Epson - Lifestudio Grand 4K PRO-UHD UST Laser Projector, 3,600 Lumens of Color & White Brightness,  Sound by Bose Technology - Black

Should have bought a laser projector from the beginning, everything is just better from the colors to focus, add the fact you don’t have to deal with changing the bulb yearly it’s a no brainer. Very important to get a tension screen protector for the optimum experience.

The video quality of this projector is amazing. We use this on our back patio. The only negative is the sound quality. You need to have the volume set to 70 to hear it comfortably. With Bose speakers, I was expecting amazing audio. Setup was a breeze.

I’ve been looking for a projector that will work as temporary setup, for games and other events I would be hosting at home or at a friends. I actually own a standard Epson 1080p projector currently, but wanted something that was short throw to keep things a little more simple during setup. First off, this thing is big…bigger than I expected compared to my previous Epson projector. Setup and updating was easy, and I was able to sync it to my Google account and wifi using my phone which I very much appreciate these days. The remote is a nice upgrade since its incorporated Google TV, much more user friendly than my other remote which is designed more for business-use cases. So one thing I quickly learned about these UST projectors is they seem to be very sensitive to movements, even a slight twist or turn will throw off the picture and you’ll need to re-calibrate the keystone settings or find that perfect position again. Fortunately, Epson has a mobile app for this which works real well. Basically use a tablet or phone’s camera to connect to the projector and it will display some dots and squares, and will automatically straighten out the image for you. Very nice compared to the old days where you would manually have to adjust numbers and lines, but it still does have a manual option if you prefer that. Settings overall are much simpler and user friendly in this version of the Epson projector, but also a little more limited. The sound was pretty impressive, especially for a projector. I wanted to test it outdoors and see if a Bluetooth speaker was necessary. My wife and I set it up outdoors for Football and some 4K shows one evening, and it was very audible and maintained quality sound at top levels. My wife was even worried it was going to disturb the neighbors, so big props to Epson for including premium sound in this. The sensor works pretty well for turning off the light when you get too close to it, to help not blind you which is easy when you’re trying to adjust or plug things in but can be annoying as its quite sensitive. The picture quality was decent, but I think I had higher expectations moving from a 1080p to a 4k projector. I was hoping for some jaw-dropping visuals at night when using a projector white screen. The 1080p Epson does a great job for its picture quality and ability to go up to 300”. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a high quality picture and we didn’t fine tune the settings like we would if we were permanently setting it up somewhere, but did our part to make it 120” and as clear/focused as possible. I will say that this projector is better as a permanent install than mobile projector, if you use a non-UST projector it should be smaller and less problematic with accidental bumps or shakes, plus you can get larger screen sizes if you are projecting on a wall or big screen. My only issue with this projector was the power button. It is not very responsive to being powered on right after being plugged in, either by the remote or the built-in button. I try long pressing, short pressing, unplug the power and re-plug it and it seems like I may have to wait a minute or two before becoming responsive. I didn’t experience any issues while it stays connected to power though. Overall, I think it’s a good projector if you plan on keeping it stationary. You will need to download the full user manual online as the physical one included is more of a quick start guide. If you do decide to use it in a portable setting, its super convenient that you really only need one source of power for everything. No need for a Streaming device (usb power) or Bluetooth speaker, its all got it built-in. The USB power outlet was not enough power for my Fire stick when I tested it. A nice bonus is all the ports it has including ARC support, to maximize it as a true home theater option. And just to note, the picture quality of the projector looks much better than the camera was able to capture.

Bottom Line: The Epson Lifestudio Grand 4K Pro-UHD Ultra Short Throw Laser Projector delivers a near perfect cinema experience at home. Pros: simple setup and user experience; excellent picture quality; high brightness; immersive gaming experience; great audio; helpful motion detection for safety Cons: Adequate bass performance; keystone correction fixes image but not full projection space Review: We have the projector placed on our TV table, which currently has roughly a 9.6” clearance from the front of the projector to the wall. This produces a 90ish inch projection. Setup was very easy, which involved connecting to WiFi, updating the software, adjusting the keystone with the companion app, and downloading apps. I really like that there aren’t a lot of settings to fiddle with for picture and sound, which makes the user experience simpler. I was highly impressed with both the brightness and quality of the picture. Our living room has a large, bay window that faces opposite of the projection wall. Although the window does not receive direct sunlight, it does provide a lot of natural light in the room. In this context, the projector provides a bright and clearly visible picture when the room is lit, and the picture looks absolutely perfect when the room is dark. Colors are vibrant with high contrast, which looks exceptionally well with HDR movie content and games. I also found that PS5 games looked fantastic, and I found gaming to be much more immersive with the projector than on a TV or monitor. Bose is well-known for delivering fantastic audio, and the speaker system on the projector is no exception. Despite its size, the projector delivers room filling, near cinema quality sound when watching movies and TV shows. Highs and mids come across really well when listening to music in music mode, and bass/low performance is adequate for its size. Those looking for a true home cinema experience will want to connect a dedicated speaker system, but I think most people will find that the build in system meets their audio needs. The final feature that I really like is that the system detects motion, which pauses the picture when you walk by. Although I know well enough not to look directly at the laser light, we do have children in our house quite a bit and this safety feature is much appreciated. My only issue is that, while the keystone correction adjusts the shape of the projected image to appear rectangular, it doesn’t eliminate the physical distortion of the light beam itself. As a result, especially noticeable in the darkened room, you can see the corrected imaged sitting within the original trapezoidal projection.

I was excited for this upgrade to my Ultra Short Throw Projector. I had previously been using the prior version of this product for the past few years, so part of this review will call out the differences and improvements. The first thing I noticed about the new projector is that it is sleeker, smaller, and lighter than the other. Being smaller and lighter is a good feature in a projector because it needs to sit on some kind of table, stand, or shelf. I already had a 150 inch ALR UST screen installed so I was able to setup the new projector onto that screen. Using the same table height, I wasn't able to get the new projector to fill the screen without lowering my current stand, so I had to leave an inch or two on the bottom of the screen. I could have raised the screen but didn't want to drill more holes in the wall. The nice thing about an UST projector is that you don't have any chords on the wall, and that the screen is huge. Once I got through the setup for the screen I started going through the settings. The Android TV installed on the prior projector did now allow the Netflix app but this new version did. I wasn't able to find the Paramount app initially so I wasn't using the Android TV from the projector, but a week later the app was available and now I have all 10 or so of my streaming apps working on the projector. The picture and sound are great and good on this projector. The picture is brighter and more crisp and focused than my previous projector. It is extremely clear even in bright light. The ALR screen definitely helps. I was excited about the sound from Bose, as I have never been let down by a Bose product. However, the sound is a little flat. There isn't much bass like I was expecting. And there are no sound settings to change the tone. Overall the sound is still pretty good and if you are really serious about it you could install a soundbar. Overall, this projector is smaller, brighter and better than others I've used and seen. I would recommend it.