Review Date March 17, 2011

Optoma Neo-i

  • Pros

    Connects to computers and almost any video source. Includes iPod dock. Surprisingly good image quality for pico projector engine.

  • Cons Although the audio system is adequate, with sufficient volume for a small group, it's not particularly high quality audio.
  • Bottom Line

    Part home entertainment projector and part iPod dock, the Optoma Neo-i delivers both suitable audio and better image quality than you might expect from its pico projector engine.

By M. David Stone

Depending on your point of view, the Optoma Neo-i ($450 street) is a projector with an iPod dock, an iPod dock with a built-in projector, or a new category of product altogether. It's actually all three of these things at once. But don't be mislead into thinking the Neo-i is strictly an iPod or iPhone accessory—It's a capable projector even for people who don't own anything with the Apple name on it. (Yes, there really are some of us.) As the Neo-i includes standard connectors for computers and other video sources besides an iPod, and Optoma is in the business of building projectors, we decided to treat it primarily as a projector.

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According to Optoma, what you might call the actual projector in the Neo-i—meaning the engine and the lens—is essentially identical to the Editors' Choice Optoma PK301 Pico Pocket Projector ($400 street, 4 stars) that I reviewed last April. It's built around the same 854 by 480 DLP chip and claims the same 50-lumen brightness, as well as matching most other specifications point for point.

The basic difference between the two projectors is the case that the engine is mounted in. Where the PK301 is a pico projector that weighs 9 ounces and can fit in a shirt pocket, the Neo-i is a table-top unit that weighs 2.2 pounds and measures 3.1 by 12.8 by 8.9 inches (HWD).

The Neo-i is actually smaller than the dimensions suggest, thanks to its oval shape. However, the case is large enough to leave plenty of room for two 8-watt speakers for the stereo audio system, and, of course, for the iPod dock on the top. The projector comes with a variety of adaptors that Optoma says will let you plug in any version of the iPod or iPhone that includes video, and Optoma also sells an optional connection kit ($40 street) for an iPad. Just put in the right adaptor, and you can slip your iPhone or iPad into the dock to show videos or stills. As I've already mentioned, though, the Neo-i offers other connection choices too.

Projector Basics
A big part of what makes the Neo-i more than just an iPod dock are the three connectors on the back: A VGA port for a computer or component video, an HDMI connector for a computer or video source, and a miniplug AV input for composite video and stereo audio. The miniplug input is fully equivalent to the more common choice of offering three RCA-phono plugs. In fact, Optoma also supplies an adaptor that plugs into the AV input on one end and offers three phono plug jacks on the other, so you can plug in a standard composite video cable.

Setup is standard fare. There's no zoom, so you have to adjust size by moving the projector closer to or further from the screen, then focus using the manual focus ring. You can also switch between sources and adjust settings, using either the credit-card size remote or the touch sensitive controls on the rear top of the projector. All of the controls light up when you touch one, which is more than a little helpful if you have the lights turned down.

When I reviewed the PK301, I pointed out that for a pico projector, its 50-lumen rating put it very much in a league of its own, well ahead of the 30-lumen rating for the Samsung SP-H03 ($300 street, 3.5 stars), which is the second brightest pico projector we've tested. The Neo-i, based on the same engine, is obviously in the same league, although you could argue whether it really counts as a pico projector, given the size.

Interestingly, despite having the same brightness rating, and despite being built around the same projector engine, the Neo-i was actually brighter than the PK301 I originally reviewed. I measured the Neo-i at 57 lumens compared with 38 for the PK301, enough of a difference to be noticeable. Some of that difference could be a simple variation from one unit to the next. However, Optoma says that the engine in the Neo-i is implemented slightly differently, and that even current versions of the PK301 have been tweaked to offer better brightness. (Optoma even sent me a current PK301 to test, and, indeed, its brightness is a match for the Neo-i.)

In any case, I found the projector could throw a 44-inch wide image (51-inch diagonal at 1080 resolution) that was bright enough for my tastes to stand up to the ambient light in a typical family room at night, and impressively bright and when I turned the lights off for theater dark lighting.

Image Quality
The image also stands out for its quality. The Neo-i simply blows away every other pico projector we've tested, including the original version of the PK301. I took advantage of the HDMI port to connect to a DVD player set to upconvert to 1080i, the highest resolution the Neo-i can accept.

In theater dark lighting, colors in my tests popped off the screen. I saw no sign of motion artifacts or posterization, and the projector did a good job with skin tones and with maintaining shadow detail in dark areas, even in scenes that many standard projectors—let alone pico projectors—have problems with.

I also saw very little rainbow effect—the tendency single chip DLP projectors have for light areas to break up into the primary colors red, green, and blue when you move your eye or an object moves on screen. Some projectors are more prone to this effect than others, and some people see it more easily than others. The effect was so slight with Neo-i in my tests, that even if you're sensitive to it, as I am, you probably won't see it often enough to find it bothersome.

I also took a look at a movie playing directly from an iPod with 480p output. The resolution was lower, obviously, but the overall image quality was just as impressive otherwise, and far above the minimum acceptable level for watching a full length movie comfortably.

Audio Quality and Other Issues
The audio system in the Neo-i is best described as highly usable, but not terrific, with a bit of a hollow effect. On the other hand, it's loud enough for a family-room setting, clear enough so words are easily understandable, and no worse than you would find in a typical TV set.

You don't have to have an Apple product to consider getting the Neo-i, but if you have one, the argument for getting it is much stronger. Given an iPod or iPhone stocked with movies or your own photos and video, the Neo-i may well be the most convenient way to show them at large size and with much better image quality than you might have expected. That's easily enough to make the Neo-i an Editors' Choice.

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David Stone
By M. David Stone Lead Analyst Printers, Scanners & Projectors


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