Movies theaters might never be the same again...even the movie industry is evolving and moving away from big-budget blockbusters & more towards, big-budget production TV series...

So if we can't go to the cinema, or there's nothing to see...why not bring the cinema home & combine it with you're favourite on-demand streaming services & with this beautiful compact cube from Epson you can.

This is the Epson EpiqVision EF 12 projector. Unlike more old school projector it uses a laser light source...which means you'll never have to splash out for a costly bulb replacement. Epson says it should give you up to 10 years of usage.

A unique feature here is that has a surprisingly loud & very clear 5w stereo speaker system built-in. Courtesy of Yamaha a company with 65yrs of audio expertise.

Epson EF-12 _ Home Projector speakers.jpg

So it's certainly is cool that this laser TV projector can double up as a BT speaker...if you're not watching anything. The sound is good, right?

On the topic of audio, the Epson EF12 has a 3.5mm headphone jack that supports stereo, if you want to hardwire in your stereo cinema speakers... if you want

To get that full 5.1 surrounds you can do what I did and let your external device handle the audio...for example, I hooked up my ps4...which is hooked up to 5.1.

The EF12 does have 2 HDMI inputs. With one of them being an Audio return channel. This means it can return audio via HDMI...to your speakers. So that's another option.

There is also a mini USB port and a full-size USB A port if you want to connect external devices such as webcams or USB dongles or hard drives.

Now with all that said. One of the greatest features of the Epson EF 12 is that it is running a full Android TV operating system. This means that if you don't want to plug anything into it. You don't have to because it can work standalone.

The EF-12 EpiqVisions design is so compact that it can be stored away easily when not needed. Unlike a lot of its rivals that take up a lot of space.

And When you do want to fire up the big screen... you can just sit it on a table & adjust its retractable kickstand for the perfect height...and the EF 12 will use its auto keystone to level out the angles, and its autofocus feature to give a crisp sharp image every time...but of course you can adjust these manually.

There is also the option to ceiling mount the EF12, for which Epson does provide the brackets for in the box & you could fit this to a tripod with the same bracket. So let's talk about ease of use.

To set it up and use it. All you need to do is plug in the power, connect it to WiFi, login to your Google account & download all your favourite streaming apps... and that's it.

Once you've done that you can cast videos directly from your apple of android device to the EF12...or use the onboard Android TV interface with its very nicely designed remote control.

They've kept it simple...but efficient which I like. They've added a dedicated YT button an app button...which opens up a sort of app drawer. which is awesome. There is a directional keypad, volume up and down & input source button...a Bluetooth button

A dedicated Google assistant...which activates the built-in mic so you use voice commands to control the EF12 which is a fantastic feature.

Now let's talk about picture quality. The Epson EF 12 can project up to a 150" 1080p picture by beaming up to 1000 lumens onto a surface.

It can playback HDR content and even 4K... but will downscale the resolution to 1080p...which still looks awesome in my opinion & to scale up or scale down the projection size. You need to physically move the projector... backward or forwards in the space.

I've had mine around 2.5m away from the wall I'm using...and I'm getting around a 120" display...which looks truly epic...if you ask me.

The colours at this distance look vibrant, the contrast is good and the brightness is just right...and I did play a couple of hours of Call of Duty Warzone with a few beers...I must say, Latency was good & it does play well with consoles.

Now Epson says you can go up to 150" and you can go bigger although your brightness, colours & contrast will start to take a hit... on the flip side the closer you get, the image will become sharper, brighter, and so on...

from my testing of the EpiqVision. I would say somewhere around the 2m range will give you the best output when it comes to picture quality...oh and some black-out blinds are going to make the world of difference when it comes to picture contrast & colours.

So the EF12 is for anyone who wants that home cinema option, but without too much hassle... it is such an easy-to-use device.

Quite literally plug n play...honestly anyone can do it...you could even use it for conference calls if you're into that kind of thing.

So, what's the verdict on Epson EF-12 epiq vision.... I can sum it up in one word. Epiq!