This is the article contributed by Jos Boselli
I’ve had the chance to test the Wemax Go Advanced video projector for a full month.
In this article, you will find my unboxing and honest opinion on every aspect of this device. I will also give you all my tips and tricks to use it in the best possible conditions.
Presentation
The Wemax Go Advanced is a ultra-portable projector crowdfunded in 2022 with impressive characteristics:
- Its thickness is under one inch and its weight is only 1.72 lbs (780 grams).
- Its high-quality lamp offers a brightness of 600 ANSI Lumens and a lifetime of 25,000 hours.
- Its ALPD® Laser technology and 100% Rec. 709 color gamut provide an impeccable image quality in full HD 1080P. (supported input resolution up to 4K)
- It can be powered and charged using a simple USB-C port, and has a strong built-in battery allowing an autonomy over 1h30.
- Its connectivity is really complete with HDMI, USB and 3.5mm audio, as well as BlueTooth 5.0 and screen mirroring or media casting over Wi-Fi.
- It is possible to play all kinds of media and install thousands of apps thanks to its Smart OS and 16 GB internal memory.
- It can be set up in just a few seconds with its automatic focus, keystone and object avoidance.
Let’s start with the unboxing!
Packaging: 9/10
First, I remarked that the shipping was really fast (10 days to go from China to France), and the package was thin enough to be deposited in my letterbox.
Opening it was a very good surprise: the Wemax Go Advanced definitely has one of the most luxurious packagings I have ever seen. Inside the shipping wrapper, you will find a protective cardboard box, which in turn, contains the projector’s case:
Of course, the real marvel is inside: the video projector of course, as well as the remote control, power adapter and user manual.
There was just a little issue: the electric charger is only suited for USA, and won’t fit in European outlets.
Fortunately, it is easy to solve this by either adding a little US-EU power adapter, or directly charge your video projector with your smartphone or laptop’s charger, as long as it’s a 65W USB-C plug. I chose the power adapter, which looks like this:
Finition: 9/10
The Wemax Go Advanced gives a great impression when you look at it and touch it.
It doesn’t seem fragile, and to the contrary, it impresses by all the technology it embarks in such a little size (8.62 x 4.61 x 0.98 inches, or 21.89 x 11.71 x 2.49cm). Also, a little foldable shim is available on the front to slant the device a little, which is a good idea.
It has large areas for the ventilation and convenient connectivity options on the back (USB-C power input, 3.5mm jack audio, USB 2.0 and HDMI).
Some users were surprised by the total absence of buttons on the projector, but I don’t think it is a problem, as long as everything can be done with the remote control. The only interaction that can be done on the device is sliding the front plate on the left side, which immediately turns on the lamp. It may surprise you the first time, so take care to not look directly at the lens when you do it, to avoid being dazzled.
Sliding the plate back shuts the projector off and protects the lens from dust and impacts, which is very handy.
The only problem I would see in the device itself is the lack of screw thread at the bottom to mount it on a standard tripod. But I understand that it wouldn’t have been practical to have this kind of hole in such a thin device. The Wemax Go Advanced can perfectly be used in tabletop mode, and if you prefer using a tripod, Wemax has got you covered with its Multifunction Tripod !
Set up: 10/10
The setup is remarkably easy. As mentioned before, the Wemax Go Advanced can be powered and charged using a USB-C cable. The full charge takes a bit more than 3 hours. A little red light on the top of the device indicates that it is charging. Of course, you can use the projector while it’s charging, but you can also keep it plugged at all times if you are not on-the-go.
Out of the box, the battery is already charged, so you can try it instantly. And that’s what I did: My bedroom has a free 1.5 meters wide wall, next to my DVD collection. I placed the Wemax Go Advanced on my nightstand, at a distance of 1.5 meters.
When I put it on, I remarked that even without unfolding the support shim, the image was projected “on top of the horizon”: The bottom half of the image is not hidden by the table, and that’s a nice attention. It starts by performing a quick auto-focus calibration.
My first impression is that the image is surprisingly bright and crisp, which is a pleasant surprise for such a small device.
Let’s put the projector a bit further from the wall (2 meters) to see how the object avoidance system works with an image that is purposely too big. As you can see, as soon as it is moved, a new auto-focus takes place. The object avoidance will happen later in the boot sequence…
Let’s take a look at the OS setup that takes place during the first boot, and try the app stores.
OS and apps: 6/10… for now!
After inserting two AAA batteries into the remote controller, and choosing my preferred language, I saw a weird Time Zone selection screen: It proposes a long list of cities, but ordered by name instead of being ordered by time zones (UTC+1:00, UTC+2:00, etc). As a result, if you’re looking for a capital like Berlin, you have to find it under the letter A, as it is listed as: “UTC+2:00 Amsterdam, Berlin”, which is not intuitive.
Then, I landed on the keystone correction page, and the auto-keystone and object avoidance worked perfectly:
After pressing “Auto Correction”, the image became perfectly rectangular and adjusted to the available space on my wall. Note that the focus and 4-point keystone can also be fine-tuned manually in the projector’s setting.
Right after that, I could connect the projector to my Wi-Fi network (it’s optional), and finally arrive on the Feng OS home screen.
From there, I tried pressing the “microphone” button on my remote control, but unfortunately, the projector showed an error saying that this feature was not yet available. In the upcoming Android TV update, this button will enable the OK Google Voice Assistant.
Then, I tried the “Launcher” menu: The OS proposes two alternative app stores (Aptoide TV and GetApps) plus a Web Browser (Firefox Pocket).
