Quick Links
The projector industry is in a constant battle to lure buyers away from increasingly larger and moreaffordable flat-panel TVs. One issue plaguing these light cannons is the notion that they are difficult to set up and maintain. Smaller laser projectors like the Dangbei Atom feature pain-free installation in any room with enough blank wall space. To attack another advantage of smart TVs, the Atom also offers an unmatched selection of streaming apps through its support for Google TV.
One of the most promising aspects of the Dangbei Atom is its brightness, which is higher than most competitors. Support for HDR10 at 1080p resolutions makes the Atom an attractive value for movie-watchers and gamers. Also, features like auto-focus and auto-keystone promise to remove some of the hassle of using a projector in multiple rooms.
Dangbei recently sent Game Rant an Atom to see if it has enough of a “wow” factor to lessen the appeal of OLED TVs.
Dangbei Atom Google TV Laser Projector
The Dangbei Atom is an exceptionally compact and bright way to bring movies, TV, and gaming to a display up to 180 inches. Unlike most projectors, the Atom comes loaded with Google TV, which unleashes an incredible selection of smart apps, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and Hulu. With a healthy maximum brightness of 1200 ISO lumens, the Atom can be enjoyed even with ambient light in a room. Supporting HDR10 and HLG, the Atom projects crystal clear and vibrant 1080p HD images, with surprisingly potent 5 watt Dolby Audio supported speakers.
Contents of Package
The Dangbei Atom ships in a compact square white box which gives an indication of how small this projector is. Besides the Atom itself, buyers will find an AC/DC power adapter, power cable, remote control, and user manual.
Design
Measuring less than eight by eight inches and under two inches thick, the Atom will occupy minimal space wherever users place it in a living orgaming room.
On the front of the projector, the lens is well-protected inside the plastic casing toward the left of the front panel. The top of the Atom is more of a dark gray than jet black and is smooth enough to show some fingerprints.
Ports on the back of the Atom are minimal, with only HDMI and USB inputs and a 3.5 mm analog audio jack for headphones orcompact speakers. There is also a large vent to exhaust some of the heat the powerful laser light source generates. For buyers without Bluetooth orwired headsets, 5-watt Dolby Audio speakers pump out audio on each side of the projector.
The bottom of the Dangbei Atom has a slightly elevated circular base with rubber to prevent scratching surfaces. Given the small and proportional dimensions of the projector, it’s ideal to affix it to a camera stand, and a mounting hole exists just for that purpose.
Always a critical accessory for asmart TVor projector, the Atom ships with a Fire TV-style black remote. However, it’s significantly longer and heavier, with quite a bit of unused space on the lower half. The remote offers dedicated buttons to adjust the volume directly, launch popular apps, and prompt the Google Assistant to appear for voice searches. Some small buttons on the side of the device will trigger manual or automatic focus, which may need to be done regularly, as buyers will discover. Surprisingly, there is no button to switch to the HDMI input, which must be done with a few clicks through the Google TV interface.
Installation
Despite its minimalist form factor, the Dangbei Atom is meant for indoor use, with the manual warning about usage in hot, cold, or moist conditions. Also, the Atom lacks a weatherproof exterior and doesn’t ship with a rechargeable battery. Even so, like most portable projectors, including theSamsung The Freestyle, the Atom is designed for a quick and painless setup.
With a 1.2:1 throw ratio, viewers must position the Atom seven to nine feet from a wall or screen to project a roughly 80 to 100-inch image. This is not a short-throw projector, but it doesn’t require a large room until a user maxes out its 180-inch display size. Dangbei recommends a 60 to 100-inch sized display for the brightest images and the most clarity. Lacking any lens shift, the Atom will need to sit relatively centered against an empty wall, but a digital zoom allows for resizing images when used in the suggested throw range.
One of the first things the Atom will do after a quick power-up sequence is activate its auto-focus capabilities.
