A Serious Projector at a Mid-Range Price

The new JMGO N1S Pro projector offers a better picture, more brightness, and upgraded software over the previous model, but you’ll still need to be committed to the projector lifestyle for this to be the home theater solution for you.

JMGO N1S Pro

With 4K resolution, 2,400 ANSI lumens, and a triple laser light source, the N1S Pro projector can deliver a cinematic experience in a compact size.

Pros

• Clever, vertical and horizontal gimbal stand
• Bright enough for most environments
• Google TV provides lots of native content sources

Cons

• Would have liked more RAM (experienced a few times of stuttering)
• More expensive than a massive TV

Price and Availability

The JMGO N1S Pro is available and ships around September 15, 2024, with a retail price of $1,999. This unit is a step-up from the N1S model which came out recently and retails for $999. Currently, the N1S Pro has a $400 coupon available on Amazon making it $1,599.

An Every-Day Projector Suitable For the Average Person

Projectors in 2024 seem to be mostly cheap or really expensive. Either they’re a few hundred dollars or several thousand and meant for specific niche uses. The JMGO N1S Pro, on the other hand, isn’t cheap, but it still seems to be meant for the average TV and movie watcher rather than the high-end professional. Its Pro moniker mostly signifies an excellent picture quality, while all the other details address things that the average person would care about, like being easy to set up and use for just about every kind of streaming service.

The N1S Pro nails all the basics and will give you the opportunity for a 180-inch image, although the company recommends using it at a 100-inch size. Because of its brightness level (2,400 lumens), it works fine during the day in a semi-bright room but is excellent in a darkened room or after dusk.

It includes some advanced specs like a triple color laser, 110% BT.2020 color gamut, 1,600:1 contrast ratio, and HDR 10 support. Its technical prowess still seems in service of an easy-to-use projector that anyone can turn on and enjoy at any point. The magical part is the bottom of the stand, which spins. So, with only a few touches, you can angle it left or right and then up and down to fit its picture to your screen. Once the N1S Pro detects that it’s been moved, it performs its automatic keystone correction—though that can be turned off in the settings.

The embedded 20W speakers are loud enough to fill a living room, but it does have a 3.5mm jack and Bluetooth 5.1 if you’d rather go that route for audio. I was thoroughly impressed with the speakers and liked them enough to use them most of the time. That way, everything was self-contained.

N1S Pro Compared to the N1 Pro

Out with the old and in with the new, kind of. The N1S Pro is an interesting product in that it provides a meaningful update to the previous model, but it’s not so much better that past buyers should be kicking themselves. Here’s what’s new.

The brightness is the main upgrade. The N1S Pro has 2,400 ANSI lumens, compared to the N1 Pro’s 1,500 CVIA lumens. While the other one wasn’t a slouch in this area, the enhanced brightness is noticeable. It was accommodating in more areas of my house where I used the projector.

The N1S also got a resolution bump to 4K UHD, up from 1080P. Again, considering that a lot of content gets streamed at less-than-ideal resolutions, the previous unit wasn’t bad, but I instantly noticed the improvement in clarity.

The software on board changed from Android TV to Google TV. This might not sound too different, but it is. Google TV is significantly more robust and brings a lot more content, including native Netflix support.

Beyond those three pillars, the N1S supports local and external 3D sources, compared to only local 3D sources for the N1 Pro. And Bluetooth got a tiny bump from 5.0 to 5.1.

If you compare the specs, you’ll see the N1S Pro is nearly identical to the model it’s replacing, aside from those things mentioned. That includes keeping the same internals. The projector still includes a MediaTek MT9629 processor, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage. I (mostly) didn’t notice any performance issues.

There was once or twice that I did experience some stuttering or hiccups with streaming videos. But it’s hard to narrow that down to the RAM or processor, as it could have been a background software update or something to do with an internet connection. Still, bumping up the RAM could have gone a long way in future-proofing the device.

Although the main comparison is to last year’s N1 Pro, you shouldn’t forget about the slightly more entry-level JMGO N1S. In this case, it’s a fairly easy distinction to make between the pro and non-pro models. The N1S is a great entry-level or upgraded projector for people with a more constrained budget. But its main differentiator is its smaller size and lighter weight to make the projector easier to move around.

More on the Clever Design

The projector’s interesting design promotes mobility with a built-in gimbal and swivel stand. It’s a clever and useful mechanism, but it also signals that people will constantly need to adjust the projector. That’s true for ones meant to be portable and travel to various rooms and places. Because of the roughly 10-pound weight and size of the JMGO N1S Pro, I’m not sure how many people will actually move this model around much.

It’s a projector right on the line between casual consumers and more professional ones. Its price indicates more dedication to the projector lifestyle, while not all the features and specs might be enough to lure prospective TV buyers to flee from a more traditional television for their living room. I loved using the N1S Pro, but because of its features and design, it’s a bit hard to nail down the right people to recommend it to.

Google TV Is an Upgrade

If you’ve never used Google TV, you’re in for a treat. It’s comprehensive, able to pull in content from all kinds of sources as well as ties into Google Home, and has decent settings available. While I have a little more affection for Apple’s tvOS, featured on the Apple TV box, Google TV is a worthwhile alternative. (And you can always plug an Apple TV into the N1S Pro or download Apple’s TV app to watch all the shows and movies in your library or stream Apple TV+ content.)

Going back and trying Android TV on the N1 Pro was a stark reminder of how far embedded entertainment software has come in just a couple of years. There is much less need to actually plug anything into the projector’s ports if you can get all of your 4K content from subscribing to various services.

For those curious, all the projector’s hardware settings are interwoven into the settings panel of the Google TV software. Beyond the basics like display and sound, there’s a dedicated “Projector” section for changing the projection orientation, smart eye protection, keystone correction, and similar items.

The N1S Pro remote gets updated from last year’s model to include YouTube, Netflix, and Prime Video buttons, and gets taller, but otherwise remains the same.

Should You Buy the JMGO N1S Pro?

The JMGO N1S Pro might be advertised as a “pro” model, but it’s priced slightly more competitively for a 4K projector with 2,400 ANSI lumens. For its full $1,999 price or $1,599 on sale, you’ll get a huge 100-inch picture (capable of up to 180 inches) that can be a movie lover’s dream.

There’s a lot to like about this updated model, such as Google TV software for native Netflix support, as well as a killer gimbal stand. The vertical and horizontal adjustments are so easy to make that it’s hard to leave the unit alone sometimes.

Despite some of its modern sensibilities, the project still needs a bulky AC power adapter that gets quite warm. But overall, there’s just not much to complain about. Since the price is more than some 75- or 85-inch TVs, you’ll just have to decide whether the N1S Pro fits within your budget and lifestyle.

JMGO N1S Pro

With 4K resolution, 2,400 ANSI lumens, and a triple laser light source, the N1S Pro projector can deliver a cinematic experience in a compact size.