REVIEW β A 1080P projector for $250? Yes, my friends! Today weβre looking at the Vankyo Performance V600 Mini Movie Projector, which promises native 1080p resolution at a bargain price. If youβre looking for a new projector for personal or business use, this one may be worth your consideration. Letβs find out more. To the review!
What is it?
Itβs a native 1080P projector that is compatible with just about any device you can throw at it.
Whatβs in the box?
Youβll get the projector, an AV cable, an HDMI cable, a lens cap, and a remote control (batteries included). It even comes with a carry bag for all the parts.
Hardware specs
- 1920 x 1080 native resolution
- 5000 Lux brightness
- 5,0000:1 contrast ratio
- Supports 16:9, 4:3 and automatic aspect ratios
- 50,000 hour LED lamp life
- Projection size of 50β³ to 300β³ with a 10 meter range
- Ports for 2 HDMI connections, AV cables, USB 2.0, VGA, and an SD card
- 15.35β³ by 15.35β³ by 5.9β³
- 8.3 pounds
Design and features
The VANKYO Performance V600 Mini Movie Projector package is nicely put together with everything you need to get started in a well designed package. Take the carry bag, for example. Itβs actually a well-designed piece of kit as opposed to a throw-in afterthought.
Double zips open up the bag like a clamshell for easy packing and unpacking.
Thereβs a pocket on the front of the bag and a second mesh pocket inside to manage your accessories.
It also includes a thick lens cover to prevent nicks and scratches.
Youβve got options aplenty for connectivity. The back panel sports a VGA port, 2 HDMI ports, and 2 USB ports. The side panel also has an SD card slot and AV plugs. And HDMI and AV cable are included, so you can connect to just about any device right out of the box. Unless youβre planning on using an iPhone, in which case youβll need to buy a lightning to HDMI cable.
A control panel on the top rear of the unit allows you to manage all of your functions, but I like the included remote control for this. Itβs got some extra features like volume control, fast forward/reverse, and mute that save you pecking through the menus.
Waitβ¦ did I say volume control? Yes I did! This projector includes a built-in 5W speaker system. We actually found the sound quality to be fine for what it is. If youβre serious about your audio, youβll want to rig up external speakers for quality stereo sound. But if youβre doing a presentation and want to run a video or just donβt have other options available, the speakers are good enough to do the job with some depth of sound and range.
Your picture controls are old-school dials, which I like. The focus wheel allows you to precisely dial in the sharpness of the picture based on your projection depth, while the keystone adjustment enables you to tweak the picture so that you donβt get that weird trapezoidal frame if youβre projecting from an odd angle. I find this much easier to manage than digital controls.
Height control is a bit lacking. Youβve got one tiny foot under the device with a short range of motion. Youβll want to look into a stand or other options if youβre trying to get a precise position on this one.
I wonβt drag you through all the details of getting your media to play, but thereβs no need to fret. Setup and operation is really easy. Choose your source to get going. AV and HDMI connections go right to the projection when the source is connected, otherwise youβll get a simple menu to navigate and pick your media after youβve chosen your source. Youβll then pick the folder and file as appropriate.
Hereβs the testing setup for our first rounds of evaluation. The projector is about 9 feet from the wall. Iβll take you through a series of sample video from different media.
The quality of projection is clear & crisp even in a fully lit room; my son has abandoned his monitor for this as his Xbox One rigβ¦ and heβs a picky dude. Youβll get some color washing as you would expect with the extra light sources, but the quality is still pretty great.
When you settle in and turn out the lights, it is just spectacular.
We first tested the projection on a movie I had downloaded to a thumb drive. Check out the gorgeous color depth of King Ghidorah. Run little humans⦠run!
We then switched over to Netflix through my sonβs Xbox One (HDMI input) to check out a little buddy film about a Norse God and his big green friend. The color saturation and depth is simply stunning.
And video games? Check this out:
At this price point, the video quality is remarkable. And the LED lamp is rated for 50,000 hours of operation, so thereβs no fear of burning the bulb out with heavy use.
We did some long-range testing to see how the picture quality holds up at a 20 foot range, and that looks great as well (unfortunately, my pictures did not turn out so good). Weβre also planning on mounting this sucker the basement & rigging it to my wifeβs iPad for her workout programs. Iβll post updates as we continue to experiment!
What I like
- Excellent picture quality
- Great starter kit supplies everything you need
- Connects to just about every device
- Easy to operate
- Built in speakers are a nice backup option
- Very portable, with a great travel bag
What needs to be improved
- Speakers are OK, but youβll want an external solution for better quality if youβre watching movies or playing video games
- The adjustable height option isnβt great, and will probably require a stand or alternative mounting solution for precise positioning
Final thoughts
I donβt pretend to be an AV expert, but Iβm really liking the VANKYO Performance V600 Mini Movie Projector. Easy to plug and play, excellent video quality, and compatibility with just about any device make this a projector worth a look for both personal and business use. And the price point is fantastic for the quality. Highly recommended.
Price: $249.00
Where to buy: Go get it on Amazon.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Vankyo.
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I recently purchased this Vankyo model and have been trying to project an mpg file from a USB drive. The clarity is great but there are extraneous information screens on the side of the projected area. Does the projector need to be ore than 6 feet away from the screen area in order to have the picture completely fill the screen? Is there a way to enlarge the picture scale? Thank you.
Hi,
How do you do projection size of 50β³ to 300β³ with a 10 meter range. When you move the projector away from the screen, how do you make it fit on the screen?
Thanks
Iβm not 100% sure about what youβre askingβ¦ you would need to adjust the distance of the projector based on the screen size or area you are projecting on. Does that help?