The feature generally works well, but occasionally, images are less than sharp without instructing the projector to refocus or resorting to manual focus. Also, the slightest movement, like touching a connected wire, will engage the auto-focus routine.
When the Atom can’t be placed directly centered or is at an angle from a wall, keystone correction may be necessary. This menu enables installers to stretch or shrink the corners of images to achieve a more proportional image. The projector also offers automatic keystone, but manually adjusting the image yielded the best results during testing.
Most buyers probably won’t spend much time tweaking settings with a projector meant to move around homes and offices. Even so, various brightness and picture modes suit different content and levels of ambient lighting. Deeper in the menus, users can adjust the color balance for a more professional calibration result. Of more importance to the average user, gaming mode should be used to reduce latency.
To start enjoying content, buyers will engage in the same routine as on Android-based smart TVs andstreaming media playersof signing into Google accounts. If a user already has a Google TV device, downloaded apps should appear, which is an excellent way to maintain a seamless entertainment experience throughout a household. Of course, without an ethernet port, installers will also want to connect the Atom to a capable WiFi network, and the projector supports high-speed 5 GHz bands.
Even with an auto-focus that tends to have a mind of its own, setting up the Dangbei Atom for use on a typical white wall was relatively painless.
Performance and Usage
With 1200 ISO lumens, the Dangbei Atom promises an incredibly bright image for a compact projector. The Atom doesn’t disappoint, with vibrant 1080p images for which viewers usually need a more expensivehome theater projector. While 4K isn’t a realistic expectation at this price point, this Atom supports HDR10 and HLG for stunning color palettes. The impressive visuals are partly explained by the projector’s use of ALPD laser technology, which reduces the speckling often seen in large projected images.
The Atom shines during animated features but also handles fast-moving scenes well. Although testing it in this environment was impossible, the Atom also supports 3D content, provided a viewer has compatible glasses.
Inexpensive projectors often fall short with maintaining the definition of people and objects in darker scenes. The Atom is no exception to this rule, where darker contrast levels lead to less impressive images compared to bright-colored scenes. Still, considering portable projectors don’t usually have high-quality silver screens to help their performance, the results are perfectly acceptable for mixed content.
Home theater projectors have lagged behind TVs in offering a comprehensive platform of smart apps. Fortunately, being as small as some standalone media players, projectors like the Dangbei Atom aim to be an all-in-one streaming solution. Replicating the assortment of apps buyers have withAndroid phones, the Atom is fully integrated with the Google TV OS. Nearly every popular app showing the latest movies and TV shows is here, with a dashboard that constantly refreshes a stream of suggested content.
Unlike some sluggish smart TVs, menus load quickly on the Atom, and there is minimal lag while navigating most apps. Wi-Fi speeds were excellent, leading to no buffering while streaming higher bitrate content. The system benefits from 2 GB of DDR3 memory and 32 GB of storage, double what is available on the latest Fire TV Cube. The Atom has no apparent interface of its own, so most projector settings are accessible directly in the Android-style OS.
Gaming with the Atom Projector
The Dangbei Atom may not be marketed as a gaming projector, but it’s a capable display for PCs andgaming consoles. Xbox and PlayStation users will mainly rely on the projector’s HDMI input, with Xbox Cloud gaming and PS Remote apps not currently available. PC gamers are more in luck since this installation of Google TV is compatible with Steam Link and Nvidia GeForce Now. During this evaluation of the Atom, a PS5 and streaming games from a PC were the main sources of gaming content.
Thanks to Atom’s ability to pairwireless controllersto it through Bluetooth, even fighting titles likeTekken 8are playable. Through Steam Link, with Game Mode active, the lag was acceptable, but the most competitive gamers should probably stay away from cloud gaming.
The best gaming experience with the Atom happens after connecting a console to the HDMI port on the back of the projector. While the PS5 recognized the maximum resolution of the Atom as 1080p/60 Hz, HDR was excluded, unlike with many Google TV apps.
