WEMAX DICE FULL HD LED DLP PORTABLE PROJECTOR REVIEW - PERFORMANCE

PICTURE QUALITY

The Wemax Dice picture quality is very good out of the box. The seven preset picture modes don't change the onscreen image much, resulting in a slight increase or decrease in brightness and contrast and the image's color temperature. If I had to pick one mode I preferred for watching content; it would be the STANDARD mode. Most of the time, I liked using the projector's USER mode, turning down the color saturation, and increasing the projector's contrast.

Above are various images I captured using the projector's out-of-the-box picture preset modes. In some cases, the photo quality will not be as good as what I saw when testing; however, the projector's black level is not as dark as is shown in my screenshots, and like all our photos, they remain unadjusted for color.

COLOR REPRODUCTION

The out-of-the-box color presets on the Wemax Dice are good, but there's not a lot of difference between them except for overall color temperature, with some modes being warmer or cooler than another. The images above give you a pretty good idea of how the projector performs. Just keep in mind that, in person, the actual colors will likely look better on screen.

The Dice delivers 100% of the Rec.709 color gamut resulting in a higher level of displayed colors. Still, I do not think the out-of-the-box colors are accurate, certainly not as much as other portable projectors I've reviewed. That said, I don't think color accuracy will be a huge concern for customers buying the Wemax Dice for its brightness and portability rather than color accuracy.

I usually use an Apple TV 4K for one of my sources, along with a PC and Blu-ray player. For this review, I had to use the internal OS and Apps for my tests because no matter what I tried, I could not apply any adjustments I made to the picture to the device plugged into the HDMI connection. For example, no matter how high or low I turned the color saturation in the USER mode, the image only changed on the internal apps and not on my Apple TV 4K.

Here's another irritating glitch. If you are in user mode and turn and adjust the color saturation, then switch to one of the preset picture modes, the color saturation stays at the level it was set to in the USER mode. 

Standard Mode: Standard mode is bright, with the overall color slightly above neutral.

Movie Mode: Adds a significant amount of contrast and warms the overall picture.

Vivid Mode: Designed to improve overall smoothness with slightly exaggerated colors and contrast.

Sports Mode: Increases contrast by just a tiny amount making elements of the picture pop.

Child Mode: Reduces brightness and colors, making the image more neutral and presumably easier on children's eyes.

User Mode: Allows custom parameters to be applied to your video.

The Dice has a custom mode that can also be personalized for brightness, contrast, color, and other parameters to suit your liking.

BRIGHTNESS

I want to start by saying how pleased I am that Wemax has chosen to rate this projector's light performance in ANSI lumens rather than the growing trend among some projector manufacturers to rate their LED projectors with an LED lumen rating. Here at projector reviews, we only rate projector brightness in ANSI lumens to provide our readers with the most consistent performance ratings.

As you can see in the images above, the projector appears bright in a darkened space. Details in the brighter parts of the image can very quickly become blown out. The projector's user mode allows for adjustments to brightness and contrast to minimize this effect but at the overall cost of brightness.

Also, notice the images I took when I turned on a single 20-watt soft white bulb in the room.

Wemax rates the brightness of the Dice at 700 ANSI lumens. To measure the brightness, I set the projector's power mode to VIVID and its picture mode to MOVIE, the projector's brightest mode. I then took three to four readings about 15-20% out from the center of the lens.

The brightest mode on the Wemax Dice measured 685 ANSI lumens based on my readings. 685 lumens is 15 lumens less than the brightness rating Wemax provided. I measured six of the seven available picture modes. I left out the USER mode as it is meant to be adjusted by the user. My measurements are below.

The bottom line is when you are in a dark space, the Wemax Dice produces a bright image, but if you add even a small amount of ambient light to your environment, like a lamp, the picture gets washed out.

BLACKS AND SHADOW DETAIL

The Wemax Dice has a contrast rating of 350:1, which is very low. This projector's image is incredibly colorful but honestly falls apart regarding black levels. 

Take a look at the first set of images above and look closely at details in the black area of the picture and overall black levels.

I had hoped that the projector's ability to process and display HDR would help, but it is not enough. HDR also reduces the projector's brightness, so what detail you gain using HDR is offset by the reduction in brightness. If I'm being forced to pick between HDR and brightness on the Wemax Dice, which is the choice, brightness is the more valuable of the two… to me.

In the HDR split shot above, I've tried to capture what I saw in my demonstration content and how HDR marginally improves details in the darkest and brightest parts of the image but also how much this mode affects the projector's overall brightness.

The Wemax Dice is good enough for entertainment content on the go, provided it's being used in a dark environment.

SOUND QUALITY

The sound quality of the Wemax Dice is equivalent to a really good portable Bluetooth speaker similar to a JBL Flip 4. I was surprised at the sound quality of a projector of its size and weight. This little projector provides better quality sound than many mono home theater projectors, and some stereo projectors can cost two to three times as much as the Wemax Dice.

The projector can get loud and produces a decent amount of mid-bass but be mindful that as you turn up the volume, you will need to turn down the bass to avoid clipping.

AUDIBLE NOISE

The Wemax Dice is extremely quiet. I did not find the Dice fan noise distracting, even at the projector's brightest setting.

GAMING

I ran several games on my PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on the Dice. I also ran some games via the Google Play App store. Gaming from an external source was decent, with little to no noticeable input lag, however. Input lag on the Wemax Dice is around 55 ms, so it's good enough for most casual gaming. An input lag under 40 ms is considered the starting point for high-end competitive-level gaming, with under 30 ms considered premium.

The Wemax Dice is an excellent choice If you are a casual gamer looking for a portable projector with a built-in battery.