Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K SE review: this well-priced 4K smart projector just rocketed its way to the top of my wishlist

Why you tin spot TechRadar We walk hours testing each merchandise aliases work we review, truthful you tin beryllium judge you’re buying nan best. Find retired much astir really we test.

Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K SE: two-minute review

The Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K SE is simply a laser and LED smart projector tin of projecting 4K Dolby-Vision-enhanced imagery up to 200 inches. It was first released successful nan US, followed by nan UK successful August and September 2024 for a database value of $1,299.99 / £1,299.99.

It's cheaper than its predecessor, nan Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K, which has an other 400 ANSI lumens of brightness, and a afloat laser ray source, compared to nan 4K SEs laser and LED HybridBeam. The Nebula Cosmos 4K SE has plentifulness to boast astir though, pinch Google TV built-in, offering effortless entree to celebrated streaming apps for illustration Netflix and Disney+, and galore different useful apps, arsenic 1 would expect from Google. There’s decent support for outer contented too, pinch HDMI and USB-C ports making it elemental to link a disc thrust aliases laptop.

The Nebula Cosmos 4K SE has a stated brightness of 1,800 ANSI lumens – this is immoderate measurement short of astir of nan best 4K projectors. Our testing didn’t supply results to get excited about, pinch measurements taken including 122 nits highest brightness, which wasn’t radically different from nan BenQ v5000i, and grayscale accuracy of 8, positive a colour accuracy of 3.4.

Coverage of nan UHDA-P3 colour gamut came successful astatine 88.9%, pinch BT.2020 reference 76.3%. The input lag measured up, pinch 35ms of lag successful Game Mode Standard, and 18.5ms successful Game Mode Extreme.

Real-time autofocus, car keystone correction, and car surface fresh worked good erstwhile projected onto mini targets, but I recovered I had to manually change nan 4 keystone points to get nan image to beryllium centrally (just about) connected my 100-inch screen. I could only watch astatine 60 inches, arsenic I lacked nan abstraction to person nan projector nan required 7.8ft / 2.4 meters distant from nan screen. If you person your bosom group connected getting nan afloat movie theatre acquisition without having to ammunition retired connected a location extension, I’d urge taking a look astatine our prime of nan Best ultra short propulsion projectors instead.

When it comes to nan capacity of nan opposition and brightness erstwhile watching content, darker scenes successful movies and TV shows pinch a acheronian artistic were plagued by pixelated grays wherever darker areas would different beryllium visible while watching connected a TV. This isn’t wholly uncommon for projectors, arsenic producing dense blacks is people difficult fixed really nan image is generated, but I can’t opportunity that it didn’t subtract from nan different fabulous viewing experience. Scenes successful Damsel and Prometheus in peculiar showcased nan Cosmos 4K SE’s expertise to present stunningly vivid colour and intricate details, nary uncertainty acknowledgment to nan summation of Dolby Vision. This, on pinch nan 2 built-in 15-watt Dolby-Audio-enabled speakers made watching movies and bid pinch this projector a satisfyingly immersive experience. You tin publication further specifications astir this successful nan Picture Quality conception below.

In a nutshell, provided you person nan abstraction to execute nan surface size you want, you’re happy watching contented successful small much than a dim light, and you person nan abstraction to spot this chonky illustration of a portable projector, I’d highly urge nan Nebula Cosmos 4K SE.

Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K SE review: value and availability

• List price: $1,299.99 / £1,299.99
• Available successful nan US and nan UK
• Released successful August / September 2024

The Nebula Cosmos 4K SE became disposable successful nan US successful August 2024, followed by nan UK successful September 2024, astatine a database value of $1,299.99 / £1,299.99. Apart from nan Amazon Prime Day sales, erstwhile it dropped to $999 / £999, which Anker matched connected nan Nebula website, nan costs of nan Nebula Cosmos 4K SE looks to person remained astatine its accustomed price. At nan clip of writing, nan Cosmos 4K SE is not disposable successful Australia.

While improbable to beryllium a spontaneous acquisition astatine this price, nan Nebula Cosmos 4K SE is still miles cheaper than each but 1 successful our prime of nan best 4K projectors.

Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K SE review: specs

Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K SE review: creation and features

• Google TV built-in
• Large but technically portable
• Efficient auto-correction and calibration features

The Nebula Cosmos 4K SE conscionable astir classes arsenic portable, though it is simply a spot of a chonk, weighing successful astatine 4.5kg /9.9lb, and pinch dimensions of 10.4 x 8.7 x 6.5 inches / 264 x 221 x 165mm. I was capable to prime it up and transportation it about, but I had to beryllium observant astir it. It would beryllium moreover much of a hassle if it wasn't for nan helpful, and comfortable silicone inbuilt grip that protrudes from nan apical of nan projector body.

This projector is solely mains-powered, pinch nary built-in artillery aliases compatible artillery pack. So while you mightiness beryllium capable to transportation it outside, you'll request to person entree to a suitable powerfulness outlet for al fresco viewing.

The Nebula Cosmos 4K SE uses its HybridBeam, which is simply a combo of laser and LED, to make images pinch up to a specified 1,800 ANSI lumens of brightness. The car surface adjustment, car keystone, and autofocus features did a awesome occupation of projecting images that were rectangular and crisp for nan astir part, particularly erstwhile projecting onto smaller targets, which for maine successful peculiar was nan wall abstraction adjacent to my bed. However, I recovered I was constricted to conscionable 60 inches erstwhile trying to watch connected my 100-inch screen. This forced maine to make usage of nan four-point manual keystone correction, arsenic nan Cosmos 4K SE insisted connected fixing nan 60-inch projection to nan upper-left area of nan surface each time, which looked each kinds of wrong. After immoderate investigating, I learned that nan 4K SE needs to beryllium astatine slightest 7.8 feet / 2.4 meters distant from nan target to task astatine 90 inches aliases above. I was utilizing nan projector successful rather a ample room, truthful this seems reasonably limiting.

Anker claims that it’s imaginable to watch a 60-inch projection successful a well-lit room pinch windows and indirect daylight, but unfortunately, I must disagree. The issues I’ve already mentioned regarding nan opposition and achromatic density were erstwhile watching successful darkness. When I tried to watch pinch further ray sources immoderate stronger than nan colorful LED strips down my TV, this opposition rumor sewage worse, and thing much than very dim sunlight made it very difficult to spot astir of what was going connected successful immoderate I was watching.

Having a ray root successful nan room besides plays havoc pinch nan Wall Color Calibration feature, which is intended to change nan coloring of nan projection truthful that it still looks correct sloppy of nan colour of nan wall you’re projecting against. I tested this retired successful our TechRadar euphony room, which is painted a heavy teal color. When I tried this pinch immoderate indirect sunlight coming from nan mini model acold complete to nan correct connected nan aforesaid wall I was projecting onto, nan “color corrected” image had an off-putting bluish tint to it. When I repeated nan calibration pinch nan lights off, it worked perfectly, and I was really impressed.

I recovered nan Nebula Cosmos 4K SE easy to power acknowledgment to nan backlit distant control's useful sound adjunct feature, arsenic I could inquire Google to whisk maine consecutive to nan contented I wanted. The Nebula Connect app besides worked good arsenic a distant control, too.

I emotion that nan Nebula Cosmos 4K SE comes pinch Google TV built-in, arsenic successful my acquisition it has proven to beryllium nan astir businesslike Android TV OS by far. As expected, it provides entree to each of nan celebrated streaming apps for illustration Netflix, Disney Plus, Prime Video, and Apple TV, positive easy entree to YouTube, naturally. It's elemental to entree contented from outer sources too, acknowledgment to nan USB-C input and nan 2 HDMI ports, 1 of which is simply a HDMI 2.1 (eARC), supporting 4K visuals astatine 60 hertz, pinch lossless transmission.

When it comes to audio output, nan Nebula Cosmos 4K SE has 2 built-in 15-watt speakers enabled pinch Dolby Audio. I didn't observe immoderate issues pinch nan sound value during my testing, I was very satisfied pinch nan quality. I would person picked up rather quickly if location were immoderate issues that a emblematic personification would announcement – I've tested a batch of Bluetooth speakers successful my clip truthful I will spot from a mile disconnected mediocre clarity aliases if nan bass and treble are beneath par.

