![]() The Jall Wooden Digital Alarm Clock has everything you need - and more - in an alarm clock. As a budget all-in-one mobile cinema, the GV30 works rather well.Your CNN account Log in to your CNN account Yet there’s more weight, detail and dynamic range here than I’ve heard from other portable projectors, even if the sound starts to fall apart a little if you push the volume past the 60% mark (although it’s already pretty loud at this point). There’s only so much stereo effect you can get from a small unit, and the bass still isn’t all that impressive. Just as crucially, the sound is a serious step up from the average. I also installed the Stadia app on the BenQ and found the GV30 made a decent ad hoc gaming option with a Stadia controller partnered up. Only 1080p portables, such as the Viewsonic M2 and Anker Nebula Solar, pull ahead. In fact, I’d put the GV30’s pictures above those of 480p models such as the Viewsonic M1 and the original Anker Nebula Capsule and on a par with, if not better than, the Anker Nebula Capsule II. There’s no way I’d want to use the GV30 for all my movie viewing, but for ad hoc Saturday night movie shows it’s a winner. Colours are surprisingly rich and vibrant, while 1080p and even 4K content looks crisper and more detailed than the 720p resolution would suggest. Within those parameters, though, the picture’s pretty good. Plus, with a throw ratio of 1.2 it’s more short-ish throw than short throw, needing 3m of distance to fill a 100in screen. With the brightness ramped up to anywhere near full, you lose nearly all your black levels and most of your contrast, so you’re better off in the 50 to 60% region. Don’t get too excited: this is a 720p projector with a brightness level of 300 nits, and in our tests that translated to roughly 40 to 50 nits reflected from the screen. Yet the GV30’s biggest strength is its performance. READ NEXT: These are the best portable projectors you can buy It’s relatively slick, it’s easy to use, the settings sit where you expect and work as you’d expect and, what’s more, the remote supports voice control, although it’s better at launching apps than finding content. ![]() It comes with Amazon Prime, Disney+, YouTube and a handful of other apps pre-installed, and they work just as well here as on more mainstream streaming sticks. ![]() Normally my heart sinks when I get a projector running some form of Android TV it’s often an awful cludge, running old, hobbled versions of the main streaming apps with an interface that looks like it comes from another era.īenQ’s streaming stick is different, to the extent that its Android 9.0-based software supports the Google Play store, and it looks and feels like Google’s old, official version of Android TV. The design enables you to tilt the GV30 at a wide range of angles, so that you can have it projecting straight on from a stand or coffee table or pointing upwards from the floor. In fact, the auto-focus and keystoning is probably the best I’ve seen from any portable projector, and that’s especially important on this model. There’s very little work involved in getting a decent picture. Plug in the mains adapter, turn it on and set it running, and it practically sets itself up, including focusing, alignment and keystone adjustment. Luckily, it’s here where the GV30 is particularly strong. In the world of portable projectors, convenience and ease of use tend to trump performance. READ NEXT: The best 1080p and 4K-ready projectors on the market BenQ GV30 review: What does it do well? Both the projector and the streaming stick work with the same remote control. Remove a side panel, connect the stubby micro-USB cable and plug the stick into the internal HDMI port, and you’re good to go. That’s because BenQ supplies the GV30 with an Android TV streaming stick that fits inside its own compartment within the projector housing. However, BenQ bundles everything inside a rather neat, compact carry case, and you don’t need to bring anything else with you to start streaming films or TV shows. At 1.6kg in weight, it’s not as easy to sling in a bag or backpack as, say, the 740g Anker Nebula Capsule II. It’s a fairly chunky unit by the standards of most portable projectors, measuring 185mm deep and standing 196mm high.
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