Formovie's Theater is an excellent ultra-short throw projector
Ultra-short throw projectors have become hot property over the last few years, especially as they deliver superior picture quality.
It’s safe to say that consumers have been spoilt for choice, mainly because the latest range of ultra-short throw projectors support 4K and HDR 10 + allowing for an incredible experience.
Formovie Tech is a relatively new player in the projector industry, but since being founded in 2016, they have already delivered a plethora of compelling products.
After receiving praise for their Dice and P1 portable projectors, Formovie has now set its sights on the Ultra-short throw space with its new product the Formovie Theater.
The Theater is a huge projector measuring 55 x 34.92 x 10.75 cm and weighing 9.8 kg. It may appear massive and heavy but in contrast to other ultra-short throw projectors, it's actually a lot lighter and smaller.
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Formovie have released their new 4K projector, the Theater (Formovie)It will still take up a fair amount of space, but a lighter, more compact build grants it that much more versatility over its competitors. The projector is housed in a very sturdy plastic case that not only feels durable and robust but looks highly premium.
It comes in a metallic silver colour scheme which just elevates its already premium look.
Its speakers are located on the front and are protected by a fabric mesh, which also raises its already stylish design.
It has a series of fans on each side which are protected by air vents. The rear panel is home to the projector’s input connections and there’s a wide selection of them.
Like other ultra-short throw projectors the Theater’s lens is situated within its concave body as opposed to being located on the front.
There are also height adjustment wheels situated at the bottom of the projector which are a very nice touch, instead of having a stand.
The Theater is built with speakers designed by Bowers & Wilkins (Formovie)My only minor issue with the Theater is that it has only one control button on the projector, which means everything must be done via the remote control.
I understand that this was probably done as a deterrent to keep people from approaching the projector while in use, however, I would’ve liked a few more buttons located away from the laser, just for practically, if the remote is nowhere in sight.
The Theater has been eloquently designed and will be a great addition to any set-up around the home. Formovie has done a great job at creating a projector that is tough, durable and wonderful to look at.
The projector is very easy to set up and it allows you to project from four different locations giving it much more versatility than its competitors.
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The Keystone correction can be a little fiddly for newcomers as there is a choice of 4 or 8 points.
The Theater has a wide selection on input connections (Formovie)However, I found the keystone correction to be really accurate, although depending on the location you may have to readjust the leg heights to even it out.
The only small hurdle I found was that the top corners were slightly out of focus out of the box, however, I found that once I allowed the projector to warm up it was much easier to adjust the focus.
The Theater also comes with smart eye protection which will dim the light and alert you not to look directly in the light source. This is a great feature to have, especially when kids are around.
The Theater is built with an ultra-short throw DLP laser system that has a ratio of 0.23:1 allowing it to produce up to a 150” display from 49 cm.
It utilises ALPD 4.0 RGB+ Technology which grants it a wider colour gamut that reaches 107% of Rec.2020, offering over 1.07 billion colours.
It also comes with a 0.47” DMD chip which means it can produce images in higher resolution compared to other ultra-short throw projectors.
The lens is situated within the projector's body granting it extra protection (Formovie)The Theater already has a hefty spec list but it doesn't end there, Formovie has also equipped the projector with an astounding 2800 ANSI lumens, Dolby Vision and MEMC technology which is great for smoothing fast images.
Now the big question is how does this all affect the picture quality, and I was blown away with just how vibrant every image was, with the 2800 ANSI lumens allowing the picture quality to retain its boldness in well-lit areas.
The colour was especially beautiful and the projector allows you to calibrate it with ease. I was equally impressed with the contrast and saturation which wasn’t washed out or pale compared to others out of the box.
Formovie has included a slew of different modes that actually elevate the viewing experience, depending on what you are using it for.
I am a massive gamer and sports fan, so I was instantly drawn to those two modes.
The Sport was fantastic, working alongside the MEMC to provide a smooth and stable image with zero ghosting or stuttering.
This honestly makes watching fast sports such as F1 or NBA a lot more enjoyable compared to projectors on the market.
The Theater comes with a plethora of apps including Google Assistant (Formovie)The Gaming mode supports up to 4K, 60hz which might not be entirely suitable for competitive gamers, however, it will still do the job and alongside the Auto Low Latency Mode, which kicks in when a console is connected, players will be able to still enjoy a fair amount of competitive action.
Casual gamers will be blown away by the quality of this mode as it allows for an immersive cinematic experience. The other modes worked a charm with the Vivid and Movie modes projecting nice colour accuracy and great contrast.
The champion feature is the Dolby Vision which looks fantastic and really elevates the image quality to phenomenal levels.
This feature works much better in darker areas, however, the Theater will allow you to customise the gain making it suitable for well-lit areas.
The Theater also supports HDR, HDR 10+ and HLG technology which is an added bonus, especially when watching/ streaming HD content.
The Theater is stunning and will nicely slot into any home set-up (Formovie)The Theater comes built with two 15W speakers designed by Bowers & Wilkins, who are renowned by audiophiles for their high-performing devices. So I was very intrigued to find out they had worked on the Theater’s audio hardware.
I was very impressed with the overall quality of the audio and the wide soundstage that offered a fairly powerful bass accompanied by clear-sounding highs and mids.
Part of their beauty is that they support several different audio codecs, including Dolby Atmos, Dolby Audio DTS and DTS-HD, which will allow for an immersive experience.
That being said, if you can afford extra audio peripherals like a sound bar, I would still opt for that, however, the built-in speakers are a fantastic alternative if you can’t.
The Theater runs on Android 11 which grants access to various apps such as Amazon Prime, Disney Plus and more which all worked as they would on a TV.
The main omission is Netflix, which can’t be run natively, this is an issue I have seen on several projectors. However, you can opt for a streaming stick or use the projector's great casting capabilities.
Another feature which I can’t get over is how great the Google Assistant has been incorporated into the projector, really boosting the projector’s efficiency.
The Theater has a plethora of input connections that include two HDMI ports, one HDMI eARC, two USB 2.0, a LAN port 3.5mm jack and an Optical Audio port.
This extensive amount of ports increases the projector’s versatility making it more of an all-in-one media device.
It also has 27 GB of internal memory allowing files to be stored which is handy when WiFi connectivity is low.
Formovie Theater Verdict 5/5
Formovie’s Theater is a great new device that really pushes performance levels you should expect from an Ultra-short throw projector.
It’s not cheap being priced at £3,149.95, but considering it's the first 4K projector with Dolby Vision, Formovie has set the standard for what we should expect going forward from Ultra-short throw projectors.
Formovie’s Theater can be purchased from their website and on Amazon for £3,149.95
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