I have reviewed a lot of audio products from GoldTouch Asia, a Singapore company who specialises in gold-plating solutions. Most of their electronic products uses real gold as part of the design. They have speakers, wireless earphones, true wireless earbuds in their catalog, and among them, my favourite is the M26 wireless earphones.
GTA also sells this super compact pico projector. The Gold Wireless Eye Mini is currently listed on their website at an offer price of S$450, which seems rather steep compared to the dozens of no-brand China products that appear similar. The Eye Mini has better specs compared to many of the China OEM brands to demand a price premium. Plus you get local warranty support unlike the direct overseas purchases. The product is based on an OEM model, P6 Projector.
Wi-Fi Dual Band 2.4GHz and 5GHz
Most cheap mini projector supports only direct cable connection to device. Some better projectors only support single band. The GoldTouch Asia Eye Mini Series support dual band, hence you get more connection options.
Multiple connection methods
Eye Mini can connect to the device both wired and wireless. For wired, only Apple is supported. For wireless, it supports Apple, Android, Windows, using Miracast, Airplay. It also supports DLNA, micro SD and USB storage drive. Follow the on-screen guide to select the connection mode you want and how to set up. As always, the Android connection is the easiest: just access the Android Cast from the dropdown menu and you should find the Eye Mini ready to be selected.
Discolouration is due to the fact that pico projectors emit multiple colours at a high frame rate to achieve the right colours, for instance, white.
Brightness
The Eye Mini has a brightness of 80 ANSI Lumens, one of the brightest projectors of the size. If you want to get a cheaper projector, this spec is very important, or else you cannot see the projection clearly when you project the image over a large area.
Touch Controls
The Eye Mini operates using the touch-sensitive panel at the top of the cube that lights up when you use. A single hardware button is for power controls. Press and hold to power up and shut down. Tap once during operation will put the projector into standby mode, and tap again will quickly bring up the projector to start using.
Accessories
The Eye Mini comes with a slot-in tripod mount adapter which screws onto the mini tripod that is provided in the package. The mount also doubles a lens cap by capping the mount on top. A USB charger is also included to charge the projector. Also included are OTG cables to plug USB drives.
Overall Experience
Having reviewed several other portable projectors – Sony, Canon, ASUS, Motorola – the Eye Mini turns out better than I thought. It is one of the brighter projectors I have reviewed yet it is the smallest and the cheapest. It also offers the most number of connectivity options. 80 Lumens seems to be the threshold for an acceptable viewing brightness in my master bedroom, projecting to about 60-inch size.
When projecting at a short distance, the projector is bright enough to be used in daylight. The native resolution is 640×480 and scales up to 1920×1080, hence text appear pixelated, so it is not recommended for showing fine prints. The audio quality is loud enough to hear the dialogues and sounds, but bass is absent. A 3.5mm port allows you to plug external speakers for a better audio experience.
For direct playback via micro SD or USB drive, it appears to support only MP4, and large files more than 1GB works well with quite fast loading. I can tap the forward button to skip several seconds and the video responds really fast without delay. MP3 and photos are also supported. The on-screen browser will scan the entire drive and displays all the supported efiles without folder structure, so it might be a challenge if you have hundreds of files in the drive.
Verdict
The GoldTouch Asia Eye Mini Series is based on the P6 Projector, and while the latter is about S$100 cheaper when buying from online stores like Lazada, these direct overseas orders typically do not enjoy warranty. The Eye Mini gets you 1-year local warranty and after-sales support. Compared to the other branded mini projectors I have reviewed, the Eye Mini has the shortest battery life but delivers one of the brightest yet with the smallest volume and the lowest price.
Ultimately, a mini pico projector will not produce the same quality as a standard AC-powered projector, but you pay for the convenience. GoldTouch Asia rep shared with me that a few private education centres bought the Eye Mini projector because of its portability. Official retail price at S$799, purchase from the GTA website at a special price of S$450 or at Lazada Singapore without discount. Visit the Facebook page for more info.
