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Home » Anker Nebula Cosmos Max 4K Portable projector Review

Anker Nebula Cosmos Max 4K Portable projector Review

Anker Nebula Cosmos Max 4K

There is considerable potential behind the unusual appearance of Nebula Cosmos Max 4K. There is a 4K video projector, an Android TV box, a wireless speaker, and a network audio player, and everything is done at a high level. A good replacement for a smart TV, only you will have more screen and less money.


Contents:


Features

Anker Nebula Cosmos Max 4K

Nebula Cosmos Max 4K can be installed not only on a table or tripod, but also suspended from the ceiling. The model will not take up space in the room and will not disfigure the interior with a black rectangle, like a turned off TV. On the contrary, the projector will even become a decoration – a piece of the starry sky will appear in the oval “window” on its top panel after switching on.

A ceiling mount is good for sound too, as the four built-in speakers create a spacious field that fills the entire room. If you place the device between the screen and the audience, there will be a complete illusion that the sound comes directly from the screen, like in a real cinema. And since the lens is wide-angle, this position will be optimal for the picture as well. Let’s say a 77 ”image (like a very large and expensive TV) is obtained from a distance of only 2.04 m.

The projection area can be up to 150 “, because the luminous flux of 1500 lumens is enough to work on such a large screen. Unless the room should be well darkened. And if there is no need for a large image, you can reduce the distance and leave a dim light in the room. Want to use your projector without thinking about dimming at all? Then you need an ALR-screen, which will allow you to get a bright and vivid image in a lit room. Only there are a lot of such accessories – it’s better to do with a thick curtain.


Controls

Anker Nebula Cosmos Max 4K

There is an opinion that there is a lot of fuss with projectors, but with TVs, they say, it’s easier. The creators of Nebula Cosmos Max 4K made sure that their technique was as clear as possible to the user.

After turning on the device for the first time, it offers to establish a connection with the remote control. The remote control is radio-frequency, so they do not need to aim, and its range of action is greater than that of a conventional infrared one. The procedure is elementary – you just need to follow the instructions on the screen. Then press the second button from the top of the remote control to start the automatic focusing process. This is done using the built-in video camera, which is located next to the lens. At the same time, there is an automatic correction of geometric distortions.

This is followed by routine operations that are inevitable when you first turn on your Android smartphone, set-top box or TV: connecting via Wi-Fi to an access point, logging into your Google account, choosing applications to install from those that are already available on your other devices. In general, nothing complicated, especially since it only needs to be done once.

If the regular remote seems inconvenient, install the proprietary Nebula Cosmos Max 4K Connect mobile application – it turns your smartphone or tablet into a wireless touchpad or mouse. The settings of the projector itself are simplified by eliminating those settings that can be dispensed with.

Anker Nebula Cosmos Max 4K app

The lens has a constant focal length, so the size of the image changes by changing the distance to the screen. There is a zoom in the device, but not optical, but digital – the size of the picture changes with the resolution.

There is also no lens shift function – this is an attribute of the most expensive and complex models, but for our hero the loss is not great. Thanks to the auto-correction of geometric images, it is not necessary to accurately adjust the position of the apparatus.

Anker Nebula Cosmos Max 4K

Unfortunately, you cannot reduce the power of the light source. This would be useful when projecting a small diagonal onto a screen, when full brightness is excessive. Of course, you can lower the brightness in the video path, but this will narrow the dynamic range of brightness and make the black color not as deep as we would like.

The rest of the settings are the same as in older models. You can fine-tune the color rendition of the three primary colors, adjust the gamma and even compensate for distortions when projecting onto a painted wall, for which there are 8 presets, including the default white. But it is unnecessary to dive into this jungle, because the device shows excellent results even with the default settings.


Clarity technology and HDR support

The image resolution of the Nebula Cosmos Max is indeed 4K, although many compact projectors do not even reach Full HD. This is due to the fact that the pixels of the matrices have certain finite dimensions, they cannot be less than a certain threshold. And the higher the resolution of the matrix, the larger its dimensions, that is, the larger the projector itself and its lens.

