The Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K is the first mini-projector that is bright enough to work in a home environment – but it is even better at night or in a darkened media room.

The Anker Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K was initially a successful Kickstarter crowd-funded project to produce the ultimate, smallest, 4K projector. As such, specifications tended to meet crowd expectations.

So, let’s start with a few definitions. This is part of the new breed of Texas Instruments DLP projectors that range from 480p to 4K and from a few hundred lumens to, in this case, 2400 ANSI lumens.

Typically, these projectors have a LED light source with a half-life (50% brightness) of 20,000 hours at 100% brightness and 30,000 hours at 70% brightness. Then you throw them away. But this is different.

It has an ALPD 3.0 (Advanced Laser Phosphor Display) – laser-excited fluorescent materials using a red and blue two-colour laser and Phosphor technology developed for cinemas. Lamp life is 25,000 hours, and it is not user replaceable. It reaches 50% of the Rec.2020 and 80% DCI-P3 colour gamut. You find similar laser sources in high-end Sony and Barco projectors.

It is different from 4K LCD lasers because it uses Texas Instruments DLP technology comprising a micro-optical-electro-mechanical system (MOEMS) that modulates light using a digital micro-mirror device (DMD).

Its Faux-K (4K) in that each of the 1920 x 1080 micro-mirrors hosts 4 pixels using XPR fast-switch pixel shifting and is independently modulated (moved). It means that it can equally handle 1080p and lower content well. Nebula uses the best, currently available DLP471P, a .47” DMD.

First, Nebula Cosmos has integrated Google/Android TV 10 and HDMI, USB-A, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth input. That means the entire device is Google Certified and, by inference, Netflix certified. You could add a Google TV 4K dongle to any HDMI-enabled projector, but the integration is nice.

Second, is the ALPD3.0 Laser light source – it is not a low-cost LED.

Third, it is the first 4K DLP projector that meets or exceeds every CyberShack test. I guess at $4295, it should, although at that price, it is not too much of a stretch to step up to short throw 3LCD/lasers.

Finally, Nebula is part of the Anker Innovations group, and its brands include Anker, Eufy, Soundcore and more. That means local support and an Australian consumer law-compliant warranty – something you will not get from the Chinese cheapies on Alibaba.

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed.

You can click on most images for an enlargement.

I initially rejected the offer to review this device because I felt that at $4295, it was a little rich for Joe and Jane Average, and frankly, I was not all that impressed with micro LED/DLP projectors. However, Anker’s marketing manager Harold Xu reached out to me and convinced me to take a second look.

That was in the form of attending the pop-up Nebula Streaming Cinema at Darlinghurst – a 4-seat cinema with a 150” screen and what looked and sounded like a pretty awesome Sonos Arc Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 soundbar—damned good marketing!

The experience was enjoyable. Here was a relatively inexpensive 4K projector filling a 150” screen with pretty good colour and details. I was quietly impressed at its flexibility.

It is pretty stocky at 212 (H plus handle), 170 (W), and 220 (D) mm x nearly 5kg. The handle makes it easy to move, but it is more luggable than portable.

The lens and Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors are on the front to enable auto focus and keystone correction.

On the rear is the power, HDMI, USB, and AUX ports, as well as a cover over the removable Google Android TV dongle. On top are the usual touch controls.

Underneath is a ¼” tripod socket, and I strongly recommend that you get a solid tripod that will stably hold 5kg to mount it on.

On the sides are 2 x 10W speakers and 2 x 5W tweeters – one left and one right stereo channel.

The remote control is standard Google Android TV with dedicated Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, and Disney+ buttons. It has a mic and button press to access Google Assistant.

Presuming you know Google TV, it is a simple matter of adding your Gmail account and Wi-Fi 2.4 or 5Ghz password (you should use the 5Ghz for streaming).

The projector will auto-focus and keystone. The Time-of-Flight sensors do a reasonable job if it is on a horizontal surface.

Make sure you update the Google Android TV and the Projector firmware (from the settings button), and you are away.

Next, download and install digital TV streaming apps and anything else you like from the Google TV Play store.

The App does not require a sign-in or account (excellent). It is pretty limited to

First, set the device on a relatively horizontal flat surface just below the viewing height (the bottom of the image corresponds to the bottom of the lens). It has a 1.27:1 throw meaning (screen size/distance from the screen).

Remember that for every 2x increase in the diagonal image size, projector brightness (ANSI lumens) needs to increase by 4x to maintain constant image brightness (nits). Ergo the bigger the screen, the lower the nit brightness. We feel that it is better up to 100” when it is harder to defeat ambient light after that.

The screen type also impacts image brightness – different surfaces have different reflective characteristics. Most wall surfaces (painted walls and cotton sheets) have negative gain (one lumen in results in <1 lumen out and sucks the life out of the image), so you need a neutral (1:1) or positive gain surface.

Some projectors have settings for different wall colours – this does not. You need to buy at least a neutral gain screen if you want the best image. A tripod-mounted 100” 1:1 portable screen is $198 from Officeworks.

It can operate upright or ceiling mounted from the front or rear of a screen. Please put a lot of thought into placement. You will get the best image and sound in front of you at seated eye height. Placing it above or behind your seating position will not give you the best.

Every time you turn on or move the projector, it will project an auto-focus/keystone screen. It is excellent on a horizontal surface and can accommodate a tilt of about 30°. You can also force a re-focus in the settings, manually correct the keystone, and digitally decrease the screen size below the default.

It is one of the best auto-focus and keystone corrections due to its ToF sensors.

Quite separate from Google Android TV settings is a settings button on the projector.

These are all detailed in the manual.