• Design score: 4/5

Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K SE review: image quality

• Beautifully vivid color
• Disappointing deficiency of contrast
• Immersive cinematic experience

When I sewage my hands connected nan Cosmos 4K SE, I was really excited to effort it out. I'd antecedently tested nan Nebula Mars 3 Air backmost successful my freelancing days, which I loved, truthful I was expecting large things from nan 4K SE.

After letting it lukewarm up for an hour, myself and my workfellow James conducted tests to measure nan projector's capabilities. The highest brightness, erstwhile viewing successful Movie Mode and measured connected a achromatic 10% model pattern, was 122 nits successful SDR, which isn't acold disconnected nan highest brightness reference we sewage for nan much costly BenQ v5000i, and 119 successful HDR, surpassing nan reference we sewage for nan BenQ.

The colour capacity figures that resulted from our testing didn't rustle maine away, but astatine this value and for casual viewing, I tin forgive nan Cosmos 4K SE for this. The projector achieved a Grayscale accuracy of 8, and a 3.4 for colour accuracy, which was conscionable a whisker disconnected our target level of 3.

Coverage of nan BT.2020 scored 76.3%, and nan UHDA-P3 colour gamut sum was besides thing to outcry astir astatine 88.9% meaning that, though nan colors were satisfyingly vivid, they weren't arsenic rich | and varied arsenic those projected by nan LG CineBeam Q, which gave an awesome reference of 98.7%. These trial figures were obtained while viewing successful HDR Movie Mode. The input lag successful Game Mode Standard was 35ms, and successful Gaming Mode Extreme was 18.5ms, which supports Anker's claims of nan 4K SE being debased latency pinch nether 19ms of lag and should fulfill nan mostly of casual gamers.

In position of nan brightness and opposition erstwhile viewing location were mixed results. In lighter scenes, nan whites and colors were satisfyingly agleam and dazzling, but nan handling of nan opposition successful acheronian scenes near a batch to beryllium desired. The first movie I watched connected nan Cosmos 4K SE was Damsel connected Netflix, starring Millie Bobby Brown. I tin easy jump consecutive into each nan positives, arsenic I was stunned by nan beautiful imagery that nan projector delivered, but I'll get nan antagonistic retired of nan measurement first. It was clear reasonably early connected that location was a opposition issue.

When nan main characteristic Elodie enters a acheronian cave, each item is mislaid astir her, pinch stonework being replaced pinch grey pixelated sections. Achieving a value heavy achromatic tin beryllium difficult for projectors, particularly those that don't person afloat laser optical exertion – pinch a 238:1 opposition ratio reference from nan Cosmos 4K SE, it’s hardly astonishing that it didn’t execute brilliantly successful this area. Aside from this, location were truthful galore scenes that took advantage of nan projector's strengths, apt owed to nan beingness of Dolby Vision. The scenes involving nan luminescent grubs and nan crystal caves were visually stunning, pinch nan vivid colors and clarity making Damsel a delight to watch.

During nan opening series of Prometheus, nan level of brightness was impressive, arsenic was nan colour density. The delicate specifications connected nan spaceship arsenic it came successful to onshore were visible and clear, arsenic were nan pores and veins connected nan Engineer's face. The level of intricacy successful nan DNA scenes erstwhile nan strands were getting affected by nan achromatic pathogen highly impressed maine too. The segment that really caught my attention, though, was erstwhile David has a driblet of Chemical A0-3959X.91 connected nan extremity of his finger. The close-up shots of this were visually stunning, truthful overmuch truthful that I started to cipher rather really I could incorporated a projector surface into my surviving room connected a imperishable basis. Despite nan darker scenes successful Maleficent and Damsel noticeably lacking contrast, akin scenes look to beryllium handled amended successful Prometheus; they still weren't perfect, but darker specifications were much visible.

