The summer is coming. You sit on the terrace with friends in the evening. If you still want to watch an episode of Netflix together, or share holiday photos, a portable projector such as the Philips PicoPix MaxTV is a great solution. We test whether he is well equipped for this.
Philips PicoPix Max TV
Recommended retail price €899 euros
What Full HD DLP projector with LED light source
Setup 1920 x 1080, 1.2 projection ratio (100 inches diagonal at 2.65 m)
Connections 1x HDMI (2.0), 1x USB (media), 1x USB-C (video), 1x optical digital out, 1x headphones
Lamp Life LED light source, up to 30,000 hours
Extras HDR10, HLG, 2x 12 Watt speaker, built-in battery, Android TV 10, auto keystone, autofocus, built-in wifi, bluetooth
Dimensions 158 x 150 x 119mm
Weight 1.96 kg
Website www.philips.nl 7 Score 70 
- Pros
- Good image quality (in SDR)
- A total Android TV
- Built-in battery
- LED light source lasts a long time
- Powerful sound
- Negatives
- Light output on the low side
- Autofocus and light sensor sometimes intervene unnecessarily
- HDR image shows clipping and banding
Screeneo, the manufacturer that makes these projectors under the Philips brand name, has clearly wasted no effort on a hip design. The MaxTV is a glossy black cube with rounded edges. No frills, nice colors or design accents, but it is handy. You slide the lens cover down at the front, connect a source at the back and you’re done. Touch keys, including a handy autofocus key, are within easy reach at the top.
The built-in battery is good for four hours according to the specification. We got two hours out of it, if we put the LED lights on the brightest setting. Even that is enough for an average movie.
Connect and set up quickly
An 80 inch image requires that you place the projector 2.1m from the wall. You just place it on a table, point it at the wall, and let autofocus do its work. Vertical trapezoidal distortion may correct the auto keystone itself. Horizontal trapezoidal distortion can be corrected with four-point correction, which is not automatic. The lens does not deliver perfect focus, there is some slight chromatic aberration. But that seems to be the case with most projectors in this category.
It will also rarely disturb, because the deviation is small. Strangely enough, the autofocus also regularly decided to make adjustments, without anything having changed in the setup. Fortunately, you can disable this function via the menus. The cooling fan sometimes makes a somewhat irritating, but fortunately not too loud noise.
For a portable projector you get quite a lot of connection options. In addition to the HDMI 2.0 connection, there is also a USB-C connection for video. The latter is ideal for laptops, Philips also supplies a USB-C cable (and HDMI cable). You can supply media via the USB-A port. For audio there is a headphone jack and an optical digital output. Note that the HDMI port does not have ARC. WiFi and Bluetooth are provided for all your streaming needs.
Streaming plenty
A good smart TV environment can sometimes go wrong with projectors. It is therefore a pleasant surprise that this Philips offers a full Android TV environment (version 10). And by that we mean that you will find all the apps you expect on a smart TV. YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV and so on. You can of course also cast and media that you offer on a USB stick can be played via VLC.
The small projector also provides a smooth user experience. There is little to experience in the settings, in that area the projector is very rudimentary. Well, you don’t calibrate on a portable projector, but you assume that you can’t adjust very much. Some of the settings are in a completely separate menu. That’s not a problem, but it does reveal a striking feature. After all, the small remote works via Bluetooth within Android TV, so there’s no need to aim. Only in that separate menu does the remote work with IR, so you have to aim well.
The remote control is also very simple, but that never bothered. There are shortcuts for Netflix, Prime Video and the Google Assistant, because yes, you can also enter voice commands. We would only have liked to see a button for picture mode or lamp mode.
Nice picture, but lacks light
Light output is the most important characteristic for a portable projector, as it often has to do its job under less than ideal conditions. The 350 lumens that we measure, with the lamp in the brightest position, therefore seems a bit below expectations.
The projector already states on the box that it is best used in a dark room, but even then you should limit yourself to about 85 inches screen diagonal. If there is ambient light, it is best to limit the screen to 60 inches. The contrast is also only moderate, depending on the image mode somewhere between 300 and 450:1. So stick to clear, colorful content as much as possible, the projector can make something beautiful out of that.
Dark films or sequences look very grey, and also lose quite a bit of shadow detail. On a uniformly dark test image, the projector colored the right half, and especially the right quarter of the image somewhat magenta/red. We asked Philips for a second copy, which showed the same problem but slightly less intense. Fortunately, in practice this rarely showed through in the image. Not a showstopper, but a strange flaw.
The calibration in SDR is solid. The MaxTV also supports HDR10 and HLG, but the HDR calibration falls short. Those images are too dark and often excessively colored. In the brightest shades, he not only often loses white detail, but sometimes visible color bands are also created.
This Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) projector does not provide much image processing. There is no noise reduction, but fortunately projection is a bit more tolerant of noise. Motion interpolation is also missing. In film pans you can also see a characteristic stutter, as on most DLP projectors.
The small Philips scores some extra points for sound. Since it aims to be a simple total solution, that is a great asset. The 2x 12 Watt provides a solid sound, with a lot of volume. The sound is also well balanced. Not too shrill, with a big bass part that doesn’t dominate. You can use the projector as a Bluetooth speaker.
Conclusion
You can still not expect performance from a portable projector that is close to a home cinema. The light output and contrast of these projectors, and therefore also this Philips, are a bit too limited for that. HDR is still such a tricky hurdle, even for the more expensive models, and unfortunately all the more so for this one.
But fair is fair, the Philips is not without merit. In SDR, it delivers very nice images, as long as you opt for bright, colorful content. The projector delivers a full Android TV experience, including all major streaming services. The built-in battery is just enough for a full movie. And thanks to the powerful audio performance, you don’t have to look for an extra Bluetooth speaker.
You can take the compact projector with you to friends or family without much fuss. Darken the room, connect it to a laptop if necessary, and you can enjoy a large image.
†