Formovie's Theater took the projector world by storm when it first arrived, offering a triple laser, a 150-inch Ultra Short Throw (UST) image, and Dolby Vision for $3,000. It was a relatively unheard of price for such a feature set, especially for a brand that almost no one knew about.
That model helped make Formovie famous, but $3,000 is still pretty expensive for a projector. To attract more buyers, the company recently unveiled the $1,800 Edge Cinemaa much more affordable option that still offers a laser light engine, a sharp 4K picture, Google TV for streaming, and 15-watt stereo speakers.
There are some pretty major downsides, though, notably the lack of a triple laser engine and Dolby Vision, as well as mediocre color accuracy and brightness. The new model also has strong competition from companies such as Hisense, Epson and Optoma. All of that adds up to a projector that's not as exciting as Formovie's first attempt.
shapes
Formovie's Cinema Edge offers crisp 4K video at a decent price, but it lacks in performance compared to similarly priced rivals.
- Compact size
- Crystal clear 4K video
- Google TV integrated
- Advanced image customization
- Not as bright as some rivals.
- Mediocre color accuracy
- Complicated setup
$1,799 at amazon
Main Features of Formovie Cinema Edge
As a reminder, Formovie is a joint venture between Xiaomi and Appotronics (the latter makes laser motors for high-end brands like Barco). Formovie now offers three projector models: Cinema Edge, $2,400 Theater and $3000 theater bonus. It also sells the cheap and cheerful $199 Google TV Episode One projector, a 120-inch floor-standing screen, and a 100-inch wall-mounted ALR screen.
The Cinema Edge is more compact than the Theater in all dimensions and has a boxy design and a subtle dark gray exterior. You can project on a wall, or preferably on a dedicated ALR screen to reduce glare, at a distance of about 13 inches for a 120-inch image. All this makes it discreet and allows it to be installed in relatively small spaces.
The Cinema Edge comes with a pair of 15W speakers, but projector purists will no doubt want a 5.1 audio system to take better advantage of the built-in Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD. The Google TV system includes Netflix (unlike the Theater at launch), but the processor is a bit behind. That can make navigation and configuration adjustments a chore, although it's par for the course with other projectors I've seen, particularly the Optoma and HiSense models. As a result, some users may still prefer to use Google TV or another streaming device.
Like the Theatre, the Cinema Edge sits on three rubber feet instead of four, which can make leveling during setup difficult. While it supports digital keystone adjustment to square the image, it should be used as little as possible as it slightly reduces image resolution and increases latency for gaming. So, along with setting up multiple apps, the installation took longer than I expected.
Fortunately, there are plenty of inputs for adding accessories like Blu-Ray players, including three HDMI 2.1 ports (one with eArc for high-quality return to your audio system), 3.5mm and optical audio jacks, two USB-C for streaming/media power and an ethernet port (plus Wi-FI support, of course).
The included remote control is required to change most settings, control playback, and more, and it uses standard batteries with no charging port. Like most ultra-short throw projectors, the Cinema Edge has a sensor that detects if someone gets too close and automatically dims the output so you don't get a laser shot into your eyeballs.
Image quality
Like most modern projectors (aside from Epson), the Formovie Cinema Edge uses Texas Instruments' DLP technology that projects a 1080p image twice to create a sharp 4K image using so-called rapid pixel switching. Combine that with a single-color RGB+ laser to keep the price down compared to triple-laser setups like the Formovie Theater or Hisense's $3,500 PX3-Pro.
The Cinema Edge delivers crisp 4K video at up to 2,100 lumens, which is decent, but falls short of rivals like the 2,400-lumen Hisense PX2-Pro or Epson's EpiQVision Ultra LS650. This latest model generates 3,600 lumens. Still, the Cinema Edge's brightness level was sufficient for watching some content in daylight, such as Netflix. Drive to survive or live sports on amazon Prime.
The 4K detail is excellent and something I appreciated when watching sci-fi series like Silo, the extension and 3 Body problem. Contrast is also strong, allowing for better viewing of movies with low-light scenes, such as those in Joker and the batman.
Where the Formovie Cinema Edge struggles compared to the Theater model is in color reproduction. With its single laser light source, it lacks the incredible 100 percent-plus BT.2020 color gamut found in the Formovie Theater or Hisense PX2-Pro. You're also limited to HDR10 support, rather than higher modes like Dolby Vision found on the slightly more expensive Hisense PX2-Pro.
As a result, the images are a little more monotonous in films like Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Airand the primary colors do not appear on the screen, as I have seen on those other models. That said, colors are accurate by default and there are extensive image quality settings if you want to fine-tune everything. I noticed other issues related to the lack of good HDR performance, namely blown highlights and some artifacts in the shadows or dark parts of the images, particularly in the batman.
Unfortunately, motion smoothing (called MJC in Cinema Edge) is enabled by default, but it's relatively easy to turn off. However, without it, the projector occasionally suffers from some motion artifacts during fast action sequences, something that is common with DLP projectors. For those types of movies, I found the low motion smoothing setting to be a good compromise, as it limits the soap opera effect and eliminates any jitter from energetic action scenes.
Cinema Edge isn't bad for light gaming, but with a refresh rate limited to 60Hz and input latency around 40 milliseconds, you can't play anything as demanding as fast-moving FPS shooters. For example, I played Resident of the bad town from my Mac through the projector, and lag, tearing, and artifacts made the game a challenge.
The speakers offer decent audio quality, with clear voices, music and sound effects. However, the bass is a bit thin and there is little to no soundstage to add realism. Given the projector's Dolby Atmos and HDMI 2.1 eArc support, anyone serious about audio would want to add external speakers or at least a sound bar.
Summary
Considering how good Formovie's Theater is, the Cinema Edge is a disappointment. Performance is average for the price, with relatively low brightness and mediocre color rendering. The built-in Google TV has a bit of lag and setup is more difficult than necessary due to the lack of a fourth foot. The speaker setup is also good, with better sound quality available on some Optoma and LG projectors.
The Cinema Edge is still a decent mid-range UST projector, but the problem for Formovie is that there is a lot of competition in this price range. For just $200 more, you can get the Hisense PX2-Pro Triple Laser UST Projector, which offers higher brightness (2,400 lumens), along with Dolby Vision and over 100 percent BT.2020 coverage. Another option for the same $1,800 price is the Epson LS650, which offers similar specs but almost double the brightness at 3,600 lumens. The Cinema Edge is a good choice if you want a versatile projector with a small, subtle design, but if brightness and image quality are paramount, look elsewhere.