Compact 4K projectors are made possible by Texas Instruments’ XPS technology. Its essence is in the use of DLP-chips with a diagonal of 0.47 “and a resolution of 1920×1080, but with a function of periodic image shift. A 4K picture is formed from quarters of the frame, where one small matrix creates an image at four times the resolution. The movement is so fast that we do not notice it and perceive the full frame with a resolution of 3840×2160. This technology is widely used in very expensive video projectors for home cinema, it has already proven itself and gives excellent results, which was also demonstrated by the hero of the review.

Anker Nebula Cosmos Max 4K

Naturally, the best image quality is obtained when watching videos in 4K. There are a lot of such videos now both on YouTube and in online cinemas, and you yourself know where. The clarity of the picture of the Nebula Cosmos Max 4K is pleasantly surprising, which speaks of the high quality of the optics.

If you play a video of a lower resolution, it is converted by the processor to 4K – the image is smooth and completely free from pixelation, albeit not as clear as the video, which was originally shot and recorded in maximum quality. In general, the picture is attractive – with natural color reproduction, smooth tonal transitions, an abundance of details in the dark and light parts of the frame and impeccable clarity. Of course, you can get a more impressive result, but for this you will have to spend several times more on a video projector.


Sound

Anker Nebula Cosmos Max 4K

Four speakers and a 4 x 10 W amplifier are serious equipment for small rooms. Besides, Bluetooth is not the main wireless interface for music playback here. Apparently, that is why the developers did not bother with advanced codecs, having dispensed with SBC. If you prefer simple and familiar algorithms, this quality is enough for you. To prevent the projector from wasting energy, a special Bluetooth Speaker Mode is provided – the screen in it goes out, and the sound path continues to work.

Really impressive sound can be obtained by streaming music to your device over Wi-Fi using Chromecast technology. Of course, you can transfer any content – not only audio, but also video or pictures. If you use an app like BubbleUPnP, Plex, Google Home, LocalCast, or any other that supports Chromecast, the projector turns into a full-fledged network player. You can stream to it from Spotify, Deezer and other streaming services. The digital stream is transmitted by Chromecast without compression and with high resolution (for FLAC – up to 24 bit / 96 kHz), so the melodies are played in the best quality.

The sound of the system depends on its position. If the unit is placed on a table or suspended from the ceiling, the sound “hemisphere” will increase in scale, the sound will become denser and more solid, but even on a tripod, when the projector seems to float in the air, the frequency balance is accurate, bass and treble are well developed. This is facilitated by the oval shape of the body – inside it, the re-reflections of waves are mutually extinguished, resonances do not arise, therefore the frequency is even.


Conclusions

Anker Nebula Cosmos Max 4K

The Nebula Cosmos Max 4K is the older model in the series that can compete with large TVs and expensive projectors from other brands. The device shows great and sounds great, pleases with ease of use and settings, and at the same time looks gorgeous. You can only find fault with trifles – for example, with the fact that it is impossible to reduce the power of the LED in order to adapt the projection to a small screen. But these are specks of dust on the scale of the Universe.

In addition to the flagship Nebula Cosmos Max 4K, the manufacturer has several interesting “space” projectors in store – from the ultra-compact Astro to the very sophisticated Vega Portable. In addition, you should pay attention to the models: Apollo, Capsule II and Mars II Pro.


Specifications

  • MATRIX DLP 0,47″ with XPR technology
  • IMAGE RESOLUTION 4K (3840×2160)
  • LUMINOUS FLUX 1500 ANSI lumens
  • CONTRAST 1000: 1
  • ASPECT RATIO 16: 9
  • LIGHT SOURCE LED
  • IMAGE DIAGONALS 30″-150″
  • KEYSTONE CORRECTION automatic, vertical and horizontal +/- 40°
  • OPERATING SYSTEM Android TV 9.0
  • RAM 2 GB DDR
  • ROM 16GB eMMC
  • SOUND SYSTEM 4x10W with Dolby Digital Plus and Sound Dimension
  • INTERFACES 2 x HDMI 2.0 (one with ARC function), 2 x USB-A v2.0, digital optical (Toslink)
  • WIRELESS Wi-Fi: IEEE802.11a / b / g / n / ac Bluetooth: 4.2