Hands on with the Epson EF-21G
My dream has always been to minimise the physical impact, both in terms of floorspace and focus of our home TV. But I’m also a big movie buff so at some point something needs to give. Enter the portable projector, the answer to all of my problems.
Epson recently released the EF-21G, a stylish little mini projector that can throw up to 150 inches with a 200-240hz refresh rate. It measures 197mm x 113mm x 191mm and weighs 2.3kg, so portability is no problem. If you’re familiar with the setup process on something like a Chromecast, this will be a cinch. Simply plug it into power and you’ll be quickly greeted by a request to join the wifi, from there you can connect it to your Google Home app and you’re good to go. I had it out of the box and was beaming YouTube in about 5 to 10 minutes from scratch. Not bad for someone with an underfoot toddler trying to get involved in the process. Thankfully, the EF-21G is happy to meet you in the middle regarding hurried setups with automatic image adjustment that ensures no matter what angle the picture hits the wall, it will always be flat and unskewed. It’s perfect if it’s constantly getting jostled by a little person.
The projector is surprisingly intelligent, if you have objects on the wall it can automatically adjust to only project in the clear space. Likewise if you have a special frame or projection sheet to beam onto it will automatically fill the area.
The brightness is incredible and the colours are vivid. To avoid any eye damage the projector will automatically dim and throw a warning if anyone steps in front of it.
For users with a large, perfectly legitimate collection of movies on their PC, casting your monitor via Chrome and then using VLC was surprisingly easy to do also. The remote has quick buttons for all the major apps and a mic for even faster input on queries.
You can do all of this with just a power cable and a phone, but people looking for hardwire solutions for things like presentations off laptops have access to a range of plugs in the back including USB-A, Mini-B, an HDMI(ARC) slot. Additionally for audio if you don’t want to rely on the inbuilt speakers there’s an aux cable port for plugging in headphones or speakers.
It has a small kickstand on the underside but if you were looking for more dramatic setups we might recommend you instead get the EF-22B instead for it’s swivel and hinge for more dynamic living situations.
I was able to set it up on all sorts of situations speedily, including on the middle of the bed for an impromptu cosy movie night, but I’d recommend you make sure it’s placed somewhere where the vents aren’t blocked. It uses up to 108 Watts (78 in eco mode) and 1,000 lumens, so it’s best to treat it with the respect it deserves. As far as mini projectors go, this no-fuss all-frills option is an easy recommendation. I thank the lord I never need to mess with manual focus lenses ever again.