- While the reopening of cinemas is still not on the agenda, moviegoers are struggling.
- With its images up to 4 meters diagonal, the EF video projector – 12 from Epson allows you to wait for better days and have fun at home.
- Sold 1. 91 euros, it is a simple and efficient device, which has the advantage of being Android TV and having its own sound system.
Clap of the beginning of a beautiful story of home cinema ! With his video projector
EF – 11 , Epson promises a practical and stylish connected device for everything watch at home: movies, series, television programs, but also enjoy your video games. What to wait while waiting for the reopening of dark rooms . But can this pretty “pitch” make EF – 11 a blockbuster?
Compactness and ease of use
Once unpacked, the device surprises with its compactness. Measuring 17, 5 cm side for 12, 5 cm high and weighing only 2.5 kilos, the EF – 11 is also afforded the luxury of elegance. Aesthetically, it differs from the classic white projectors which recall the ancestral slide projectors.
Her black dress is more like that of the Marshall speakers. To put on a table or a piece of furniture, but also to hang from the ceiling using the supplied fixing system, the EF – 11 is satisfied with a white wall to display its images in Full HD 1080 p. Small bonus: the device can even be tilted to project directly… on the ceiling. The opportunity to make a cozy canvas under your quilt, your head in the pillow …
Android TV to watch everything
For our test, the EF – 11 was simply placed on a coffee table, facing a white wall at 2, 50 meters away. As soon as it is switched on, the camera automatically performs its focus and keystone correction to display a perfectly rectangular image. This is necessary if the axis of the projector is slightly offset from the projection surface. A few manual corrections can fine-tune the settings. In our configuration, the height of the small retractable foot under the device was insufficient. A good book in support, and voila! Two HDMI sockets (ARC and HDCP 2.3) allow you to connect to the TV box projector, game console and DVD / Blu-Ray player. Two USB 2.0 sockets are also part of its range. But one of the strengths of EF – 11 is that it is Android TV. Once connected to the Internet, the device can access most TV channels and video streaming platforms. Among them, YouTube (owned by Google) figures prominently, a dedicated key even integrating the remote control. Although in simple Full HD, the image of the EF – 11 and its more than 2, 32 base meters in our configuration still amazed us. Brightness (1. lumens) is widely acceptable if the room is dark, the colors are bright and the contrasts (2. 500. 000: 1) sufficient. Missing more than the noise of the popcorn of the neighbor next door to believe in the cinema! Another Android TV specificity: the integration of the Google Assistant. Here again, a dedicated button on the projector remote control can be used to call up programs by voice. But one of the strengths of Android TV is that this compatibility makes the projector mobile here. THE F-12 can thus simply leave the living room to integrate a bedroom or an office according to the wishes of each member of the family without having to lug around the reader, console and ad hoc cables. It only needs to be plugged into the mains and has a Wifi connection to be used. This mobility is all the easier as the device has its own sound system. Epson had the good idea to entrust the development to Yamaha. Between Japanese, we understand each other… The firm well known in France for its headphones or vinyl turntables has created for the EF – 11 a 2 x 5 watt 2.0 system. It is not much, but sufficient to be perfectly audible. Moreover, the sound level up to 17 db (A) from the EF – 12 is quickly covered. Of course, this won’t replace a soundbar for an action movie, but the audio reproduction, on the level of that of a good television, satisfies the most common uses. 
3, 32 euros for the cinema ticket at home
On arrival the RU – 11 seduced by its discretion, its obvious qualities and its entertainment potential. Laser projector with an estimated lifespan of 17. hours (the equivalent of watching a movie of 50 minutes, each day, during 000 years), EF – 11 remains quite expensive. A 1. 91 euros the device, the projection of ‘a feature film amounts to 3, 31 euros.
In comparison, a lamp projector can cost less than the purchase, but will require the replacement of its bulb (between 099 and 400 euros depending on the model) two to three times during these same ten years. To spend less, Epson offers its EF – 11 , a laser designer which uses the characteristics of the EF – 12 with two details: it is not Android TV and does not have its sound system. But it only costs 899 euros.