Samsung just announced The Freestyle, a small portable projector that looks like a lot of fun. They really stepped up their promo game because I really want this in my room now.
The Freestyle by Samsung: A fun and portable projector
The projector is quite small and light, weighing 0.83kg. It can project a display of between 30 to 100-inches at 1080p resolution. It’s rated for 550 lumens, which is not very impressive, as most home theatre projectors need about 1000 lumens. It’s still miles ahead of other similar products like the Sony LSPX-P1, which can only project with up to 100 lumens.
One of the coolest things about this projector is that it automatically adjusts to its position. You can project at almost any angle and it will focus and stretch the image so it looks like a flat-screen. The Freestyle can also swivel up to 180-degrees and is meant to be able to project on walls, ceilings, and even the floor.
Samsung really highlights the flexibility of this device by offering a socket adapter that lets you screw it into a standard E26 light socket for power, allowing for projections on your tables and desks.
You can scale the display down up to 50% and move it around to adjust the position. Your wall doesn’t even have to be white, as it automatically adjusts to the color of the background.
It comes with a 360-degree speaker and a microphone for Bixby or Alexa voice commands. There’s also a micro HDMI and USB-C port on the side, with touch controls on the front. The Freestyle is powered via USB-C or external batteries that support USB-PD and 50W/20V output or above.
Since Samsung already makes smart TVs, they essentially put the same software onto this projector, meaning this device can do anything a Samsung smart TV can do, such as launch Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Casting to the TV is available with both Android and iOS. The device can also mirror a Samsung Smart TV to play the exact same content at the same time.
If you want to vibe out, you can put on the translucent lens cap and turn on ambient mode. This allows the Freestyle to display visual effects that match the music currently playing.
The Freestyle is currently available for pre-order in the US for USD 899.99 (~RM3,774) and will be expanding to other regions soon.
We also covered another projector by JMGO that can project up to 100-inches, but it’s hard to compare them. The JMGO projector can go up to 4K resolution, but is not portable at all and costs 2,999 USD (about RM12,436). Samsung’s Freestyle on the other hand is extremely portable and costs less than a third of the price.
