Portable projectors are a dime a dozen these days — a quick glance at store listings on Amazon makes that painfully obvious — but TCL’s latest gadget manages to stand out thanks to its unique design.
Initially shown off at CES before an initial announcement at IFA this week, TCL’s PlayCube is a Rubik’s Cube-like portable projector running Google TV. That’s not speculation on my part — TCL is wearing its inspiration on its sleeve with this one, specifically calling out the classic toy on its website. The design combines two distinct blocks that twist on an angle up to 90 degrees to allow you to project onto any surface with screen sizes adjustable between 30 inches and 150 inches, though just at 1080p.
The design is really the standout element here — TCL even published an entire blog post dedicated to showing off just how it arrived at building something that looks so untraditional. The specs, however, are more in line with standard-looking travel projectors, especially those meant for outdoor activities. It’s rated for 750 ISO lumens, which, while far from the brightest bulb you’ll find today, does best plenty of TCL’s portable rivals. A 5W built-in speaker provides your audio, but a 3.5mm jack and Bluetooth 5.0 both allow you to pair it with something a little more powerful. A 66Wh battery delivers about three hours of viewing on a single charge, with 30 minutes of fast-charging capable of delivering an additional hour.
In terms of what you’re projecting, TCL is relying on built-in Google TV support for its allotment of apps. With just 16GB of storage space, though, downloading content for offline viewing might be relatively limited, in which case, the built-in HDMI port might leave you better off. The entire package is pretty portable, though, measuring in at 5.9 × 3.8 × 3.8 inches and weighing just 2.7 pounds.
Unfortunately, this design won’t come cheap. It’s now up for pre-order at Amazon for $800, though there’s a coupon available that brings the price down to a more reasonable $730. Amazon says shipments will currently arrive between September 21st and October 13th. It’s far from the only projector shown off at IFA this week; XGIMI recently launched its Horizon 20 projector, though with a starting price of $1,700, it’s clearly going after a different market with that specific device.
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