// WIRED US/UK — HARDWARE & GADGET
AWOL Vision Aetherion Max RGB Laser UST Projector Review: A Top Buy
It takes a special home theater projector to get me to stick through a movie like Supergirl. Critics panned it for dark themes, and its visually dark tones make it literally tough to see. But when I used the AWOL Vision Aetherion Max to project it onto a 120-inch screen with Dolby Atmos sound blasting from every corner of my basement, the film looked stunning.
The Aetherion Max, with its precise picture-quality settings and sharp 4K clarity, provides an experience rivaling that of a movie theater. Supergirl might suffer from bad CGI and even worse dialog, but the projector's features, like Dark Detail and Enhanced Black Level, brought the film to life, making reds and blues pop with amazing vividness.
Priced at $4,499, this ultrashort throw model sits right next to the wall or projector screen. In some ways, it reminds me of the LG Micro RGB Evo television with highly adjustable picture-quality settings. Ultimately, though, I'm a fan of the Aetherion Max because it projects a breathtakingly colorful image.
Before taking stock of its powerhouse specs, I noticed the Aetherion Max's design. Shaped a bit like a Tesla Cybertruck, the silver projector has sharp edges that lend a modern look. The front of the machine (the side that faces you) has no buttons except a single white line that animates when you power it on—a detail I found to be distracting and then powered off. The other side (which faces the screen) is where you'll find three HDMI 2.1 ports (including one for eARC passthrough audio), a USB-A port for a local storage device, optical and 3.5mm audio-out ports, and a 1 GBps Ethernet port for wired streaming.
This model runs on Google TV, and that’s a relief because it meant setup only took a few minutes. Auto-keystoning with manual screen-size options worked just fine. There’s also a QR code you can use to automate keystone correction from your phone, but my room was too dark, and it didn't work for me. (AWOL Vision reps told me it should have worked fine even in a dark room like mine.)
The portable projector weighs 19.3 pounds—notably less than its 23-pound competitor Hisense XR10 Smart Projector (8/10, WIRED Recommends)—and I found it both easy to grip and move around between rooms. For wireless streaming, the Aetherion Max supports Wi-Fi 7, offering nice compatibility and speed. It also runs quite fast thanks to 8 GB of internal RAM and offers 128 GB of internal storage for storing content, though I relied mostly on streaming.
Unlike the highly rated Xgimi Titan Noir Max, the Aetherion Max's iris does not adjust dynamically as you watch content. But similar to the Hisense XR10, you can adjust picture-quality settings to match the room. For example, Dolby Vision Bright works best in a bright room, allowing the iris to let in more light.
For color accuracy, the projector hits 110 percent of the Rec. 2020 spec. That means if you watch a movie that meets that color spec, like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 or Inside Out, you will see the entire color palette. AWOL Vision also lists the contrast ratio as 6,000:1 and lumens at 3,300 ISO, but—as I've learned from personal experience—those specs are not the final arbiter of picture quality. Many other factors come into play, including the darkness level of a room.
The weak spot here is the remote, which is functional if not impressive. I like its large Home button that’s centered and easy to find in the dark without looking. There’s also a button for Google Gemini and convenient shortcuts for apps like Netflix. My main issue is with the volume buttons, placed just above the shortcuts, but small and hard to find. Only the upper half of the remote is backlit, which uselessly doesn't extend to all of the buttons, including volume.
The Aetherion Max's ability to work in a brightly lit room blew me away throughout testing. I watched the movie Mayday on Apple TV+ from start to finish in broad daylight, projecting the image on a wall that measures nearly 16 feet diagonally. I