TCL C1 Google TV projector hands-on: Solid image quality and audio

The review unit included a multilingual quick start manual, an AC power cord, and a remote control with two AAA/LR03/AM-4 alkaline batteries.

The TCL C1 has similar dimensions to a small two-slice toaster and weighs about the same as a quart of milk. Its all-gray plastic body incorporates rounded edges with a subtle modified herringbone pattern adorning the top and sides. Owners will have an easy time finding space for this projector on small tables thanks to a footprint approximately the same as a CD case.

There are no sharp edges or corners, and the exhaust is screened to prevent accidental contact with the hot metal heat sink inside. During operation on a 29.2 °C (84.6 °F) night, the exhaust temperature measured directly behind the grill at several points ranged from 31.5 °C to 45.2 °C (88.7 °F to 113.4 °F). The projector does not use an air filter to prevent dust from entering, but the company notes the IP5X-rated optical engine is sealed from dust intrusion.

The 8-watt rear-firing speaker is mounted behind the rear grill near the top edge. Compared to those seated behind the projector, viewers sitting in front of the projector will notice some high-frequency roll-off affecting speech intelligibility.

The bottom of the body has an AC power socket for the removable two-prong, non-polarized 2 m (~79 in.) cord. The projector unit can swivel from pointing backward to pointing forward to pointing at the ceiling across a 285-degree swivel range. The ~28 mm (~ 1.1 in.) gap between the bottom of the projector and base allows the AC cord to remain attached without obstruction throughout the entire swivel range.

An 85 mm (~3.3 in.) wide U-shaped base connects to the side of the projector and serves as both the stand and the carry handle. This is awkward because both hands must be used to pick up and invert the projector before it can be carried by the handle in the base. A standard tripod mount is located at the bottom of the base.

The TCL C1 can tip when pushed due to its vertical design. It tips at approximately 15° forward, 25° back, or 22° to either side, depending on how much the body has been swiveled.

The TCL C1 has a simple layout along the top of the rear panel, including a power button, an HDMI port, an IR receiver, a USB-A port, and a 3.5 mm audio jack. After the projector is plugged into AC and the power button is pressed, it takes about sixty seconds to turn on, including 15 seconds for auto-focus and a few more for auto-keystoning. Depending on the internal temperature, it takes at least 14 seconds to power off while the internals are cooled by the fan.

The included remote control is made of plastic, with a dual-level design that places the volume buttons on a higher level than the main buttons. All buttons have a short stroke and crisp response, with good legibility at arm’s length. The buttons are neither backlit nor glow-in-the-dark. The back of the remote is lightly textured for better grip, which helps when removing the cover for replacing the two AAA batteries. The IR receiver is located next to the rear ports, although the remote is strong enough that it doesn’t need to be pointed directly at the TCL C1 to control it.

The buttons for power, home, and settings are located along the top row, followed by four arrow buttons around a central OK button, then a row of buttons for back, info, and input mode, followed by two rows of buttons dedicated to launching Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon Prime Video, and initiating the auto-image setup. The volume and mute buttons are located at the very bottom row on a raised level, making them easier to find by feel in the dark.

The projector can send audio to external headphones and speakers when playing videos via a 3.5 mm audio cable or a Bluetooth 5.4 connection. The device can also be used as a wireless Bluetooth speaker when receiving audio from computers and smartphones.

All control inputs must be made using the remote control, and because there is no storage compartment on the projector, users must be careful not to lose the remote.

The projector supports DHCP and manual Wi-Fi setup, but it does not support all types of proxies. For example, the projector was not able to establish a proper connection through a PDANet+ proxy during testing, even though a Surface Pro could.

The TCL C1 projector has a quick one-time initial setup to choose the language, country, and network, then pair the remote control.

The unit detects when it has been moved and automatically initiates auto-focus and auto-keystone to keep the projected image square and in focus. Users can initiate the auto-focus anytime by pressing the dedicated remote control button or simply rotating the projector back and forth 45 degrees.

During image setup, which takes about fifteen seconds, the unit first projects a white-on-black TCL logo with radiating lines while using an auto-focus camera to set focus. Next, the unit projects a grid of black and blue squares on white to adjust the keystone within a few seconds. Options for manual finessing are available.

