REVIEW – A few years ago, we purchased a rather large, loud, yet bright projector, along with an outdoor movie screen, to have outdoor family movie nights. It was a great setup and a fun activity. The whole contraption was bulky, clunky, and cumbersome. Fast forward 10 years, and projectors have shrunk dramatically and become significantly more affordable. The Kodak LUMA 500 FHD Ultra Smart Pico Projector is one such modern-day projector that should make our future outdoor movie nights so much better.
⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $699.99
Where to buy: Walmart and Amazon
What is it?
The Kodak LUMA 500 FHD Ultra Smart Pico Projector is a small, ultra-portable projector that would be great for movie nights at home or on the go. It delivers a full HD (1080p) image and supports up to 4K input. It has a brightness of 150 ANSI lumens, with a projection size of up to 150 inches. The LUMA 500 runs on Google TV, so it can stream from virtually all the services like Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, etc., and hundreds of Live TV channels. The LUMA 500 can be powered via a USB-C power brick or from its 2-hour interval battery. It supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI, and USB connections to display content.
What’s included?
- LUMA 500 Projector
- Remote Control
- Small Table-top Tripod
- HDMI cable
- Power Adapter with three power-plug adapters (North America, UK, and Europe)
- Instructions
Tech specs
- Image: Full HD, HDR 10+, and 4K
- Display Resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Display Type: LED
- Brightness: 160 Lumens
- Display Technology: Texas Instruments DLP
- Audio Processing: Dolby Digital Plus
- Maximum Image Size: Up to 150” Image
- Hardware Connectivity: HDMI, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 5, Wi-Fi (802.11 ac/b/g/n), 3.5mm Jack
- Image Correction: Auto-focus and Auto-keystone correction with manual adjustment
- Power: USB-C Power Adapter (15V @ 3A) and Rechargeable battery (up to 2-hour playback)
- Control Method: App, Remote, Voice via Google Voice Assistant
- Mounting Type: Standard 1/4” Tripod Mount
- Throw Distance: 5 inches (12.5 cm) minimum, 12.5 feet (381 cm) maximum
- Light Source Operating Life: 30,000 Hours
- Internal Storage: 24 GB (for Google TV apps and files)
- Size (LxWxH): 5.25 x 5.25 x.1.25 inches (13 x 13 x 3 cm)
- Weight: 20 oz (572 g)
Design and features
The Kodak LUMA 500 FHD Ultra Smart Pico Projector is the latest small form factor projector from Kodak. It is the successor to the LUMA 450 with improvements in almost every category. Biggest of all is the switch to Google TV as the operating system on the projector. This is the same OS as my TV, and it is very capable.
The size of the LUMA 500 is tiny compared to legacy projectors, but comparable to most other pico projectors. Even with its small form factor, the lamp that drives this projector is bright and provides a very clear and detailed image.
The top of the LUMA 500 has what appears to be a single button. Its function is to illuminate the cluster of touch-sensitive functions that mimic the remote’s navigation keys.
The rear panel of the LUMA 500 has 4 ports and a reset hole. On the left is a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones or connecting the LUMA 500 to an external speaker. New to that is a USB-A port that can be used as a power jack for any USB-powered device. It can also be used for connecting a storage device, such as a memory stick or external hard drive, that stores media.
Next to the USB-A port is the HDMI port for connecting DVD/Blu-ray players, or even a laptop with HDMI output.
The two sides of the LUMA 500 are simply the power button on one side and the zoom in/out buttons on the other.
The front of the LUMA 500 is the lens. Point this side toward the surface that will show the image. Also on the front is the air vent for cooling the lamp, and also the sensors for auto-correcting the focus and keystone.
The LUMA 500 comes with a full-function remote that gives you access to all the features of Google TV and focusing of the LUMA’s lens. The remote is almost an exact copy of my TV’s remote. This must be a standard layout for Google TV devices.
