From WIRED · John Brandon · · 3m
AWOL Vision projector makes even bad films look great
The Aetherion Max RGB laser projector delivers cinema-quality color and clarity for $4,499, though its remote needs work.
In brief
The Aetherion Max RGB laser projector delivers cinema-quality color and clarity for $4,499, though its remote needs work. The AWOL Vision Aetherion Max projector delivers exceptional color accuracy and contrast at four thousand four hundred ninety-nine dollars, making it a top-tier home cinema choice despite a weak…
A projector that saves bad movies
The AWOL Vision Aetherion Max made the poorly reviewed film Supergirl look stunning on a one hundred twenty inch screen, with vivid reds and blues that brought the image to life.
Price and picture quality
Priced at four thousand four hundred ninety-nine dollars, the ultrashort throw model sits next to the wall and provides four K clarity with precise picture-quality settings rivaling a movie theater.
Design inspired by Tesla
The silver projector is shaped like a Tesla Cybertruck with sharp edges for a modern look. The front has only a single white line that animates when powered on.
Ports and connectivity
The projector includes three HDMI two point one ports with eARC passthrough audio, USB-A, optical and three point five millimetre audio-out ports, and a one gigabit per second Ethernet port.
Setup and portability
The Aetherion Max runs Google TV for quick setup and weighs nineteen point three pounds, making it easy to move between rooms. It supports Wi-Fi seven and has eight gigabytes of RAM.
Color accuracy and contrast
The projector hits one hundred ten percent of the Rec two thousand twenty spec, meaning it displays the entire color palette of films like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol two.
The remote's weak spot
The remote has a large centered Home button easy to find in the dark, but volume buttons are small and hard to locate. Only the upper half is backlit.
Daylight performance
The Aetherion Max worked brilliantly in bright sunlight, projecting Mayday on a wall measuring nearly sixteen feet diagonally with no contrast problems visible.
Dark scenes and adjustments
Dark scenes in House of the Dragon required enabling Dark Detail and Enhanced Black Level settings to see everything clearly, as the TV show creators intended.
Gaming and latency
The projector uses extremely low latency of just one millisecond for gaming, allowing quick controller responses. NBA two K twenty-seven and Onimusha displayed crisp graphics across the entire screen.
Sound quality and a glitch
The projector delivers strong sound quality rivaling a movie theater. A slight glitch occurred when using height channel speakers for seven point one point two sound, causing audio to cut out.
Benchmark results and skin tones
Demo-reel benchmarks showed mesmerizing colors in flowers, mist, water and horses, but dark trees on dark backgrounds were hard to see. Skin-tone tests showed a lack of tonal variety.
A rock star of color accuracy
The AWOL Vision Aetherion Max is an amazing projector with crisp pixel clarity across the entire image and superior contrast, making it a seriously capable home cinema model.
What matters most
The AWOL Vision Aetherion Max projector delivers exceptional color accuracy and contrast at four thousand four hundred ninety-nine dollars, making it a top-tier home cinema choice despite a weak remote.
