Late last year, I had a look at the AAXA P4 pico pocket projector. It was a handy little gadget that even had Windows Embedded under the hood. Continuing to move forward, AAXA Technologies has now introduced two new additions to its pico projector family: the P4 WiFi and the P4-X.

Both of these take on much the same form factor as before, but they come with a couple of notable changes. The AAXA P4 WiFi, as its name clearly indicates, now boasts WiFi connectivity. This works in tandem with the Windows CE operating system to give you more flexibility for projected presentations on teh go. They’ve also upgraded the brightness from 80 lumens to 100 lumens, using Osram’s new converter green technology. Sold as a combo with the keyboard-mouse unit, the AAXA P4 WiFi will be retailing exclusively through the AAXA website for $399.

As a more budget-friendly option for consumers, the P4-X is a little cheaper at $299. It doesn’t have Windows, but there is a mini-HDMI port that is good for 720p videos, as well as pictures, text, and music. You get 80 lumens in DC mode and 60 lumens in battery mode leveraging DLP tech from Texas Instruments and Vibrant-Color technology from AAXA. Battery life is rated at 75 minutes.

See the full press releases below for more info.

AAXA Technologies Introduces the World’s Brightest WIFI Pico Projector
The new AAXA P4 WIFI Pico Projector features WIFI connectivity and 100 Lumens of Brightness
Santa Ana, CA May 1, 2012

AAXA Technologies, the leading manufacturer of Pico projectors, has announced the release of the P4 WIFI Pico Projector, a mini-projector featuring WIFI connectivity and a 100 lumen light engine. The P4 WIFI is AAXA’s latest revision of the popular P4 Pico Projector model. The new P4 WIFI enhances mobile capabilities by adding 802.11 WIFI connectivity to the existing Windows CE operating system. The previous Texas Instruments DLP powered light-engine is improved with Osram’s new “converter green” LED technology which boosts brightness from 80 to 100 lumens. Combined with AAXA’s proprietary Vibrant-Color™ technology AAXA claims the P4 WIFI can deliver “high brightness and deep colors for a rich viewing experience up to 80”.

Powerful Mobile Device

“The P4 WIFI is the most powerful and fully-featured projector in its class. Designed for today’s on-thego executive the P4 employs a robust Windows CE 6.0 processor, a fast WIFI connection, 2GB of onboard memory and is capable of playing 720p videos, high resolution pictures, and supports an array of 3rd party apps including Microsoft Office mobile, internet browsers, Adobe PDF viewer, mobile games, and a variety of other Windows CE applications. Coupled with the wireless keyboard and mouse the P4 WIFI can function as a true mobile computing platform! Additionally with the P4 WIFI’s 1-watt speaker the P4 can serve double-duty as a standalone multimedia system.

True Pocket Projector
At less than 5.6” long, 2.7” wide, and 1.2” tall the P4 is a true pocket projector and includes a premiumgrade lithium ion battery capable of 75+ minutes of operation. Additional features include an advanced wireless keyboard and mouse, adjustable tripod, 1280×800 VGA input, Micro SD Card slot, USB on-the-go, composite video input, and 3.5mm headphone jack.

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AAXA Technologies World’s Brightest Battery Powered Pico Projector gets 720p HD with HDMI connectivity
AAXA’s P4-X Pico Projector now comes with HDMI and a lower price point
Santa Ana, CA, May 17th, 2012

AAXA Technologies Inc, a global leader in pico projection technology, has unveiled the updated version of the brightest battery-powered pico projector on the market. The P4-X now includes a mini-HDMI digital input allowing high-definition digital video and audio sources to be connected. The portable mini-device now packs more functionality than before while still maintaining the diminutive form factor that enables the P4-X to fit comfortably in a pocket. The heart of the P4-X is the high-brightness optical engine incorporating 15,000 hour LEDs, Texas Instrument’s DLP technology and AAXA’s Vibrant-Color technology. The P4-X’s high-brightness optical engine is capable of delivering 80 lumens in DC power mode and 60 lumens in battery mode – almost double the battery brightness of most pico projectors. The operating time is 75 minutes on a built-in lithium ion battery or unlimited when plugged into a wall outlet.

Media Powerhouse
The P4-X Pico Projector lets users spontaneously share photos, videos or other digital media with family and friends anytime, anywhere. With its powerful ARM-based MP4 Media Player the P4-X can play 720p videos, pictures, and even text and music. The P4-X also accepts a variety of media inputs including mini digital HDMI, VGA, and composite video. The array of inputs enables the P4-X to connect to Android devices, Apple devices, tablets, blu-ray players, laptops, game consoles, and a multitude of other digital devices.

