Projectors Tests Reviews

Formovie Xming Episode One: test / review

Published on: 02-10-2024 / Modified: 02-10-2024

I test projectors in just about every price range, and in the lowest price bracket there's a very varied universe of Chinese projectors on Aliexpress (or elsewhere) using all sorts of superlatives to grab your attention. The most classic case is brightness, with values sometimes so delirious that the projector could be used to create a halo of light in the sky to summon Batman.

The truth is that the vast majority of these projectors use the same base, combining an LCD panel with a powerful light source. There's something for every taste and color, but in the end, inside it's all the same. These projectors all have pretty much the same shortcomings: they're very noisy, colors are bland and they use exotic or unofficial versions of Android. At this price level, it's normal, I'm not criticizing, but you have to be aware that there are no miracles...or maybe there are

Formovie is a brand that has already demonstrated its know-how at the top end of the market with the Formovie Theater (between €2500 and €3500), as well as at the entry-level with the Formovie S5 (between €400 and €500). What they lacked was a truly inexpensive projector that would make video projection accessible to an even wider audience. The Formovie Xming Episode One does just that. As with other Chinese projectors under 300€, the Formovie Xming uses LCD technology, but without the usual shortcomings of Chinese projectors under 300€. The Formovie Xming is considerably quieter, runs Google TV, is natively Netflix compatible and has a few other interesting surprises in store, which I'll share with you in this review

The Formovie Xming is available from NothingProjector for just over 200€. To take advantage:

Formovie Xming / NothingProjector

NothingProjecteur is a global supplier for the Formovie brand, and they offer a 30-day return policy with free returns.

Manufacturer web site:
https://www.formovie.com
Site where I have bought or received the Formovie Xming: https://nothingproje...

Price Formovie Xming

2004432668830

Timeline

September 29, 2024: the projector from NothingProjector has arrived and testing can begin.

Why this projector?

As I wrote in my introduction, I try to test projectors in all price ranges to get a global view of the market and be able to answer as many questions as possible. I don't have any negative preconceived ideas about entry-level projectors; on the contrary, I think they have their reason to exist. On the other hand, I don't make them a priority because they all use pretty much the same components, so my conclusions are all the same (e.g.: Wanbo, Blitzwolf, Thundeal,... it's the same base). What's different with this projector is that, by starting from the same principle, we end up with a product that's different enough to write a specific review about it

The Formovie Xming is backed by a brand with a good reputation and no interest in releasing a projector that will disappoint its buyers. You just have to be aware that in this price range, you don't get the same results as with a €1,000 projector, but here you end up with a projector at the price of a mid-range TV, with the added portability, image size and flexibility that a TV can never offer. You could, for example, easily put the projector on its back at floor level to project an image on the ceiling...try doing that with a TV, it's going to be considerably less easy

The projector runs Google TV and with native Netflix certification, which is very rare in this price range. I wasn't expecting extraordinary brightness, but the contrast is likely to be top-notch.

So this test is going to be interesting for me, and I hope for you too.

Unpacking

The Formovie Xming is delivered in a set of three boxes, so it's well protected. The box contains the bare essentials: the projector, its power cable, a transformer, a manual and a remote control requiring two AAA batteries (not supplied with the box).

Operating system

The Formovie Xming projector runs on Google TV, and unlike the exotic versions of Android running on other Chinese LCD projectors, this will ensure compatibility with Play Store applications as well as guaranteed updates for several years. With Google TV, you also benefit from stronger integration with installed applications, including a search engine capable of searching for content within applications, as well as categorizing movies and series by theme. This is a real advantage over Thundeal or Blitzwolf projectors.

The start-up procedure is fairly straightforward, just follow the on-screen instructions. You have the choice of configuring everything from the projector and its remote control, which is more laborious because you'll have to enter your e-mail address, password or wifi access code. The other option is to scan a QR code from the Google Home application on your phone, taking advantage of the account already in use on your phone to synchronize it with the projector. The procedure is thus simplified and in theory faster, except that... the synchronization time was particularly long (at least 5 minutes). This leads me to think that perhaps the projector's computing power (CPU) is limited, and that heavier operations like this will be slower.

