Most of us have dreamed of setting up a proper home cinema. I mean who wouldn’t want to experience the joy of watching a movie from the comfort of your own home, in your favourite chair with a full-fat long-throw projector and multi-speaker 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos surround sound system?
But if you’re like me and many others, actually making that happen is surprisingly difficult. I detailed the problems I had trying to fit a proper surround sound system into my spare room and lounge earlier this year.
But, after helping review more projectors than I care to count as a part of this year’s What Hi-Fi? Awards home-cinema battle royale, I have some good news for all my fellow movie fans. There are alternatives that help bridge the gap between a full-fat home cinema and basic TV setup.
This year, the team and I spotted two cost- and space-efficient projectors that, while not as magical as what you’d get with a set-up like the ones detailed in our Absolute Cinema column, are still wonderfully engaging and fun.
Here’s what you need to know.
The Hisense M2 Pro – an ideal starting point
First up is the Hisense M2 Pro, which is our current Award-winner in the best projector under £1500 category.
It’s one of the latest “coffee table” projectors to hit the market. This is a compelling new form of projector that has been gaining in popularity in recent years thanks to its focus on ease of use.
The units aim to offer a simple “home cinema in a box” experience featuring support for streaming apps, powerful auto correction, short throw distances and baked-in sound systems.
I was involved in reviewing the M2 Pro, and I can confirm that, while the experience isn’t “full fat”, the unit is the best entry point to home cinema I’ve seen this year.
Thanks to its hinge design and intuitive operating system, you can get the tiny unit set up and playing movies within minutes of taking it out of the box.
But, most importantly, it offers a surprisingly mature experience. Unlike rivals, this projector accepts the inherent shortcomings of its form factor and hardware and focuses on consistency.
For example, rather than fall victim to the temptation of trying to make up for its naturally imperfect black level by raising the contrast (resulting in a loss of detail), the unit does the best it can with what it has.
This means that, while its image is noticeably greyer than a more expensive long-throw unit, detail is maintained and the image is holistically better as a result.
The same is true of its stereo speaker system, which never pushes itself too hard. Instead it accepts that it can’t match a proper speaker setup and instead limits itself to operate within its parameters. This means that while it sounds a little thin, it is free of distortion and remains suitably composed, and doesn't distract you from what's playing out on screen.
As we say in our review:
“The Hisense M2 Pro isn’t perfect. But by focusing on making all the right compromises and delivering a consistent, balanced home movie experience, it gets more right than it does wrong. This adds up to make it one of the best coffee-table projectors on the market. Offering solid picture quality, excellent app support and a wonderfully easy set-up process, it ticks all the right boxes for its target market.”
On top of that, I expect the unit to continue dropping in price. Since we reviewed it, the M2 Pro has slowly started enjoying hefty discounts, dropping to as little as £949 right now at select stores.
Based on my experience covering Hisense and past Black Friday shopping events, I have a strong inkling that its price will drop even further in the coming weeks.
Which is why I strongly recommend that buyers who are looking for an easy to use, great-value projector that can be easily stored away, should keep a keen eye on the Hisense M2 Pro this deals season.
The Hisense PL2 – a big screen experience, for those short on space
The Hisense PL2 is the best ultra-short-throw (UST) projector on the market right now. As the name suggests, this is a category of projector designed to be placed incredibly close to a wall.
The PL2 can throw up an image of between 80 and 150-inches from as little as a foot away from the screen – or wall if you’re a philistine.
That makes it a fantastic option for any buyer who wants a discreet unit that doesn’t dominate a room’s feng shui, or one who is short on space but still wants a big-screen home-cinema experience. I fall into the latter camp and use a Hisense PX3 UST in my home study/hobby room for this reason.
Why the PL2 specifically? For very similar reasons to the M2 Pro. For starters, the PL2 is already great value, retailing for less than £1500 right now. More importantly, it offers a consistent, mature picture that is missing on many rival USTs.
Rather than go for “oomph” and crank contrast or colour volumes to eye-catching but horribly artificial levels, the PL2 focuses on uniformity. Which makes it a great performer that makes it easy to focus on what you’re watching, not what the projector is doing.
It also features a Dolby Atmos sound system built in, with upward firing drivers. This is good enough for casual viewing – though I recommend investing in a soundbar system and taking advantage of its eARC connection if you want the best results. Even the entry level Hisense AX5125H will offer better audio.
As we say in our review:
“Hisense’s focus on delivering a balanced picture that accepts the shortcomings inherent to a UST lets the PL2 offer a consistent, controlled picture that never distracts from what’s playing on screen. This, plus its competitive price and advanced features, help the PL2 punch well above its weight and make it an easy recommendation for any movie fan on the hunt for a UST projector.”
If the massive price drops we saw during last year’s Black Friday sale on its predecessor, the PL1, are anything to go by, I’d suggest that any home cinema fan short on space should keep an eye on the PL2 this month. I’m expecting similar discounts to appear over the next few weeks.
If I’m right you may well be able to grab the Award-winning Hisense PL2 for as little as £1200 – a hefty £800 saving on its launch price.
Black Friday quick links
- Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
- B&W speakers: save £200
- Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
- Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
- Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
- Denon AV receiver: save £500
- Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
- ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
- Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
- John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
- Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
- Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
- TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
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