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Yaber Y30 projector review: A multi-purpose projector for work or a home theater
Yaber Y30 projector
pros and cons
- 50-degree keystone correction
- 7000 lumens
- Motorized zoom
- Manual focus ring
Heck, the Yaber Y30 LCD projector means business. At almost twice the size of the Yaber Y61 I looked at in July 2020, the Y30 has a few extra features worthy of note.
The first thing I noticed when unboxing the projector is the lens. Significantly larger, and more obvious than other projectors, the glass lens is protected by its zoom ring to prevent any undue scratches when moving the unit around.
By the way, the lens also has a soft rubber lens cover if you are organized enough to remember to fit the cover regularly. The lens is 190mm 1/2.9, uses LED lighting, and is capable of producing a resolution of 1920 x 1080px in full HD up to 4K Ultra HD.
In the box in addition to the projector itself, there is a power cord, an HDMI and a VGA cable, a 3:3 and a 3:1 AV cable, a cleaning cloth, and a user manual. There is also a fairly flimsy remote control that takes AA batteries.
On the projector itself, you can connect the VGA cable, along with AV, to ports on the side of the unit. At the rear of the Y30, there are two HDMI ports and two USB ports, along with an infrared detector for the remote control.
The Y30 has some nice features. The screen will project from 45 inches to 200 inches and you can invert the screen to mount the projector on a ceiling.
To do this, you will need to buy a mount and remove the four feet underneath the projector to get at the screw threads. The projector weighs 6.39 pounds, so make sure you have attached the ceiling mount to a firm structure in the ceiling.
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The Y30 has 50-degree horizontal and vertical keystone correction, which means that sitting of the projector is not critical to get a good image.
You can adjust this using the remote control too after the projector is mounted on the ceiling. Alternatively, you can use the adjustment foot on the base of the projector to get the correct angle when on a horizontal surface.
The focus ring is manual only, which is a pain if you have opted to mount the projector on a ceiling. However, once set, the focus stays perfect.
Keystone corrections can be made by using the remote control and is fairly accurate. You can also use the motorized X_Zoom or Y_Zoom feature to adjust the horizontal or vertical size of the projection.
The projector has 7000 lumens brightness and looks OK even in daylight conditions. Optimum projection is achieved at lower light conditions, however. I like the image from the Y30, there is minimal blurring, and clarity is good.
If you intend to use the Y30 to project into a large space or outside, then I think you will need to connect it to external audio. The projector has two 3W speakers which are fine for a meeting room or conference setting, but to get immersive sound, you will need to invest in some speakers.
You can use the mirror feature to connect to Android or iOS. You do need to buy an extra MHL or lightening to HDMI adaptor to achieve this. To connect to a MacBook, you will need to use a USB-C-HDMI connector.
For under $280, there is little not to like about the Yaber Y30. Apart from the manual focus ring, which irks me, the Y30's features are similar to that of a far more costly projector like the XGIMI.
For home theater or business use, the Yaber Y30 will satisfy both functions perfectly well and has the bonus that you can play pretty much anything from any source on it. But get yourself a soundbar or some speakers for that big immersive sound.