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Dr J AK-50 Projector review: Stereo sound and 300 inch projection
Dr. J AK-50 Projector
pros and cons
- Dual 3W speakers
- 120 inch projection screen included
- Easy to connect to Wi-Fi for screen mirroring
- Brightness not rated as ANSI lumens
The Dr.Q/ Dr. J AK-50 Projector has a branding issue. On its Amazon page, it is branded as Dr. J, yet on the user guide, projector and packaging I received, the brand is Dr. Q.
Be aware of this when you are searching for more information about this projector across different locations. In the US this projector is sold as Dr J.
The Dr. J AK-50 is a solid looking projector housing measuring 23 x 31 x 11cm and it weighs just over 5.5lbs.
Inside the box there is the projector, a remote control without batteries, a 120 inch soft fabric screen and fixings, a power cable, an audio cable and an HDMI cable. There is also a user guide and a lens cleaning pack.
The projector uses LCD display technology with a resolution of 1920 x 1080px and an aspect ratio of either 4:3 or 16:9.
It will deliver an image from 50 to 300 inches and the image can be brought into focus with a manual focus ring. You can adjust the keystone manually using the keystone ring up to 15 degrees.
On the back of the projector there is an array of ports: there is a VGA connector, two USB ports, one HDMI port and a TF card slot. There is also an AV and audio jack, along with a power rocker switch. On top of the unit there are menu, volume, and navigation controls.
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You do need to check that the USB or TF card you use is no larger than 32GB or it will not be recognised by the projector.
The projector also comes with a simple remote control and a soft display fabric screen and hooks. This screen is identical to the screen on the Vankyo Leisure 530W I looked at earlier.
The manufacturers claim that this projector is rated at 7500 lumens. I think that it is important to note that these are not ANSI (American National Standards Institute) lumens and the figure could well be exaggerated for marketing purposes.
There is a good explanation of the differences on BenQ's site if you would like to find out more about how light outputs are calculated.
The light output is a bit brighter than the Vankyo Leisure 530W projector but there is not as significant a difference as claimed with the extra lumens.
You can connect the projector to Wi-Fi and then cast your mobile device to the projector. Connection is easy. The projector quickly appears in the device list and screen mirroring is simple.
The projector can be positioned in front or behind the screen, stood on a table, or ceiling mounted. The M4 screw holes are hidden behind the four rubber feet which are glued onto the unit and are really hard to get off -- you will need a screwdriver or similar.
The Dr. J AK-50 has two 3W speakers giving a loud stereo sound which is well-balanced across the ranges. A nice feature here is that in the settings you can change the sound mode to emphasise bass and treble, or use balanced sound, or equaliser to tweak the settings further.
All in all, at under $230 the Dr. J/Dr. Q projector is an affordable projector for home and office that will project office documents and videos in daylight. It is easy to use, and relatively portable and would be fine for home theatre and office use.