Although the latest Ultra HD 4K TV screens can blow your mind with stunning picture quality, there's something magical when it comes to watching movies from a projector. Maybe because it creates that theater feel and atmosphere. Or it could be the transformative nature of converting blank, open spaces into full-color entertainment. To help us decide, JmGO sent us an early unit of its latest projector. We've spent the past couple of weeks kicking back and catching some cord-free flicks on the JmGO View.
Design & connectivity
When it comes to projectors, the vast majority are rather boxy in nature. Sure, some might have rounded corners and/or beveled edges. But you're mostly going to see them shaped like one kind of brick or another. The JmGO View Smart Portable Theater ditches the tried-and-true for something a little more fresh – a 9-in long by 2.85-in diameter (229.6 x 72.4 mm) cylinder that weighs only 2.2 lb (1 kg). Given the popularity of similarly-sized cylindrical tech, such as the UE Boom 2 and Scosche BoomBottle+ speakers, why not? With its brushed aluminum exterior and metal grilles on either end, the JmGO View's design is not only striking, but it serves a functional purpose for audio and video.
Most projectors have built-in speakers that aren't much better than those found in basic mobile devices. The JmGO View conveniently packs a sizeable pair, so you don't have to worry about carrying a separate device and/or fumbling with another cable to plug in. The projector's pair of 4 W Dolby Digital Plus speakers emit sound out from the ends, which helps to create a wider soundstage to complement the projected video. And if that's not good enough – the JmGO View's max volume level is nothing to sniff at – you can opt to connect a Bluetooth speaker or headphones.
Included in the box with the projector is a slim remote, magnetic stand, and wall adapter, all of which are important. The JmGO View has no onboard controls, which means the remote is critical to be able to do anything, unless you also download the free companion app (Android app was unavailable during testing, iOS version releasing soon).
The stand lets you manually adjust the angle of the lens by rotating the projector itself. Without it, you'll need to devise a way for the JmGO View to keep from rolling. While the stand works best on flat surfaces, a steady hand can rest it on a carpeted floor or a blanket outdoors (or set it on book first). Either way, it beats fiddling with clumsy, retractable feet. And when the projector is not in use, the stand can be placed over the lens like a protective cover.
The lens itself is embedded within the black plastic that separates the aluminum halves. On the back of the JmGO View is the power button along with ports for HDMI, USB 2.0 (for data and devices), and the wall adapter for charging the 15,600-mAh capacity battery. On the bottom is a tripod mount. And that's it for physical connections.
Along with Bluetooth, the JmGO View also features Wi-Fi, Miracast, and Happycast (it's like Airplay) connectivity, which opens up so much potential for streaming content (e.g. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, YouTube, etc.). And given the projector's Android-based operating system, you can access Google Play to download plenty of compatible apps, videos, and games.
Once you hit the power button, either on the projector or remote, it takes about 50 seconds to boot up to the home screen. The level of noise generated by the JmGO View's internal fans in a silent room is about 35 db from a meter away. It gently leans towards the quieter side of average for a projector of its size, with the fans sounding rather smooth and subdued (considering). But when it comes to enjoying content, the underlying noise becomes almost a non-issue given how loud the built-in speakers can play.
The JmGO View is powered by Android 4.4.4 with a custom UI, supported by 16 GB of internal storage. The projector presents an effective, clutter-free menu system that provides the important options you need: signal source (storage, HDMI), wireless network, general settings, and power modes. The general settings let you enable Bluetooth and connect devices, optimize the system, toggle system sound effects/music, and adjust the video output.
Even the video options are kept simple: normal/high brightness, wide/standard aspect ratio, digital zoom, auto/manual keystone correction, and selections for ceiling/rear projection modes. Under power, you can schedule auto shut-off, turn off the light, and enable power saving mode. And that's it. Focus/sharpness adjustment and volume/mute are handled through the remote.
Since it runs off the Android OS, the JmGO View provides file navigation for itself and external storage plugged into the USB port. You can choose to see everything as-is or filter by application, video, music, or image files. The menu button on the remote brings up options to copy (takes a little over a minute per 100 MB of data via USB 2.0, give or take), cut, paste, delete, or view file/folder properties. Everything is seen as a medium icon with no way to change it to something else (e.g. smaller icons, list, details). This can make it difficult to find specific files unless the names are short. Files highlighted by selection will have the name scroll, but it's freakishly slow. It's more of an issue with music than movies or photos, depending on how your content is titled.
Although vanilla, the native video player works. The center button functions for play/pause, and the right/left directional buttons forward/reverse through a movie. Pressing any of the buttons momentarily shows title information, the system clock, and elapsed/remaining movie time. There's not much more you'd really need beyond that. However, when it comes to playing music alone, the JmGO View's app/player is far too basic for its own good. You first have to navigate to a folder containing music. Once you choose a song to play, the system shuffles only the music within that specific folder. You can't see what's up next, create playlists, or have easy access to all music available as you would with a more robust Android music app.
Of course, Google Play has more than enough apps to download if you feel a better player is in order. You'll definitely want to use a mouse, since it's unnecessarily tricky to navigate and install content on the JmGO View with only the remote. That, and not every app is reasonably accessible with just a directional pad. But at least it's easy to uninstall apps with the remote. While in the Google Play store, it's worth downloading a file manager that lets you view available disk space. Although the projector packs internal storage, the custom OS doesn't offer additional information like most Android-based devices.
Even after hours upon hours of playing (plugged in with wall adapter), the JmGO View continues to run cool and lag-free. The one side with the exhaust may be warm by comparison to the opposite end. But you can touch it and not even notice unless you're actively paying attention. The system itself seems pretty efficient, even after having opened multiple apps and/or browser tabs. But you can always optimize (under settings) to clear the memory for a quick boost.
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