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The Optoma L1+ Ultra Short Throw Projector is one of the most compact UTS projectors. At Rs 2,80,000. With big TVs getting more expensive, projectors are starting make a lot more sense now read more
 "Compact size, massive punch")
Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das
Pros:
- Great picture quality
- Solid, premium built quality
- Great colours, with deep blacks
- AndroidTV box with the package
- DLP 4K resolution
- Gaming modes work well
- Easy to set up, once you have the position figured out
Cons:
- Positioning it can be tricky
- Speakers can be disappointing
- Lacks HDMI eARC
- Needs to be operated using two remotes if you’re using the included AndroidTV box
Rating: 4.25/5
Price: Rs 2.8 Lakhs
A few years ago, a 60-inch TV would have been considered massive, so much so that most people would stop in their tracks and take a good hard look at them, whenever they came across one in an electronics store. Cut to 2024, 60-inch OLED TVs have become very common. Panel technology has become so good, that we now see 85-inch TVs and sometimes even larger fairly regularly. But what if you wanted to go even bigger than that, without breaking the bank? This is where home movie projectors, like the Optoma L1+, come in.
While projectors traditionally have been an option only for enthusiast-level cinephiles who would gladly bear with the instalment and maintenance hassles that normally plague projectors, that is a bygone era, projectors today are much easier to live with.
Ultra-short throw projectors have revolutionized home entertainment by offering a space-saving solution that can project a bright, clear picture right onto your wall. Over the years, these projectors have seen significant advancements, and the Optoma L1+ is a prime example of this evolution. If you’re looking to recreate the immersive experience of a cinema hall without spending a fortune, projectors like the Optoma L1+ are your best bet. They deliver impressive performances, making them a great choice for transforming any room into a home theatre.
Optoma L1+ Projector Review: Design and built
Visually, the L1+ has a very minimalistic and appealing look. Some ultra-short-throw (UST) projectors can be quite bulky, but the L1+ defies that trend with its surprisingly compact design. At 40cm wide and just 32cm deep, it’s notably smaller than many of its competitors, a critical factor for UST projectors.
Optoma even claims that the L1+ is the most compact and lightest 4K UST projector on the market at its release, making it a standout option for those needing a space-saving solution.
It mainly comes in a plastic body apart from the front-facing, fabric-covered area that houses the speakers.
You get some classy-looking gold accents here and there. The non-adjustable feet, along with the power button, are all golden in colour, which gives the L1+ a rather subtly premium look. The left, right and rear sides have these huge grilles for ventilation.
Beyond its good looks, it’s also environmentally friendly, made with 50 per cent post-consumer recycled materials and 99 per cent recyclable packaging.
Installation is super easy too. Just plonk the projector directly in front of the wall/projector you will be using, connect it to power and you’re done. You will need to position the projector a little carefully though, so we suggest you go through Optoma’s distance calculator on the website. While you don’t have to ceiling-mount the L1+, you can if you prefer it that way.
A unique feature of this projector is that it comes bundled with a Hako Mini Android TV dongle. Unlike the usual stick-type dongles, the Hako Mini is a flat square module that fits perfectly into the provided space. It includes a bag of connecting cables, though you won’t need them since the internal connections handle everything. This means you get two remote controls for the L1+ — a small, flat one for the projector and a slightly larger one for the dongle. This setup ensures you can easily control both the projector and the integrated Android TV features without any hassle.
Optoma L1+ Projector Review: Inputs and ports
For ports, you get 3 HDMI 2.0, one of which is inside a recessed area under the projector, behind a plastic panel. This is occupied by the included Hako AndroidTV box that comes bundled with L1+.
Other than this, you get a 3.5mm port, a USB-A port which is intended for powering devices like a Chromecast, rather than playing media directly, one S/PDIF port and one Micro-USB which is used to power the Hako TV box.
While the L1+ is designed to be a comprehensive solution, it offers notable versatility. It features its own integrated sound system, but you can easily connect an external audio system using the optical audio out or the stereo minijack audio out. What’s surprising and may be off-putting for a lot of potential customers is the lack of an HDMI eARC port.
Optoma L1+ Projector Review: Features and Performance
The Optoma L1+ is a versatile and eco-friendly projector that offers great image quality. The throw distances for the Optoma L1+ are the same whether you place it below or mount it above the screen.
To get a 100-inch image, the back of the projector needs to be about 20-25cm from the wall, considering the projector itself is 32cm deep. For a 120-inch image, the front of the projector needs to be 55-5-60cm away from the wall or the screen. During our tests, we had to make do with a display size of about 60-65 inches.
While it’s designed to project well even on coloured walls, using a proper screen will give you the best results. It’s a good idea to use a proper screen with this projector. It’s not just about maximizing brightness and getting more accurate colours; ultra-short-throw projectors need a uniform surface to project well.