Finish

The Formovie Xming is a fairly compact portable projector, measuring 18 x 13 x 11 cm and weighing 1.25 kg. Its front panel is dominated by its enormous optics, and the various layers of glass can easily be seen towards the inside. This is a fairly typical configuration for LCD projectors. The front panel is completely covered in plastic, but with a good level of finish and a few original touches, notably the orange outline. The front panel also has a depth sensor for adjusting the autofocus

The projector is equipped with 2 speakers placed on either side behind an orange plastic grille, the aperture is not very large, so you shouldn't expect very much diffusion, but in any case with 2x3 watts, you're not going to rattle the walls or your grandmother's dentures

LCD projectors generally generate a lot of heat from their lamp and this heat has to be dissipated by ventilation grids like these. It's for this reason that most of these projectors are very noisy, as they have to evacuate this heat via rather noisy fans. This may be convenient for drying your hair but it's far less pleasant for watching a film. I'll come back to this point later in the article, but I can already say that this projector does better than the other projectors of this type that I've tested

At the rear, the projector is equipped with another ventilation grille, but this one is used to suck in ambient air and cool the projector; the heat mainly comes out through the side grilles. In fact, some of these projectors can be transformed into real little auxiliary heaters. My projection room is well insulated and the temperature can quickly rise a few degrees when I use this type of projector. This projector will evacuate heat from the sides, and if you put your hand close to it you'll feel the heat, but it won't cause any problems

Connectivity is limited to the bare minimum, which is quite normal for a portable projector. It is equipped with a USB type A port, an HDMI port, a headphone output and a power connector. This projector has no built-in battery and cannot be powered via the USB port, so you'll still need to use its power cable. This isn't ideal for true portability, but the power supply isn't too bulky, so it shouldn't pose too many problems

You can mount the Formovie Xming on a standard tripod, as its screw thread is compatible with most camera tripods. In fact, I used the XGIMI Mogo 3 Pro tripod for this test

On the top, there's only one button to turn the projector on, and this button has no relief, which means you should be able to put the projector on its head without triggering the button.

The remote control is fairly classic, the buttons are ideally spaced and you won't need an engineering degree to understand how it works. The size of the "home" button means you'll always be able to find your way around, even in complete darkness. Two shortcuts are also present, one for Netflix, the other for YouTube. This remote control is Bluetooth compatible, which may seem trivial, but many Chinese LCD projectors are equipped with an infrared remote control that requires you to point the remote at the projector. This is not the case here

Projection room

My projection room is rectangular, 4.6m by 2.9m (height 2.2m). I have two projection walls, one white wall 2.9m wide with just white paint with a possible 4m setback. I then have a 133 inch ALR screen on another wall with a possible setback of 2.8m. I mainly use the ALR screen except when the layout or type of projector is not suitable for this situation.

Battery autonomy

This projector is not equipped with a battery.

Power consumption

I measured a power consumption fluctuating between 50 and 55 watts, so this projector won't force you to sell a kidney to pay your electricity bill.

Operating noise

I measured 49 dB with my decibel meter placed on the projector, and at one meter from the projector the measurement fell below 35 dB. This is an excellent surprise, because LCD projectors are generally much noisier. This Formovie is a little noticeable when you're close by, but it's a long way from the 70 dB I've measured on some projectors. Obviously, the reason for this performance is low luminosity, which requires less intrusive cooling.

Image quality

I've taken the usual videos to illustrate image quality with a mix of different styles. I filmed these sequences after the projector had been calibrated; the image is a little too warm, but that's due to the recording process.

