Epson Mini EF-12 Review – The Portable Projector

Smart Streaming Laser Projector

Written by AudioGuru Staff | Updated December 6, 2022
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Epson Mini EF-12 Review – The Portable Projector

A growing variety of products, like the Epson Mini EF-12, are designed to bridge the gap between real home theatre projectors and truly portable projectors. Because it features a suitable built-in sound system and a smart platform, unlike a genuine home theatre projector, it can function as a standalone theatre system. It can be picked up and transported freely because it is portable and lightweight.

However, it does not have an inbuilt battery, thus it has to be close to a mains outlet, unlike a projector that is genuinely portable. Instead of a camping cinema, consider a garden cinema.

Our Verdict

4.8

The Epson EpiqVision Mini EF12 poses as a portable projector while actually being a smart TV. Its compact design allows it to hold a long-lasting laser light source, Android TV, Google Play Store software, and even sound quality.

Pros

  • An enduring source of laser-phosphor light
  • Supports 4K UHD (3,840 by 2,160) input and HDR native 1080p resolution
  • No rainbow artifacts and equal colour and white brightness with a three-chip LCD engine
  • Built-in Android TV
  • Two HDMI connectors and WiFi
  • Stunning audio choices

Cons

  • No support for 3D
  • Just a little brightness

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Highlights

  • The built-in Android OS is easy to use and gives the EF-12 the simple operation but powerful options of a smart TV.
  • The depth of colour is beautiful for bright and dark palettes.
  • It’s a joy to sit back and watch colourful cartoons or dark gritty dramas.
  • The colours pop in bright platformers and landscapes look great from more serious games, but that input lag does impact if you’re looking for anything more than the most casual of gaming.
  • The three-chip LCD engine for the lasers gives excellent colour, but the laser itself is brilliantly powerful and can run well with the curtains open even on a bright early summer morning.

What’s in the box?

Projector, Manual, Remote, Batteries (2x AAA), Power cord

Price and Availability

Price and Availability

The Epson Mini EF-12 is available for just under ₹145,999. You can get more detailed information about the Epson Mini EF-12 current price and availability by consulting us.

Design


Design

It has a beautiful tiny and accommodating footprint thanks to its compact proportions. It would be equally at home on a coffee table or a kitchen counter. Given that this projector has a fixed lens and that you can only enlarge or reduce the picture by moving the EF-12 closer to or further away from your screen, this versatility is quite useful.

There is a Sound by Yamaha 2x 5W sound system for the built-in audio. To cover the viewing position, the two drive units are oriented toward the back corners. You may utilise a speaker if you’d like thanks to the HDMI ARC port, and there is also a 3.5mm audio-out jack for headphones. However, Epson is convinced that you’ll enjoy the Yamaha setup and has included Bluetooth so you can use the EF-12 as a wireless speaker to play music.

The device has a row of buttons on the top surface for power, Bluetooth, and volume, but the convenient remote control should be able to perform all the tasks you want, including autofocus, auto-keystone, and direct access to the system’s app library.

Picture Quality

Sound Quality

There are six image modes available with the EF12. The brightest mode in any projector, Dynamic, exhibits a tiny green bias as is to be anticipated. When they require high brightness, most people will find it more than acceptable because it is far less noticeable than in many projectors. Bright Cinema, Cinema, Natural, and Vivid are also additional settings that give considerably more neutral colour, with minimal variation between them. When it comes to colour accuracy and other aspects of image quality, particularly shadow detail and contrast, Bright Cinema comes out on top. Although the black level wasn’t quite dark enough to display the entire visual effect of one especially difficult dark image in our test suite, it did maintain most of it, including every shadow detail as well as a strong contrast and a sense of three-dimensionality.

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Specifications

Brand : Epson
Model : Mini EF-12
Dimensions : 175 X 175 X 128 mm
Net Weight : 2.1 kg
Sound Output : 5W (Stereo) with Enclosure by Yamaha
Brightness (ANSI lumens) : 1,000 lm
Contrast Ratio : 2,500,000:1
Screen Size : 60” screen @ 1.33 m

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Conclusion

At this pricing point, the Epson EF-12 is most likely the greatest portable projector we’ve seen. It has a unique combination of brightness, punch, and nuance, and the strong built-in sound system elevates it to the status of a respectable all-in-one choice.

However, if the simplicity and portability of an all-in-one projector have a strong appeal for you, we wouldn’t hesitate to give the EF-12 a try. Its drawbacks include the lack of an internal battery, a more comprehensive suite of apps, and that extra edge of picture refinement that traditional home cinema projectors can offer.

AudioGuru Staff

AudioGuru Staff

AudioGuru is a platform where we review and recommend audio products. When it comes to purchasing decisions, our journalists combine independent research with extensive testing to save you time, energy, and money. We’ll help you get it right, whether it’s finding an amazing product or getting useful advice.

Share Your Personal Experience by Writing a Review.

    Amazing projector from epson but netflix is not available

    By Gauri konde 

    Overall Experience:

    Works fantastic! The picture is unbelievably bright, vibrant, and sharp, plus it’s quite simple to use! This device has incredible sound quality considering its small size. Extremely small but powerful.

    Strangely, Netflix Cast is not available from the phone, but Prime and YouTube are excellent. A Netflix-capable device can be plugged into the HDMI and used that way, but phone casting is not supported.

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