Philips PicoPix MaxTV

We rarely descend to the land of actual pico-projectors for our reviews, as our experience with them to date has been sub-optimal, shall we say. As their name suggests, pico-projectors are small, their resolutions generally low, and the power behind their projection distinctly limited. Their primarily advantage lies in price, and in portability, since they can usually operate on battery power, although battery life can be so low that you may not make it to the end of a movie.

But here Philips uses the prefix ‘Pico’ on something which is really a step up in category terms, since the PicoPix MaxTV uses proper DLP projection technology from Texas Instruments rather than the usual single LCD panel of picos, and it also offers respectable Full-HD resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels. Add in the included Android TV interface and a relatively healthy four hours of battery life, and it’s clear Philips is offering something more than a pocket pico model here — as the higher-than-pico pricing of $1495 suggests. So we called it in for a closer look.

Build & features

The PPX720, to give its model number rather than its extended name, is larger than a pocket projector but still usefully small, having a front measuring some 16 × 12cm, and extending back 15cm. That’s significantly smaller than the BenQ in the previous review, though also less stylish, the Philips being a simple shiny-black plastic box. The lens