A little over a year ago, we were contacted by LUMOS to check out their new portable projector, the LUMOS ATOM. Overall, we were impressed that it was able to deliver on its promise of a portable home cinema. The ATOM lasted for 2 hours without a charger, was compact and lightweight enough to be chucked into a backpack, and provided a good video experience with its crystal-clear 1080p resolution.

This year, LUMOS has reached out to us to review the LUMOS AURO V2 projector, the second iteration of LUMOS’ flagship home cinema line which focuses on delivering good performance at a reasonable price. Is the AURO V2 a good option for most? Let’s find out.

But first, the specs.

LUMOS AURO V2 Specifications

• Size and weight: 22 x 20 x 13 cm, 2 kg
• Brightness: 6000 Lumens
• Native resolution: 1080p
• Speakers: Dual speaker system, Dolby Audio
• Memory & Storage: 1GB RAM, 8GB ROM
• Operating System: Linux-based Smart TV-like OS, comes with official Netflix and YouTube certification with apps pre-installed
• Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, HDMI x1, USB-A x2, 3.5mm audio out
• Power Consumption: 145W
• Keystone Correction: Horizontal & vertical ±30°, autofocus
• Misc: Comes with a remote control, compatible with standard projector stands with 1 screw mount
• Price: S$498 (+$55 with adjustable height RIZE stand)

For those who are familiar with LUMOS’ previous offering, the LUMOS AURO, you can check out LUMOS’ short comparison video highlighting the main improvements over its predecessor.

The LUMOS AURO V2 comes in a fairly compact package, a marked improvement over the original. While the first generation LUMOS AURO took up an area of 31 x 23 cm, the V2 takes up just 22 x 20 cm while being just 3 cm taller. This means that you’re much more likely to find a surface that fits the AURO V2. It has also been slimmed down to 2 kg instead of the previous 3 kg.

The AURO V2 comes in a brushed aluminium-like colour, which I find classier than the previous generation’s white. The design is also rather minimal, with black accents and a subtle LUMOS logo on the front.

On the top of the unit you’ll find just the power button. On the rear you’ll find a row of ports containing the 3.5mm headphone jack, 2 x USB-A ports, HDMI port, and power.

One thing to note is that when facing the front of the unit, the air intake is on the left while the exhaust is on the right. The speaker output also seems to be primarily on the right. This means that for the setup that I’ve got in my bedroom, both the audio and hot air are going straight into my curtains. Not ideal, but I also haven’t found this to be much of an issue in practice; the speakers get plenty loud for my bedroom despite not directly facing me. But more on the speakers in a later section.

Overall, I like the design of the AURO V2. Its compact size and understated design should let it fit into any room with relative ease.

The AURO V2 outputs native FHD 1080p resolution. While it’s no 4K, I found Netflix and YouTube content from the AURO V2 to be plenty sharp when lying in my bed with the image projected on the opposite wall.

More important is the brightness of the projection, and in this regard, the AURO V2 delivers. While the AURO V2 is not bright enough to have a good viewing experience in broad daylight, any room with adequate light control (i.e. decent blinds or curtains) will suffice.

One thing to note is that I had to set up the AURO V2 on the RIZE stand, as my bedside table was too low for the AURO V2 to project without being blocked by my bed. I’d definitely recommend getting the RIZE stand together with the AURO V2, though this adds an additional S$55 to the cost.

If you’ve never set up a projector before and are wondering whether it will work off-axis (ie without the projector pointing perpendicular to the wall), the AURO V2 is able to handle an offset of up to 30 degrees. A feature called keystone correction corrects for the distortion of the off-axis image. With the AURO V2, LUMOS has made this correction automatic, an improvement over the manual correction on the V1. However, I did find it better to manually fine-tune the correction.

I’ve got the LUMOS AURO V2 set up next to my bed, about 98” away from my wall, and at a ~23 degree angle. This gives me an image that’s roughly 92” diagonally, and which coincidentally fits my wall perfectly.

Even with my rather extreme 23 degree angle, the image still appears mostly sharp throughout, though you can notice some softness near the edges of the projection if you’re looking for it. This isn’t LUMOS’ fault, but rather the unavoidable nature of optics. The image is also very slightly stretched horizontally, though not distractingly so, and I stop noticing it a couple of minutes into using the projector.

LUMOS has also added autofocus to the AURO V2 over the V1’s manual focus. As with the keystone correction, you’ll want to finetune the focus manually.

All in all, I am very pleased with the image quality provided by the AURO V2. It’s bright, colours are vibrant, the image is sharp, and the keystone correction and focus works as you’d expect.

Audio

Audio is another area where the AURO V2 has a marked improvement over its predecessor on paper. LUMOS has opted for a dual speaker setup vs the previous single speaker setup, and claims that the Dolby Audio on the AURO V2 provides stronger bass and fuller sound. 

Overall, I found the sound to be pleasant for the shows that I watch. It still doesn’t beat a good soundbar or external bookshelf speakers, but it’s good enough that I don’t find myself wanting more.

