A laser projector is a great way to set up a home theater in your home. The projector segment is booming right now as new brands enter the fray and offer different features than existing products like Epson and Sony.
A new entrant in this category for JMGO. The Chinese brand has several projectors to its name, relying on crowdsourcing for initial funding and momentum. It’s a 4K laser projector that uses a gimbal mount for , and with a brightness rating of 4,000 lumens, it’s one of the brightest projectors you can buy today.
I’ve had the N1 Ultra for a couple of weeks now and here are some reasons why you should pay attention to JMGO’s latest offering.
JMGO N1 Ultra: Pricing and Availability
JMGO launched the N1 Ultra on Kickstarter and is now available for crowdfunding. The projector will go on sale later this year he’ll retail for $2,299, but right now you can pick it up for just $1,299 — 43% off retail price.
I’m generally wary of highlighting crowdsourced projects, but JMGO has a proven track record in this space and has launched several projectors to date. The N1 Ultra has already received a pledge worth $1.46 million for him and the brand says it will start offering the first set of products from May 2023. Retail price, this is a bargain.
JMGO N1 Ultra: Design
The N1 Ultra feels classy thanks to its minimalist design aesthetic, and the gray color scheme makes it less of a draw for itself. The marquee design features a gimbal system, where the entire projector is mounted on a swivel for easy orientation changes.
The projector can be moved up and down 135 degrees, and you can also project images on the ceiling. The gimbal system supports the weight of the projector and is mounted on a sturdy base that houses the power button and his AC port for power. There is also a large turntable under the base that allows him to freely adjust the N1 Ultra’s horizontal orientation to any angle without moving the base.
I’ve had to fiddle with many projectors in the past to get the right viewing angles, but the N1 Ultra is a breath of fresh air. Setting up the projector was very easy. The unique design works in his N1 Ultra’s favor. We would have liked to see a metal chassis here, but that would have definitely made the unit significantly heavier. The plastics used are of high quality and the two-tone finish looks very nice. I will. No issues with fit and finish.
image 1 of 6
At first glance, it doesn’t look like a projector, but it can be mounted on the ceiling if desired. If you set the vertical orientation at an angle, it stays locked in that position and the base has the necessary mounting holes for ceiling mounting. You have to remove the screws first. You can also attach the base to a tripod, but it is not included in the package.
There are vents for airflow on both sides and active cooling on the back with a large grill covering the unit.On the front of the N1 Ultra is a camera and ToF sensor combined with autofocus and keystone correction. , with the projector lens on the right. Overall, JMGO has done everything right with his N1 Ultra’s design, with the gimbal mount and two-tone finish giving the projector a unique look.
JMGO N1 Ultra: Connectivity and Sound
The N1 Ultra doesn’t miss a beat on the hardware side. Powered by a MediaTek MT9629 with four Cortex A55 cores and AV1 decoding, paired with 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. Currently, at least 3GB of RAM is the Google TV’s sweet spot, which I like, but in his two weeks of using the N1 Ultra, he didn’t notice any lag or stuttering while navigating the interface. .
Flanking the N1 Ultra are two 10W drivers with Dynaudio tuning for a decent soundstage. That said, the 20W power budget isn’t cut far enough here. To get the most out of your visuals, you’ll need to connect your N1 Ultra to a suitable soundbar or surround sound audio system.
The N1 Ultra has a decent selection of ports, and the projector offers two HDMI 2.1 ports (one with ARC), a USB 2.0 port for connecting portable drives, and a 3.5mm jack. As for wireless connectivity, it has Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0, and we had no issues streaming over Wi-Fi.
The included remote control is also good, and although it’s made of plastic, it’s not too light. There’s no button to launch your favorite streaming service, but the usual navigation buttons are here, and the D-pad makes it easy to navigate the interface.
JMGO N1 Ultra: Image quality
The first thing I noticed when using the N1 Ultra was the brightness of the projection. After using XGIMI’s Horizon Pro in my bedroom for a few months, I switched to an Aura ultra short throw projector. The N1 Ultra is considerably brighter than both of these devices. In fact, it’s the brightest laser projector I’ve tried so far, and in daylight use the difference is immediately noticeable.
The N1 Ultra delivers up to 4000 lumens of brightness, well above the 2200-2500 lumens achieved by most other projectors in this category. The unit has a throw ratio of 1.2:1 and contrast of 1600:1, giving you HDR10 along with motion smoothing. There’s also a low-latency mode for gaming with an advertised 15ms delay.
The N1 Ultra supports 4K and the image quality is outstanding. Due to the high brightness level, the projector can be used by him at any time of the day without any problem. And even with a noticeable light leak in the bedroom during the day, it didn’t affect image quality. The projector automatically adjusts its brightness level based on the ambient light, and it does a great job of this.
Setup is easy thanks to the gimbal system and automatic keystone correction. Here we got a perfect 8 point keystone correction and the N1 Ultra automatically scaled the size of the image to fit the wall dimensions. It can project up to 150 inches and I used it with an 80 inch projection.
The N1 Ultra delivers excellent color vibrancy and contrast levels, and excels at rendering challenging HDR scenes with variable brightness. It easily beats immediate rivals like XGIMI. If you’re looking to switch to a 4K projector and want something that’s going to be super bright, there are no better options at this point.
JMGO N1 Ultra: Software
Like most projectors these days, the N1 Ultra is ready to run Android TV 11-based Google TV. I’m not a fan of Google TV at all. Google should have stuck with Android TV instead. As it stands, Google TV is just another gateway for Google to stuff ads into, and the most annoying part of the interface is the lack of relevant ads and recommendations.
That said, you can get the Play Store here and install your favorite streaming service (except Netflix). As with the XGIMI projectors, JMGO is not licensed to run Netflix on their devices, so no streaming services can be installed or run on them. This is frustrating to say the least, and there’s nothing wrong with JMGO — Netflix needs to sort this mess out.
Like all other projectors and TVs, we recommend connecting your Shield TV Pro here. NVIDIA still makes some of the best streaming boxes out there, and it’s an extra $200, but it’s definitely worth it.
JMGO N1 Ultra: Alternatives
XGIMI is also a relatively new entrant to the category, and the Chinese brand is JMGO’s closest competitor. Horizon Pro is a 4K projector that retails for $1,699 and offers gorgeous design with excellent image quality.
Not as bright as the N1 Ultra (up to 2,200 nits), but good enough for daytime use. It’s not as easy to use as you have to set it up on the mount and manually adjust levels, but you get auto keystone correction, decent audio, and an Android TV.
JMGO N1 Ultra: Should You Buy?
You should buy this if:
- 4K laser projector required for daytime use
- I want to project bright images with vivid image quality
- Requires automatic keystone correction
- I want a projector that is easy to set up and use
Do not purchase if:
- Netflix must be pre-installed
The N1 Ultra has everything you need in a 4K laser projector. Its unique design with gimbal system makes it easy to set up and use. And with automatic keystone correction, you’ll be up and running in seconds. The design looks elegant, all the connectivity options you need are available, and the remote is a pleasure to use.
Image quality is the biggest reason I got the N1 Ultra. A big problem with all laser projectors is the brightness level during daytime use, but that doesn’t matter here at all. It’s significantly brighter than other projectors in this category, and the overall image quality is exquisite. Considering you can get it for just $1,299 right now, the N1 Ultra is an easy recommendation.
