Projectors from China are often associated with low resolution and low brightness. But what do you get for a little more than the usual 100 to 200 EUR?

Projectors as a childhood memory

Etoe Seal Pro

Completely unexpectedly, Geekbuying solved my dilemma and offered me a projector to test. Of course I accepted! I was very interested. Is this a projector for normal people? I quickly ordered a simple 80″ screen and waited impatiently for the delivery.

The Etoe Seal Pro currently costs just EUR 299!

Key data

• Full HD projector (1,920 × 1080)
• 1.000 ANSI lumens
• 3000:1 contrast ratio
• 30.000 hours lamp life
• Throw ratio 1.22 : 1
• maximum screen diagonal: 200″
• Google TV on Android 11
• Autofocus
• Auto position
• Autokeystone

Unboxing

I don’t know why, but I’ve often been asked to show the unboxing. If that’s what you want, then that’s what I’ll do. :-)

Scope of delivery

The scope of delivery includes a power adapter, a microfibre cloth for the lens, a user manual and a remote control with wireless transmission. The remote control has a built-in microphone for using the Google Assistant.

The remote control is rather light, but has buttons with a good pressure point and a pleasant feel. It sits comfortably in the hand. Overall, not outstanding, but very well made.

Device in detail

The workmanship is impeccable, as you would expect from „brand-name“ appliances.

Update!

I took the projector with me to rehab and ran some interesting tests on the image position correction and zoom in the room. I have added the changes and pictures below.

Intended use

The Seal Pro is clearly designed as a portable projector, even if it is not the smallest of its kind.

However, it can of course also be permanently installed. For this purpose, it has a standard photo thread (1/4 inch) on the underside, so that you can use countless ceiling mounts, table mounts and normal photo tripods and are not tied to the usual projector ceiling mounts or similar, but can of course also use these.

The Seal Pro offers settings in the menu for ceiling mounting, but also for rear projection. Top!

Dimensions and weight

With its dimensions (measured by me) of 19 x 17.5 x 26 (D x W x H) cm, the projector is relatively compact and therefore suitable for mobile use. It can be easily transported in a rucksack or bag without taking up too much space. The carrying handle makes it even easier to transport, especially if you want to take the projector between different rooms or to friends.

At 4.7 kg, the projector is not particularly heavy, but not extremely light either. Mini projectors or portable projectors such as the Anker Nebula Capsule or the ViewSonic M1 Mini weigh considerably less, but are much less powerful in terms of brightness or resolution.

Connectivity

The following connections are located on the back of the device:

• Hollow plug for power supply unit
• HDMI
• USB-A
• 3.5 mm audio

The Etoe is equipped with the following wireless connection options:

• Bluetooth 5.1
• WLAN 2.4 and 5 GHz
• Screencast (via WLAN)

There is also an infrared port, but I can’t say whether this is connected. In any case, the remote control works wirelessly, so you don’t have to point it at the projector.

WLAN

The WLAN connection is the most important and the Etoe doesn’t slip up here either! The reception is good and what is more important for a portable projector than the connection to a free WLAN? At first I was sceptical because it doesn’t work well with ChromeOS, but here too everything went absolutely smoothly.

Bluetooth

The connection with our soundbar with subwoofer and also a Bluetooth receiver connected to a Logitech 2.1 sound system was „automatic“ after pairing. The sound was subjectively just as good as that transmitted directly via HDMI.

If you like, you could also put together an inexpensive home cinema using the Etoe and this 7.1 Bluetooth surround system. That’s actually something that would appeal to me again.

Picture quality

The Etoe Seal Pro is said to have 1,000 ANSI lumens. Now, as far as brightness is concerned, all manufacturers tend to give optimistic rather than realistic values. I have no calibrated measuring equipment to refute this claim.

Nevertheless, I have carried out my own measurements. :-)

Measurements

I checked the brightness and contrast with my Datacolor Spyder X

The test setup: 2.15 m distance to the screen (reflectivity gain 1.0). I measured an average of 330 cd/m² at nine points. The projection area at 77″ was 1.63 m², which corresponds to a brightness of 540 ANSI lumens.