Despite my undeniable admiration of nan Nebula Cosmos 4K SE, I wouldn't urge it to anyone who regularly enjoys programs pinch a darker aesthetic. Series for illustration Marvel's Daredevil return a existent deed owed to nan deficiency of bully contrast, making nan scenes look grainy and low-quality.

In Avengers: Age of Ultron, playback was soft during aggravated conflict scenes, pinch nan images remaining crisp and precocious quality, contempt nan accelerated movement. The item is awesome erstwhile again, pinch nan intricate weave of nan cloth of Hawk Eye's suit intelligibly visible.

Despite my undeniable admiration of nan Nebula Cosmos 4K SE, I wouldn't urge it to anyone who regularly enjoys programs pinch a darker aesthetic, moreover erstwhile watching successful nan dark. Series specified arsenic Marvel's Daredevil return a existent deed owed to nan deficiency of bully contrast, making nan scenes look grainy and low-quality, which is simply a existent shame considering nan projector's fabulous capacity successful different areas.

• Picture value score: 4/5

Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K SE review: value

• Good image value for nan price
• Delivers a satisfying at-home cinema experience
• Uses Laser and LED hybrid optical technology

At $1,299.99 / £1,299.99, nan Nebula Cosmos 4K SE is $400 / £400 cheaper than nan erstwhile model, nan Nebula Cosmos 4K, contempt nan 4K SE having a ample projection range, Google TV built in, and Dolby Vision. This value quality is apt owed to nan 400 further ANSI lumens and, much importantly, owed to nan original 4K utilizing a laser ray source, compared to nan 4K SE's laser and LED HybridBeam, which could explicate its lackluster brightness.

Overall, nan viewing acquisition was awesome erstwhile successful a dimly lit room, and nan sound value was spot on. It was for illustration having a pop-up cinema, pinch beautifully vivid colors and nary problems pinch fast-paced scenes. The downsides can't beryllium ignored, however, pinch a deficiency of opposition successful immoderate darker scenes erstwhile watching successful nan dark, and a distractingly bad deficiency of opposition and brightness issues erstwhile watching successful nan light, contempt viewing astatine nan projection size that Anker claims would beryllium visible successful a well-lit environment.

While it's beautiful chunky, and not precisely an charismatic summation to nan decor unless it's situated successful a casual TV and gaming den, it feels suitably robust for nan price. While nan size and weight initially made maine mobility its evident portability, this weight pales successful comparison to different 4K projectors specified arsenic nan Samsung The Premiere 9, and nan transportation grip decidedly makes moving it astir a simpler task. If nan Nebula Cosmos 4K SE mightiness upset your Feng Shui, past fearfulness not, arsenic much charismatic alternatives are available, specified arsenic nan LG CineBeam Q, which you tin study a small much astir successful nan Also Consider conception below.

• Value score: 4/5

Should I bargain nan Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K SE?

Buy it if

Don't bargain it if

Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K SE review: besides consider

How I tested nan Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K SE

• Tested astatine location and successful nan TechRadar euphony and TV testing rooms
• Tested successful different lighting conditions
• Measurements were made utilizing Calman colour calibration software

I sewage nan Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K SE setup and had an research astir nan disposable features, apps, and settings. I tried retired nan various show presets to find nan astir satisfying action for casual viewing. I watched respective films, series, and online contented to found really good nan projector handled nan different aesthetics. I tested nan visibility of nan projection by watching successful full darkness, minimal lighting, and daylight.

My colleague, TV master James, and I, measured nan achromatic equilibrium (grayscale), gamma, and colour constituent accuracy utilizing Portrait Displays’ Calman colour calibration software. The results provided Delta-E values (the separator of correction betwixt nan trial shape root and what’s shown on-screen) for each category, providing america pinch figures to measure nan projector’s wide accuracy.

We besides ran tests to get measurements of nan highest ray output successful some modular and precocious move scope modes, and measured nan sum of DCI-P3 and BT.2020 colour space, to get readings that find really good nan projector tin render nan extended colour range. Finally, we measured nan opposition ratio, determining nan brightest achromatic to nan darkest achromatic that nan projector is tin of displaying, and nan input lag, which is an important reference if you’re looking for a gaming projector successful particular.

Read much astir how we test.

First reviewed October 2024