear and crisp. There’s honestly nothing to complain about with the Yamaha powered sound. And for bonus points you can use the projector as a Bluetooth speaker.
There only one thing that I should point out. And that is the fact that there’s no optical zoom. Which means that you have to move the projector back or forth to get the picture size that you want. It’s not a deal breaker by any means as I wonder how you could put optical zoom in a projector this small. But other than that, I really have nothing negative or quasi negative to say about this projector.
The EpiqVision Mini EF12 Projector is $1000 CDN. But if you look around, you can find it for less. Like I said at the start of this review, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting going into this review. But on the other side of this review I can say that I was impressed by this projector as it is small yet mighty.
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This entry was posted on July 15, 2024 at 8:41 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Epson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.