Midrange UST projector that lags behind its competitors

Formovie’s Theater took the projector world by storm when it first arrived, offering a triple laser, 150-inch ultra short throw (UST) image and Dolby Vision for $3,000. That was an unheard of price for such a feature set, especially from an unknown brand.

That model helped make Formovie’s name, but $3,000 is still too expensive for a console. To attract more buyers, the company recently introduced the $1,800 Cinema Edge, a more affordable option that still offers a laser light engine, a sharp 4K picture, Google TV streaming and 15-watt stereo speakers.

There are some serious trade-offs, however, notably the absence of a triple laser engine and Dolby Vision, as well as average color accuracy and brightness. The new model also faces serious competition from the likes of Hisense, Epson and Optoma. All of that adds up to a projector that isn’t as exciting as Formovie’s first effort.

Main features of Formovie Cinema Edge

As a reminder, Formovie is a joint venture between Xiaomi and Appotronics (the latter makes laser engines for high-end brands like Barco). Formovie now offers three projector models: the Cinema Edge, the $2,400 Theater and the $3,000 Theater Premium. It also sells a cheap and cheerful Google TV project for $199 for the first episode, a 120-inch high-definition screen and a 100-inch ALR screen.

The Cinema Edge is more compact than the Theater in all dimensions and has a square design and a subtle, dark gray exterior. You can project on a wall, or preferably an ALR glare reduction screen, at a distance of 13 inches for a 120 inch image. All of that makes it smart and allows you to fit it in tight spaces.

The Cinema Edge comes with 15W speakers, but projector purists will undoubtedly want a 5.1 sound system to make the most of the built-in Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD. The Google TV system includes Netflix (unlike the theater at launch) but the processor is soft. That can make adjusting navigation and settings a chore, though it’s par for the course with other projectors I’ve seen, especially the Optoma and HiSense models. As a result, some users may still prefer to use Google TV or another streaming device.

Similar to the Theatre, the Cinema Edge sits on three rather than four rubber feet, which can make it difficult to measure when setting up. Although it supports digital keystone fine-tuning to square the image, that should be used as little as possible, as it reduces image clarity slightly and increases playback delay. Because of that, and the configuration of various applications, the setup took longer than I expected.

Fortunately, there are plenty of inputs to add accessories such as Blu-Ray players, including three HDMI 2.1 ports (one with eArc to restore high quality to your audio system), 3.5mm and optical audio connectors, two USB-C ports for stick power for media/streaming and an ethernet port (and Wi-FI support, of course).

The included remote control is needed to change most settings, control playback and more, and it uses standard batteries that don’t have a charging port. Like most short-throw projectors, the Cinema Edge has a sensor that can detect when someone is getting too close and automatically dim the output so you don’t get laser blasts in your eyes.

Image quality

Like most modern projectors (Epson aside), the Formovie Cinema Edge uses Texas Instruments’ DLP technology that doubles the 1080p image to create a sharp 4K image using so-called fast-shifting pixel switching. It combines that with an RGB+ single-color laser to keep the price down compared to triple-laser setups like the Formovie Theater or Hisense’s $3,500 PX3-Pro.

The Cinema Edge delivers sharp 4K video at up to 2,100 lumens, which is decent, but falls short of rivals like the 2,400-lumen Hisense PX2-Pro or Epson’s EpiQVision Ultra LS650. That last model pumps out 3,600 lumens. However, the Cinema Edge’s brightness level is just enough to watch daytime content, such as Netflix’s. Drive to Survive or live sports on Amazon Prime.

The 4K detail is very good, and something I enjoyed when watching sci-fi series like this The beast, The atmosphere again 3 Physical Problem. Contrast is strong as well, allowing for better viewing of movies with dim scenes like the ones in them The Joker again Batman.

Where the Formovie Cinema Edge struggles compared to the theater model is in color. With its single laser light source, it doesn’t have the amazing BT.2020 100-plus percent color found in the Formovie Theater or Hisense PX2-Pro. It’s also limited to HDR10 support, with higher options like Dolby Vision available on the less expensive Hisense PX2-Pro.

As a result, the visuals are increasingly struggling for similar films Transformers: The Beast Rises again The windwith primary colors failing to pop out of the screen as I have seen on those other models. That said, colors are accurate by default, and there are extensive picture quality settings if you want to fine-tune everything. I noticed some problems related to the lack of good HDR performance, which are the best blown-out photos and some artifacts in the shadows or dark parts of the photos, especially Batman.

Motion smoothing (called MJC in Cinema Edge) is enabled by default, unfortunately, but it’s easy to disable. Aside from that, however, the projector sometimes suffers from some motion blur during fast action sequences, which is common with DLP projectors. For those types of films, I found the low motion smoothness setting to be a good compromise, limiting the soap opera effect while removing any excitement from the intense action scenes.

Cinema Edge isn’t bad for casual gaming, but with a refresh rate limited to 60Hz and an input latency of about 40 milliseconds, you can’t play anything as demanding as fast-paced FPS shooters. For example, I played Resident Evil Village from my Mac with a projector, and the lag, tearing and artifacting made gameplay a challenge.

The speakers provide decent sound quality, with clear voices, music and sounds. However, the bass is thin and there is no sound stage to add realism. Given the projector’s Dolby Atmos and HDMI 2.1 eArc support, anyone serious about sound would want to add external speakers or at least a sound bar.

Finish it

If you think how good Formovie Theater is, Cinema Edge disappoints. Performance is only for the price, with low brightness compared to average color rendering. The built-in Google TV is a bit flimsy, and setup is more difficult than it needs to be due to the lack of a fourth leg. The speaker setup is also fine, with better sound quality available from other Optoma and LG projectors.

The Cinema Edge is still a mid-range UST projector, but the problem with Formovie is that there is a lot of competition in this price range. For just $200 more, you can get the Hisense PX2-Pro triple laser UST projector, which offers high brightness (2,400 lumens), along with Dolby Vision and over 100 percent BT.2020 coverage. Another similarly priced option for $1,800 is the Epson LS650, which offers the same specs but nearly doubles the brightness at 3600 lumens. The Cinema Edge is a great choice if you’re looking for a flexible projector with a small and discreet design, but if brightness and image quality are more important, look elsewhere.