Anker’s Nebula series of projectors found its way into our hearts by providing some of the only decent, small form-factor lifestyle beamers on the market. But the range has gone high-end with the Nebula X1.
It’s the “highest performing projector the brand has ever introduced” according to Anker, and comes with a price to match at £2199.99 (though you can get £100 if you buy early).
Is it worth the cash? Let’s take an early look.
The Nebula X1 is a triple-laser projector rated at 3500 ANSI lumens, per its spec sheet. That’s a helluva lot brighter than the “1000 lumen” Nebula Mars 3, one of our favourite Anker projector designs.
It’s a 4K resolution projector, and should be able to provide a much more cinematic image than most of Anker’s projectors thanks to its dynamic iris.
This can vary the amount of light the Anker X1 outputs based on the image, allowing for a much deeper black floor in darker scenes. It sees the native contrast of 5000:1 jump to 56,000:1.
Anker Nebula X1 specs
Anker also claims the Nebula X1 provides much better optical quality than the average home projector, as it uses a 14-element glass lens rather than basic plastic optics. With any luck this should help deliver an image that’s sharp end to end — which is harder to achieve in a projector than you might guess if you’re used to TV image quality.
Unlike Anker’s more basic home projectors, the Nebula X1 also has an optical zoom. This is essential if you don’t want to be forced to place your projector at a certain spot in a room to achieve a certain size of image.
It’s able to throw up a 200-inch picture as close as 13 feet away.
There are features to make setup a doddle too. The Nebula X1 can compensate for different wall colours, and has an internal gimbal to account for the projector being sat at an angle, without having to rely on image-degrading keystone correction.
You don’t need an additional source either, as the Nebula X1 has Google TV baked in, allowing for installs of all the apps you’ll need. There are two HDMI inputs too, should you want to plug in a PlayStation 5 or another source.
The Nebula X1 even has built-in speakers, and you can buy it with an accessory package that includes two additional wireless speakers, too. Inside we get a pair of two-way speakers and two passive radiators — far better than the norm.
And Anker has gone above and beyond to try to not let fan whir ruin your sound experience, by using a liquid cooling system alongside a large-diameter fan.
The Nebula X1 will be available to buy from May 21st for £2199. And during the initial promo period you can get £100 off, or buy it with an accessory package for £2349.99. This includes two of the wireless satellite speakers, a case and two — oh yes — karaoke-ready wireless microphones, which would usually cost an additional £499.99.