For a projector in this price range, the image quality is really very interesting. The use of LCD means that colors are less accurate and the color space is smaller, but when it comes to contrast, it's a real slap in the face. Take a look at the Batman trailer: most LED projectors costing over €500 can't produce such a high-contrast image.

Colorimetry

More explanations on colorimetry

Measuring color fidelity (colorimetry) is not a subjective question, it is something completely measurable. This measurement is carried out with a device (colorimeter, spectrometer, ...) which measures the difference between the real color and the displayed color. This difference is expressed in delta E (abbreviation: dE). A dE greater than 3 indicates a deviation perceptible to the human eye.

The dE must therefore be as low as possible but projectors rarely have a dE lower than 3 out of the box. They are often between 5 and 10, only a calibration can correctly adjust the colors.

For a perfect calibration, you must call a professional. I give you my parameters which correspond to my situation. These settings might work for your situation but it is not a guarantee, so take them as an indication of the direction to follow.

To measure color accuracy, I first carried out a series of measurements at the projector's output to remove the influence of the ambient environment and the screen. With these first measurements, I got a first glimpse of what this projector was capable of:

Standard mode:

dE colors: 12

dE grays: 17.78

Sport mode

dE colors: 12.84

dE grays: 25.54

Movie mode

dE colors: 10.41

dE gray: 9.18

Vivid mode

dE colors: 12.95

dE gray: 25.49

Game mode

dE colors: 9.99

dE gray: 9.25

The "game" mode fares best, but it's far from being spectacular. The color difference is still too important, and the image is far too cold. I measured a white at 7925K in "game" mode, even though it's the best mode, so we're still a long way from the 6500k we should ideally be getting. So far, I've never achieved good color accuracy with entry-level LCD projectors, but don't go running off, I've got good news!

Calibration

I calibrated this projector using the numerous settings and here's what I obtained on my white screen:

dE colors: 7.5

dE grays: 3.47

White temperature: 6629K

All this may seem very abstract or theoretical, but the best I can do is film the same sequence before and after calibration, as in the video below. Even if the result isn't perfect, I've obtained an image that's much more saturated and warm than the basic configuration. The image is actually a little less warm than on the video, it's the phone I use to film that tends to make the images a little warmer

This video might be blocked because I'm using rights-protected content. If this is the case, you can watch the video directly on YouTube: Calibration Formovie Xming

To achieve the same thing, I'm sharing my settings on a white screen. If you use a neutral white screen, you should be able to get something similar

Picture mode: game

Brightness: 50

Contrast: 45

Saturation: 70

Hue: 0

Sharpness: 5

Color temperature: user

Red gain: 15

Green gain: -28

Blue gain: -46

The following settings are the ones I modified, you can leave all other values at 50

Hue/Blue: 70

Hue/Magenta: 40

Saturation/Blue: 20

Saturation/Magenta: 80

Brightness/Blue: 100

Brightness/Magenta: 10

Offset/Blue: 65

Hue/Blue: 55

These parameters attenuate blue and magenta deviations, but it's impossible to bring them back into a more reasonable range. It's more or less the same on the other LCD projectors I've tested, except that here, the absence of settings didn't allow me to improve color fidelity as much

All this has to do with the material used. This combination of LCD panel and light results in a colder image and weaker color coverage.

It's not yet up to the level of LED or Laser projectors, but it's already much better. I even got white close to the norm, but the blue and magenta deviate too much to bring them back on track without damaging all the other colors. So it's a delicate balance

Brightness

More explanations on brightness

The brightness for a projector is absolutely crucial. The brightness is measured in ANSI lumens and the values provided by the manufacturer are very often higher than reality.

I measure the brightness with a lux meter and I convert my measurements into ANSI lumens in relation to the projection surface. You thus obtain a real value.

A video projector, even if it is bright, cannot compete with a television. The contribution of light (natural or artificial) will have the effect of drastically reducing the contrast of your image. With a brightness lower than 1000 ANSI lumens, the projector must be used in total darkness.

