Asus F1

The F1 is capable of transforming regular TV and gaming into a genuine cinematic experience — even in a small room.

PRICE $ 1,699 www.asus.com/au/

The prospect of reviewing a projector has not been particularly enticing for some years now. In a world where large, high-quality TVs are ubiquitous and low in price, the notion of having a tricky-tosetup, washed-out image delivered by a an expensive, high-maintenance device that’s not usable in daylight hours is something that only a Transylvanian Count might be interested in. But, Asus’ F1 projector turned our heads.

Firstly, it’s a short-throw model, meaning that it can produce a large, undistorted image from close range. It also eschews an expensive, consumable lamp for an LED lighting array that’s capable of producing 1,200 LUMENs of brightness for 30,000 hours. There’s no need to awkwardly attach separate speakers thanks to a built-in Harmon Kardon-certified 2.1 system, and focusing and keystone effects are adjusted automatically. It all comes in a small, 1.85KG package with carrying case (and chunky power adapter).

The F1 projects a 25inch image when 43cm from a wall while full, 210inch tumescence is achieved at just 3.7m thanks to the 0.8:1 throw ratio. Our test household is well used to high-quality large TVs but moving to a 150inch display instantly transformed loungeroom viewing into a genuine, cinematic experience. Our resident kids instantly fell in love with it and constantly demanded to watch more.

We tested on a bright(ish) Autumnal afternoon with all blinds closed. There was still significant light-leakage which washed out the image but it was still watchable. There’s only an 800:1 contrast ratio but we were never expecting OLED-levels of trueblack performance. Nonetheless, we were impressed that letterbox bars were barely perceptible: there’s little light leakage and blacks weren’t as washed out as expected.

We transmitted TV and movies via Chromecast Ultra to one of the two HDMI ports. Naturally, colour vibrancy didn’t approach TV quality but then neither does an actual cinema nowadays. The darker a room got, the more colourful the viewing became but, frankly, the awe-inspiring picture size meant everyone was very forgiving of picture quality. While you could make out pixels in areas of uniform colour (like cartoons) they weren’t distracting and we didn’t miss our TV’s 4K resolution.

Asus’ F1 moniker denotes that the projector is good for gaming and it generally is. While input lag might be a factor for hardened beat-em up players, more-casual games saw no issues. Playing in a bright(ish) room meant that foggy scenes could become challenging but they never felt unplayable. Dropping the resolution to 720p enables 120Hz refresh rates for fast-and-frantic shooters. The built-in speakers take a little getting used to because sound comes from behind (or beside) you. However, they offer similar loudness and punch to premium TVs. Our only real downside was the infra-red remote, which is laggy and unresponsive — but you don’t need it much. At $1,699 it represents reasonable value and will make a sizeable, niche audience think twice about buying a similarly-priced 65-inch 4K TV — especially considering that this can be easily be stowed, slipped into a backpack or transferred between rooms.

The F1 projects a 25inch image when 43cm from a wall while full, 210inch tumescence is achieved at just 3.7m...