Focusing and keystone correction are handled automatically by the LUMA 500. When the unit is powered up and whenever it is moved, the LUMA 500 readjusts the focus and keystone to make the image as sharp as possible. If any fine-tuning is required on either the focus or keystone, this can be done via the remote or the buttons on the top of the projector.
The entire purpose of a projector is to throw images up on a wall, movie screen, or even the ceiling. The LUMA 500 has multiple ways to do this. With Google TV, you can choose from hundreds (if not thousands) of streaming sources. Many of which require a subscription. It can also hook up to a DVD/Blu-ray player, laptop. And even your mobile device via casting. iOS and Android screen casting are done in two different methods, but both achieve the same result. A USB-connected storage device can also be used. A file browser app will pop up when a USB device is plugged in, so the video file can be selected. So many choices.
The LUMA 500 has an internal battery for true portable movie watching. The battery will last about 2 hours before it needs to be plugged in. The battery will charge completely in about 3 hours. The included power adapter is fairly powerful (15V @ 3A), so a common 5V power adapter will not work.
Sound can be heard from the LUMA 500 from its internal speaker or an external speaker. The external speaker can be connected via the 3.5mm headphone jack on the rear of the projector or via Bluetooth. It has Dolby audio circuitry, which should produce very good sound.
Setup
Setting up the LUMA 500 consisted mostly of plugging it in and then walking through the setup screens in Google TV. I had to download the Google Home app on my iPhone to assist in the Google TV configuration on the LUMA 500. It’s very easy to go through all the steps and it took about 10 minutes.
The steps included pairing the remote to the projector, connecting it to the WiFi network, selecting streaming apps to install, and a few other settings.
There is one setup screen specifically for the projector. It has settings for auto focus, image correction (keystone), using the LUMA 500 as a Bluetooth speaker, and an additional advanced setting.
Performance
I really like Google TV. I was familiar with it from my TV, and it is very similar to other TV streaming OS’s (e.g., Apple TV, Roku, etc.). It is very capable and has thousands of apps.
Image
The image from the LUMA 500 is very sharp and bright. The Texas Instruments DLP hardware really pays off in producing an exceptional image.
I also own an old-school large projector. When it was new, it would project at 500 lumens. I did a comparison of the two projectors side-by-side. Here are the results:
The LUMA 500’s image is so much warmer and sharper. The old projector needs to be put out to pasture. The time has come for Facebook Marketplace.
Some more examples:
Battery
The battery lived up to Kodak’s specifications of lasting about 2 hours. However, it does take about 3 hours to recharge.
Sound
The internal speaker on the LUMA 500 is terrible. But I guess this would be expected. Hardwiring to an external speaker via the 3.5mm jack produced excellent sound, as did using Bluetooth transmit to a paired speaker. The Dolby audio processing is top-notch and sounds great on the TV sound system I paired it to.
There are a couple of issues that I as far as I could tell, are caused by Google TV. If you want to adjust picture or sound settings while streaming, the streaming app would be exited, and I had to go back into it and find where I was in the movie. This was very inconvenient.
Another nit-pick was that the response from using the remote was slow. Pressing buttons would pause from time to time, and then the projector would eventually catch up. I’m not sure if that was from the remote/projector connection, or again, from Google TV just being slow on the LUMA 500.
Final thoughts
The Kodak LUMA 500 FHD Ultra Smart Pico Projector is a very capable, very portable projector that has great software on it. It should provide many hours of fun entertainment in different settings. The image is sharp, bright, and surprisingly detailed. Paired with an external speaker, provides excellent audio. The LUMA 500 is a great little projector.
What I like about the Kodak LUMA 500 Projector
- Great picture for its size
- 150” picture!
- Bluetooth speaker support
- Google TV
What needs to be improved?
- The onboard speaker is horrible
- Short battery life
- A little slow on remote usage
- It’s pricey
Price: $699.99
Where to buy: Walmart and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Kodak. Kodak did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
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