Firefox works great:
As for the app stores, they thankfully let me install popular streaming services like Youtube, Netflix and Prime Video, social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and a collection of other apps and mini games.
However, inside the apps, the virtual keyboard is set on Chinese language by default, and it was quite complex to set it in English mode. Moreover, the app stores themselves were considered as “unknown apps”, and I had to go search in the settings to allow them to install apps. These issues will be solved by Android TV’s Play Store in the next firmware update.
To conclude this tour of the OS’s features, I tried the Screen Mirroring menu.
This menu offers three ways to cast contents from a mobile phone connected to the same Wi-Fi network: iOS/Android native screen sharing, or via an app like MiraCast. I tried both native options many times but didn’t manage to make them work (the phone and projector never seemed to detect each other).
I only managed to cast a video on the projector through the MiraCast app and the third option in the menu. Media sharing and screen mirroring will be easier with ChromeCast when the Android TV firmware update releases in august.
Image: 10/10
I am completely satisfied by the image of the Wemax Go Advanced. It is very bright, displays vibrant colors, profound contrast, and has a true Full HD definition. I also noticed that the frame rate was constant: there are no freezes or slowdowns when a video is played, either from HDMI, USB or through an app.
The 600 ANSI Lumens lamp is bright enough to deliver a great experience even in a room with some ambient light: For example, here’s a test with the lights on in the next room and a blue neon tube turned on on the side:
And here’s a test with some daylight, in the middle of the afternoon. We can still clearly see the details, even on a light image:
Finally, I tried it against a larger wall, with a distance of 3 meters, and the 120 inch image was also excellent. Even with its pocket size, the Wemax Go Advanced can totally be used in a Home Cinema setup.
Sound: 8/10
The integrated speakers are sadly a bit feeble due to the compactness of the device. The sound definitely has a good 2 x 2W stereo fidelity, but the maximum volume is not very high. Fortunately, it is very easy to connect to external speakers via BlueTooth or a 3.5mm jack audio cable!
In terms of noise, the Wemax Go Advance turns out to have a very quiet ventilation system, with a volume measured around 35 dB. I can’t hear it at all when I watch a movie.
Autonomy: 10/10
The built-in 1h30 battery is big enough to watch a movie or attend a meeting. If you are more mobile than that, you can even triple its autonomy by purchasing a 20,000 mAh power bank from Wemax’s shop. I tried using a 20,000 mAh power bank I had at home and it worked great for a bit more like 3 hours.
One last remark about the battery: when I tried the “eco mode” in the projector’s settings, it didn’t seem to have any effect on its autonomy, and it didn’t reduce the brightness nor the fan’s volume. I hope this will be fixed with the upcoming Android TV system update.
Settings and menus: 9/10
The settings page present in the current OS already has all the features we want, and even more!
In the “General” category, you can find:
- Network settings: Wi-Fi connection, network diagnosis and speed test.
- System settings: language, time, auto play, etc…
- Energy saving settings: screensaver, low power mode (which doesn’t seem to work yet).
- Security settings: allow installing unknown apps, password protection, etc…
In the “image and Sound” category, you can find:
- Image settings: brightness, colors, zoom, focus / keystone calibration (automatic or manual), and object avoidance.
- Sound settings: toggle system sounds and choose a sound mode.
In the “Common Peripherals” settings, you can manage your BlueTooth remote control, speakers and microphones.
Finally, in the home screen, there is a file explorer (to play videos, photos or music from internal or external memory) and a very complete user manual.
Everyday use: 9/10
To complete this test, I have been using the Wemax Go Advanced daily for a whole month, in my house and on the go. I am very happy with its performance and autonomy to watch movies and attend meetings.
I could even use it as a secondary work screen for my laptop:
However, it is not suitable for all kinds of video games, because of its input lag around 120 milliseconds. Avoid games that require quick reflexes.
Finally, I need to mention a very nice touch: the projector has a security mode that triggers when a person passes in front of the lamp, to avoid being blinded by the light. (It can be disabled in the settings).
Conclusion: 9/10
The Wemax Go Advanced is not only the world’s thinnest ALPD® Laser video projector, but also an excellent device to work, play or watch movies anywhere!
Its image quality is flawless in terms of brightness, color and resolution, and you can highlight it with a vast choice of ALR screens on Wemax’s e-shop.
Its internal speakers are not the loudest but it is easy to add a wired or wireless sound peripheral.
Its 1h30 battery life and USB-C power input are great additions to make it ultra-portable and adapted to every environment.
The auto-focus, auto-keystone, object avoidance, internal memory, BlueTooth and Wi-Fi connections complete its impressive set of features. With the August 2022 firmware update that will add Android TV, the Wemax Go Advanced will be pretty much perfect!
If you’re interested in purchasing this projector, Wemax is currently offering 30% off on its e-shop if you use the coupon PRIMEDAY.
Comments (4)
Glen Frachiseur on August 22, 2022
Thanks for your review! I bought one for doing small power point presentations, but have not been able to figure out how to do that wirelessly from my laptop.. Any suggestions? I don’t seem to find any instructions from the manual or from Wemax.
Thanks,
Glen
Melvyn on August 22, 2022
Do we know when in August this will update? I purchased one from Amazon so I’m trying to see if the update arrives within my 30 day return. Otherwise I’m keeping the xgimi halo +.
RF on July 26, 2022
The lag is more like 150ms. This makes it unusable as a second screen. The wemax slow advanced now lives in my drawer.
xem on July 26, 2022
Congrats Jos for your test :)
I shared it on Twitter
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