It lacks Miracast for PC use (Chromecast only works via the browser). If you need this, buy an HDMI 4K Miracast dongle from Jaycar for $79.95 (or look on eBay).

Here is where we get down to the technical jargon because there is a vast difference between advertised projector brightness and projected image brightness. And there are three brightness measurements – at the light source, at the lens (ANSI lumens) and at the screen (the only one that counts).

The light source is 5000 lumens. That equals 2000 ANSI lumens (tested 1800). It is advertised as 2400, but the difference is insignificant as it accounts for HDR on a tiny part of the screen. On a 100” screen is about 600 nits (cd/m2).

Uniformity is good, with no obvious hotspots.

According to Texas Instruments, this should be capable of ‘defeating’ indoors, indirect daylight.

The Nebula Cosmos 4K projector produces enough brightness to produce a reasonably colour accurate image under 400-600 lumens office light.

The colours are bright and mostly accurate. In vivid mode, it amps the colours even more at the expense of colour accuracy, but that is what the human eye craves. Delta E out of the box is 5.4 (<4 is excellent), but that is highly dependent on-screen type.

The ALPD3.0 laser can reproduce around 80% DCI-P3 colour gamut in standard mode. We found a slight blue tint that can make skin tones seem a little off.

Projectors typically have softer image sharpness, particularly on text. This is pretty good, showing hair and fabric texture but text is not all that crisp.

It supports Side-By-Side and Over-Under 3D and synced with DLP-Link glasses.

Contrast is the ratio of white to black – how much brighter white is than black. The ratio drops steeply if you don’t have pure black (more of a grey). Nebula says it is HDR10 (High Dynamic Range capable), but it simply downmixes HDR content to the projector’s SDR capability. Why? Three contrast measurements defeat HDR.

The first two are Dynamic contrast and Full On/Off contrast – both are notoriously misleading. The only accurate measurement is at the screen (depending on the screen’s distance).

Nebula quote 1,500,000:1 Dynamic Contrast. An iris (like the pupil in your eye) regulates the light output. In dark scenes, it reduces the light to make blacks look blacker and vice versa for light scenes. It then measures the difference between the darkest black in any scene and the whitest white in another scene. It is not an apple-for-apple measurement. Still, the rate quoted rate is very high.

The theoretical Full-On/Off (FOFO) contrast is a projection optics measurement, and, in this case, it is about 375,000:1 – still a nonsense measurement.

These are nowhere near the reality of the screen contrast (tested approx. 1200:1), which is what your eyes see. In theory, it will support HDR10; in practice, it does quite a good job on HDR/HDR10 content.

Even though you may be using 4K@50/60Hz (Australia is 50Hz), most HDR content is at 24/30Hz (frames per second). It does not have motion smoothing, but overall, it is acceptable for a large screen.

We played a variety of content, including 480, 720, 1080p and 4K. I suspect it does not upscale so much as use the video input, remembering its Faux-K with four pixels per 1920 x 1080 mirror. Tech aside, it was OK for 720 and 1080p – forget old movies.

Input lag over HDMI is around 100ms, but it is okay for casual Xbox and PlayStation or console users.

Our measurement tools are designed for TV screens – not projector screens. So the tests are more subjective than objective. And even using one of the best smartphone cameras, we cannot accurately show you what was on the screen.

It requires 240V power. At full load/brightness, it uses around 200W or 5 hours for about 30 cents. Over 8 hours, it varies in power use and averages about 120W/h. Sleep mode is about 30 minutes. If you use this in a darkened room, you will only need 50% brightness, reducing the power use to <90W.

The peak noise at the projector is 47.8dB, and there is a fan hum around 300 Hz which can annoy some people. It varies between 30-35dB at 2 metres – negligible.

There is 16GB of eMMC storage (about 3GB in use by the OS) that you can use to store files.

Sound is powerful rather than accurate. The maximum volume depends on the source. Typically, 85dB, but using BT from a PC, we saw nearly 100dB.

Placement is important. Ideally, the sound should come from in front of your seating position (from the screen), so place the projector there. It is a little weird coming from behind you. Or connect via Wi-Fi or BT to a soundbar.

It decodes Dolby Audio to 5.1 and PCM mono to 5.1. AiFi (Artificial Intelligence Fidelity) creates a more immersive spatial sound. The 2 x 10W full range and 2 x 5W tweeters outwards-firing speakers do a good job and even have a little sense of spatial sound.

Audio delay over Wi-Fi casting is 250ms – verging on the need for lip sync adjustment, but that is not available in the projector.

Our suggestion would be to connect this via Wi-Fi, BT, or 3.5mm to a decent soundbar but remember it only supports up to 5.1 – not Atmos spatial sound.

Note: Frequency response is from 20Hz to 20kHz

It has excellent mid-bass, meaning it has all the musically important bass. An average sub-woofer usually handles this. Upper Bass is strong, giving bass that clarity – thump instead of a whump.

This is an excellent neutral sound signature. The only issue is that it faithfully reproduces what it gets – garbage-in-and-garbage-out. It has pre-sets Standard, movie, music, audio and custom that you may need to use. We found custom allowed you to bring up the clear voice 1-4kHz and recess the upper treble – it was excellent for dialogue.

Read How to tell if you have good music (sound signature is the key – guide).

Hard question. It covers all bases and is an excellent projector. The $4,295 price bothers me a little, but I am torn as the picture is very good for a projector. I have not had enough experience with 4K projectors to be totally sure, but I think it is class-leading for the price.

With a projector, it is more subjective than objective. Do you like the image? Yes. Does it compare with a LED/LCD TV? Yes. Is the sound good? Yes. Would I use it? Yes.

Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K, Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K, Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K

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