JMGO N1S 4K Review | Trusted Reviews

Design

• Gimbal design with tripod mount
• HDMI (eARC port)
• Simple, functional Bluetooth remote control

If you sat the JMGO N1S 4K next to the JMGO N1S, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the new one from the old one. That’s not really a criticism, as the design is neat and practical, so why change it?

As with JMGO’s other projectors, this one ships in a hard-shell case that can be used for storage and transport. It’s a clever use of packaging materials and does make this 2kg projector easier to move from one location to another.

The projector is similar to the previous model and, indeed, the larger JMGO N1S Ultimate 4K projector. There’s a neat gimbal stand that makes it easy to quickly angle the projector to point at a screen or wall.

This stand doesn’t rotate on its base, but it’s nice to see a standard tripod mount underneath, so you can mount the projector if you prefer. That’s not a bad idea, as using a tripod will make it easier to get the projector square-on to a screen, avoiding the use of digital corrections.

At the back, there’s a single HDMI input. This has eARC on it, for sending sound the other way to a sound system. It’s likely that you’ll have to choose between external sound or plugging in an external device, such as a PS5 Pro; if you want something with a bit more flexibility, you’ll have to spend more on a projector with multiple HDMI inputs.

There’s just a single button on the projector to turn it on and off, located at the front near the power input. That’s handy for getting started, but it does make it vital that you don’t lose the bundled Bluetooth remote control.

This remote is the same as the one that shipped with the JMGO N1S. It’s compact and neat, with just the bare minimum number of buttons on it. It’s mostly good, but the small cursor pad does makes it easy to accidentally hit the OK button instead.

Features

• Runs Google TV
• Smart auto configuration options
• HDR support

As with the company’s recent projectors and, indeed, the competitions’, the JMGO N1S 4K runs Google TV rather than Android TV. It’s a good choice in that the projector can be configured using the Google Home app on Android or iOS, where as Android TV only supported set up via Android phones.

In practice, it only took me under 10 minutes to have the projector connected to Wi-Fi, linked to my Google Account, and the apps that I mostly use downloaded and ready to go.

App support is generally good from Google TV, with all of the major streaming services supported, including Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Paramount+, Disney+ and NOW all available.

UK catch-up service support is good, with all the main channels there bar BBC iPlayer. If you want to watch BBC content, you’ll need to plug in a streaming stick, such as an Amazon Fire TV 4K Max.

Given that this projector will be moved from place to place, it’s nice to see the full range of auto-setup features, powered by the sensors on the front. These include screen detection, where the projector will resize the image to fit a projector screen, object avoidance, auto focus and auto keystone detection.

While it’s best to line the projector up the best you can, these auto setup routines take the pain out of the last bit of tweaking and generally work very well. I did find that with the screen detection I needed to switch back to manual keystone just to tweak the final image to perfectly fit my screen.

Advanced options include 11 Point white balance correction, and a full Colour tuner that gives you HUE, Saturation and Brightness control over the Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Flesh tone channels. That’s more control than many more expensive projectors offer.

Of course, the only issue with tweaking for one environment is that this projector is likely to move around a bit, so it might be best to stick with the more basic controls for quicker changes when you move around.

There are 10 lamp brightnesses to choose from, plus an Ultra Brightness toggle switch. This is supposed to boost brightness, but it washes out the colours; I wouldn’t use it.

Performance

• Natural colours
• Even brightness
• HDR10 support

The previous model had a brightness of 850 ISO Lumens, but this has been boosted to 1100 ISO Lumens (that’s close to 1375 ANSI lumens). While a fair way off from the JMGO N1S Ultimate 4K’s 3500 Lumens, the level of brightness here makes this projector far more usable than the previous model.

There’s not enough brightness from this projector to work well in full sunlight, but during the day, a slightly darkened room is all you need to get a viewable picture at 80-inches plus.

As seems to be standard for these kinds of projectors, the JMGO N1S 4K has a 1.2:1 throw ratio, so it doesn’t need to be put too far back to get project a big image.

This projector has the same MALC 2.0 Triple Laser Optics, which delivers a 1600:1 FOFO Contrast Ratio, the same as on the bigger JMGO N1S Ultimate 4K.

To get the 4K picture, this DLP projector uses a single 1080p DMD chip and XPR technology. With XPR, the DMD chip is shifted four times per second to build up a 4K image. It’s a technology that has become better over time, and there’s no way to tell that this isn’t a ‘real’ 4K image, with sharp text right down to small font sizes.

There’s the same limitation that 4K content is locked to 60Hz, so it’s not an ideal projector for high-end gaming, and all other content has to be matched to 60Hz. For that reason, a little bit of motion compensation does help.

There’s only HDR10 support and no advanced HDR formast, such as Dolby Vision. It’s a shame, given that Dolby Vision is now a well supported projector format, and its dynamic metadata makes a big difference to HDR content. Still, HDR support of some kind is better than nothing.

Generally, the JMGO N1S 4K is a joy to watch. Its brightness levels and high standard contrast ratio do make the most of darker content. In the opening funeral scene of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the young ape’s face is rendered in plenty of detail; in fact, there’s not much difference between the picture here and the picture on the JMGO N1S 4K Ultra.

Not having higher peak brightness does impact HDR. As soon as the flames are lit in that scene, the apes are detailed in the shadow parts of the image, but the flames don’t pop out of the screen in the way that they do with a brighter projector or high-end TV.

With the running wheel scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the wheel isn’t as bright as with other projectors, and there’s not quite as much detail through the scene, even if the overall image is pleasing.

When watching a bright scene, such as the forest in Apes, the projector is more natural than vibrant. With a brighter projector, the forest pops out of the screen and comes to life; here, it’s a bit more muted. It’s pleasant enough but doesn’t quite pop in the same way.

Similarly, in Andor, the wheat fields of Mina-Rau feel natural but don’t quite have the golden glow that brighter projectors can manage.

Give the projector a higher-quality input, such as the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, and it’s capable of doing it justice. Uniform brightness, spot-on sharpness and natural colours look great, and it’s nice to see the films on a properly big screen. Again, the brightness does limit the highs of the HDR content, although there’s better contrast through the image than without.

Both Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD are supported, along with Dolby Audio. Dual 5W speakers are included in the case, the same as with the previous model.

They’re not going to outdo a proper soundbar, but they’re more than good enough for their intended purpose. Loud enough to fill a room, without distortion, and a semblance of bass that can do justice to most soundtracks.

Sure, there’s no sense of surround sound, and there’s not the deep bass that you’d want from a film’s soundtrack, but given the size of the projector, the audio is impressive.

There’s no backlight replacement, but the triple laser source is rated at 30,000 hours, so the projector will last for years, even if you watched it eight hours per day.

Should you buy it?