• 540 lumens
• Contrast ratio of 2,195:1
• maximum screen diagonal: 148″

The other specifications are correct.

I can say that, although the specified values were not achieved as expected, I am pleasantly surprised. Let’s take a look at why.

Brightness

For occasional use, a genuine 540 ANSI lumens is sufficient in dark rooms to provide a good picture for films and series. The picture is sufficiently bright on a 100 to 120 inch screen.

Contrast

The contrast ratio of 2,195:1 is excellent for this price range and ensures sufficiently deep blacks and a differentiated image.
In a dark room, it is still good for making out details in dark scenes and seeing vivid colours.

Colour fidelity

I was able to determine 64% sRGB, which is a good value for a projector in this price range.

I was really surprised that the Seal Pro even has a built-in colour correction function that allowed me to carry out the measurements correctly. The green value was too high from the factory, but I was able to set it to the correct values in the clearly organised menu. Chapeau, Etoe!

Resolution

With a Full HD resolution, you get a picture quality that is very suitable for films, series and games. Many people think that Full HD might look pixelated on a large projector screen – but that’s not true! The decisive factor is the seating distance: from the typical home cinema distance, the individual pixels appear so small that they are barely perceptible. This makes the image appear sharp and rich in detail, a clear advantage over cheap projectors with a lower resolution.

The home cinema experience is all about immersing yourself in impressive visual worlds, isn’t it? For comparison: the analogue grain of Super 8 films is roughly equivalent to a digital resolution of 720 × 480 pixels or even less. And yet we thought it was great back then! Today we get a similar feeling back – only in much better quality ;-)

Image size

The maximum screen diagonal of 148 inches is large enough for larger rooms, although the brightness decreases somewhat at this diagonal. If you want to use such a large screen diagonal, you should make sure that the room is dark enough to enjoy a good picture.

Subjective impression

I carried out the installation and the first test in our KBZ, a conservatory. I watched an episode of Star Trek TNG on Netflix and was amazed that the picture was perfectly usable in the middle of the day, at least in winter.

The smartphone camera makes the picture look less contrasty than it actually is. I could have touched it up to make it look the way I saw it in real life, but I think that would be inappropriate manipulation.

And in the evening? Outstanding! Excellent sharpness, great colours and excellent contrast. The Etoe Seal Pro is also suitable for gaming. The motion blur comes from the phone’s camera.

Throw Ratio

The throw ratio indicates how large the image is in relation to the distance between the projector and the screen.

Throw ratio equals the distance to the screen divided by the picture width.

The Seal Pro has a specified throw ratio of 1.22:1, which means that the projector requires a distance of approximately 1.22 metres from the screen for every metre of image width.

1.22:1 is a medium projection ratio and a fairly typical value for many standard projectors. The projector is suitable for medium to large rooms. It should not be placed directly against the wall, but also not too far away. A typical distance is the coffee table.

Nevertheless, it is a pity that the Etoe does not have an optical zoom, but only a digital zoom, as this would make it more flexible in terms of positioning. Unfortunately, this would also be clearly reflected in the price. You can’t have everything.

So as not to tire you out, I have created a table that you can use to estimate at what distance you can expect which picture diagonal in your living room.

Are you wondering what the promised 200″ is all about? Of course you can enlarge the image to over five metres. But then it is no longer sharp, because the focus only extends to a distance of about four metres.

200″ corresponds to a picture height of 2.48 metres and a width of 4.43 centimetres. Who has such a huge screen or such an empty wall in their living room? We certainly don’t.

At a throw distance of four metres, the picture diagonal is still 148″, which corresponds to a dimension of 2.54 metres diagonally, 2.21 metres wide and 1.24 metres high. That’s not small, you could say! :-)

Real pictures

But a picture is worth a thousand words. Here is the projection on the only free wall above our sofa. The projector was positioned approx. 4.15 metres from the wall on the other long side of our living room. The wall is covered with white, matt-painted non-woven wallpaper.

Even a 4:3 film is reproduced on the sofa and on the ceiling. 16:9 films just fit and cinema films are perfect for the „small“ free corner in our living room.

