Epson EF-21 laser projector reviewed: almost portable

The latest laser projector from Epson, the EF-21, will have you watching flicks on nearly any wall, provided there’s power nearby.

Big TVs may well be where most of the action is for movies, particularly in the living room, but there’s another place that could run a movie, and you may not realise it: your wall.

A white wall is best, but if you happen to have a slightly different colour, a laser projector could be just the right technology to shine a light on the surface and turn your bedroom or hall or another space into an impromptu movie cinema.

That could be exactly what the Epson EF-21 has been built for, as Epson builds a slightly more portable projector. Kinda sorta.

What is the Epson EF-21?

Epson’s latest take on a semi-portable projector with laser light inside, the EF-21 feels in many ways like a follow-up to a model we saw years ago and fell in love with: the Epson EF-100W.

A compact laser projector with a surprising amount of power and yet only one HDMI port, it was Epson’s first dabble in making a projector easy to move around with a lot of light. It only came in 720p HD, sure, but it did the job beautifully, making it ideal for families to get stuck into a big screen.

The laser light was also the star of the show, able to project a picture onto more surfaces thanks to just how much light it put out. A 2000 lumens setup with a 2,500,000:1 contrast ratio, we found it worked for light on grey surfaces and white surfaces, the latter being the more ideal, but you can’t always account for every wall you’re going to be projecting on.

In many ways, the Epson EF-21 is the EF-100’s sequel.

Another compact laser projector, it’s a little smaller, a little boxier, and sees that resolution upgraded, as well. There’s now a Full HD resolution alongside a laser light system, support for HDR content, plus a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio.

The new model also comes with Google TV built-in, complete with a remote with a Netflix button so folks can get stuck in ASAP, plus an auto-correct keystone adjustment mode for setting up the projector easily. Manual support is also there, available through the remote, but the automatic keystone can work quite well at times.

However, Epson has cut the lumens largely in half, with 1000 lumens, making it a little less bright by comparison.

What does it do?

As with most projectors, this one is made for home entertainment largely, providing an easy way to watch films, TV shows, and if you wanted to, play games on a large display.

Hardly made for stationary living, the Epson EF-21 is designed to moved around, packing in a small laser projector, Google TV OS, two 5 watt speakers, and support for Bluetooth in a small box.

Dolby Audio support can be found here, largely virtualised, and there’s even a lone HDMI port for plugging in another source, though it does support ARC, so you could theoretically use a soundbar, too. It’d be an interesting carry moving a soundbar-connection to each room, and so the speakers inside the EF-21 do the job just fine.

Does it do the job?

Using the EF-21 was just as fun as other portable projectors, though there are a couple of catches.

First is the brightness: at only a thousand lumens, the EF-21 isn’t dull, but it’s also certainly not as bright as we’re used to, either. Not as bright as Epson’s previous entry, as it is.

That’s not a bad thing — you’ll cope — but the hardware clearly prefers it when the light is down and it’s properly dark outside.

The other is the hardware performance of Android built into the projector, and it’s not great.

With fairness to Epson, you do get a Google TV preloaded and ready to go with the EF-21. Unfortunately, it’s just so slow to use, you might as well still bring your external source anyway.

Setting up the built-in Google TV? That’s easy, but time intensive, taking roughly 30 minutes all up.

The bigger problem is in operating the thing. You’ll struggle with speed as you move up and down the menus, waiting for the interface to respond, and generally feel like you’re using a smart TV from yesteryear.

If the highlight of the EF-21 was the laser projector, the weak point is the built-in smart TV, which doesn’t feel so much as an extra, but more a bundle-in. It works, but not brilliantly, and at times might make you feel like tearing your hair out waiting for it to function.

When it does work, the picture you get is clear and easy on the eyes, particularly if the background is white. Laser is a little more amenable to unorthodox projector surfaces, and so our grey side of the house still worked, albeit would have been better with a few extra lumens, truth be told.

Using the onboard speakers, we found the sound to be acceptable provided you turned the system up. At five watts each, don’t expect perfection, but it’s a stereo system that doesn’t fare too badly, either.

What does it need?

But what could the EF-21 have to be better? A battery.

We’re a little surprised by this one, actually, especially since it’s clearly designed to be semi portable. As it is, the Epson EF-22 is a version of the same projector with a pivoting stand, and yet still no battery. Both models look like they’re meant to be taken out, but neither comes with a battery, and they really should.

Interestingly, there’s actually no option for one, either. Epson makes a portable screen, but no portable battery, which is a touch confusing to say the least.

The Epson EF-21 is portable in theory. The problem is you need a power lead, which means it’s portable-ish: provided you have an extension cord and the typical three-prong Aussie wall plug, it’s “portable”. Ish.

Is it worth your money?

Priced at $1299 in Australia, the price of the EF-21 isn’t bad, but still feels like it could be better. Really, it’s a balancing act for compromises.

For instance, even though the EF-21 is a little dim at times, there’s technically more light output than other “portable” projectors. It’s almost twice the 550 lumens of the Samsung Freestyle, and only 300 lumens more than the surprisingly good Xgimi Halo+, which comes with a battery and a better speaker system. Neither of these are laser projectors, but they are both a lot more portable by comparison.

If anything, Epson’s greatest point of value comes from where the laser projectors sits against other laser models. At roughly half the minimum cost of typical laser competitors, the EF-21 gets the price of the technology down, even if the brightness could go up by just that little bit.

Yay or nay?

At home, however, the EF-21 has really one major thing going for it, delivering more light than you typically see. It’s still not better than previous models, but it’s certainly better than many from competitors.

Ultimately, if you crave proper portability, the Epson EF-21 isn’t for you. It gets some of the way there, but not all of it, and models from Anker and Xgimi are probably in a better position to stick the landing.

But if you don’t care about true portability, the Epson EF-21 is a decent choice, delivering much of what you’d want to watch with. It’s almost portable, but for some, that might be enough.