Review on 📺 Artlii Play Android TV 9.0 Smart WiFi Bluetooth Projector - Portable, ±45°4D Keystone Correction, HiFi Dolby Stereo, HD Projector for Home Entertainment by Jamie Sorenson

Play is Artlii's new SMART projector, this time the Android TV platform is implemented in the projector software to try to create a more complete and full-featured home entertainment experience for using beam projection to provide 140 ANSI lumens, 3000:1 contrast ratio and dual 5W speakers. Android TV feature lets you use apps on your projector! This requires you to sign in or create a Google account to connect to the Google Play Store for a variety of video apps, games, and other essential utilities. And while Android TVs don't always work well with Netflix, this projector comes preloaded with a simpler, compatible version of the Netflix app. It's definitely great to have apps built into the projector. So as long as you're connected to Wi-Fi, you don't need an external video source at all if you don't want to. Now for the actual video quality. The Play projects a very sharp image, aided by what appears to be a very precise focus wheel. When focusing, it doesn't seem to slip out of the position you left it in, like some other projectors with looser dials. It seems to have dozens of discrete "ticks" as the dial rotates, which is great. This is a native 720p projector but supports up to 4K sources. It also has a beautiful and accurate keystone system. It features a digital adjustment in the system menu that allows the user to move any corner of the projected image up, down, left, and right independently of every other corner. This allows for a square image even when the projector is placed at an angle to the screen and minimizes the overall size that must be sacrificed to produce a square image. One missing feature is the full range of picture settings found on most TVs and projectors. It only has 3 presets. The speakers in Play aren't just your average belated speakers. They have much better sound quality than many projectors. In fact, the projector can act as a bluetooth speaker. When you turn on "speaker mode" the light goes out and it's just a stereo speaker with a good range of highs and lows. The downside of this feature is that you can't switch directly to Bluetooth mode; You have to turn on the projector, load the main menu, press the button on the remote control for Bluetooth mode, and then the lamp will turn off again and you'll be listening to music, podcasts or whatever. It would be cool if it made more sense. A little more concerning is what I just found out while writing this review: the speaker seems to turn off after a few minutes even though my phone is still plugged in and playing. This is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed in order to make this feature usable. Back to the remote, this is one of the most responsive Artlii projectors, although it still doesn't light up for easy use in a darkened room. Likewise, the buttons on the projector itself are very visible and tactile and work very well. It's way better than some of the flat, touch-sensitive, "soft" buttons. While we're talking about the physical aspects of the projector, I like the unusual design. It looks like a tiny computer tower oriented vertically. It even comes with a little top handle for carrying like a lunch box (or Nintendo Gamecube. Remember?!). The connector layout on the back allows me to plug my Fire Stick (and similar devices) into one of the two HDMI ports and still have access to one of the two USB ports for 5V power delivery, the other being a USB port however, an ultra-wide device like this blocks and requires the use of an HDMI dongle or extender that comes with most of these things. And the last input, Composite VGA (Red/White/Yellow), doesn't actually see a signal on my projector, so I don't need old Nintendo games. So the Artlii Play definitely has a few teething problems, but delivers a crisp picture and offers the all-in-one package that makes smart TVs so compelling.