When you’re projecting an image from such a short distance, it’s harder for the lens to keep the shape and colours uniform across the whole image. Any imperfections on the wall become more noticeable.
Optoma knows many people will project directly onto their walls, so they’ve included a wall-color adjustment menu. This feature, fine-tuned by their colour experts, has presets for different wall colours like blackboard, light yellow, light green, light blue, pink, and grey.
While this can help with colour accuracy, for the best performance, you should still consider using a screen.
Making adjustments on the Optoma L1+ after setting it up initially is straightforward, thanks to the various adjustments available. However, do note that because this is a UST projector, it has very precise requirements and getting the positioning right initially is crucial.
If the projector gets bumped, you might need to reposition it to avoid using keystone correction. Although we get keystone correction is available, it can be tricky to set up. It also reduces the resolution and increases processing time, which can be a problem for gamers. Maybe that is why the game modes often turn off keystone correction to minimize input lag.
The L1+ uses DLP projection technology with an eco-friendly 4-LED light engine, which can last over 20 years with regular use. It can reach a peak brightness of 2500 lumens and features a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) with millions of tiny mirrors that pivot to create the image.
The native resolution of the 0.47-inch DMD is 1920X1080, but it uses pixel-shifting technology to achieve UHD (3840X2160) resolution. While this isn’t the same as native 4K resolution, it’s a close approximation that’s more affordable and compact.
There’s no optical zoom on this projector, and the digital zoom doesn’t increase the screen size; it just crops the material within the existing screen area.
Manually setting the focus was a bit tricky. We found it hard to achieve perfect focus for both the centre and the edges simultaneously. The edges looked slightly soft with test images, but it wasn’t noticeable during regular use. The projector excelled at delivering straight horizontal lines without the slight curve that some lens systems show, ensuring that wide pans stayed distortion-free.
Coming to the colours we were mightily impressed with what we saw right out of the box. In a darkened room, the colours were vibrant, and the blacks were subjectively close to true black, even when being used on a wall.
The projector supports HDR for 10-bit HDR10, although not for 12-bit Dolby Vision. When it receives an HDR signal, the Optoma switches to HDR settings, locking off most adjustments. And although you can force adjustments by disabling auto-HDR, we will highly recommend you not do so.
Interestingly, there are no motion settings except in gaming mode. You can use this mode for Netflix by disabling HDR, but a better solution is to reset the frame rate on the Hako dongle, initially locked to 60Hz, which caused some judder on 50Hz material and potentially even 24fps content, like most movies.
The Optoma L1+ boasts impressive specs with DLP 8K UHD that delivers 8.3 million pixels on the screen, enabling HDR, a low lag gaming mode with 240Hz smooth motion, and 3D capabilities. This translates to stunning viewing even during the day, making it a viable TV replacement if you’re considering one.
Thanks to the 4LED system, the Optoma L1+ delivers impressive clarity, even when projecting directly onto a wall that isn’t white. Colours and shades, including greys, remain distinct.
Watching something like Top Gun: Maverick, felt almost cinematic. Two standout features significantly enhance the viewing experience: the ability to increase HDR brightness, which is great for daytime viewing, and the Dynamic Black feature, which makes dark scenes with bright highlights, like those in “Blade Runner 2049,” look stunning.
For gamers, we have modes like Game Mode and Smooth Motions, which reduce input lag and improve FPS. However, like many UST projectors with an external dongle, you might find yourself juggling two remote controls if you frequently adjust picture settings.
Unfortunately, the sound quality of the Optoma L1+ is a bit of a downer. The front-firing speakers also fall short, serving more as a basic solution. The dongle only supports stereo sound, and the absence of HDMI eARC is disappointing.
While the sound is loud and clear, it lacks sharpness at higher volumes, and voices can become indistinguishable. Therefore, if you decide to buy the Optoma L1+, it would be better if you pair it with a decent audio set-up as well.
Optoma L1+ Projector Review: Verdict
With TVs getting bigger and more expensive, projectors are making a lot more sense now, almost to the point that they can be considered a mainstream option. In such a scenario, the Optoma L1+ offers a smart solution for setting up a big screen without the hassle of a traditional projector. It’s impressively compact, which is great, though its built-in sound could be stronger. You can easily improve this by adding external speakers and still save money compared to other similar models.
In terms of brightness, the L1+ handles itself well in most lighting conditions, though it truly excels in darker rooms. Even without a dedicated screen, it delivers solid performance on a plain wall.
Overall, considering its price, the Optoma L1+ performs admirably and can genuinely serve as an alternative to a TV in most settings, except in very bright environments. Optoma’s experience in the projector market shows in the L1+, which, apart from its modest sound quality and the absence of HDMI eARC, offers a satisfying viewing experience. While it may not match the flexibility of long-throw projectors for achieving the perfect picture alignment, careful placement ensures an enjoyable movie night or gaming session.
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English (US) ·