Optoma Cinemax P2 Projector: Great Picture Quality, Remote Issues, and Compatibility Concerns

I bought this product from another vendor. It does not work with Google home. It might work with Google assistant where you’d have to say hey Google, ask Optoma smart projection to fill in the blank. It’s too late for me to return it now but I’ve been fuming about this since I made the purchase. Their smart apps need an overhaul. Don’t buy if you want to say hey Google, turn on the projector.

All my excitement were broke on a 3 hours effort to bring the best out of this device. Not a 4k, i had a 250$ projector don't see a different between those. Settings and configuration are so difficult, still in 80's. For app i need to disable my wifi connection. Not worth for this money.
1.) Picture and video not 4K.
2.) Not user friendly setup. Only the product developer can setup this device.
3.) Not worth for this money.

Purchased this elsewhere. Picture quality is great, however no Dolby Atmos passthrough is disappointing. Also remote is not great.

like it. I use It for movie

The picture on this projector is amazing. I purchased this unit when it was on sale and feel that I received a great deal. I have been using an older generic 720p projector that I purchased in 2016. There is no comparison. The Optima did cost double the older projector. The set up is tedious and can be very frustrating. I have found that the projector magnifies all the imperfections in my old screen which now will have to be replaced with a better one. If you can get the deal that I did there is no way that you will not enjoy the unit. Absolutely amazing.

Stunning picture quality even in the daytime,120” plus screen size, easily connecting to my Bose sound bar by eARC. I love it very much except the separate android TV with an additional remote which is quite confusing and complicated, it also occupied one HDMI and left only one HDMI for other machines. Of course it will be 2 left if you don’t use the eARC for Dolby Atmos sound output.

(This is for the non-streaming-device version, bought elsewhere, but reviewing here because there's not a lot of reviews out there yet for this fairly new model.)
Pros:
First impressions were WOW. Color is outstanding and vibrant, projection is very bright on an ALR screen and even on a plain gray wall, no noticeable lag on Xbox even without enhanced game mode on, motion is good, and blacks are... obviously not as black as my top-tier plasma, but overall good enough to create a nice contrast. Remember, this is a projector, so don't expect OLED/Plasma blacks. Sports look awesome, like you're at the game, and games and movies look epic! Priced very fair considering this ticks a lot of UST proj. boxes, i.e. true 4k, low gaming lag (4ms at 1080, 16 at UHD), HDR10, 3D, eARC, 3 HDMI ins, laser light source for a long lifespan, and bright, punchy colors with tons of user control...
Cons:
And speaking of extensive user control, this is also where some of the weaknesses stand out. The menu is definitely old school and aimed at the pro user. For example it gives you full control of color, but you have to have some knowledge of what to do with said controls to make a useful difference. And some limitations are disappointing. You can tweak geometric corrections such as corner points and keystone, but you then find out it all goes away when you choose to engage enhanced game mode. So you're stuck choosing between an image aligned with your screen, or minimal lag with less than ideal alignment. I get why, but I'm not thrilled about it. You can also only choose to use one type of alignment at a time, and as soon as you do, the other options are disabled. Though I think you can pair keystone with 4 point. The devil is always in the details.

Caveats aside and strictly for big screen picture quality, which is why you're shopping for a projector, I'd recommend this unit, and you can save a few hundred bucks if you already own a Roku or Firestick, for example, as the streaming version just comes with a separate device anyway. Btw the USB port provides power for your streaming stick, which is a nice touch.

Manage your expectations. I'm a stubborn, die-hard plasma fan who still craves an occasional 3D movie night, and I was still very impressed by this USTP, knowing what the limitations of the technology are. But for $2k, I have no buyer's remorse looking at a 100" screen that I easily forget isn't a TV, even with some lights on. And that says a lot.

When I first got this, so on older firmware, picture color was great. Unfortunately, I couldn't remain on that firmware due to known issues with input switching, compatibility with media receivers, and endless other issues.
The built-in software (youtube, plex, etc. apps) are borderline unusable with nonstop crashes. Updating to latest firmware and software did not correct this.
Updating to latest firmware improved, but did not fully fix, the input switching and CEC-wakeup issues inherent with this projector. I still regularly cannot switch inputs right away or turn on everything in my setup via CEC without needing to switch inputs back and forth at least once; but, the projector has stopped totally rejecting input devices after failing to switch inputs like it used to on older firmware.
Updating to the latest firmware unfortunately has ruined the projectors' ability to faithfully display colors. It seems like just about any red value will get blown out. (In other words, any red color will get exaggerated to the point that it washes out that area of the picture, and bleeds red into the surrounding area). This occurs in both SDR and HDR.
On both old and new firmware, I wouldn't recommend this for gaming. Input lag, even in gaming mode, is a bit too much for most game genres. Certainly playable, but if gaming is a primary factor in your search, look elsewhere.

