It looks like an elephant.
If you add a trunk, maybe a second eye on the side, and squint really hard. That is basically what the Soundcore Nebula P1i is. Well. Not an elephant. It’s a projector. A gray, boxy little projector with two big speakers that rotate out like ears.
Why do I remember it as a robot elephant? Because it’s absurd. And it’s cheap.
It costs under $400. And for that price? It punches way above its weight class. Most projectors in this budget bracket feel cheap, broken, or both. The P1i does neither. It feels… solid. Even if the lens placement is a nightmare for anyone who knows what they are doing.
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The Brand Soup
Let’s clear the naming confusion first. Anker has too many sub-brands. Nebula was one. Now it’s under Soundcore. The company famous for headphones that don’t break after two months. So now this thing is the Anker Soundcore Nebula P11. Say that five times fast. Don’t bother. I’m just going to call it the P1i.
Also. Stop capitalizing the S in Soundcore if you are using their branding guidelines. It hurts to look at. I’m keeping the capital S because it’s readable. My eyes matter.
Specs That Don’t Lie
Usually manufacturers lie. Or “optimistically round.” The P1i claims 380 ANSI lumons.
I measured it.
382.
I stared at my light meter for a full minute. That is the closest match I have ever seen in fifteen years of reviewing electronics. It’s suspicious. It’s also impressive.
Here is what you are getting:
– Resolution : 1080p (native, not upscaled garbage)
– Light Source : LED
– Zoom : No.
– Lens Shift : No.
The 1080p is fine. Unless you sit two feet away from a fifty-foot image. Then you might see pixels. Most people won’t.
The Lens Problem
Here is the deal. Most projectors throw the image upward. This means you put the thing on a coffee table, or mount it to the ceiling, and the image lands nicely in the middle of the wall above it.
The P1i doesn’t do that.
The image shoots straight out. Center lens = center of the screen.
This creates a logistical problem. Are you going to hang a $370 plastic box four feet off the ground on your wall? Probably not. If you put it on a table, the bottom of the image hits the floor or gets cut off. Or. You get a trapezoid. A stretched, skewed rectangle of movie magic.
You have two choices here:
1. Accept the weird angle.
2. Use digital keystone correction to fix the shape.
Choice two ruins the quality slightly. When you correct digitally, the projector crops the image. You lose pixels. You lose brightness. It adds compression artifacts. But? For four hundred dollars? Who is complaining. It’s better than no picture.
Sound With a Direction
This is where the ears shine.
Literally. Each speaker is 10 watts. They can swivel. Up, down, back, side. Independent movement. You can have the left ear face the couch and the right ear face the window. If you wanted to.
Most budget projectors have speakers facing forward only. If you sit to the side, the sound gets muffled. Here you can point the volume directly at your friend Dave. Dave will hate it. You will love it.
Is it audiophile quality?
No.
It’s thin. No bass. Just treble and mids. It gets loud. Loud enough to fill a small room. It’s not going to make the floorboards vibrate.
The sound isn’t amazing, but it is directed. Which is smarter than being omnidirectional and quiet.
Google TV Saves You
There is no app drawer full of junk here. It’s Google TV. It’s clean. Fast enough. All the major streams work. Netflix, Prime, Disney.
Want to play video games? There’s one HDMI port in the back. Plug in your Switch or Steam Deck. Just remember: the P1i doesn’t have lens shift. If your TV is high up, good luck mounting the projector on a high shelf without a drill and a stud finder.
The Rival: TCL A1
I compared it to the TCL A1. They are spiritual cousins. Same simple lens. No throw-up capability. But the A1 is older and… shinier.
- Build : The TCL feels expensive. The Anker feels like hard gray plastic. The TCL wins on aesthetics.
- Brightness : The Anker gets brighter if you sacrifice accuracy. In “Standard” mode, it hits nearly 600 lumens. The TCL stays cooler. But the fan noise on the Anker in bright mode? Loud. Like a ceiling fan on high.
- Color : This is the knockout. The P1i colors pop. Reds are deep. Grass is actually green. The TCL looks washed out by comparison.
- Contrast : The TCL wins here. Blacker blacks. But the P1i’s extra light output usually matters more to viewers in living rooms.
Which one sounds better?
The TCL. It has actual bass.
Which one is more useful for a party where people are standing all over the room?
The Anker. You can point the speakers at everyone.
Verdict
Is it perfect? No. The lens is a design flaw. A real one. But does it matter?
I don’t think so.
This projector exists for movie nights in living rooms. For gaming in the backyard. For times when you want a big screen but don’t want to sell a kidney for one. It delivers an image that looks like it should cost double the price.
The trapezoidal distortion is a nuisance. Yes. But is it a dealbreaker for a device under four hundred bucks?
I don’t know about you. But I’m going to keep the elephant in the living room. And probably put a little hat on it.
