In my spare time, there’s nothing I like greater than watching films, bingeing sequence, and doing just a little gaming. That’s why I turned an enormous fan of projectors after we have been all caught at house throughout the pandemic. There’s no extra vital improve to your house theater than a superb projector with a 100-inch or bigger display. It really takes the expertise to the following degree.
Plus, lately, projectors have gotten smarter and providing HDR at extra reasonably priced costs, making selecting one up much more tempting. Fortunately, our buddies over at Epson have been good sufficient to lend us one among its newest projectors, the Dwelling Cinema 2350 for overview.
Options
The Epson Dwelling Cinema 2350 is a brilliant streaming projector with a 4K decision using PRO-UHD know-how—which implies it’s not native 4K—however as an alternative makes use of pixel shifting to attain an analogous decision.
Within the Dwelling Cinema 2350 is a vibrant bulb able to outputting 2,800 lumens making it doable to observe content material in HDR with help for HDR10 and HLG. That is paired with 3-chip 3LCD know-how that gives implausible colours and eliminates any kind of rainbowing impact.
Moreover, the Epson Dwelling Cinema 2350 has a vertical lens shift functionality of as much as 60% with a 1.6x optical zoom lens, making it simple to search out a great spot for mounting.
Now, for one among our favourite options, the Dwelling Cinema 2350 comes with an Android TV dongle hidden inside and provides you entry to most of your favourite streaming apps. Since there’s a separate dongle, and Android TV isn’t baked into the projector itself, that additionally means it may be eliminated and changed if you happen to like. That additionally means the projector really supplies two HDMI ports, albeit with one hidden, and there’s even a separate distant for the dongle if you happen to select to maneuver it to a different system.
Whereas we’re on the subject of ports, there are two USB Kind-A ports—if you happen to rely the one hidden—and a 3.5mm audio jack. Sadly, the uncovered USB Kind-A port is a service-only port. At the least each of the HDMI ports are 2.0b/HDCP 2.3 compliant with CEC help although.
Consumer expertise
The Epson Dwelling Cinema 2350 is kind of giant measuring at 10.8 x 13.1 x 4.8 inches and weighing 9 kilos. It features a foot within the entrance to raise it when putting it on a floor, however I discovered this to be just a little wobbly as a result of measurement and weight. Regardless of additionally having adjustable ft on the again, I nonetheless discovered it just a little difficult to get the image straight. Nevertheless, no less than the keystone correction labored effectively for fixing the offset.
Having just one HDMI port can appear just a little limiting, however with the built-in Android TV dongle protecting most of your streaming wants, then it received’t really feel too dangerous. It will be robust to attach a number of consoles or a devoted Blu-ray participant together with a console although.
Whereas I’m an enormous fan of Android TV, I did come throughout a problem. The Apple TV app shouldn’t be appropriate with the dongle on the Dwelling Cinema 2350. That’s a disgrace, as a result of the Apple TV app is without doubt one of the apps with the best streaming high quality and Apple has some nice unique programming.
One other subject that popped up was the error message I obtained when connecting my PlayStation 5. No matter utilizing a appropriate HDMI cable, the Epson Dwelling Cinema 2350 can not show the PS5 in 4K with HDR. As a substitute, you’re given the selection of 1080p with HDR or 4K in SDR. That was a bummer, as a result of I used to be trying ahead to enjoying video games in 4K HDR blown up at over 100 inches. It additionally meant I couldn’t watch the Apple TV app from my PS5 in 4K HDR.
On the intense aspect, I by no means seen any enter lag that affected my gaming efficiency, and video games nonetheless seemed good at 1080p in HDR.
Though the Epson Dwelling Cinema 2350 has a vibrant 2,800-lumen bulb, it nonetheless wasn’t sufficient to take pleasure in content material on a sunny day. You’ll positively want a darkish room to totally benefit from the Dwelling Cinema 2350, and be warned that the fan is kind of loud and this projector generates quite a lot of warmth. Not so dangerous within the winter, however it’ll be a special story in the summertime.
Video high quality
Whereas it’s true the Epson Dwelling Cinema 2350 lacks native 4K help, I used to be nonetheless fairly impressed with the sharpness whereas watching 4K and 1080p content material with it. I examined a number of films and exhibits from varied streaming companies over the previous few weeks, and never solely was I glad with the sharpness, but in addition by the shortage of rainbowing.
In case you’ve ever skilled rainbowing, then simply how distracting it may be. It was such a aid to not have to fret about that with the Dwelling Cinema 2350.
One space I wasn’t that impressed with was the dynamic vary. Nevertheless, after some tweaking with the brightness ranges, I used to be capable of get significantly better outcomes. I discovered the blacks to be on level, offering spectacular distinction in darkish scenes and a few nice brightness within the highlights.
Whereas gaming on the Dwelling Cinema 2350, I used to be greater than glad with the video high quality, although it was operating at 1080p so I might benefit from HDR. I might have thought it was 4K if I hadn’t recognized any higher, and this was even blown up at over 100 inches on the wall sitting round 10 ft again from the image.
I did attempt operating video games at 4K a few occasions however the elevated decision didn’t make as large of an influence as HDR, so I rapidly modified again.
Audio high quality
There’s a 10W speaker inside the Epson Dwelling Cinema 2350 projector that left me underwhelmed. It has loads of quantity to override the appreciable fan noise, however it lacked depth and bass. It really works positive, however it doesn’t stay as much as the image high quality, and hopefully, if you buy this projector you’ll have a greater audio system to go together with it.
Bluetooth is constructed into the included Android TV dongle making that an possibility for exterior audio, nonetheless, it received’t work with another HDMI gadgets you hook up with the Dwelling Cinema 2350.
Closing ideas
The Epson Dwelling Cinema 2350 has rather a lot going for it. It presents a pointy fake 4K image, makes use of a vibrant 2,800-lumen bulb with help for HDR, and incorporates a 3-chip LCD system that forestalls rainbowing.
Regardless, it does have a couple of flaws, equivalent to the shortage of 4K with HDR help on the PlayStation 5, the speaker is mediocre, and the incompatibility with the Apple TV app when utilizing the built-in Android TV stick. Relying in your wants, a few of these is likely to be a dealbreaker, whereas some is likely to be simple to work round.
In case you solely plan to observe films and add your individual streaming dongle, then the Dwelling Cinema 2350 would make a implausible addition to your private home theater. It’s even nice for gaming with the PS5, so long as you’re comfortable with operating them at 4K with out HDR or 1080p with HDR. The Epson Dwelling Cinema 2350 is at present accessible from Amazon for $1,090 or $1,300 from Epson’s web site.