It is not worth the money

Optoma Cinemax P2 projector, The Smart application is defected and Optoma has no plan on fixing the software. Optoma requested to return the product.

First of all we opened up the box to set it up and found there was no instruction manual on how to set it up. You have to get on the internet and look up instructions which are not that easy to find. Next the controller did not come charged. The only way to use the controller is to charge it. Controller is not battery operated. It’s taken my husband 2 days to get this machine picture adjusted on the screen. It’s pretty complicated way to set it up. The picture is clear and bright. Machine is large and a bit cumbersome.

So i was very frustrated when i first got this projector because the picture quality wanting in focus. I actually wanted to return it. I am glad I didn't. My Friend and I took 3-4hrs and got it all figured out with an Apple 4K TV and I am very pleased with the results. the picture of 4k is there and with my Direct TV is a 1080p quality which is still a great picture. I bought a elite white screen which isn't a UST screen and it works great, I know maybe it could be even better with UST an ambient light rejection screen but not really needed unless in a bright room. I had the P1 and sold it with my house and so I got the P2 this time and I do think its a little better picture (both are great projectors) love the UST as you don't have shadows on the screen every time someone walks in the room. Overall a great projector

Picture quality is fine, but my god it’s impossible to use this projector because of the UI. Every streaming app is hard to use (YouTube, Netflix, Amazon prime, etc…), and it’s super laggy and slow. It takes 5 min just to get this thing going. My friend has a Samsung projector and it is miles above this piece of dung. It’s $1000 more but I’d say it’s worth every penny as an alternative to this thing

This projector is really nice and worth the buy. My only issue is that the picture goes in and out. One minute it will be fine and then the next there's no image displayed but, there's sound still. It's super confusing and frustrating seeing the price we paid for it.

This projector worked great for the two months that it worked. After a couple months of projecting only one day per week (a weekly meeting for about an hour), the bulb began to malfunction and the projector started turning off automatically after only seconds of startup.

There was no time to wait for repairs, so we had to order a replacement projector immediately, which means we no longer had any use for the Optoma.

I contacted Optoma and they will repair the unit (if I pay return shipping), but I wanted a refund. They said I had to contact the seller (Amazon) for a refund. I contacted Amazon support and they will not refund the projector because "it is outside the return window," which is 30 days. Amazon was not willing to make an exception to this return/refund window. Very disappointing.

I really wanted to like this!
I currently own a Samsung laser project
the Optoma's smart user interface is so bad that I prefer a Samsung LS9PT, which is primarily based on Tizen OS and triple laser color recording.

I made the decision to purchase this Optoma laser project . I was so eager to get my hands on this projector that I was ready to give up my Samsung project for. I was very pleased with the design when I received the device.

It appears to be much smarter than the previous one i owned and feels like a typical Optoma premium product. Throw distance differs greatly from that of my Samsung . This meant that the projector would have to sit much higher than it is now. However, it's a relatively simple fix.

I also purchased a stand to place the projector on top of my entertainment system. The Smart Things app made setup a breeze. I had some trouble aligning the projector, but it's not as simple as the Samsung , Optoma uses a smartphone app to align the images automatically which it never connects to the wifi and the app doesn’t communicate with the device at all.

I have a $1200 premium ALR screen that produces amazing 4k images, but this is where everything went wrong with the Optoma. There was a painful laser spot because the projector had to be placed much closer to the screen.

Videos in 4K and Full HD looked terrible. It was like watching SDR content rather than 4K video. I was desperate for the projector to turn on.So I tried everything for several days to resolve this issue. I worked for several hours.

According to other independent reviewers, the Optoma exhibits a high level of laser speckle or glitter. I spent hours adjusting the image and trying to remove the speckles, but it was futile.

Based on my previous experiences, I wasn't optimistic, and every time I interacted with Optoma’s customer service team, they were grumpy. This week's experience was no exception.

Optoma products are fantastic. They certainly produce the best projection technology, but their customer service is woefully inadequate. This appears to be causing significant harm to their brand. I found dealing with Optoma’s customer service to be extremely stressful, if not excruciating!

