OptomaUHL55 4K LED Smart Projector with HDR, Bright 1500 lumens, Works with Alexa and Google Assistant, for Home Theaters and Outdoors, Auto Focus, Bluetooth Speaker Built in, Stream Netflix, Black

BUY THIS NOW WHILE YOU CAN! $749 is an unbelievably low price for an LED DLP 4K UHD smart projector. I purchased this as a replacement from my Philips Screeneo S6 when the price first dropped to $749, kicked myself for not buying two of them when the price jumped back up to $999. I've just purchased a second unit, now that the price has dropped back down again. Here’s my personal experience (based on my experience with the other projectors I’ve owned being:1.) 2008 Panasonic PT-AX200U (720p)2.) 2014 BenQ W1070 (1080p)3.) 2019 Philips Screeneo S6 (4K – pixel shifter)The Optoma UHL55 produces a stunning picture – out of the box. The picture is crisp and clear, and the colors are stunning. You don’t have to fiddle around with a bunch of settings to get a really good overall picture – but you can if you want. The standard picture settings (cinema, game etc.) are very decent but, if you're an aficionado, you can also calibrate it - there are a ton of settings to fine tune the color.At 1500 LED lumens it is definitely bright enough to watch comfortably with some ambient lighting, but probably not suitable in a room with sunlight streaming in. Don't be discourage by the 1500 lumens rating: I dug out my old Panasonic and an unused bulb I had for it, and the UHL55 at 1500 lumens was considerably brighter than the Panasonic, which is rated at 2000 lumens. (Incidentally, over the lifetime of the Panasonic, I spent about double its cost on replacement bulbs – an LED light source is a true blessing.)Many of the official reviews for this projector slated it because of the limited apps available in Optoma’s app store, and because it’s operating system is based on Android 6.0 rather than the Android TV variant - that seemed to confuse the reviewers. Aside from it’s amazing picture, this is where this little firecracker really shines. Optoma provides you with the capability to upload APKs using the companion Optoma TapCast app, and them basing the operating system on regular Android rather than Android TV allows you to install a much wider variety of apps than you could if it was based on Android TV. All you need to do is upload the APK for another app store such as the Amazon Appstore; Aptoide; Aptoide TV; SlideME; 1Mobile (the list goes on…) and you open up a whole new universe of really cool apps making this one of the most versatile and functional 4K projectors available. Who would have thought…Other aspects I find decent:1.) The fan is quiet (unless it’s on high altitude mode, in which case it's blasting air like a jet engine)2.) It has an ethernet port as well as WiFi3.) Auto-focus (as long as you’re within 6 feet of the screen – I have one setup at 6 feet and it works great. The other setup is at 10 feet and it doesn’t work at all…)4.) Auto-Keystone (works great at both distances)5.) The Optoma Connect and Optima TapCast apps – these have recently been updated (like a few days ago) and are much more usable and less buggy. Still a few issues but, in general, they provide real benefit and are a great asset to accompany the projector.Optoma Connect: I love this app – you can create info walls that pull together your information (e.g. meetings and events for the day, task list, reminders, the weather forecast, and even your favorite playlist) and display/play it in a fun and useful way. You can schedule this to come on and turn off at a schedule of your choosing – great for giving you a quick overview in the morning of what your day has planned for you.Optoma TapCast: With this app you can fully control the projector, whether it’s projecting or in standby mode. By that, I don’t mean just switch it on and off – Alexa is there to do that for you. I mean you can view the actual projection of the projector on your phone or tablet, even when it is off. Really helpful for staging presentations, downloading and installing apps, and generally controlling to projector from anywhere so long as you’re on the same network. The app also lets you use your mobile device as remote/keyboard or as an “air-mote” – using the gyroscopes in the device to turn gestures into mouse movements. Really useful for those Android apps not designed for TVs that you’ve downloaded that need keyboard input or a mouse to click on various areas of the screen. Starting to see some of Optoma’s strategy and logic here…? Oh, and get this: you can Annotate on the projector image that’s displayed your mobile device, and it will show up on the projected image! “Hey, can you send me a copy of that design up there on the screen?” Goodbye whiteboards and markers…Negatives:1.) Neither of the HDMI 2.0 (HDCP 2.2) ports are capable for use as an Audio Return Channel (ARC) so the audio for any media streaming directly from the projector can’t easily be played through your surround sound receiver. If anyone has managed to get this right, please comment and let me know. You can, however, connect the projector to a Bluetooth speaker (or Bluetooth receiver) and direct the audio through your sound system, but without the surround processing. Including an optical audio out (S/PDIF) rather than an ARC seems a little awkward considering that projectors are generally placed a fair distance from a receiver setup. It’s easy to provision the 25ft HDMI cable, but not so easy a 25ft S/PDIF cable.2.) TapCast doesn’t natively support Miracast, so projecting from your windows PC to the projector screen requires installing the TapCast app on your Windows 10/other computer.You can’t beat this 4K projector for value. BUY IT BEFORE THE PRICE HIKES AGAIN!Images are photographs of my UHL55 at 6ft from the screen. There is some ambient light in the room, a fair distance from the screen. The first two images are of the info wall (via Optoma Connect)

I’ve been wanting to upgrade to a smaller form factor 4K LED projector with SMART features built-in. I noticed the price drop under $2K so I pulled the trigger. However, it did not live up to my expectation in comparison with my old lamp 1080p projector.The good• Good color in the default cinema mode. I can see that LED projectors do produce better color than lamp-based projectors.• Quieter than my lamp projector• Very sharp images with 4K resolution• Bluetooth speaker mode. I can connect my phone and use the projector as a standalone Bluetooth speaker.• Bluetooth remote, works in any direction (however it’s not backlit as advertised)The bad• Apps are limited with only 9 to choose from in the app store. Some news apps have poor compatibility, and I wasn’t able to navigate using the remote at all, I had to use a keyboard/mouse set. Not sure what the infowall app is for, it never worked for me. Youtube app is buggy.• Autofocus is not very useful. It worked for me only when the projector was only about 5 ft away (which is about 65”). Outside of 5ft, I had to use manual focus, which means if I want to project bigger than 65”, I will not be able to use autofocus.• Not bright enough, the image is washed out with windows opened during the day.• Alexa control is very basic and spotty, does not work in Home menu. All I can use it for is to turn on/off, and increase/decrease the volume, and it doesn’t always work. You can’t use any of the playback commands in the apps. Setup is complicated and needs to switch back-and-forth between the Alexa app and Optoma app.• There is a gray border around the projection.• The website says it includes a mount, backpack case and carrying handle, but I have to redeem the backpack and carrying handle through the mail, and the mount is nowhere to be found.• I am not able to pair the projector to my Bluetooth speakers, and no instructions either on how to pair Bluetooth speakers.• The website says there is lens shift but the UHL55 does not have this feature.In summary, I think the projector has potential, but the user experience and smart features are not there yet.