I couldn’t get any closer because our sofa is very large and U-shaped. I didn’t want to put the projector on the tripod in the U because I was afraid it might be knocked over.

The wife’s reaction

The WAF (Woman Acceptance Factor) has to be high, otherwise the new technology has no chance of getting into the living room.

So the woman’s reaction is always decisive. And it was like this: „Wow, that picture is great! That thing must have cost a fortune!„. She immediately googled the price.

That’s exactly what she actually said. No joke, no fake for a great „advertising effect“.

Her pubescent son’s reaction was even more exuberant: „Yeah, cool …“;-)

Energy consumption

A projector generally consumes more energy than a television. Using my Brennenstuhl energy meter, I was able to record the following values for a projector:

• 0.3 watts for the power supply unit in idle mode
• 1.6 watts in standby mode
• 140 watts in operation

For comparison, the values of our 55-inch 4K LED TV:

• 0.1 watts in standby mode
• 110 watts in operation

This clearly shows that projectors tend to require more energy. Nevertheless, the consumption of the Etoe Seal Pro is pleasingly low at only 140 watts in operation.

You have to bear in mind that the projected image area of a projector is much larger than that of a television. This larger screen area relativises the higher energy consumption, as more light and therefore more energy is required to display a large image with acceptable brightness.

At 140 watts in operation, the Etoe Seal Pro’s consumption is still moderate compared to many other projectors. Especially considering the larger screen area, the additional consumption compared to a television is justifiable.

Noise development

With 540 ANSI lumens and operation at 140 watts, cooling is required to regulate the temperature of the device and prevent overheating.

At a distance of one metre, I was able to measure 44 dB with the sound level meter. This is a typical and expected result.

A quiet office or the hissing of a refrigerator are around 40-45 dB. A normal television set at a low volume or the rustling of leaves in the wind can also be in this range.

In other words, you should turn up the volume a little. But we also know this from the Super 8 projector: the background noise is what makes it so appealing.

Sound quality

Top! There’s not much more to say. But you mustn’t forget that the Seal Pro was developed as a portable device, so the manufacturer certainly didn’t skimp on the sound.

We watched several films using only the built-in speakers and everyone who came into the living room immediately said: „The sound is coming out of the projector? Not bad!

Autofocus

If you adjust the autofocus manually, which is very easy with the remote control, you get a really razor-sharp picture. Crisp at Full HD on 148″? Yes, from close up you may still see the pixel grid, but it’s really sharp – and you’re sitting so far away that you can’t see it anyway.

The Seal Pro can correct both problems automatically:

I have found that a deviation in the positioning of the projector has less effect on the sharpness of the image than you might think at first glance. The image remains sharp and clear.

However, if the projector is positioned at an angle, the correction of the image position inevitably leads to a reduction in the image diagonal. This can be clearly seen in the attached picture.

Interestingly, the image quality remains relatively high despite the shifting of the pixels. Even if the image grid and the displayed pixels no longer match exactly in such cases, I was still impressed by how precise the image looks even with smaller fonts.

The most brutal test possible

I was able to try out all the corrections at once in the rehab room. There was hardly any room to position the projector correctly. What’s more, the image only fitted on the far right of one of the walls.

• It was too far away, so the zoom had to help out.
• It was too far down and far too far to the right, so the keystone correction had to be used.
• As he was standing at such an angle, the picture was also crooked. That’s where the correction for the image position came in.

Pro

• Very fast Google TV
• Integrated and retrofittable video services
• Clear menus, simple operation
• Automatic keystone correction and autofocus
• Overhead and background projection possible
• Good sound, better than most televisions
• Good colours, brightness and contrast
• RGB correction possible!
• Very long lamp life
• Practical rubberised carrying handle
• Very non-slip rubber feet
• Transportable

Cons

• Autofocus could be sharper, manual focusing necessary (software update?)
• Fan could be quieter
• No optical zoom
• No protective cap for the lens

Buy

Geekbuying offers the Etoe Seal Pro for only 299 EUR including fast shipping from Poland.