Vivitek QUMI Q5: Sound Quality

As with pretty much all portable projectors, the Q5 carries a built-in speaker system so that you don’t need to track down an external audio system for your on-the-hoof presentations and impromptu movie nights.

But also in keeping with most built-in projector audio systems, the one in the Q5 is pretty pants. With just 2W – count em! – to play with, it’s hardly surprising that volume levels are limited to say the least. But as well as that the sound is so trebly and harsh it regularly makes you wince.

Other things to consider

There’s also a price to pay for the Q5’s very bright pictures: loud running noise. The cooling system inside is clearly having to work extremely hard to stop the projector going into meltdown when you’re running it at anything close to its maximum brightness level.

You can calm things if you ramp the brightness down, but you’ll only want to do this if you’ve managed to pretty much black out your room.

There is at least a practical upside to the cooling fan efforts though – namely that the projector is ready to unplug as soon as you turn it off. You don’t have to wait for the lamps to finish cooling down after hitting standby like you do with normal projectors.

Should I buy a Vivitek QUMI Q5?

If you’re after a genuinely pocket-sized projector that’s unusually bright and carries some handy presentations playback features, the Q5 might be worth a punt. Though at £500 it’s a pretty expensive punt…

Its movie projector ambitions prove sadly and painfully optimistic, though, thanks to its severe lack of contrast, strange diagonal line interference and messy light handling.

For us portable projector buyers will likely be better off with the BenQ GP10 or especially the excellent 3M MP410.

Verdict

If looks were everything the QUMI Q5 would be a roaring success. It really is a joy to behold. Unfortunately, though, while it has its moments the beauty ultimately turns out to be pretty much only skin deep.

Trusted Score