Epson – EpiqVision™ Mini EF12 Smart Streaming Laser Projector with HDR and Android TV – Black and Copper
$999.99
Specification: Epson – EpiqVision™ Mini EF12 Smart Streaming Laser Projector with HDR and Android TV – Black and Copper
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Photos: Epson – EpiqVision™ Mini EF12 Smart Streaming Laser Projector with HDR and Android TV – Black and Copper
8 reviews for Epson – EpiqVision™ Mini EF12 Smart Streaming Laser Projector with HDR and Android TV – Black and Copper
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$999.99
Capshroud –
This is a very compact and high-performance projector with very few drawbacks. It’s a little brown cube that’s approximately 7” x 7” by 5” tall. Out of that small package, it can project an image up to 150” diagonally and provides very good sound quality with its built-in Yamaha sound system.
The build quality is excellent, and it’s packed with a lot of use and convenience features. As an Android TV device, you can stream content through a WIFI connection. Also, it is Chromecast enabled allowing streaming from a variety of mobile or computer sources. There are two HDMI connections, one of which is ARC enabled allowing connection to a soundbar or surround sound system. You can also connect a sound source via Bluetooth and use it as a speaker. There’s automatic keystone correction which gives you a squared up image without any manual adjustment needed. The remote pairs by Bluetooth eliminating any line of slight requirement. The laser-driven LCD projection is clear and sharp. It will accept 4K input, but the projected resolution is 1080 HD, not 4K.
The only drawback due to its diminutive size is a light output of only 1000 lumens. With a modest-sized image, it’s enough in a low ambient light environment, but don’t expect too much if you have lots of windows and it’s a sunny day. That’s what 3000-5000 lumen projectors are for. If you want to project a 100” plus or size imager, it needs to be in a low light or night setting.
I would call this a personal projector, and it’s certainly portable. I think it would have been a great addition if Epson included a carrying case or padded travel bag. It’s not intended to be the center of a large media room, but it would be easy to carry outside and use on the patio at night. It may be just the thing in this age of socially distancing and staying outdoors since it’s perfect for casting your digital pictures or streaming a movie for the kids.
The bottom line is that this little fellow does everything it was designed to do and does it very well. The Android TV interface makes it friendly, modern, and convenient. The sound is quite good which avoids the need of setting up a separate speaker system for typical TV and movie use. As long as you’re not expecting 4K, high-intensity output, and booming bass, you’ll be very happy. There’s a lot for the money, and it comes in a small, easy to carry package.
KaneM7 –
What a great little box this thing is!! Setup was super easy – power and input cable! Point and watch!
This is a really nice projector for on the go. I set it up in my “in construction” theater room and was watching within minutes.
Just had to plug in power and my input(XBOX) and off we went
The best part about this projector is its automation for it being portable. If the remote is not paired – it prompts you!
upon power on – it puts up some green dots that will autofocus and level the screen – then puts you the screen adjustment option.
We set up for about a 100″ projection – the projector was about 7 feet back. Got a good picture(see attached)
The motion was decent and color accuracy was “good enough’ I did take a few min to adjust and it does seem to hold those settings
Picture quality decent though – whites did wash and blacks did crush – so this isn’t a PRIMARY unit for your theater IMO
My kids though are loving it – easy setup for them, ARC connection back to the soundbar – and they don’t care about quality but BIG!!
Sound quality is good for sitting nearby but not for room-filling sound – again read PORTABLE!
Removed 1 star for the following: (most of which is price based at the time of review)
seems just a little on the pricey side – try to catch on sale if possible
When going through my soundbar – I wasn’t able to find a way to fix the lip-sync issue – this drove me bonkers on some content
No carrying/storage case – for an item that seems to promote portability – give me a way to safely store/carry
HDR seems to notice the signal but I didn’t find the effect compared to my 65” TV(yes i am aware Projo’s can’t do HDR 😀
Overall – a fun little box that we will use quite a bit for the kid’s gaming and sleepovers.
