Yaber Pro V8 1080p Projector Review

Yaber Pro V8 1080p Projector Review

Buy it at Amazon: Yaber Pro V8 1080p Projector [Affiliate Link]

Takeaway: Bright, clear image, decent audio, smooth hi-res HDMI up to 1080p native resolution with 4K input.

You’ll receive the projector in a backpack-style carrying case, 4 foot power cable, 5 ft HDMI cable, remote control, 1/8” AV cable to RCA connector, tilt adjustment screw foot, microfiber cleaning cloth and five long-handled cotton swabs with lens cleaning instructions, and a user manual. The carrying case is made of padded canvas fabric, two adjustable backpack straps, a top handle, and dual zippers. Inside you’ll find a flat pocket on the inside panel, accessory pocket divider in the front, and the main compartment with the projector. The projector measures 9.5 inches wide, 7.5 inches across, and 3.5 inches tall. On the front there’s a plastic lens cap over the 2.75 inch diameter glass lens and an IR receiver. On the bottom are four rubber feet to stabilize the unit on a flat surface, and a gold threaded mounting hole can be used with the included tilt adjustment foot or a standard ¼-20 tripod mount. The foot adds up to 1.25 inches of height to the front of the unit to tilt it upward. If your lens becomes dusty or dirty, you can remove the sticker on the bottom and pop the cover off to clean the lens/mirror inside with a cotton swab.

To the left of the lens is the AC power port and on the right side are the ports: you have a 3.5mm headphone output jack, 1/8” AV input, Two USB ports, and an HDMI input. On the back you have the 5W mono speaker and fan exhaust with removable dust cover, and another IR sensor on the left hand side. On top, the glossy black section has the onboard controls: power, menu, back, 4-direction navigation, and an ok button; the large and small rings control the focus and pitch of the image respectively. The focus wheel turns smoothly, so you can get the image sharp quickly and precisely. If you need to use component input, plug the included RCA adapter into the AV port. The AUX output port can be used with headphones or an external speaker, though you also have the option to stream audio wirelessly to a Bluetooth speaker.

The remote is 5.5 inches long 1.5 inches wide and about ½” thick. It has a power button, source and menu keys, 4 directional navigation with center OK button, back button, volume adjustment, and mute. It requires 2 AAA batteries which are not included. After you plug the projector in, the status LED is red when the unit is off and in standby. When on, the LED shuts off. The Pro V8 is a 1080p Native projector the has 4K input support but only via HDMI, as I found when trying to play a 4K video file from a USB drive, the projector displayed an unsupported video type error. Playback via USB can be choppy for larger video files due to the limited data transfer speed of this input type. but you can also open various types of files including MP3 music files, photos, MP4 videos, and even documents. The user interface for the projector is basic, but easy to navigate. If your projector is on an angle you can adjust both the vertical and horizontal keystone using the settings menu to square it and if the projection is too large, you can reduce the zoom to make it smaller. Since this projector only has one HDMI port, you’ll only be able to plug in one high-def input at a time, unless you use an HDMI splitter or switch. You can power streaming devices like a Chromecast or Fire Stick using one of the USB ports and both ports can be used simultaneously with USB drives.

This projector has a decent brightness level of 450 ANSI Lumens and the screen is dimly viewable during the day with my living room lights on. I have the projector mounted on a tripod at about 4 feet high and about 10ft away from the wall which results in a viewable projection diagonal of about 110”. The heat exhaust fan produces a constant hum, about as loud as a laptop's fan. I’ve connected the projector to my home WiFi network so that I can update the firmware via the internet and cast to the projector using my Android phone on the same network. Streaming this way is a bit disappointing though, even on WiFi 6, as video and audio tend to be out of sync and fairly choppy. The projector also has an iOS cast feature, though I wasn’t able to get that working with an iPhone 12.

I primarily use this projector with my FireStick 4K and I’m able to select and play 4K videos from different streaming platforms. Again, be aware that what you see on the screen is actually 1080p. However, I barely see any pixels from a distance and have to get up really close. The image is smooth and clear with little to no graininess. Overall, the projection is bright and detailed though with a narrower color gamut than I would have liked, as sometimes it could look a bit oversaturated and overexposed. The clarity tends to blur somewhat the farther you get from the center of the screen, but overall, the focus is clear. Using the built-in 5W speaker, the audio and video footage line up pretty closely with just a little bit of lag and is surprisingly very decent sounding. It even sufficiently drowns out the fan noise so that you don’t notice it too much. For a better audio experience, I recommend pairing the projector to a Bluetooth speaker that supports Bluetooth 5.0. I actually found the lag was less noticeable when streaming the audio to my Bluetooth speaker. Just note that the projector doesn’t support advanced audio profiles like Dolby Digital or Dolby Digital Plus, so you may need to change your device's audio output settings if you can't hear any audio. The HDMI input supports CEC, allowing you to use the projector’s remote to control your input device.

Overall, this projector is able to produce high-definition 1080p video from input resolutions up to 4K for large screen sizes. The color and saturation are good, though not impressive, and the brightness at 110 inches is still viewable when my lights are on. Just remember that the larger the projection, the dimmer the output will appear. You’ll get the best performance in the darkest conditions, and I recommend using an external speaker for a better cinematic experience, but even without it, the speaker is loud enough to drown out the fan noise making this projector suitable for watching movies, shows, and perhaps casual gaming.

Buy it at Amazon: Yaber Pro V8 1080p Projector [Affiliate Link]