A great idea, not without its strengths, saddled with plenty of pain-points.
There’s a lot to find appealing about the idea of a portable projector. While TVs definitely have their strengths, they’re bulky and inconvenient to move once set up. With projectors, things are (in addition to being that much closer to the cinema experience) a little more flexible - and that convenience can be a big draw for a lot of customers.
Sure, TVs have made huge advancements in recent years with rise of 4K, OLED and high dynamic range content. However, projectors have made plenty of gains too. Chiefly, they’ve grown more and more portable and, perhaps, a better fit for the smaller living spaces more and more Australian consumers are inhabiting.
BenQ’s GS1 tries to capitalise on some of this potential.
According to the company, the new portable projector is the perfect companion for your next camping trip - especially if there are kids involved. Even outside of this example (used across the marketing for the GS1), it’s envisioned as a product that’s easy enough to set up and use that you’ll want it with you for entertainment experiences whenever you don’t have a TV or large display on-hand.
In terms of hardware, the GS1 is a short-throw DLP projector capable of delivering a 60-inch screen in up to 720p and with up to 300 ANSI lumens of brightness. It boasts a contrast ratio of 100,000:1 and supports a native aspect ratio of 16:9 alongside six different preset display modes.
Out of the box, it also comes with a carry bag, remote control, power adapter, HDMI cable, battery and orange rubber case.
The projector features with a 8000mAh lithium battery (both detachable and rechargeable) that can act as a powerbank when not in use. In addition, it supports both wireless and Bluetooth connectivity and most major video (AVI, DVIX, DAT, MPEG), image (JPG, BMP) and audio (MP2, ACC, WAV, MP2, MP1) formats.
On the software side of things, the device runs on a version of Android - which means it’s pretty easy to jump right in and play content - even if it’s on a streaming service like Netflix. Unfortunately, the fact that’s not an “official” build of Android means that you’ll have to load the .apk files for those applications onto the GS1 manually - a process that can be a bit hit, miss and all-around hassle.
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