Svprojector –
My first projector and I’m really satisfied with it great color, picture and size. I wasn’t sure if I wanted a laser projector or the one with the light bulb on it. This laser one is amazing
Ponskippa –
Epson has created quite an amazing little projector with the Epson EF-12. It’s about the size of a lunchbox, and very light and portable. Overall Build Quality is very good, but I wish it had a lens cover. Be sure not to get your greasy fingers on it when you are carrying it. It’s easy enough to clean with a lens wipe though so no big deal. I have previously purchased and used Epson projectors in the past and this new laser technology is admittedly very very cool. You probably will never have to replace the bulb in this projector, just maintain the filter by brushing it or vacuuming it with a keyboard vacuum. The image this projector puts out is very beautiful. Colors are vibrant, and bright. Contrast ratio is excellent, blacks are nice and dark and whites are bright. It is certainly bright enough to use in a dim room, but works best in a dark theater setting. Get some black out curtains, you’ll thank yourself for it. I set mine up on a plain white wall and the picture is beautiful enough for me. Can it replace a TV? Definitely. It is great for a bedroom or small living room / theater room. The projector is very easy to set up, you can set it at almost any angle and it will automatically adjust vertical and horizontal keystone. I recommend you try to center it as much as possible though because there will be some white light “overspray” around the adjusted image. As most projectors, it works best when centered properly. But it is a very nice feature to have and certainly acceptable in usage. I played my Nintendo switch and google stadia with this projector and I did not really notice any input lag. It made for a pretty awesome gaming experience and I will definitely be using it for Mario kart and super smash brothers tournaments! 😀
The built in Yamaha speakers sound excellent and are loud enough for watching movies or gaming with a small group of friends and family. Even at 75-90% volume, the speakers sounded nice and clear with a good amount of bass. I’m very happy with the sound quality of the built in speakers and plan on just using the built in speakers all the time.
My only complaints are that it is running and older version of android and there is currently no Netflix support for it. Can’t install the app or push it to the projector with the built in chromecast feature. You’ll have to side load the app or connect a separate smart device through hdmi for Netflix. But Epson can fix this with an update, and I hope they do. The other thing to mention Is that there isn’t any real picture adjustment settings. I think the default presets look good, but I have to mention it for those of you who like to calibrate your own picture profiles.
Would I recommend this projector? YES. I love it, I love it, I love it.
And the fact that it is so compact and portable, makes me appreciate it even more. Move it from your bedroom , to the living room or take it to your friends house. It is so easy to use and set up, and having built in Android and Chromecast is the best. I honestly look forward to coming home from work and watching shows or gaming with it.
FlightMedic –
I absolutely LOVE this projector! Seriously, hands down the best projector I have ever owned or used. This EpiqVision Mini EF12 has become the focal point of our home entertainment system. I have only one critique of this laser projector which I will get to towards the end of my review.
The design is clean and simple (which I like) and rather unassuming. I mean hey – it’s a cube. You know what? This design works, as it blends in nicely with our home setup and breaks away from the more traditional flat, horizontal layout. The build quality is solid, with a firm feel and high-quality materials. The overall aesthetic is that of a sleek and premium product.
Whether using the projector as a standalone product, or incorporating this into your home entertainment system, setup is incredibly easy. You have a headphone jack, one miniUSB input, one USB-A input, and two full HDMI ports (one of which supports ARC). I could write a whole article on integrating projectors into a home theatre and the setup options available. To be brief the HMDI w/ ARC allows you to have both audio and video through a single HDMI cable, thus preventing the need for a separate audio cable. You can also integrate the audio to an external sound bar or speaker system via Bluetooth or direct connect.
On the topic of audio, as I mentioned this projector can be connected via Bluetooth, direct connect, or HDMI w/ ARC for audio. However, if you don’t have an external sound bar or speakers, or if you are taking this on the go and using the projector as a standalone unit, there are built in Yamaha speakers that are incredibly, incredibly good! Seriously the sound produced by these built-in speakers is nothing short of phenomenal. These are not your run of the mill speakers. The sound is clear and crisp even at higher volume levels with a virtual surround sound effect. I was really blown away by how good the speakers are. Definitely not something I expected from a projector.
Now on to the video quality. HOLY COW! Impressive does not begin to describe the utterly amazing display. I said I was blown away by the audio quality, but the video quality I was legitimately stunned. Don’t get me wrong, I expected it to be good. But to be honest, I never expected the truly jaw dropping, near perfect display. Ok so first off, when you power the projector on the lasers will auto focus by displaying dots onto your viewing surface to determine the distance. It will also determine the angle of the projector in relation to the viewing surface then automatically make keystone corrections (which can also be made manually). Once the video is displayed on your viewing surface you will see what I mean about the amazing quality. As with any projector you will get the best quality by using a screen, especially one designed for that particular type of projector. But let me just say, even displayed onto a solid wall with minor texture, this video display is stellar. Incredibly bright, rich, deep colors. Clean motions, no lagging, no stuttering, no dropped frames, no going in and out of focus. It really is fantastic.
