Review: LUMOS ATOM 1080P Portable Projector

Review unit provided by LUMOS Projector

LUMOS Projector is a company based in Singapore that sells affordable entry to mid-range projectors. The current line up of projectors from the company are:

• LUMOS RAY - SGD 199
• LUMOS AURO - SGD 299
• LUMOS NANO - SGD 599
• LUMOS ATOM - SGD 999

LUMOS ATOM is the latest addition in 2022 and is a 1080P portable battery-powered projector with Android OS with Google Play Store, Netflix, Youtube and other apps.

Here are the specifications:

• Resolution: 1080P
• Projection size: Up to 300 inches
• Min projection distance: 1.5m
• Short throw ratio: 1.3
• Brightness: 6000 LED lumens
• Sound: Dolby Audio Surround
• OS: Android 7.1
• Controls: Remote and built-in touch controls
• AirPlay, Android screen casting: Yes
• Keystone adjustment: Auto/manual
• Focus adjustment: Auto/manual
• Bluetooth: v5
• Wifi: Yes
• Ports: 3.5mm audio jack, USB Type A, USB Type A with charging, full-sized HDMI
• Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 16cm height
• Weight: 800g
• Battery: 8000 mAh, 2 hours
• Power: 15V, 3A
• RAM storage: 2GB RAM, 32GB storage (24 GB free)
• Built-in speaker: 4W

Items included in the box are:

• Projector
• Full-size HDMI to full-size HDMI cable (1m)
• Power cable (1.2m)
• Power adapter with extension (1.4m)
• User guide
• USB-A wireless receiver for remote
• Remote (no AAA batteries included)

The LUMOS ATOM is a compact and stylish looking projector. Diameter 10cm and height is 16cm. Weight is 800g so it's quite portable.

The body with perforated exterior case is made with metal so build quality is solid. The whole thing feels dense.

Touch sensitive controls on top of the projector work quite well.

I recommend using the included remote for controls because that's way more convenient. The remote uses two AAA batteries but the batteries are not included.

The remote can be used to power off the projector but can't power it on because the projector has no standby mode.

The projector has fans that will rev up instantly the power is on. The fan noise is akin to fans from gaming laptops and the noise is slightly audible even with the projector speaker at full volume. Anyway, fan noise isn't a big issue unless you have the projector really near.

Ports on the back from top to bottom are 3.5mm audio jack, two USB type A (one with power delivery), full-sized HDMI and power. There's a USB A wireless receiver included for the remote so that can go into one of the ports.

Unfortunately there's no USB-C port and hence there's no USB-C video support and charging.

There's a plastic lens cover which will drop down to reveal the lens. The lens cover may block the lens but does not block the projection.

The brightness is said to reach 6000 lumens. If that's LED Lumens, that's about 2500 ANSI Lumens. And if that's Light Source Lumens, that's about 360 ANSI Lumens.

Just for comparison purposes, the Xiaomi short throw laser projector (SGD 2200) I bought in 2018 has 5000 lumens. The BenQ GS2 portable 720P projector (SGD 799) I reviewed last year has 500 ANSI Lumens.

I find it confusing when companies choose different lumen standards to advertise their product.

Also note that brightness does not scale linearly according to the numbers. E.g. 1000 lumens is not two times brighter than 500 lumens.

I would consider the LUMOS ATOM to be a bright projector. Screening is possible in daytime with curtains drawn but contrast is affected, same applies to my Xiaomi laser projector. Night time screening looks fantastic.

When I used the LUMOS ATOM during daytime (shown above) with curtains drawn but with some light streaming in, the projection was bright enough but not ideal as contrast was affected. The projection was still very enjoyable though.

The projector excels when screening in a dark room or at night. Contrast is so much better and the movie watching experience is on another level.

The projector takes around 25s to boot up. That boot up time is not unusual.

Immediately after powering up, the projector will auto focus. The focus calibration screen is actually white and not purple as shown in the photo above which is due to my camera.

The projector will also auto focus after it's placed at a new location but the "motion" sensor doesn't work all the time though. Another way is to tilt the projector up and down again and it has a good chance of going into auto focus mode again.

Downside of the auto focus is sometimes it's not perfect and the image will be slightly blur. The alternative is to focus manually with the dedicated focus buttons on the remote. Thankfully manual focus doesn't take much time -- it's faster than the boot up time.

The projector resolution is 1920 x 1080. I've tried 720P projectors before and 720P projectors are to be avoided whenever possible because you can still see the chucky pixels when seated some distance away. 1080P resolution is a significant upgrade over 720P.

1080P pixelation is noticeable when there's text but not noticeable with images and videos when viewed from 2-3 metres away.

I definitely don't have any issues with 1080P projection. 4K projectors will look sharper but those are more expensive. I've been using my Xiaomi 1080P projector for more than 4 years and I'll only upgrade to 4K when that projector breaks down. Meanwhile, I'm perfectly fine with 1080P resolution.