A True Pocket Projector
There’s always room for the P4-X. At less than 5.6” long, 2.7” wide, and 1.2” tall the P4-X is a true pocket projector that fits comfortably in a laptop bag or briefcase. The P4-X epitomizes mobility with a premium-grade lithium ion battery capable of 75+ minutes of operation anytime, anywhere. Coupled with the onboard media player and speaker, the P4-X can double as a pico projector or an all-in-one mobile multimedia center.

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Earlier this year we had a look at the decidedly diminuitive AAXA P1 Jr. pico projector. That thing was really tiny, but it only pumped out ten lumens of brightness. That might be good enough for some circumstances, but there are other situations where you want more brightness without having to lug around a full-size projector.

That’s where the AAXA P4 pico projector can come into focus (terrible pun intended). It really isn’t that much bigger, but it packs quite a bit more of a wallop when it comes to what a little pico projector can do.

Features and Specs

The AAXA P4 is being touted as the world’s brightest battery-powered pico projector. There may be brighter, but they need external power sources. In the case of the P4, you get an impressive 80 lumen LED light engine to go along with that DLP projector. This gives you up to an 80-inch image, which is easily big enough for most boardrooms.

You get “vibrant color technology” with 15,000 LEDs, as well as the 75+ minute battery, integrated media player, and Windows CE Embedded. That last point is particularly important, because it means that you can run PowerPoint presentations and use other Windows CE apps without having to connect to a separate computer. The 2GB of internal memory is useful in that regard too, but there is a microSD slot in the front, as well as both a USB and micro-USB port in the back. Naturally, this pico projector will take external inputs too, including VGA and composite (via the provided adapters).

What’s In the Box?

Opening up the box, you find just about everything that you need to get started. There’s the pico projector itself, of course, as well as a wireless remote, mini-tripod, composite adapter cable, VGA adapter cable, and mini-USB to USB adapter cable. Not shown is the power cable, but that’s included too.

Optionally, you can add the Rii mini Bluetooth keyboard, which certainly comes in handy when you are navigating your way through Windows CE Embedded. Indeed, some form of wired or wireless keyboard (and mouse) becomes necessary if you want to dig into the true Windows environment of this pocket-sized device.

Is It Really That Bright?

In short, yes. The most common complaint about pico projectors is that they are not powerful enough for everyday use. While this certainly won’t hold a candle up to many of the full-sized projectors out there, it more than easily handles itself even in less than ideal conditions. The colors are reasonably saturated, the contrast is quite good, and the brightness allows you to project videos, slideshows, and presentations in rooms where there is still some ambient light.

You can see a brief demo in this YouTube video I shot in a restaurant. It was the middle of the day and the restaurant was reasonably well-lit, but the image still came through clear. Yes, it does appear to be a little washed out, but that’s to be expected and even full-size projectors would have that kind of effect in that kind of environment.

It is possible to go brighter with something like the AAXA M2 Micro Projector, but that is not as small and it requires an external power source. The sheer versatility and portability of the P4, coupled with its higher level of performance, make it a valuable tool for executives on the go.

User Interface

The home menu on the P4 consists of six icons: video, picture, music, source, setup, and desktop. These are easily navigated using the controls on the projector itself or via the provided IR remote. The desktop is how you get full access to Windows CE; getting back to this home menu is a shortcut on the Windows desktop.

This is all very easy to understand and I found the interface to be reasonably responsive. Switching to the different sources — if you wanted to connect a game console, DVD player, or notebook PC for instance — is also easy enough. The interface for playing actual media files felt a little sluggish at times, though, but getting through the menus was fine.

Loading Up and Playing Media Files

One level deeper within video, picture or music from the main menu, you’ll find the ability to choose the source of your files. This includes the internal memory, the microSD slot, and the USB port. Putting files on the internal memory is done with a microUSB cable and the P4 will appear as an external drive on your computer.

Theoretically, you should be able to access the files on a USB drive, but I had trouble with this and it did not appear to work for me. I followed the instructions in the user guide and created the specified folders, but that didn’t work either. My hope is that this is either an early production unit or there is a firmware update that can rectify this, as having on-the-fly USB media access is huge for a portable device like this.

Conclusion

The on-board fan can be noisier than I would have liked. The one-watt speaker is quieter than I would have liked. Even so, I can’t help but to love this little AAXA P4 pico projector. The portable package is convenient and the 75+ minute battery should be able to last you though most presentations. It would be nice if you could charge via USB, rather than being forced to use the regular wall plug though.