While the projector will accommodate 4K input, it will not display 4K resolution. Any 4K input is scaled down to 1080P. But I’m here to say, the average user will never know.
While the EpiqVision really takes much of the guesswork out of setting up, you still have the freedom to adjust any of the settings to meet your needs.
You can obviously connect the projector to display from many input sources, and you can use the built in Chromecast to display images or video from other devices. Additionally their projector comes with Android TV built in, which allows you to access the Google Play Store to download apps such as Disney+, Hulu, and YouTube to stream directly from the projector. No external device needed. However, this brings me to my one point of contention. As of the time of this review, Netflix is NOT available as a download to this device due to the version of Android TV built into the system. Now, if you aren’t a Netflix subscriber this may not be a big deal, but for those of us who are it really is a disappointment. There are workarounds to this though whether it be casting, or connecting a Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, or Apple TV to the projector itself.
I should also point out Google Assistant is built in and works very well.
Do yourself a favor, purchase this projector. You will not regret the decision. I genuinely enjoy using the EpiqVision and it really has become the focal point in our home entertainment system. I would absolutely recommend this device to a friend, family member, or anyone looking for a top of the line, premium laser projector.
0808 –
Lasers are the new technologies most impressive picture quality for 120 inches
this one has a built-in sound system
Buy Yamaha
Thanks Best Buy you are the best
veritech13 –
I have had a chance to use the projector for gaming, casual tv shows and the typical movie night under the best conditions. I will try and keep it simple and to the point.
I WILL START OFF BY SAYING I HAVE THE IMAGE PROJECTED ON A CINETENSION 2 WHITE SCREEN WITH 1:1 GAIN. THE QUALITY OF THE PROJECTION SCREEN OR WALL HAS ALOT TO DO WITH THE CRISP CLEAN IMAGE AND COLOR SATURATION. I KNOW THERE IS ALOT OF DEBATE BUT A WALL WITH A NON-SMOOTH SURFACE DOES NOT LOOK GOOD.
The color looks amazing, the clean lines and detail of the image looks great although keep in mind that the video quality depends on the video source as far as it’s HD source. I have wifi that supports HD streaming without any buffering or resolution adjustments to match the wifi speed.
The image very bright in moderately lit areas, not in direct light or sunlight. The HD image is very clear and crisp. It is very portable and easy to pack up and take on the go. The sound quality of the built-in soundbar is suprisingly loud and clear. I used it to game with the ps5 and the quality was very good but i did experience some lag and some motion blur when playing fast paced games which is mostly all of them nowadays. It is good enough for casual gamers that want an affordable big screen gaming but aren’t fanatical about motion blur or controller lag.
I took a few pictures of the same image with the lights-dimmable, at 50% and 100% -100watt led equivalent bulbs {4 of them}. The other picture is with all the lights off and pretty much dark movie night scenario. Now before you say the image is terrible with the lights on, it looks worse in the pictures as opposed to in person but it’s a projector with 1000 lumens and it’s priced at under $1k.
I was very happy with almost everything this projector offered, the build quality was also very nice it had a luxury/sturdy feel to it.
CONS:
Now the things i didnt like,,,
The menu system leaves much to be desired, the navigation of the apps isn’t that bad but the navigation of the setup options is not intuitive at all. The setup is a bit of a pain if you want a perfectly squared image. The keystone adjustment is not precise and once it locks in automatically and its not perfect it is a pain to reset it to try again for a better correction. You are better off using the manual correction options but again the controls dont make it easy to navigate to the settings and then tweaking is not precise and it seems like the options to get a nice level, squared off image are too simplistic. You really only have to options to manually center and correct the angle on your image. The corners of the image at 100 inches was not squared, the shape of the image was a bit trapezoid like but again this will only bother the perfectionist. The remote control is also not the best, i wish a better design was thought out with quick access buttons for image correction.
