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Jan 20, 2024

Emotn N1 Smart Projector review: A big screen from a small package

Gareth Butterfield enjoys some chill time in front of a big screen I travel

Gareth Butterfield enjoys some chill time in front of a big screen

I travel around a lot in a motorhome, and they're a marvellous way of getting out into the great outdoors. But because we live in Britain, it's often raining when I'm on holiday.

So on a rainy day, there's nothing better than curling up in front of a film. And the best way to see any film is on a big screen. So I love having an opportunity to test compact projectors.

We roll down a blind to act as a screen, sit back in our sofas and pop some corn.

The latest projector I've been testing is the Emotn N1. And that N, I assume, stands for Netflix. Because this unit has been officially licensed by the media giant. It's the first time that's happened, I'm told.

Let's get the numbers out of the way first, because they're impressive.

It's available on Amazon for £399, but there's currently a £100 coupon available. So this is a £300 projector if you're quick.

And its 1080p beam has 500 ANSI lumens, which is brighter than some projectors I've tested at twice that price.

Projection size is up to 120" and it has two 5w speakers built in. They're good for 26db and the lamp is rated for 36 hours.

So the Emotn N1 is off to a fine start. But it also packs in Dolby Audio, autofocus and auto keystoning. These really are features you rarely see at this price.

In use, it's quite impressive. Colour definition is good, especially in low light. It does struggle a bit in bright lights, but this is a common projector trait.

The auto Keystoning is pretty good, but you might find you want to tweak it, which is easy enough to do.

Everything, more or less, is controlled on the natty little remote. There's only one button on the unit itself, and that's for power.

Power, incidentally, has to come from a lead, because there's no battery pack inside, but that's fair enough given the size and price.

The Netflix integration is a marvellous thing to have, and obviously this unit's trump card, but you can also access popular streaming services such as YouTube and Amazon Prime from the main menu.

There are apps missing, though, which is a shame. It's not a major issue, because you can just plug in a Chromecast or Fire Stick, and still enjoy wireless streaming.

If you're a Netflix addict, though, this won't bother you. It's great to see the popular streaming service built in, and even better to see so many features in a compact projector at a compact price.

For the money, it really is hard to recommend anything else.