I had the new Samsung LSP9T The Premiere Triple Laser 4K Smart Projector (The Premiere) for a few weeks and can say this new Samsung series of ultra-short throw projectors can really bring a cinema to your home.
Out of the box, you are greeted with a nice design that can easily be part of a modern entertainment room in any home. Measuring only 550 x 141 x 367 mm, it can fit on almost any surface that you can position close to a wall - in our case, the largest piece of wall that we could use was in our daughter's room, and the projector could easily fit on top of the bedside cabinet that we moved around.
Like other short-throw projectors, it requires minimal space, and the screen size will depend on its distance from the wall. At a distance of only 11 cm from the wall you will get a picture equivalent to a 100-inch screen. The largest screen size will be 130 inches if you position the projector about 24 cm from the wall. To calculate the picture size you can consider it to have a throw rate (TR) of 1.89.
Although the ideal surface would be a projection screen, this is not a requirement. Any flat surface with no lumps and bumps will do - even better if you could have a white or grey surface, but in our case, we had a very light blue wall. The result did not disappoint as even with this tinge we still experienced great colours and picture quality.
Because this is a smart project, the first thing you have to do when powering it on for the first time is to connect to your WiFi network (if you have not connected it through the Ethernet port already). This was an easy process, even while using an on-screen keyboard driven by the remote control.
The "smart" part of the name comes from this projector using Samsung Tizen as its operating system. This is the same system used on Samsung smart TVs and smart monitors (like the Samsung M5 recently reviewed). This also means the user interface and experience are the same across all these products.
I was happy to see most of the apps we actually use here at home - including Netflix, TVNZ On Demand, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify and Freeview on Demand. In addition to those, we could use SkySport Now, Spark Sport, Apple TV, YouTube Neon and Plex.
In addition to streaming apps, you can also plug up to three HDMI sources and have the RF option for Freeview terrestrial or satellite broadcast.
I really focused our usage on streaming apps, though, as that is how we mostly consume content. And The Premiere was flawless. We enjoyed different types of content - action movies, animated series and music always with great quality.
With 3840 by 2160 pixels resolution, 1500:1 contrast, 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and HDR10+ certification, the picture you get is amazing. And it works even if your room is not completely dark - even with blinds open you still have a pretty good picture. It has different pictures modes to choose from but if you are not a big fan of the ultra-bright HDR picture, you can easily switch to Filmmaker mode and have the colours and brightness appear as originally intended and designed for that content.
But that's not all, as the projector comes as a whole package with a built-in 4.2 speaker system with Dolby Digital support. Yes, you could pair it with a soundbar, but the Premiere sounds incredible even on its own. The volume can go as high as you can take it without distortion - and even in a small room it sounded great with easy to understand dialogue, great separation of sound between channels and great effects all around you.
The remote control is minimalist but simple to use as all the interaction is basically moving around options shown on the screen. It does have buttons to access Netflix and
Amazon Prime Video directly, as well as a built-in microphone so that you can take advantage of Bixby, Samsung's smart assistant. You can ask Bixby to open a specific app ("Open Netflix"), or you can ask questions about the weather or other search queries and get the longer answers on the screen.
The only thing that might make you think a bit harder about it is the price. At $ 12,999 it is not the cheapest projector available around, and you can find some alternatives around at better pricing. However, I saw it listed with good discounts during special promotions such as Queen's Birthday sales.
