Review: Wemax Go Advanced portable projector

Not long ago, most projectors had to be massive machines that either hung down from the ceiling or were lugged around like a suitcase. But now, companies are making more portable projectors like the Wemax Go Advanced.

The Wemax Go Advanced is a portable projector with a ton of emphasis on the portable aspect. It measures about eight inches long and five inches wide. And it only stands about an inch tall, and two inches tall with its adjustable stand.

The Wemax Go Advanced is marketed with a specific sort of task in mind: a portable projector that you can haul around the office for meetings and presentations. It offers a 40 to 120-inch projected screen with autofocus and calibration.

Because there’s so much technology shoved into such a tight package, the Wemax Go Advanced is not cheap. It’s available on the company’s website for $999.99. But you can find it much cheaper on Amazon for just $675.

I’ve had my hands on the Wemax Go Advanced for a couple of weeks now testing it out in several different scenarios. So let’s see what it’s all about.

Setup is pretty easy with auto-calibration

One of the more daunting ideas behind a projector is the initial setup. Today, most projectors have some sort of automatic calibration, but it can still be up to the user to fine-tune the projected screen.

Wemax does a decent job of helping you out with calibration. It features an auto-calibration mode when you power it on and whenever it’s moved.

The auto-calibration on the Wemax Go Advanced was surprisingly accurate from several tests at several distances and sizes. It even calibrates pretty accurately at some extreme angles.

Of course, it reaches a point where the angle is too strong for auto-calibration. Then, you’ll get a message like, “the angle is too wide, try again.”

But if you’re determined to get a calibration at a wider angle like that, you can always manually calibrate. I messed around with the manual calibration, even though it wasn’t really needed, and found it pretty easy to use.

It offers two stages of calibration. First, there’s a more aggressive calibration to get you close to a rectangle. Then, you can fine-tune each corner up, down, left, and right to create the perfect-sized image.

It’s certainly possible to calibrate manually, but it’s not necessary. The auto-calibration feature works great if you don’t position the projector at too extreme of an angle.

Office presentations and meetings vs. entertainment

As I noted earlier, the primary focus of the Wemax Go Advanced is a portable projector that you can carry around the office for meetings and presentations. But that’s not the complete limit of the projector.

The project comes with its proprietary operating system called FengOS. You can also download apps like Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, and more.

So it’s obvious that Wemax had at least some entertainment in mind. However, some popular options are missing, like Disney Plus and HBO Max.

In practice, I would consider watching TV shows and movies on the Wemax Go Advanced as possible, but not ideal. The device simply struggles with enough brightness for most TV shows.

I tried watching a bit of House of Dragons using my computer just to see what it looked like. It was mid-day, but I had all the lights off and blinds down to create as little mid-day light as possible, and I couldn’t make the image bright enough at around 60 inches.

Shrinking the screen down helps make up for that a ton, but it kind of defeats the point of a portable projector.

I tried again at night, and the picture was obviously much better, but it required almost complete darkness to make much of a difference.

Text and still images are where the portable project excels

However, the ideal use case for the Wemax Go Advanced is for presentation with still images and text. It’s a great option for carrying around the office for quick and easy setup.

To start, it comes with an internal battery that can give you up to an hour and a half of power with no power cable. And the included 65W PD charger will get you back up to full charge in no time.

It has a USB-A input on the back that you can use for storage, so you don’t have to connect to any other device. And the FengOS operating system is easy to navigate to find and use files from the drive.

In terms of other inputs, you have a few different options. There’s an HDMI port on the back for you to connect your laptop or computer and use the device simply as a monitor.

Additionally, you can screen mirror both iPhones and Android devices through the FengOS operating system, as long as both devices are on the same WiFi. The entire process is pretty simple, no matter which input you decide to use.

And the brightness issue that makes watching TV shows or movies somewhat difficult isn’t a problem with still images.

With backgrounds that don’t move and are typically brighter than a TV show or movie background, the Wemax Go Advanced’s picture is plenty bright.

Reading text is super easy with this portable projector, even when stretching the screen size to its limits. The autofocus feature works well. And as with calibration, you can further tweak focus manually if you need to.

Final thoughts on the Wemax Go Advanced

At the end of the day, the Wemax Go Advanced is an impressive portable projector for such a compact size. Portability and convenience were obviously major factors in the projector’s development.

It does what it sets out to do efficiently and with relative ease. There’s no complicated user interface or major learning curve. You simply hook up your input device and follow on-screen instructions to get going.

It would make a great option for around the office. If you frequently give presentations or host meetings for your team, the Wemax Go Advanced could help you.

It’s not the best option for watching TV, as it could use a little more brightness. It’s more possible at night, with little to no light. But during the day, you have to shrink the screen so much that it makes it not worth projecting.

Alternative options

There are similar projectors out there, like the Samsung Freestyle. But you’ll have to fork over $1,000 to get the battery stand for true portability. The XGIMI Halo+ is similarly priced and offers a touch more brightness than the Wemax Go Advanced.

LG’s PK50KA offers a bit more battery with the same brightness at a similar. And Philips has the PicoPix MaxTV, which is a bit bigger but offers four hours of battery life for $200 bucks more.

The sweet spot for the Wemax Go Advanced is definitely for office use for presentations and meetings. You can find it on the Wemax website for $999.99, Walmart, and Amazon for $675.

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Review: XGIMI Horizon Pro 4K Projector
• Review: Canon Rayo S1 Portable Projector
• Samsung’s new Freestyle projector is a portable big-screen smart TV
• Review: Vamo L4200 mini projector – this budget-friendly option gets the job done

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.