Formovie Xming has a theoretical brightness of 150 CVIA lumens. The specifications use the CVIA standard, which is not the most common standard; it's a Chinese standard that tends to result in a higher figure than ANSI lumens (American standard). With 150 CVIA lumens or lumens, we're talking about very low-brightness projectors, so use in full/partial light is totally out of the question.

Here's an example of an image with the light on and the light off, I think the point is pretty clear.

I tested all the image modes available and obtained a brightness of around 150 ANSI lumens, with a difference of around 10-15 lumens between the brightest and dimmest modes, so the differences are marginal. Low brightness not only has an influence on the choice of room lighting, it also has an influence on the size of the image, because the larger the image, the less luminous it is. If I apply the cinema standard to this projector, I get an image size of 122 cm wide. If you're less demanding when it comes to image brightness, you can of course always aim for a slightly larger image. I have a screen with a gain of 1.2, which enables me to obtain a larger image, but there's no miracle: if you're aiming for a 3-meter image, this is clearly not the right projector for you.

Sharpness

The sharpness of entry-level LCD projectors is rarely uniform, and this is also the case with this Formovie Xming, even if the loss of sharpness is far from being dramatic. In the center, sharpness is good (even very good), but it deteriorates at the periphery, particularly at the four corners. The degradation is most noticeable when text is displayed in the 4 corners of the image, so it shouldn't interfere with film playback.

Contrast

More explanations on contrast

Contrast (on/off) is used to measure the difference between white and black. This measurement gives an indication of the ability of a projector to produce a good rendering in dark scenes.

A contrast lower than 500:1 should be considered as a very low contrast and the consequence will be especially visible in dark scenes where you will lose details. This is less of a problem for sports, bright films or even cartoons.

A low contrast ratio does not mean that a projector is not usable, you just have to be aware that for films like Aliens, dark scenes will no longer allow you to distinguish details.

I often complain about the low contrast of LED projectors in just about every price range, but this little projector is able to silence them. Native contrast is advertised at 1500:1, which is already far superior to most LED projectors, but I measured even better than that with a nice 1719:1. Again, all this may seem very abstract and theoretical, but I'll add the Batman trailer to this article, as the contrast gain is very visible on this kind of film. Where an LED projector loses its way in dark areas, this little Formovie Xming gives them a good slap in the teeth.

Motion compensation

Image size and projection distance

More explanations on the projection distance

The projection distance determines the size of the image and the size of the image is determined by the projector's throw ratio. If a projector has a throw ratio of 1.2, it will have an image width of 83 cm with possibly a gray border.

The distance also plays a role in the brightness because the brightness decreases with the square of the distance. A projector placed at 4 meters will therefore lose 4 times more brightness than a projector placed at 2 meters.

Keystone image correction does not modify the projection cone, it resizes the image inside the projection cone. This means that in the event of a significant correction, you will see a large gray border appear around your image.

The Formovie Xming has a projection ratio of 1.2, which means that for every meter of distance from the screen, you get an image 83 cm wide. This projection ratio is very common, although in entry-level LCD projectors, the projection ratio is usually more around 1.5, which means the projector has to be placed further away.

The projector's low brightness will play a role in the image size and therefore the projection distance. Theoretically, you shouldn't exceed an image width of 122 cm to avoid getting too dark an image, but that doesn't mean you won't see anything if you exceed this limit - the image will just be darker. If you have a white screen with a brightness boost, you'll be able to go beyond this limit. Placing the projector at 2.50m and using a screen with a gain of 1.2, I get an image that's slightly too dark, but quite watchable.

The projector is also capable of resizing the image on its own, so all you have to do is move it a little and the screen size will be recalculated. Of course, this feature should not be abused, as it will create a gray halo around the image if too much correction is made.

Screen choice

Not yet available / tested

Audio quality

More explanations on audio quality

I use several types of music tracks to illustrate the sound quality of the projector but the rendering will always be limited by the recording device. Since I always use the same device, you will be able to compare the difference on the same basis.

