At its list price of $2,999.99, the JMGO U2 4K Tri-Color Laser Projector is pricey for what it delivers, but not by enough to rule it out. As a point of comparison, the Xgimi Aura, our Editors' Choice pick among entry-level ultra-short-throw (UST) projectors, is $2,499 and delivers more capable built-in streaming. For the U2 to match its capabilities, you'll have to purchase a streaming dongle. But the U2 also has some strong points of its own, including robust surround-sound audio and double the Aura's rated light-source life, at 50,000 hours regardless of the power mode. In short, it's a perfectly usable UST projector if you don't mind the price or happen upon a good coupon.

Laser, Not Laser-Phosphor

Like most of its 4K competition, the U2 uses a single 1,920-by-1,080 imaging chip and TI's fast-switch pixel shifting to put 3,840 by 2,160 pixels on the screen. But unlike most, instead of using a laser to coax phosphors into emitting light for the image, it uses lasers directly. The red, green, and blue laser light first goes through a despeckler element, so you won't get the speckling in the image that direct laser beams are known for, before reaching the DLP chip on its way to the screen.

Another difference from most of its competition is that the U2 has a fixed-focus lens. JMGO says it's designed to give sharpest focus at a 100-inch diagonal image size, which puts the projector about 9.5 inches from the screen. However, a JMGO rep told me that the lens can deliver good focus, if not its best, over a range of 80 to 120 inches diagonally, which I confirmed in my tests.

The laser light source is rated at 2,400 ANSI lumens. JMGO's website causes some confusion with the claim of 3,600 ANSI lumens using a 1.5 gain screen, but that really just spells out what a 1.5 gain means: namely, that the image will be 1.5 times as bright as it would be using a 1.0 gain screen.

The U2 includes built-in streaming using JMGO's own Luna OS. (If you prefer Android TV, you'll find it fully integrated with the $2,699 Wemax Nova and Editors' Choice–winning Xgimi Aura, or provided via dongle for the $3,499 BenQ V7050i.) The OS is based on Android 6.0, but there are relatively few apps to choose from. JMGO recommends relying on set-top boxes and streaming sticks for "the optimal experience."

A Big Case for Big Sound

The U2 dwarfs much of its competition. The case measures 6.6 by 28.3 by 15 inches (HWD) and weighs 28.2 pounds. Setup consists of little more than connecting to a network by Ethernet or Wi-Fi for streaming, optionally connecting video sources to either or both HDMI 2.0 ports, and positioning the projector to fill the screen and square off the image. As mentioned above, focus is fixed, and you get no digital zoom or keystone-correction settings. Unlike Android TV, Luna OS needs no setup.

The U2 offers an S/PDIF optical audio output, but the built-in audio provides more than adequate quality and volume for most uses. Two full-range 15-watt speakers stick up from the case on the left and right sides near the edge of the top panel closest to viewers, and two 10-watt tweeters are positioned below them, hidden inside the case and facing viewers.

Both audio volume and quality are boosted by the 2.4-liter chamber (JMGO calls it a "sound cavity"), as well as Dolby Audio and DTS-HD. You can also use the U2 as a Bluetooth speaker for other devices.

Testing the JMGO U2: An Adequate Image

The U2's image quality is best described as good enough for casual viewing by most people's standards. It has some flaws, but you may not notice them or find them annoying.

The menu lists several predefined modes that can't be adjusted, plus one User mode. Among the predefined modes, Standard has the most accurate color and does the best job holding shadow detail. However, User mode with default settings is identical to Standard mode, with the advantage of letting you adjust brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, and sharpness. Frame interpolation, for smoothing motion, is on by default. It can improve the look of live and recorded video, but you'll likely want to turn it off for filmed material, as I did for my tests, to avoid a digital look (aka the soap opera effect).

With 1080p material, I found that Standard mode was well tuned for colors from broadcast and streaming sources, and also delivered good contrast along with a suitably dark black and a good sense of three-dimensionality in dark scenes. But for movies on Blu-ray discs, colors were a bit too obviously oversaturated for my taste. Adjusting saturation in User mode helped improve color accuracy for disc-based material without doing too much damage to the look of streaming and broadcast TV. For best quality for each type of input, you can switch between Standard and the adjusted User mode as needed. I also noticed an occasional overly aggressive edge enhancement. For example, in one test scene, it added a red outline to a doctor's white coat against a reddish-brown background.

I viewed several movies from both 1080p and 4K sources. The color accuracy in Standard mode was significantly better in the 4K versions. In particular, memory colors (colors like green grass and blue sky) were far more realistic-looking. Unfortunately, even with the power level set to its highest setting, bright scenes were noticeably dimmer than the same scenes in the 1080p versions, while black and dark grays in dark scenes were several shades lighter, washing out the images and delivering less visual impact. If you plan to use a 4K video source, you'll need to do it with lower ambient light levels to compensate for the reduction in image brightness.

Rainbow artifacts were also a problem. I see these flashes easily (though not everyone does), and saw more with the U2 than with most laser-based DLP projectors. Our usual advice applies: If you're concerned about seeing these artifacts, be sure to buy the projector from a source that allows easy returns without a restocking fee, so you can test it out for yourself.

For gamers, the U2's Computer mode offers the shortest input lag. I measured it with a Bodnar meter at 67ms for 1080p 60Hz input and 42ms for 4K 60Hz input, which is generally considered suitable for casual gaming. There is limited support for 3D, but it doesn't work with 3D Blu-ray discs. The projector supports HLG HDR as well as HDR10.

Verdict: Keep Your Eyes on the Price

It's hard to make the case that the JMGO U2 is a good value at its list price. If you're willing to spend that much for a 4K UST laser projector, you should probably up your budget just a bit and consider more expensive models, including the BenQ V7050i, which significantly boosts color accuracy, shadow detail, and contrast, and lets you fully calibrate the image for your room and screen. Or you can save a few hundred dollars by choosing the Wemax Nova or the Xgimi Aura, which have equivalent features and lower prices.

That said, the JMGO U2's image quality is good enough for casual viewing, and its excellent audio could potentially save you the price of a separate audio system. Keep an eye out for coupons and discounts when making your decision; for the right price, the U2 could end up looking like a bargain.