Review: Anker Nebula X1 Home Projector

The world’s first home projector was the Pathé KOK Home Cinematograph. Launched in 1912, it used 28-millimeter film and a hand crank. Thanks to this kernel of an idea, I've just watched a film on the new Anker Nebula X1, in my garden, projected in 4K Ultra High Definition, onto a 120-inch screen, with a genuinely thrilling 4.1.2 surround-sound speaker system.

At home, I've never had the space, budget or patience to install a full-scale home cinema. But I do love the big screen, and in the pursuit of something close to a compromise I have tested dozens of superb portable projectors. As mobile technology has improved, these tiny Android-toting boxes of fun have made it possible for anyone to stream content onto a blank wall, screen, or the side of a tent. But none have come closer to looking and sounding like a proper home cinema than the Anker Nebula X1.

Photograph: Chris Haslam

Anyone familiar with Anker's range of portable projectors will recognize the X1. It looks like the big brother of the excellent Cosmos Laser 4K ($2000). Externally there are similarities for sure, but inside "the world’s first cinema-grade outdoor entertainment system" is a completely reengineered beast, with 3,500 ANSI lumens of brightness, 5,000:1 contrast ratio, liquid cooling, a built-in micro gimbal, and AI powered setup, plus the possibility of adding two wireless satellite speakers to give it true 4.2.2 surround sound, and mics for karaoke.

But to get the best from it you'll need to spend big, and with fierce competition from brands including XGIMI, Hisense, and BenQ, is it worth your money? I think so.

Screen Time

The Nebula X1 can project up to a 200-inch image from between 13 to 22 feet thanks to its optical zoom. The built-in gimbal (an industry first) tilts up to 25 degrees to help it align with your chosen surface, while keystone correction, focus (there's a 1.67x optical zoom), and ambient light are all tweaked automatically. This is all done via a single button on the remote control, making it one of the easiest projectors I've set up.

There's also AI Spatial Recall, which is a fancy way to describe the fact that the projector can remember where it is and how big you like the screen. This setting works well but isn't always 100 percent—it needs to be placed pretty close to the original position—but you can tweak screen angle and focus manually too.

I've not got the space for a 200-inch display, but I did witness it during a product preview in a cinema screening room. Yes, lighting and screen conditions were optimal, but I was still impressed by the detail and brightness created by the combination of 3,500 ANSI Lumen brightness, 4K (3840 × 2160) resolution and a cinema-grade 14-element all-glass lens.

Photograph: Chris Haslam

Back home in the real world, I projected a 60-inch screen in my small living room (to a height of 50 inches and 52 inches from the wall), an 80-incher in my bedroom and 110-incher in the garden, and the results remained impressive. The extra brightness—for context, the $25,000 Sony VPL-XW7000ES has 3,200 ANSI Lumens—and contrast ratio means you can watch it inside, during the day, with the lights on. It's not as good as a great television; blacks are a little washed out, but the sharpness of the image and punched-up detail stands it apart from any portable I've ever tested.

It's also better than any other portable projector when the lights dim. I was seriously impressed by the level of detail, the color, contrast, and smoothness of motion. There is a little shading in the shadows, but that's to be expected, and forgiven, unless you're buying a pro-grade system. I ran the X1 side by side with the Nebula Cosmos and while the older model is still impressive, the X1 really does step things up.

Satellites of Love

Portable projectors are fun, and I'm happy to forgo a little color saturation for the enjoyment of a movie anywhere I like. But without exception, all the portable projectors I've tried in recent years have had bang-average audio. Handling action, music, and voice is difficult, but none can compete with dedicated surround-sound (or stereo) speakers or soundbar.

The X1 has four built-in speakers (40 watts total) and on its own it sounds better than I expected, especially at lower volumes. This is thanks to the new liquid cooling system that replaces the traditional fan. It's brilliantly effective and means you don't have to pump up the volume to mask the fan noise. Nebula estimate it lowers noise to just 26 decibels—most portable projectors are rated 30 to 35 decibels—which isn't a huge difference, but trust me, the noise it does make isn't nearly as distracting as a fan.

On its own the X1's audio is pretty good, but add a pair of dedicated battery powered satellite speakers with Wi-Fi, and the upgrade is phenomenal. The speakers are available separately for a whopping $999 (£499) with travel case and two wireless microphones for karaoke. You can also buy them as part of a bundle with the X1 for $3,298. Each speaker has up to eight hours of battery life and cute flip-out feet. Inside there's a pair of 40-watt front-facing drivers, a 20-watt upward-firing driver, and a 20-watt side-firing driver to add width and height to the audio.

Photograph: Chris Haslam

Combined with the X1's four speakers, you've got 200 watts of lossless audio power through one cable, and with Dolby Audio support (although no Dolby Atmos) and 25 ms latency on screen there's no synching issues I could spot. Range for the speakers is up to 100 feet, but you'll want them closer for cinematic sound.

I missed the cinema release of the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, but streaming it via Disney + in 4K Ultra HD, I was sucked right into 1960s Greenwich Village, and both concert, dialog, and studio audio were superb, with instrumentation, crowd noise, and FX impressively balanced. Even the bang-crash-wallop of Tom Hardy's dreadful Netflix caper Havoc sounded powerful and engaging.

Features, Connectivity, and Cost

For streaming, the Nebula X1 uses the Google TV platform with Netflix built in and Google Cast. If you want to connect to a Blu-ray player or gaming console there are two HDMI ports (one with eARC). There's also USB-A and USB-C options and a 3.5 millimeter headphone socket.

Back in my living room and with a karaoke YouTube channel loaded, the microphones in the speaker kit really came into their own, especially if you're a ten-year-old girl and her mother. Enthusiastic warbling aside, the quality was rock-solid, and battery life far too long!

It's worth remembering that while the retractable handle makes this projector “portable” it does weigh 13.7 pounds (6.2 kilograms) and requires a power outlet. If you want a true go-anywhere battery-powered design, like the excellent XGIMI Go+ ($699), you'll need to sacrifice brightness and audio power. I'm yet to be sold on backyard movies, but I live in a cold, overpopulated part of the world. If you have the space for a dedicated outdoor screen, and can punch up the volume without bothering the neighbors, you're in for a treat. Just make sure your Wi-Fi signal is strong enough.

The X1 also connects to the Nebula Connect smartphone app (iOS, Android). I was unable to use it due to early beta testing, but having connected and controlled four or five different projectors with it, I've no doubt it will work fine. If anything, it tends to be easier than the remote, although finding menus for manual control is a bit of a fiddle if you don't know where to look.

At $3,000, the X1 is currently the most expensive portable projector. It's comparable in price to a quality home cinema projector, but those often lack streaming capabilities or audio. Despite the wonderful image quality, AI smarts and streaming, I'm not sure it's worth the money on its own.

But add in the speakers and the microphones—the bundle is available for $3,427—and the proposition is entirely different. The impact the satellite speakers has on your enjoyment of a movie, combined with excellent image quality and whisper-quiet operation makes it an easy, albeit it expensive, product to recommend.