I was forced to return the Optoma. I used to love projectors, so it was particularly upsetting, but the video output was so poor that I couldn't bear it. I was so taken with the projector that I considered using a laser spot, but at over $3,000, I couldn't justify it. I'm not sure if this is due to the way triple lasers work, or if the projector simply needs to be closer to the screen.

Surprisingly, there is no dimming option on this projector!! Everything on the Samsung , including the brightness, is fully adjustable.

To be honest, I believe the dreaded laser speckle/glitter effect could have been avoided if Optoma had released a firmware update to reduce the brightness. Tizen's user interface is far superior to Optoma's.

This is a fantastic eye-catching color. Negatives include a lack of brightness controls, USB DVR features for recording live TV, and a plethora of laser specks/glitters that resemble SD content from 30 years ago!

I'm very disappointed that I have to return it. I desperately wanted to love it. I don't want to discourage you from purchasing this device,

But if you don't get rid of the laser spot, you might end up in the same situation as I did. The term "evisceration" is inaccurate.

Thank you, Optoma’s customer support!!!
It's so bad that I'm hesitant to purchase your product!! For loyal customers who adore their products, reading from a script is simply infuriating.

Brightness and picture quality

ordered this projector on July 12 to use for an important meeting. Projector didnt turn up till 2 weeks later. Off course the main purpose was not fulfilled so i thought, what the heck, ill use it anyways. Plugged it in and immediately 1 min later - TEMPERATURE TOO HIGH warning. No matter what i do, i cannot get rid of this warning that starts each time i boot up the projector. So pissssed with Optoma - took a first chance with this company and never again. So pissssed with Amazon for late delivery of a non-functional unit. Thanks for nothing.

120" image is great....but thats about it.

Unable to update firmware. Optoma customer support said to use the "thumb drive method" which contains detailed instructions online. This includes buying a thumbdrive (cannot be greater than 32gb or it will not work). Save the bin file to the thumb drive. then put it in the HDMI 1 slot and start the projector. It doesnt work or it freezes for hours.

Apps like Netflix and Hulu simply do not work because they are too outdated and cannot be updated through Optoma (a licensing problem between companies?). Even when you call Optoma customer support, they basically tell you to get a firestick or roku.

So i got a firestick....thought that all my problems were solved. When watching anything, about 3 times an hour the screen goes black and the projector and firestick need restarted. The projector also constantly changes sound modes and HDR function mid-show. Constant interruptions are guaranteed.

Very good value at current price. Easily beat the newer LG HU 715Q for brightness and picture quality out of the box. Colors are not as vibrant as the BeNq 7050i.

I was a bit skeptical to buy this initially but it blew my mind. I am projecting on a 120” silverticket grey screen and the picture quality is amazing. The brightness is awesome. I reviewed vava before this and it performed well across all categories compared to vava. Go ahead with it confidently. However, i never played games and cant comment on it.

So I just brought this projector during prime days. It was delivered speedy right next day. It did take me hours to set it up. The first night it was good. Next day however, when trying to watch a video it stopped after merely 12 mins. There were no printed user manual included in the box. No biggie, I searched online and found the digital copy and from there called the customer support.

The support didn't even ask me what product/model or what issue do I have. She simply ask me to check with store I bought it. When I answer that I got it from Amazon in less than a day, she just told me to return because it is within 30 days. So either the support got too many calls for their product and didn't even bother try to troubleshoot anymore or they have terrible customer support. Either case, it certainly not a good idea to keep this product at all.

Well that is it. it is going back then.

The projector showed up with no power cable. I luckily had one on-hand and it powered up fine. The picture quality out of the box was worse than my $250 bulb-based projector. I have a 120" ALR screen aligned correctly, yet the projector would not align properly no matter where I placed it or how I adjusted it.

Bonus CON: the Optoma app to "adjust/fit the screen" is absolutely useless (seriously check the reviews on the app store). Kept failing to calibrate, and the projector menu does not have any manual options to adjust other than color and a 'warping' feature that just made things worse.

I'm keeping my $250 bulb-based projector until I can actually find an UST that doesn't have so many issues.

Picture was nice and bright, not as clear as it claim to be. Very slow at start up and slow response to the remote or the app. With that price, it not worth.

Good projector but the included remote doesn’t hold a charge and has to constantly be plugged in to work