As smart projectors become more common, and people hanker for devices that fit their lifestyle rather than big, ominous boxes. In the last few years, projector brands have listening and are offering smaller models that fit conveniently.
Epson’s stepped into the ‘lifestyle’ side of the PJ market and brought a new line-up of smart, portable projectors in the Lifestudio Flex and Lifestudio Pop.
How much do Epson’s Lifestudio projectors cost?
The Flex range consists of the EF-71 and EF-72 models, while the Pop has two models: EF-62B/N and EF-61W/G/R.
Pricing for the Flex series is £1149 for the EF-72 and £879.99 for the EF-71. The Pop models are less expensive at £799.99 and £649.99 for the EF-62N and EF-61B respectively.
Colours? There’s a mix. The EF-72 comes in a oak finish while the EF-71 is available in a diamond white version. The EF-62 comes in metallic black or navy, while the Full HD EF-61 version comes in diamond white, smoke ice green or rose quartz.
Cinema night powered by Google and Bose
All models in the Lifestudio Flex and Pop support Google TV, offering access to a wealth of entertainment (over 400,000 films and TV episodes) supported on the platflorm.
That also means that you should be getting the official version of the Netflix app with these models, as the Android TV versions for projectors typically don’t have the license to run the Netflix app.
The entire range also features Epson’s 3LCD Triple Core Engine technology, which it says can deliver “crystal-clear vivid images” that are three times brighter to comparable single-chip DLP projectors.
Only the EF-72 and EF-62B support resolutions up to 4K (the rest are Full HD), while HDR10 is supported across the range (there’s no mention of Dolby Vision or HDR10+). The EF-72 is the brightest of the bunch, hitting 1000 lumens of brightness, while the rest of the range hits 700 lumens.
Google support also means there’s Google Assistant voice control, while Google Cast means you can stream films, TV shows and photos from a mobile device straight to the projectors.
Cinema night is provided a sound assist by built-in sound systems designed by Bose (with Dolby audio to boot), so you can hear what’s happening in your favourite shows without having to resort to connecting an external sound system. If, however, you do want to add your own sound system, there’s Bluetooth support to add one.
Turn any room into a cinema
Considering these are ‘portable’ projectors, you don’t need a dedicated space to plonk them into. The Lifestudio range can be used both indoors and out.
The Lifestudio Flex models come either with a stand that can tilt up to 90 degrees while the Pop can both tilt as well as swivel right and left by 90 degrees, allowing the projectors to cast an image on any surface, ceiling or floor at an angle. With the projectors able to beam images of up to 150-inches, you’ve got a screen almost three times as big as the average TV.
Also, here to make the process of watching films and shows with minimum fuss is Epson’s ‘Intelligent Instant Setup” features such as automatic focus, keystone correction and obstacle avoidance technologies.
Fun and games
It’s not just films and TV shows that the Lifestudio projectors can be used for. There’s gaming support with ALLM present on both the Pop and Flex to offer the fastest gaming experience (playing Mario Kart with the projector and the performance was reasonably fast and responsive).
There’s also the option of connecting an optional wireless Karaoke microphone (ELPKM01), so you can convince your friends you’re the next music sensation with your vocals.
The new Lifestudio range of projectors is available now. We’ll be hoping to get a review up of at least one of the projectors in the not too distant future.