I also think a wired ethernet option would have been nice but it was designed as a streaming projector so a ethernet jack or more input options are not an oversight and it’s by design so i can not hold that against it.
It sounds like i am harping on the image but once you get it right the image is AMAZING! especially at that price point! i definitely recommend the projector for the person who wants a serious step up in image quality from an LED but those serious home theater enthusiasts may find the lack of control over your image tweaking may find the menu system and image correction tools a little too simplistic.
OVERALL I LOVEIT FOR MOVIE NIGHTS WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK FOR A SERIOUSLY CRISP IMAGE WITH NICE COLOR! HOPE THIS REVIEW HELPS YOU DECIDE!
AllAboutTech –
Verdict: This projector is just about everything we ever wanted in a projector. Image quality and brightness are exceptional, sound is fantastic, and streaming is very convenient. Overall, this projector is a great option for home, travel, and business. We already use it at home almost daily, and we plan to travel with it to watch family movies.
First impressions. It’s a space efficient single cube unit that incorporates what appears to be a pretty large speaker (almost half the unit). It is fairly light weight. It has sufficient connection options with 2 HDMI, USB, and earphone jack. It also includes a nicely-designed remote control.
Image. With 1000 lumens, the projector is plenty bright. The image is visible in full daylight, but obviously not ideal. With a little bit of shade, the image is watchable during the day, even on a 100” display. In the dark, the brightness and 1080p resolution provides a fantastic viewing experience, even on very large screen (up to 150”). Of note, the projector is capable of 4k resolution, so it is future proof. Contrast ratio is also excellent, so image quality is exceptional all around.
Sound. I was not expecting such a high-end integrated speaker to be included… Wow! The Yamaha speaker and discreet amplifier provide impressive quality and plenty of volume to enjoy without any additional hardware. This is one of the particularly compelling features of this projector because you don’t need to bring anything except the projector, the remote, and the power cable to use it. Just plug, project against a wall if you have to, and enjoy quality video and sound.
Features. The projector includes Android TV, which means that you can connect to your WiFi network and start streaming content right away! No need to connect to a computer!! That was a strange thing to get used to. Projectors used to be useless without a connection to content… well not anymore! Integrated apps include YouTube, CNN, Vudu, and Disney Plus. A few more specific streaming apps would have been nice, but we found an easy work-around. Another feature I love is the auto focus and auto keystone. This is really nice because with a portable projector, it is particularly annoying to have to readjust the focus and keystone manually every time you move it. Manual adjustments take at least a few minutes, and more if you have a complicated setup. The auto focus and auto keystone can also be activated when needed from the remote control; this is really nice feature. I really like the inclusion of an audio jack (3.5 mm); I’ve used it a few times already to watch content on the projector while my wife was sleeping. Screen mirroring (from a smart phone or tablet) has been working very well for me, and opens up a lot of possibilities for usage, such as using workout apps to exercise. Lastly, the projector also has a small treaded hole on the underside for mounting.
Usage. To enjoy this projector, we purchased a 135” indoor/outdoor portable screen (see picture), and the experience has been amazing. We can setup the screen and projector in just a few minutes, use the auto focus and auto keystone to get a great image in just a few seconds, and then we can start streaming content right away. We also plan to use it for outdoor movie nights. This will be a great device for family events.
Things I love.
– 1000 lumens provide ample brightness
– 1080p native resolution, and capable of 4k resolution (future proof!)
– High quality integrated sound from Yamaha speakers
– Built-in Android TV!
– Auto focus and auto keystone; such a nice feature to have! I hope it keeps working this well
– Pretty quiet so far; there is a big built-in fan, but we haven’t noticed it kicking-on
– The retractable kickstand is nice to make minor height adjustments
– Screen mirroring actual works well
Things I don’t love.
– I wish it included a few other specific streaming apps that we like. To get around this, we just plugged a streaming stick in one of the HDMI ports to have access to the rest of our content (see picture). Also, as another work-around, for some missing streaming apps you can screen-mirror from your personal device directly onto the projector
– A travel bag would have been nice. I would pay a little more for the projector if it included one. We plan to order a travel bag for this projector
Overall, this is a winner! Beside two apps that we think should be included with Android TV, this projector is everything we could wish for. It is small and portable enough, includes a high-quality speaker, provides exceptional video quality, and enables direct WiFi streaming. We LOVE it!