A lack of enhanced colors did not impact the brilliant images inStar Wars Battlefront IIor theFinal Fantasy VII Rebirthdemo.
PC gamers can also utilize the Atom as an additional monitor. With anNvidia RTX 3080 graphics card, the GPU’s control panel reported compatibility with resolutions higher than 1920 x 1080, though once again, it didn’t detect an HDR signal. Regardless, the text in Windows was sharp, and the motion in fast-paced racing titles was smooth at 60 fps.
The only thing holding back the versatility of the slim Dangbei Atom is the lack of additional HDMI ports. Streaming apps and a single console or PC is a workable combination; otherwise, an HDMI switch or receiver will be needed. Also, since the projector weighs less than three pounds, longer and heavier cables can cause it to lift off surfaces and distort the image.
Speakers should not be ignored with a projector of this size, since basic setups are a theme with these devices. The pair of five-watt speakers on the Atom sound better than expected for a compact device, only lacking in the rumbling bass department. Each speaker is just far enough apart to provide some sense of positional audio. Of course, asurround sound systemis ideal for immersive audio during gaming and movie-watching.
Conclusion
The Dangbei Atom is a small but mighty laser projector that can turn any blank wall into a giant1080p displayfor movies, TV, and gaming. It may not be advertised as a portable projector, but its minimalist design allows it to move around homes and travel easily. The Atom’s maximum brightness outshines many compact projectors in this price range, with its support for HDR10 paying dividends in the most vibrant content. As with its competitors in its sub $1000 price range, black levels are not the strong suit of this projector, but they are not poor enough to spoil the fun.
Buyers have different opinions about the best smart TV platforms, but it’s hard to argue against what Google TV offers. Besides Netflix certification, the Atom is packed with just about any streaming app worth signing up for. Tight integration with the projector’s remote control and settings means users can access every mode and function from the same interface.
A few issues, hopefully ironed out in the future by firmware updates, impact the Atom’s ease of use. While the auto-focus and auto-keystone features have good intentions, they are somewhat unreliable at the moment. There are no fixes for the projector’s limited selection of HDMI ports, but its integrated apps reduce the need for additional components.
Streamlined 1080p projectors are becoming more common in the marketplace. Even so, Dangbei’s unique combination of brightness, portability, and powerful smart app integration makes it a wise investment for movie buffs and gamers.
Related Products
As enticing of a value as the Dangbei Atom is, other projectors may offer more suitable characteristics for some buyers. TheXGIMI Halo+is a 1080p projector rated for outdoor use, but users must take some extra steps to install Netflix. Gamers may gravitate toward theSamsung The Freestyle 2nd Genbecause of its wide range of cloud gaming apps. However, both these options fail to achieve the brightness levels of the Atom. If buyers have moved on from 1080p to4K displays, the slightly more expensiveBenQ GP500is an option, but it depends on an external USB dongle for its smart TV functions.
Outdoor projector with moderate brightness
$749
Easy setup and cloud gaming apps
$798
Reasonably portable 4K projector
$999
FAQ
Q: How many hours does a laser projector last?
Most laser projectors typically last between 20,000 to 30,000 hours, much longer than traditional lamp-based projectors. However, proper maintenance of a laser projector, like keeping it clean and free of dust and debris, can affect how many years of enjoyment it provides.
Q: Do laser projectors need a dark room?
As with all projectors, laser projectors can produce a brighter and crisper image in a dark room. Still, exceptionally bright projectors can handle some ambient light, aided by special screens that reject excess brightness in an environment.
Q: Is it smart to use a projector as an everyday TV?
Whether a projector should replace a TV for extended daily usage depends on the model and setting. Flat-panel TVs are still ideal in bright living rooms, but powerful long-life projectors are reasonable alternatives where there is space for a very large screen. Also, projectors now increasingly come with streaming apps, reducing the appeal of smart TVs.
