© Philips
It is not yet available on the market, but we had the chance to test it. The Screeneo UL5 Smart is a short-throw video projector designed by Philips. Its special feature: its ultra-compact format allows it to be positioned anywhere and to project onto a wall, floor or ceiling.
A symbol of its innovative side, the Screeneo UL5 Smart is currently only offered through crowdfunding on the Indiegogo site until August 11, 2024. It is sold for $789 (729 euros) or 43% less than its expected launch price ($1,406). Deliveries are scheduled for September.
Is the Screeneo UL5 Smart worth the 729 euros asked by Philips ? Is a compact short-throw projector really a worthwhile investment ? Answer after a few weeks of testing.
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The Screeneo UL5 Smart draws its originality from its compact format. At just 20 cm long, it can be positioned anywhere and blend in with the furniture. Although it is mainly made of plastic, its white dress and its speakers covered with a mesh fabric give it a premium look.
Its design allows an image to be projected on a wall , of course, but also on the floor or a ceiling. To do this, simply place it at a maximum distance of 51 cm from the surface on which you are projecting. You can then imagine taking the Screeneo with you almost everywhere, provided you have a socket nearby, since it does not have a built-in battery.
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In terms of connectivity, Philips has managed to be generous despite the limited space available. On the left side, a USB-C port powers the video projector, another is used to connect a device such as a TV box, a smartphone or a computer. On the other side, a USB-A (which can accommodate, for example, a key with some content) keeps company with an HDMI 2.1 port.
Discreet and elegant, the Screeneo UL5 Smart is therefore an attractive product. But is it convincing ?
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Yes, it is if you want to watch movies and series. Despite its small size, Philips manages to fit cutting-edge technologies into it. For image diffusion, the manufacturer combines a triple RGB laser with a DLP (Digital Light Processing) powered by a 0.23'' DMD chip. More simply, a set of mirrors allows you to transcribe a Full HD image on a diagonal of 100'' by placing the projector 51 cm from the wall. Stuck to the wall , it broadcasts a 40'' image.
Philips has not skimped on quality. The Screeneo UL5 Smart is HDR 10 compatible and covers 108% of the REC. 2020 color gamut.and 150% of DCI-P3. The result is a very good quality image, with good contrasts and controlled colorimetry. A nice surprise for a product of this size and sold at this price. In addition, it is possible to navigate the settings to optimize the whole thing for the type of content viewed (sport, film, TV, etc.).
This is all the more remarkable since it is not obligatory to plunge into complete darkness to enjoy its content, the brightness can reach 550 lumens. You can't watch its content in broad daylight either, but it remains correct in the dark.
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From its LuminOS interface (we will come back to this), you can access all the streaming services possible and imaginable. Enough to enjoy a cinema experience at home with a discreet device. Note however that the pixels are distinguishable to the naked eye when the diagonal reaches 100''. We recommend an intermediate size (around 70'') to enjoy a comfortable experience.
Finally, the audio part is rather neat. Two 3 W headphones broadcast a correct stereophonic sound, without being exceptional. Philips can't fight physics either: it's hard to get a powerful sound with deep bass out of such a small product.
Fortunately, it is possible to pair an audio device via Bluetooth to enjoy a better experience. You can choose between a sound bar, headphones or earphones.
Overall, the cinema experience is good, even if you have to accept being limited to Full HD image quality. Which is not so bad.
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If you like playing video games, forget the Screeneo UL5 Smart. In theory, the image quality (1080p) remains correct for the casual gamers. Dynamic FPS games like Call of Duty or car games should be avoided, as the 60 Hz refresh rate is insufficient to fully enjoy experience. No problem, however, for adventure games, RPGs or exploration games for example.
That's for theory. Because in practice it is simply impossible to play video games on the Screeneo UL5 Smart. This is due to the enormous latency. Concretely, you have time to go make yourself a coffee between the moment you press the controller and the action of your character on screen. Let's move on, then.
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The Screeneo UL5 Smart does not integrate Android TV or Google TV but LuminOS, a version of Android whose interface has been adapted to the format TV.Roughly speaking, LuminOS looks just like Apple TV, with a system of small tiles for each application.
The supplied white plastic remote control (with batteries) is ordinary but effective. It allows you to navigate the menus, adjust the parameters and to manage sound and image in a few seconds. If the whole thing is well thought out, LuminOS suffers from its lack of fluidity.
The low power of the chip is felt from the first moments. Navigating menus, searching for applications, launching streaming services proves laborious, the animations being far too jerky.
We therefore recommend connect an Apple TV or a TV stick like a Chromecastor Amazon's Fire TV 4K to correct this defect. The TV box will occupy the HDMI port but the experience will be much more comfortable.
Technically, the Screeneo UL5 Smart is a surprising proposition. Its compact size and design give it great versatility both in its positioning and in the way of viewing (ceiling, wall, floor, table, etc.).
The image and sound quality are surprisingly good even if they do not reach (and this is logical) the premium standards of classic short-throw video projectors. We regret more the impossibility of playing video games, even occasionally, due to too much latency.
There remains a big unknown. Who is the Screeneo UL5 Smart for? Film and series fans? Not really, other projectors, certainly larger, offer a more qualitative cinema experience. Nomads? Not really either, since the absence of a battery requires it to be plugged in somewhere. Students? They will probably prefer a classic television, especially if they play.
After three weeks of use, it is therefore still impossible for us to know who this product is intended for, except perhaps for vanlife or camper van adventurers. What we are sure of, however, is that from a technical point of view, the Screeneo UL5 Smart is a real success.
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