Ironically the 495w’s own manual suggests Bluetooth audio is “good quality” which, well, guess raises the question: “so uh, good in relation to what?” I think we all know the answer. If you’re viewing alone you could quickly fix this with a pair of Bluetooth headphones but for more communal viewing it can be grating. The 495w’s speaker is acceptable but suffers from the age-old projector problem of having to compete with a fairly loud cooling fan. The bluetooth soundbar even works when you’re using an HDMI source, though I shall leave it to you- dear reader- to spot the irony of using the 495w’s integrated Bluetooth support almost exclusively with a Fire TV which also supports Bluetooth directly. Would definitely get better results pairing directly to the Fire managed to pair a Majority Bowfell Plus soundbar/subwoofer combo to the 495w to give much punchier and better placed audio output. I tested it with the Fire TV stick plugged in and the audio is a mess because I still have Dolby enabled - there’s also a bit of a sync delay. Here it’s paired to the Majority Bowfell Plus, which is actually a really good low-cost choice of speaker (and subwoofer) for this low-cost projector. This is something we’d take for granted in Android-based projectors, but is a welcome and – indeed – surprising addition to something in this price bracket.īlowing my mind slightly, this basic Vankyo 495w projector can pair to Bluetooth speakers and headphones. While something of a dark horse feature, the 495w includes Bluetooth support for speakers and headphones. For bonus points there’s also a 3.5mm TRS jack for headphones or an external speaker, albeit in practise you’re unlikely to want to trail enough cable to put a speaker beneath the projected image so enter the almighty. That is to say the 495w also includes a 3.5mm TRRS composite AV connection which you might connect to – for example – a DVD player. You get one HDMI port, two USB ports and – unless you hail from the 1990s – that’s pretty much it. It may not come as a huge surprise that IO is fairly limited on this not “pro” projector. ![]() It certainly gets toddler’s seal of approval, anyway. ![]() ![]() While it lacks the mod-cons of magic automatic 3D keystone correction and focus and isn’t great for just casually tossing onto a bed or table, it delivers a surprising amount of bang for your buck and a reasonable picture quality. It could be said that I’m actually quite enamored with the 495w. Pairing the Vankyo 495w with a Fire TV 4K Max (despite it not being 4K or HDR capable) delivers an incredibly slick and responsive viewing experience that most smarts-included products don’t even touch. In fact I’m tempted to argue that smarts should be thrown out of projectors (and TVs), since they tend to be under-specced and quickly outdated. ![]() If that’s not your groove it pairs excellently with an Amazon Fire TV stick or similar if you want to watch YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video or your subscription service of choice. It lacks “smart” features and has a similar, clunky, UI with a smattering of content playback features that – if we’re all honest with ourselves – lend themselves quite well to – ahem – sailing the high seas. Lack of any real smarts - though - means you’ll want an external HDMI source to really make the most out of it’s not “Pro” the 495w shares an awful lot of DNA with the 470 Pro and, if I’m honest, I find it very easy to confuse the two in my head. The manual focus is really easy to dial in, the speakers are good enough for casual (read: kids) TV viewing, and - unlike it’s sibling which I reviewed last year - it’s actually pretty visually appealing. It’s the classic story of competent hardware powered by somewhat janky software.
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