I have been using the Dangbei neo smart projector for a while now, and it has exceeded my expectations in several key aspects. From its bright and colorful 1080p picture to its AMAZING speakers, this projector really hits a lot of big points.
Pros:
Speakers
Brightness
Color
Image Quality
Ease of Use
Autofocus
Quiet Fans
Small Size
Cons:
No Battery
Power Brick
Auto Keystone Correction
Let's start with one of the standout features, the speakers. WOW! I use lots of audio equipment and the speakers absolutely blew me away. They have tons of bass, clear mids for vocals, and crisp highs. They also have enough volume to easily fill the whole room with full, rich sound. These are by far the best speakers I have heard on a projector and it really helps create an immersive experience when watching shows or playing games without the need of a soundbar or any extra speaker systems.
Next is Brightness, color, and image quality, since those go hand and hand. Its brightness levels are great, creating lots of color and a vivid picture even in rooms with some ambient light. At night in a dark room, it is a stunning picture! Even scenes with shadows are clearly visible. In addition, the colors are amazing and really make the picture pop! It isn’t quite bright enough for lots of open windows or direct sunlight, but I can comfortably use it with my blinds closed during the daytime projecting a 90-100” screen. Obviously the darker you can get, the better, but that goes for every tv or projector. There are settings where you can edit the picture yourself, so all that paired with the 1080p native picture quality creates an amazing image.
I’ll quickly run through some of the other positives. It has an easy to use interface and I did try the native software. The Netflix app does work well on it, but it also has CEC, so connecting a Google tv or Apple tv works seamlessly too. That is what I usually do for most of my screens, but if needed the built in software does work smoothly. The autofocus works well, and the best way I found was clicking and holding the focus button in the middle of the controller. Sometimes it takes a few seconds for the autofocus to catch on, but it always ends with a clear image. The fans are very quiet and never took away from the experience, even with the projector only a foot or two away from my head. Also, the projector itself is relatively small and easy to fit in a backpack so you could definitely bring it with you to a friend's house or anywhere. Plus, it has a fairly low latency, so I had no issues connecting my Nintendo switch and playing it on the massive screen!
Now for some of the cons. Firstly, the auto keystone correction. It does work, but it takes the projector a long time to set it up. Honestly I found myself using the manual keystone correction when I just needed a quick fix, but it is very easy to use so that wasn’t much of a problem. Also, do keep in mind that the projector doesn’t have a battery and the cable for it does have a medium sized brick, much like a lot of PCs. This isn’t a dealbreaker for me because I have used lots of projectors with built in batteries, but not one of them could even last a whole movie, so I would have to scramble to find the cord and plug it in before the projector completely dies. Plus, they are usually a lot dimmer since they are trying to run off of a smaller power source, so I think it is a worthwhile tradeoff.
Lastly, I wanted to mention the company itself, Dangbei. I hadn’t heard much of them before this projector, but I'm glad to say they have some amazing customer service! I reached out to them concerning a question I had about the projector, and I received a response within the day that covered everything I wanted to know. They were very informative and friendly, so don’t be afraid to reach out to them if you have any questions.
Overall, this is a great projector and would be an awesome addition to any movie session or family game night!