Epson EH-LS650 review: Gorgeous 4K images and epic sound

Fancy a massive image without the hassle of a conventional projector? Looking for a big-screen experience, but don’t have the space in your living room required? Today’s all-in-one home-cinema, ultra-short throw projectors have you covered, bringing together a projector, streaming stick and soundbar into a single unit that can sit right under a convenient white wall or screen.

The Epson EH-LS650 is a new example, going up against established favourites like the Hisense PL1 and XGIMI Aura. I’ve been trying it out over the last two weeks to see how it measures up.

Epson EH-LS650 review: What do you get for the money?

The Epson EH-LS650 is a 4K projector combining Epson’s established 3LCD technology with a laser light source, and featuring built-in Android TV streaming and a Yamaha audio system. It has an ultra-short throw of between 0.25 to 0.62:1, giving you a 100in image from a range of just 59cm, or the maximum recommended 120in image from 70cm away. With 10-bit colour processing it promises a palette of up to 1.07 billion colours, along with support for HDR10 and HLG. What’s more, the laser boosts output to a maximum of 3,600 ISO lumens; over twice the 1,500 ISO lumens of the XGIMI Aura and beyond the 2,100 ANSI lumens of the Hisense PL1.

The EH-LS650 is a chunky unit, measuring 467 x 400 x 153mm (WDH), and it weighs a healthy 7.4kg. As with all projectors of this type, the speakers face forward towards the viewer, acting as a kind of built-in soundbar, while all the connectivity is at the rear, recessed to make things easier if you need to have the projector installed close to your wall or screen.

There are two HDMI 2.0 inputs, three USB 2.0 ports for media playback and powering streaming sticks and an optical out for connection to a surround-sound system. One of the HDMI ports is of the eARC variety, enabling the EH-LS650 to be connected to a separate soundbar or AV amp. That should be enough to plug in a 4K Blu-ray player and games console, though you might struggle if you also want to connect a separate streaming device or set-top box.

The laser light source has a stated lifespan of 20,000 hours, which Epson clams should get you through up to ten years. The warranty covers you for five years or 12,000 hours of use, so Epson clearly has some confidence in the technology and construction.

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Epson EH-LS650 review: What does it do well?

Epson has installed a version of Android TV rather than the newer, better Google TV, but the user interface sticks closely to the stock Google version, with just a few Epson apps to handle settings and casting features. YouTube is installed automatically, the Google Play Store is accessible, and you can download nearly all the apps you need from there, including Amazon Prime Video, Now, Disney+, Paramount + and Apple TV.

The large, square-edged remote control and familiar UI make for good usability, and the software will happily recommend films or shows to watch next across all your installed apps. Additionally, Google’s search facilities will let you search for content across a wide range of sources.

The Yamaha sound system is another strength. As with most of these all-in-one projectors, it can’t do surround sound effectively, but it dishes out a wide and powerful stereo output with lots of presence and a sizeable portion of bass. If you want thumping movie soundtracks, you’ve got them, and sweeping orchestral scores won’t be a problem, either. And this doesn’t come at a cost to dialogue clarity. Even at neighbour-annoying volume levels, I could still make out every line (mumbling and Tom Hardy notwithstanding).

But the Epson’s real beauty lies in its image quality. 4K images are bright and clear, and while blacks aren’t as super-dark as on a good DLP projector, they’re still quite inky and there’s plenty of contrast – and no rainbow effect. Best of all, the EH-LS650 delivers a superb performance when it comes to colour and HDR effects. Scenes with bright or highly saturated colours look amazing, producing stunning moments in the neon-lit action scenes of John Wick 3 and the radioactive wastelands of Fallout. Yet it’s also natural. Watch more dramatic scenes in Shogun or Decision to Leave, and there’s no sense that the reds and greens are being pushed too far or that skin tones aren’t really what they should be.

I was so convinced that the EH-LS650 was a master of colour that I was slightly disappointed by its results in my colorimeter tests. I measured 80.1% sRGB coverage and 64.8% DCI-P3 coverage with the picture mode set to Cinema, and these fell to 76% and 61.2% in the Vivid mode. That’s lower than the 79% DCI-P3 coverage achieved by the Hisense PL1 and the XGIMI Aura’s 90% coverage of sRGB. Subjectively, though, I’d say the Epson delivers the warmest, richest and most balanced image of the three, even if the XGIMI is still unbeatable for resolution and crisp detail.

This isn’t a gaming projector as such, and there’s no specific gaming mode, but the vibrant colours, strong contrast and bright HDR highlights did wonders in games such as Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Cyberpunk 2077. I didn’t notice any significant lag between controls and visuals. Epson claims a lag of 20ms, which should be fine for everything bar online twitch shooters and competitive fighting games; for those you’re better off with a monitor with a high refresh rate than a projector that tops out at 60Hz.

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Epson EH-LS650 review: What could it do better?

While the Android TV setup is as easy as it tends to be with Google’s software, actually focusing and aligning the projector could do with a little work. The all-important focus dial is hidden beneath a flap on the side of the projector, and you either need to use Epson’s smartphone app for automatic geometry and keystone correction or use a four-point manual setup on the screen. I found both the Hisense PL1 and XGIMI Aura significantly easier to get up and running.

Epson’s settings could also be more intuitive. It took me ages to work out how to move the picture or scale it up and down to fill the screen. There’s a button on the remote control that launches the right menu, but no way to access it through the projector menus in the main UI. I also have to say that it’s tricky to get focus perfect both in the top corners and at the bottom of the image, particularly if you start shifting the image around. That’s not unusual for ultra-short throw models, and I did eventually get good results.

I was impressed with the EH-LS650’s HDR effects, and it does go bright for a projector in its class. I measured brightness reflected off the screen at 254.5cd/m² – even the Aura only hits 170cdm/m². However, it only supports the HDR10 and HLG standards, with no Dolby Vision support, and there’s no Filmmaker mode on board, so no way to be sure you’re getting the tones and colours that the creators intended.

There are also holes in the EH-LS650’s app support, most notably the lack of any Netflix app – it’s listed as not available on this device in the Google Play Store. With no BBC iPlayer or Channel 4 apps, you’re also missing arguably the most important UK catch-up TV apps. The software can be flaky at times, too, occasionally freezing for a moment or even restarting the projector when I tried to run an app, or in one case when I tried to switch from the Home screen to an HDMI source.

Epson EH-LS650 review: Should you buy it?

I’d definitely think about it. For my money, the EH-LS650 delivers a richer, more cinematic presentation than the XGIMI Aura and more brightness and detail than the Hisense PL1. Its audio is superior to both of those options, too.

However, the PL1 is cheaper and has stronger software, both on overall stability and streaming apps, while also supporting Filmmaker mode and Dolby Vision, and I’d still say the Aura comes out on top for clarity and definition. With a few software tweaks and stronger HDR format support the Epson would be the one-box home cinema projector to buy. As it is, it’s a serious contender.