Smart Device Digest

Orbis Mini projector

lowpasslu
· 23 days, one unit, bought at retail

6.2

6.2 out of 10

The Orbis Mini is a perfectly decent small projector wearing a brightness claim that belongs to a different machine. Sold as 600 ANSI lumens; measured at 291. Everything else about it is fine, and if the box had said 300 this would be a 7.5.

What we measured

Brightness
291 ANSI lumens, nine-point average, brightest picture mode, new lamp hours
Contrast, on/off
Roughly 900:1 in a fully dark room
Fan noise
39 dBA at one metre in eco, 47 dBA in standard
Input lag
78 ms, so not for games
Focus drift
Noticeable after twenty minutes as the chassis warms, then stable

Sub-scores

Does the job
4 — it projects a pleasant picture in a dark room at 70 inches. It does not do what the box says, and the box is part of the product.
Build and repair
7 — the lamp module is user-replaceable and the part is stocked, which is genuinely unusual in this price class.
Software and privacy
7 — the built-in launcher is slow but it is optional, and there is a plain HDMI input that works with the launcher never touched.
Noise, heat, power
6 — eco mode is livable, standard is not.
Price honesty
7 — no subscriptions, no bundled streaming trial, lamp priced sensibly.

About that lumen figure

We measure nine points on a 60-inch white screen in a blacked-out room and average them, which is what ANSI means. Makers in this segment routinely quote a “light source” figure taken at the lamp instead, which is two to three times higher and describes nothing you will ever see. Orbis does not say which figure it is quoting, and that omission is deliberate.