It’s not the cheapest thing in the world with an MSRP of $399 (currently on sale for $339), but it’s not terribly expensive either. The Windows CE environment is versatile, the various inputs give you flexibility, and the built-in media player is a definite bonus. The 80 lumen LED light engine doesn’t hurt either.

[Aaxa Tech]

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Pico projector’s are relatively new to consumers. They haven’t gained a widespread adoption yet, simply because not many people can imagine the possibilities of carrying one around. At nearly anytime and anyplace you can pull up a 50″ screen on a wall and begin presenting, displaying or projecting a video.

This is not going to replace your LCD TV, nor will it replace your full-sized projector. This will go along in that ever-shrinking gadget bag of yours, giving you an enhanced sense of mobility and that cutting edge ability of blasting a film on the wall at any time.

We’re only months away from these devices becoming integrated within many mobile phones, tablets, and other devices. We saw camcorders packing pico projectors at CES, we also saw the reference design for a new type of pico projector, the MicroVision PicoP laser display. These devices in essence are evolutions of the Aaxa P1 Junior.

Hardware
The Aaxa Technologies P1 Jr. is very small and lightweight. Aaaxa says it’s the world’s smallest LCOS pico projector with onboard MP4 player, and that’s not hard to believe.

Inside is a 10 ANSI Lumen LED bulb. It’s life is approximately 15,000 hours, which is quite typical for LED. It’s capable of projecting an image from 10-50-inches, has a manual focusing lens, a 1 Watt speaker, 5V, 2000 mAh battery giving 1 hour of use, Mini USB port, SD Card slot, measures 105mm x 56mm x 20mm and weighs just 126g. Inside the box is a composite A/V cable for outputting video from your mobile device, iPad or iPhone (adapter required), DVD player, PSP, or what have you, as well as USB cable, charger, and a small tripod.

It feels solid enough to not feel like a complete toy, but at $110 what do you want? The fan is a bit noisy but it is there to keeps things cool and since it’s LED, you have instant-on and off capabilities.  The fan is situated on top and the speaker on the bottom. Sound from the speaker is audible, I wouldn’t say it is “good” either. If the speaker was perhaps placed on top and the fan on the bottom it may have made for a better sound. The manufacturer rates it at .5 watts, I opened it up and discovered it was a 1 watt speaker. Not a huge difference, but it’s probably better than a .5 watt.

Connection via Mini-USB does not charge. This was a disappointing fact that I could not have it run off my laptop power, or a small power pack via USB. The battery must be charged off the 5V power adapter and it takes 3-4 hours to get 1 hour and it’s just another thing to carry along.

The button and controls are small and relatively easy to use so long as you don’t have bear paw hands. The D-Pad style control gave me some difficulty, I suspect it was software lag rather than hardware because moving it in the direction I want was no problem at all.

Software
The Aaxatech software is fairly decent but could use some improvement. I had issues with file formats in playing video, as well as displaying very large images from my DSLR but that was my fault. Keep in mind this is a Pico Projector, video resolutions and image sizes will have to be smaller than we are used to seeing on a desktop; think mobile phone size. NTSC and PAL are supported at resolutions up to 720×480. Video compression is a bit nitpicky, and has to be DivX; XViD; MPEG-2; MPEG-4 or AVI; MP4; MPG; 3GP; RMVB; RM; VOB; DAT. It also plays MP3 compressed with AAC, MPEG2 or MPEG4. JPG images are only supported.

Playing videos was good. Although pausing, fast forwarding and things like that were not the greatest. Sometimes crashing the video app or just not responding at all. This could have been due to the file size I was using as smaller files seemed to respond fairly well.

Image Quality
This thing is tiny, it’s only 10 lumens too, so keep that in mind. The image it projects is somewhat pixelated and has good contrast. It is definitely watchable and in a dark room you can enjoy a nicely sized screen on any brightly painted wall. The larger you go the more pixels you will notice, also the farther you go obviously the picture will be darker. The optimal size I found was around 30 to 35-inches for a not so pixelated look with a decent amount brightness in a semi-dark room. If there is too much light in the room it will of course looked washed out. That also depends on the quality of the source video or images you are playing.

Bottom Line
I really liked the SD card support – being able to just pull up videos and images on the card was easy and convenient. I think battery life needs to be improved as well as sound quality but a worthy sacrifice for ultimate portability and convenience and on par with other pico projectors out there. Not able to charge via USB was the biggest downfall. At $110 you won’t find any 10 lumen LED projector better than this.

Special for our readers: If you wan’t to go a bit brighter, but still stay portable, Aaxa has two specials on right now for our readers if they buy the M1 or M2. The P1 Jr. is already discounted.

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