4 months ago
Samsung announced its newest portable projector up of its First Look showcase astatine CES 2026, but you mightiness person been a small confused arsenic to what’s changed. The institution says nan Freestyle+ is astir doubly arsenic agleam arsenic nan 2022 Freestyle projector, rated astatine 230 ISO lumens, which was beautiful underwhelming. The caller Freestyle+ tin output astatine 430 ISO lumens. If this is nan first you’re proceeding of ISO Lumens, it’s an internationally standardized standing for projectors, intended to standardize manufacturers' claims of brightness.
It still looks very akin to its predecessors, pinch 160 degrees of rotation that makes it easy to group up successful astir homes, Airbnbs aliases gathering rooms. Samsung added support for Q-Symphony, allowing you to link it to nan company’s soundbars, if you conveniently person 1 nearby. While nan sound value of its built-in speaker was difficult to trial successful nan mediate of a post-keynote waste and acquisition show floor, you’ll astir apt want to augment nan built-in speaker, if only because it’s truthful small.
Vision AI, mentioned respective times during Samsung’s CES keynote, is besides built into nan portable projector. You tin summon Bixby to set settings and immoderate you’re watching. Based connected nan demos I saw, you’ll request to speak into nan distant to entree Bixby.
Other improvements bring nan projector into 2026, pinch keystone correction and focus. The Freestyle+’s AI OptiScreen tin calibrate projections to different wall surfaces and colors to amended visibility moreover connected your astir vivid walls.
Mat Smith for Engadget
The updated 3D Auto Keystone corrects distortion moreover erstwhile projecting onto uneven aliases non-flat surfaces, specified arsenic corners, curtains aliases angled walls. It’s difficult to put into words, but pointing nan Freestyle+ to a corner, aliases astatine an undulating curtain, and watching nan image morph and contort was almost hypnotic. The premise is that you tin constituent this astatine immoderate area of your location (or even, say, nan broadside of a tent), and nan 3D Auto Keystone will flatten nan image successful seconds.
There’s besides Screen Fit, which automatically adjusts nan image to lucifer a projector surface size. The Freestyle+ tin task up to a 100-inch 1080p image, astatine maximum. However, Wall Calibration mightiness beryllium nan astir technically awesome successful a instrumentality this size. It detects and analyzes nan colour of nan projection aboveground and recalibrates nan image’s colour reside to minimize nan effect. It tin moreover observe and lucifer a wall shape to trim ocular interference, which worked good successful person. The Samsung spokesperson utilized nan aforementioned Bixby sound commands to calibrate nan screen.
If there’s still thing to address, it’s that this portable projector must beryllium plugged successful to operate. When that tin beryllium either a powerfulness slope aliases a wall outlet, it seems a spot cheeky to telephone it portable.
Samsung typically announces prices and motorboat dates erstwhile nan CES particulate has settled, but it's group to get successful nan first half of 2026. Previous iterations costs astir $900, but early impressions propose it’s a versatile, petite projector.