I regularly use well-known songs protected by copyright to illustrate the sound quality of a video projector. It therefore sometimes happens that YouTube decides to block my videos for these reasons. In this case, you can listen to the soundtracks directly on YouTube and hope that YouTube has not completely blocked my channel.

The Formovie Xming is equipped with two low-power speakers (2x3 watts), so don't expect eardrum-busting sound immersion. The sound isn't very powerful, but the quality isn't bad at all. The sound obviously tends to be higher-pitched, but there's a resonance effect for low tones that's not bad. You should therefore avoid turning up the volume to the maximum to avoid distortion, and when a lot of sounds are mixed at the same time, you'll have a bit of trouble distinguishing them.

In this price range and in the portable projector segment, you shouldn't expect much more. The XGIMI Mogo 3 Pro does better with its Harman-Kardon speakers, but the price is also considerably higher.

This video will probably be blocked by YouTube because I'm using soundtracks for which I don't have the rights. If this is the case, you can listen to the sound clips directly on YouTube at the following link:

Audio test / Formovie Xming

Video games

Encoutered bugs

This is an entry-level projector and that has a few consequences for what you buy. This projector won't be able to compete with a €500+ projector except for contrast, and it's also a little slower when it needs to perform heavier operations. I'm thinking in particular of the playback of heavier media files, where sometimes I couldn't play the files at all, or sometimes with a lot of interruptions. This isn't a bug, but if you use applications like Kodi to play your local media, you may run into problems with heavier files.

This playback problem obviously doesn't apply to streaming services (YouTube, Netflix, etc.) because the stream is adapted and you won't have any interruptions like with local files.

ALR/CLR Projection screen

Are you looking for a good ALR/CLR screen for your projector? I may have what you need:
ALR/CLR NothingProjector Screen

Test / Review conclusion

I've tested many entry-level LCD projectors and almost every time I've written the same conclusion, because even though they're different brands, the material used is pretty much the same. With the Formovie Xming Episode One I can finally write a slightly different conclusion.

Yes, it's still an LCD projector, yes the color coverage is reduced, yes the default image configuration is not good. With the available settings, however, I was able to significantly improve image quality to achieve the best picture in this price range. At the time of writing, the projector was available at 218€ from NothingProjector, a price range usually reserved for Chinese projectors on Aliexpress, except that here the projector is better and available on the European continent.

This little Formovie Xming Episode One positively surprised me for several reasons. Firstly, its excellent contrast (on/off) means you can watch dark films with greater ease than most LED projectors. Then there's Google TV, which is also a strong point, allowing you to continue receiving updates for a few years and native compatibility with Netflix

The strengths don't stop there. Center sharpness is excellent, reduced input lag means you can use the projector with a game console (Xbox, Playstation,...) via HDMI, power consumption is very low and Xming is more discreet than its Chinese LCD cousins

Not everything is perfect, however, and there are a number of restrictions to be aware of. The most important of these is low brightness, which will force you to use this projector in the dark and limit image size. There's also the sound, which won't offer an immersive experience with its 2x3 watts. The limited color space will also have an impact on HDR movies/series

Strengths

Compact size

Contrast

Sharpness (center)

Google TV + Netflix

Settings options

Colors (after calibration)

Power consumption

Operating noise

Price

Input lag

Weaknesses

Brightness

Image size

Edge sharpness

Light uniformity

No motion compensation

Limited color space

LAURENT WILLEN
Head of myself on this blog

I share my passions on my blog in my free time since 2006, I prefer that to watching nonsense on TV or on social networks. I work alone, I am undoubtedly one of the last survivors of the world of blogs and personal sites.

My speciality? Digital in all its forms. I have spent the last 25 years working for multinationals where I managed digital teams and generated revenues of over €500 million per year. I have expertise in telecoms, media, aviation, travel and tourism.