I have always been fascinated with wall projection technology since I was small.
Projectors used to cost a ton back them, they still do, but there is a different category of budget projectors aimed towards providing home entertainment.
And then there are some super cheap Projectors available on Amazon, for less than $100.
But are they any good? Well, the best way to know it to order one and check it myself.
So I went to Amazon.in website and bought the EGATE i9 LED HD Projector, which costs around Rs 6000, which is, as per my Google Assistant, roughly $85.
Here is my review of EGATE i9 LED HD Projector
What’s in the Box
In the box, you get the manual booklet, there is an AV cable, A remote for operating the projector, power cable with Indian Plug, since it was bought from Amazon India website.
And then there is a cable that, I think, is used to connect audio interfaces, using a 3.5 mm audio jack on the projector.
Specifications of EGATE i9 LED HD Projector
The projector supports full HD resolution (1920×1080) and can display upto 120 inches of projection on a wall when it is approximately 8 feet away from the wall.
The projector has 16000 colors and has a contrast ratio of 1000:1.
It has 1500 Lumen. In Plain English, the more Lumens a Projector has, the brighter the projection would be.
Now considering the price, you shouldn’t complain about it. You have to understand is that you would require a dark room, preferably with no other light source for the projector to work nicely.
Moving forward with other specifications of the projector, it has got multiple input sources.
It has a VGA input, which you can use to connect computers and display the screen on a bigger wall. Mostly used for presentations and other stuff, but you can put anything on the projection when you have connected it to a computer.
There is an HDMI input slot as well, which is available in most modern PCs and laptops. And it can also be used to connect devices like Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV stick, which would be the best choice if you are planning to use it for entertainment.
There are two USB type A, one is used for direct USB flash drive input to play content on the big screen, and the other one is just for charging, which can power up the devices you have connected via HDMI, such as the Chromecast or Fire TV stick.
There is also a 3.5 mm audio jack so that you can connect external speakers, using an Aux cable, or the analog cable provided in the box.
All the input ports are on the right-hand side of the projector, and the slot to connect to the power cable is on the left-hand side.
At the bottom, there is an option to elevate the projector, which can be helpful in many use cases.
The user interface and other features
As mentioned above, the projector can project upto 120 inches of the image on a wall.
The project needs to be at a certain distance from the wall to project the image, and the farther it is from the wall, the bigger the picture goes.
The clarity can be adjusted by tuning the lens, which has two wheels. One tunes the clarity of the image on the wall, and with the other, you can adjust the tilt of the picture.
It is there because if you use the option to elevate the projector to project the image at a certain height, you can use the 2nd ring to adjust the tilt of the picture.
The projector does not have an operating system of its own, so if it only gives you input options to choose from so that you can connect any device and select that as a source to play content.
The user interface is pretty basic and self-explanatory. I connected the Amazon fire TV stick and then adjusted the clarity using the lens ring.
And then it was pretty easy to operate it after that.
For best results, the world needs to be white, or you can buy a projector screen that is available on Amazon India.
In my case, I have been using it on a white wall, and the results are pretty nice that I don’t feel the need to buy a projector screen.
My experience of using it for entertainment purpose
Since the projector does not have an operating system of its own, I have to connect the Amazon Fire TV stick visit to play movies from Netflix or Amazon Prime video.
I have been using it for the last few months, and I am not using it as much as I had thought of initially.
Maybe because I have not fixed it in one place and I have to set it up every time I want to watch something on a big screen.
The project has got a fan inside it, which runs at full speed after just a few minutes of operation, so if you are not in a cold room that has AC, you won’t be able to ignore the noise of the projector fan.
However, the noise of the fan is my only issue with this projector, anyway use AC when I am chilling while watching movies or TV shows on the big wall.
I am using it in a room where the outside light is completely isolated, and it gets dark when I switch off the lights.
The Picture Quality
Since we already mentioned that it had got just 1500 lumens, darkening the room helps in getting a good picture quality.
The other thing I found is to do some tweaks in the settings, using the projector remote.
The projector offers different picture modes such as Movie, Dynamic, Sports, Custom.
You can adjust the Brightness, Contrast, and Sharpness in Custom Mode, and I have found that increasing the brightness, lowering the contrast, give you a bitter picture quality, all the calories get washed up a bit.
But that’s a compromise you have to make if you are watching movies or TV shows with dark scenes.
The Sound Quality
The song quality of the projector isn’t bearable at all, and you most definitely would require an external speaker.
The only option to connect external speakers to the projector is via a 3.5 mm audio jack. But, if you are using something like the Fire TV stick, it has got Bluetooth, so you can wirelessly connect your Bluetooth speakers to Amazon fire TV stick.
Should you buy it?
If you have got an Amazon Fire TV stick or Google Chromecast, this setup aap is excellent for entertainment purposes.
Buy EGTE i9 FUll HD Projector: Amazon India
If you do not have Fire TV Stick or Chromecast, you can surely connect a computer to it, but it won’t be ideal.
And if you are planning to use it as a TV, by connecting it to a DTH, it won’t be ideal either, since you need a complete darkroom for this to work.
Also, the projector is only suitable for watching movies, and if you are planning to use it for presentations, it’s a complete no-no.
I tried using it as an external monitor of my PC just for an experience, but it isn’t ideal either since the text on the web pages are anti readable.
So I would suggest you buy an Amazon Fire TV stick from Amazon. At the current price of Amazon fire TV stick on Amazon at Rs 3999/- (Buy from Amazon India)
The setup would cost you around Rs 10,000, which is quite expensive, and instead, you can go for the higher variant of EGATe i9 LED Projector which has got Android as well as Wi-Fi, and it cost you Rs 8999/- (Buy from AmazoN)