In fact, I find the downgrade in sound quality vs my Bose 600 living room setup to be a minor trade-off for the ability to comfortably watch Netflix or YouTube in bed. Plus, it’s worth noting that if the audio isn’t up to your liking, you can always plug in external speakers via the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Official Netflix and YouTube certification

By far the biggest headline in the AURO V2’s marketing materials is its official certification for Netflix and YouTube. And it certainly is a big deal, as it means that the apps for Netflix and YouTube are always up-to-date, provide uncapped resolution up to the native 1080p, and are optimised for remote control input.

Netflix and YouTube apps just work with the remote control’s d-pad right out of the box, as it would with any other Smart TV. The experience on Netflix and YouTube is excellent, and in fact identical to that on my LG C2 TV.

UI and UX

Beyond the official certification, LUMOS has also shifted to a TV-like operating system from Android. This presents some significant changes. Most notably, the UI has been updated to resemble a Smart TV’s. I was particularly impressed at how the first row of the homescreen presented me with shortcuts to switch Netflix profiles, shows that I’m currently watching, as well as trending shows. Honestly, it’s even better and more functional than the nonsensical webOS UI that’s on my three-thousand dollar LG C2 TV.

In general, I simply found the software to be pleasant to use. Startup is practically instant, even more so than on my LG TV. There’s no boot screen; just hit the power button on the projector or remote and a second later you’re right at the homescreen. The UI is also snappy and responsive with no noticeable lag.

Apps

The shift away from Android does mean that you lack some of the flexibility that the older LUMOS models provide. You can’t simply install apps from the Play Store or sideload an APK. But I would counter-argue that the experience with Android apps on projectors wasn’t good anyway as they aren’t optimised for remote control input. Plus, I’d much rather have the benefit of official certification than risk having a streaming app suddenly not work due to compatibility issues arising from the projector’s outdated version of Android.

Don’t be mistaken that the LUMOS AURO V2 is completely devoid of apps, however. Other than the officially certified Netflix and YouTube apps, there’s Amazon Prime Video, YouTube Kids, and a browser app pre-installed, as well as something called the Netrange App Store.

Interestingly, the latter is not your typical app store. Instead of being able to browse and install apps locally on the device, it’s a “cloud-based app portal” that allows you to access certain on-demand apps and TV channels. 

The only notable app that I’ve found on there is Plex, which I was able to use to watch shows on my Plex server. LUMOS has thankfully provided a shortcut to Plex, so you don’t have to open Netrange and search for Plex every time. Just select “App Assistant” on the homescreen, select Plex and click “install” to add the Plex shortcut to your homescreen (even though it doesn’t actually install anything).

Disney+ is accessible on the App Assistant as well. But “installing” Disney+ just creates a shortcut on your homescreen that links to a bookmark on the browser. I was able to login to my Disney+ account, but navigating the website was a pain with the d-pad, and the website was extremely laggy. You certainly can watch Disney+ shows this way, but I’m not sure if you’d want to. 

A LUMOS representative told me that the best option would be to play Disney+ on an external device and use the AURO V2 as an external monitor over HDMI. Fair enough, and likely preferable to the option of using the in-built browser.

Speaking of the browser, it’s not an ideal experience due to the lack of an IR pointer on the remote. You’ll have to use the d-pad to control a cursor and input text via an on-screen keyboard. But hey, if you really want to for some reason, the option is available to you.

Finally, there’s an app for casting the displays of your other devices. Apple devices work well – my iPad was able to flawlessly detect the AURO V2 and cast to it with minimal latency. I was however, unable to test out casting of Android devices, as it requires that your Android device supports Miracast, which my Pixel 5 unfortunately does not.

It’s a decent enough selection of apps. But if you want apps other than the ones I mentioned above, you’re out of luck for now. You’re limited to what comes pre-installed in the box.

Pros

• Official Netflix and YouTube certification means uncapped 1080p resolution, no worries of compatibility issues, and up-to-date and remote control friendly apps
• 1080p display is sharp, large, bright, vibrant, and comes with good keystone correction and focusing options
• Speakers are loud and sound good enough for the price
• Software UI and UX is surprisingly excellent – instant startup, snappy, and useful UI elements that integrates with your Netflix account
• Screen mirroring works flawlessly with Apple devices
• HDMI means you can technically view any content you want using the AURO V2 as an external monitor
• Relatively affordable at S$498

Cons

• Native streaming app selection is limited to Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, Plex (but you can stream more services via the browser or external device over HDMI if you’re willing to do some setup)

The LUMOS AURO V2 is an excellent package that gets its core feature right – it plays Netflix and YouTube videos on a big display at a push of a button. Honestly, I’d be willing to spend the S$498 just to have this feature in my bedroom alone. But that’s because I primarily consume my media on Netflix and YouTube. And I consume the remainder of my media on Plex, which the AURO V2 thankfully also supports natively, along with Prime Video.

If you spend most of your time watching media on other platforms – Disney+, meWATCH, Hulu, etc – you potentially could via the in-built browser, or preferably by running a HDMI cable to your laptop or other streaming device. But the latter would require additional setup time and space, which you may or may not be willing or able to provide.

If you’re anything like me however, the LUMOS AURO V2 would be a wonderful addition to your home, and more than worth the asking price. Netflix and YouTube on a giant screen in bed? Yes please.

You can purchase the LUMOS AURO V2 from LUMOS’ official website, Shopee, and Lazada.