Overall image quality of the projection is good. Sharpness looks good enough given the 1080P limitation. Colours look good. And if you're watching shows at night the contrast is great.

Edges are straight enough and if they are not you can manually adjust the keystone.

With the projector about 2.5m away from my wall, the projection size is about 90 inches (based on calculations) and that's pretty huge. At 3m away, projection size is 104 inches.

My projection screen is actually my white wall and the quality looks good enough for me. A dedicated projection screen will probably have better image quality.

The company actually asked if I wanted a projector screen that they are selling for SGD 99 but I declined the offer. I don't like to have too many things. A white wall works fine for me.

Audio quality from the 4W speaker is loud enough and serviceable. The audio sounds similar to low power Bluetooth speakers. Thankfully the audio is not hollow and there's no distortion at maximum volume. The audio just lacks bass. Volume may be loud but you can't feel the energy behind the volume. The projector can also be used as a Bluetooth speaker.

I recommend pairing the projector with better speakers for a more enjoyable movie watching experience. It's pointless to have good visuals when the audio isn't up to par.

There are two ways to get audio from your movies. You can pair a Bluetooth speaker to the projector but this will have audio lag. The better way is to pair the Bluetooth speaker to the device that's playing the movie and there is not audio lag.

Apps and features

This is the home screen with the included apps and apps that you may install later with Google Play Store. Navigating the home screen is smooth and fast with the remote.

The more useful pre-installed apps are Youtube, Netflix, Chrome and EShare (for phone screen casting). I've installed Amazon Prime Video and that works well but resolution is limited by the app. With Youtube, you can choose video quality setting up to 1080P 60FPS. I don't have Netflix so I can't say much. Watching videos via Youtube and Prime Video is smooth.

The projector support AirPlay with Apple devices but streaming movies from Apple TV did not work for me. So AirPlay can mirror everything except stream movies. Maybe there's some rights issues with streaming movies wirelessly with Apple devices.

There doesn't seem to be Android screen casting. When I opened screen casting options from the Youtube app, the app wasn't able to detect the projector wirelessly.

It is still possible to stream movies from Android devices. Just download the EShare app and you can cast photos and downloaded videos from Android devices to the projector as shown in the photo above. If you want to play your AVI, MKV or whatever video format, just note the projector only has 24GB storage space available.

Or you can use HDMI video connection which will definitely work and has no lag.

Battery life

The projector comes with a 8000 mAh battery and is advertised to have a 2 hour battery life.

From my tests, battery life is 1hr 20min to 2hr+ depending on whether you're using standard or ECO (less brightness) power modes.

Battery life isn't good. If you want to use this outdoors, it's best to have a power source somewhere.

Glitches

When connecting my M1 iPad Pro running iPad OS 16.1 with HDMI to the projector, movies from Apple TV will freeze but audio will continue. I don't have the any problems when connecting an iPad Pro from 2018 running iPad OS 15.7.

The other glitch is you can't stream movies wirelessly via Apple TV app.

Video review

Conclusion

I've been watching movies from my projector for 4 years now and the visual experience of watching movies with a projector is fantastic. Having a projector at home is like having a cinema at home. I haven't been to the cinema for years and the last time I checked, cinema tickets are $10 for weekdays and $14.50 for weekends for Golden Village and Cathay Cineplexes.

Investing in a good project in my opinion is worth the money.

The LUMOS ATOM is a well designed projector with good image quality. I like how compact and portable it is which makes it easy to store away when not needed.

The downsides would be the audio which is loud enough but lacking bass, AirPlay does not work with Apple TV app, no USB-C support and less than ideal battery life. I use projector with cables and external speakers so those downsides actually don't affect me. Another thing to note is daytime screening without blackout curtains will affect the contrast of screenings. Anyway, most projectors don't do well the room isn't completely dark.

Lastly I highly recommend you get a good quality Bluetooth speaker though because that will really enhance the movie watching experience. The company may sometimes bundle their LUMOS TEMPO wireless Bluetooth earbuds which will work great for watching movies too.

Pros and cons at a glance
+ Beautiful design
+ Compact and portable
+ Solid build quality
+ 1080P resolution sharp enough
+ Projection image quality is good
+ Huge projection size possible
+ Google Play Store is included
+ Auto focus whenever projector is set up
+ Wonderful night time screening experience
+ Possible to play video files from your phone or tablet wirelessly with EShare app
+ 24GB available storage for video files
+ Remote included but not batteries
+ Navigating the home screen menu is smooth and fast
+ Youtube, Netflix pre-installed
- Day time projection affects contrast
- Fan noise
- No USB-C ports for video or charging
- Audio is loud enough but lacking bass
- AirPlay does not work with Apple TV app
- 1hr 20min to 2hr battery life