"Tik Tech": We tested Epson's EF-12 projector -

20 Minutes

  • While the reopening of dark rooms is still not on the agenda, moviegoers are struggling.

  • With images up to 4 meters diagonal, Epson's EF-12 video projector lets you wait for better days and keep your home entertained.

  • Sold for 1,099 euros, it is a simple and efficient device, which has the advantage of being Android TV and having its own sound system.

The beginning of a great home cinema story!

With its EF-12 video projector, Epson promises a practical and elegant connected device to watch everything at home: films, series, television programs, but also to enjoy its video games.

What to wait while waiting for the reopening of the dark rooms.

But can this pretty “pitch” make the EF-12 a blockbuster?

Epson's EF-12 runs on Android TV.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

Compactness and ease of use

Once unpacked, the device surprises with its compactness.

Measuring 17.5 cm square by 13.5 cm high and weighing only 2.5 kilos, the EF-12 also has the luxury of elegance.

Aesthetically, it differs from classic white projectors which recall the ancestral slide projectors.

Epson's EF-12 has a sleek aesthetic.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

Its black dress is more reminiscent of that of Marshall speakers.

To put on a table or a piece of furniture, but also to hang from the ceiling using the supplied fixing system, the EF-12 is satisfied with a white wall to display its images in Full HD 1080p.

Small bonus: the device can even be tilted to project directly… on the ceiling.

The opportunity to make a cozy canvas under your duvet, your head in the pillow ...

Android TV to watch it all

For our test, the EF-12 was simply placed on a coffee table, pointed at a white wall 2.50 meters away.

As soon as it is switched on, the camera automatically performs its focus and keystone correction to display a perfectly rectangular image.

This is necessary if the axis of the projector is slightly offset from the projection surface.

Some manual corrections can fine tune the settings.

In our configuration, the height of the small retractable foot under the device was insufficient.

A good book in support, and voila!

An image up to 4 meters diagonal that impresses.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

Two HDMI sockets (ARC and HDCP 2.3) allow connection to the TV box projector, game console and DVD / Blu-Ray player.

Two USB 2.0 sockets are also part of its range.

But one of the strengths of the EF-12 is that it is Android TV.

Once connected to the Internet, the device can access most TV channels and video streaming platforms.

Among them, YouTube (owned by Google) figures prominently, a dedicated button even integrating the remote control.

Although in simple Full HD, the image of the EF-12 and its more than 2.50 meters base in our configuration still amazed us.

The brightness (1,000 lumens) is largely acceptable if the room is dark, the colors are bright and the contrasts (2,500,000: 1) sufficient.

Missing more than the sound of popcorn from the neighbor next door to believe in the movies!

It seduces the eyes and the ears

Another Android TV specificity: the integration of the Google Assistant.

Here again, a dedicated button on the projector remote control can be used to call up programs by voice.

But one of the strengths of Android TV is that this compatibility makes the projector mobile here.

The EF-12 can thus simply leave the living room to integrate a bedroom or an office according to the desires of each member of the family without having to lug around the reader, console and ad hoc cables.

It only needs to be plugged into the mains and has a Wifi connection to be used.

This mobility is all the easier as the device has its own sound system.

Applications to personalize the projector.

- CAPTURE

Epson had the good idea to entrust the development to Yamaha.

Between Japanese people, we understand each other… The firm, well known in France for its headphones and vinyl turntables, has thus created a 2 x 5 watt 2.0 system for the EF-12.

It is not much, but sufficient to be perfectly audible.

Moreover, the sound level up to 27 db (A) of the EF-12 is quickly covered.

Of course, this won't replace a sound bar for an action movie, but the audio reproduction, on the level of a good television, satisfies the most common uses.

3.32 euros for the cinema at home

On arrival the EF-12 seduces with its discretion, its obvious qualities and its entertainment potential.

A laser projector with an estimated lifespan of 20,000 hours (the equivalent of watching a 90-minute film every day for 10 years), the EF-12 is still quite expensive.

At 1,099 euros the device, the screening of a feature film costs 3.32 euros.

In comparison, a lamp projector can cost less to buy, but will require replacing its bulb (between 100 and 400 euros depending on the model) two to three times during the same ten years.

To spend less, Epson offers its EF-11, a laser projector that takes the characteristics of the EF-12 with two details: it is not Android TV and does not have its sound system.

But it only costs 899 euros.

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