When the optional object avoidance setting is activated, the unit detects objects such as chairs in front of the wall, then automatically fits the projection between them. When the optional auto image sizing is enabled, the projector will automatically fit the image to fully fill a movie screen.

Automatic keystoning does not physically skew the area covered by the projection beam, but rather digitally skews the image to appear square within that area. A very small amount of light leakage in the non-active areas is visible in a completely dark room, appearing as a very dark gray. The only way to eliminate this is to aim the projector squarely at a wall while on a tall stand or tripod.

The T1 Pro automatically enters screensaver mode after several minutes of inactivity, projecting a slideshow of landscape photos along with the time.

The TCL C1 runs Google TV OS and came with version 11 installed. The major streaming services, such as Netflix and YouTube, worked as expected, similar to other Google TV-powered devices. Owners can choose to set up the projector with or without logging in, and the home screen layout will vary based on this choice.

Without logging in, the home menu displays apps for Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, and IMPlayer. When logged in, the home menu can download and display many more services including Spotify as well as hundreds of free live TV channels.

In either case, computers and game consoles can use the TCL C1 as an external HDMI monitor and smartphones can use it as a Bluetooth speaker. The projector does not support wireless smartphone mirroring when not logged in, but mirroring apps are available for download when logged in.

Navigation using the remote control is responsive and similar to other Google TV devices. Voice control only works when owners have logged in, and some voice searches confuse the system. For example, saying “24” immediately displays Fox’s 24 TV series, but searching for a “web browser” only displays “Sorry, I’m not set up to help with that.”

During hands-on testing, the YouTube app was able to stream videos at 1080P with no video stuttering over an Internet connection that had a speed test of 95 Mbps down. Media availability, streaming performance, and features are controlled by Google and third-party services.

The pre-installed IMPlayer app can play local media files from an attached USB drive. The simple remote control is limited to play/pause and fast-forward/rewind. The settings allow repeat play of a single file or all files. Most tested media files played successfully (1080P and lower H.264, H.265, MKV, and TS movie files, and MP3 and FLAC music files), but not a 2160P video.

Social media and 16 MP smartphone photos displayed successfully, but 200 MP Xiaomi smartphone images appeared pixelated. The app does not support subtitles, alternate audio tracks, or image zoom, but other media players are available in the Google TV store.

The TCL C1 projects a 40-inch image when placed 47 inches (119 cm) from a wall and a 65-inch image at 75 inches (191 cm), making it well-suited for small bedrooms. It is rated at 230 ISO lumens and designed for use in dimly lit or dark rooms. For this hands-on report, a bedroom wall was used as the projection surface with the assumption that the typical buyer will not install a projection screen or attach black felt around the room to absorb stray light.

The projector creates nice images with a smooth appearance largely free of over-sharpened edges by leveraging TrueHue technology to optimize the image frame-by-frame. Very dark scenes are displayed with the levels automatically brought up enough to be clearly visible without the need for manual adjustment, which some competing projectors require.

In Standard picture mode, images appear with muted saturation and intensity similar to images in a standard movie theater. Switching to Vivid picture mode renders images with more greater vibrancy, which some may prefer. Image brightness and color vibrancy depend on the distance from the projector to the wall, so a more impressive image appears with closer placement.

When connected to a computer, four-point text and larger is legible, so the TCL C1 can be used as an external PC display. Pixels become visible when approaching the projected image at 1 m (3.3 ft.) or closer, but are generally not noticeable at normal viewing distances. Pixelization becomes intrusive with smaller text under six points in size. Gray ramps are not perfectly smooth, but visible color banding is generally limited to dark shadows and flat areas of color.

The TCL C1 projects an enjoyable image in a dark room. Owners of OLED and HDR HDTVs will need to recalibrate their expectations, but those who enjoy watching movies in a traditional theater will feel like they’ve brought that to their homes.

Owners can select a picture preset (Standard, Vivid, Movie, and Game) or create a custom preset with manual adjustments to black level, brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness, and color temperature (normal, cool, warm, and custom).

The projector’s 230 ISO lumens of brightness with a 65-inch screen size produces a satisfying image in Standard picture mode, with solid performance in both very bright and very dark scenes. Sharpness is good and details such as a man’s beard are not oversharpened. The LED backlight evenness is very good, and the minor corner drop-off is not visible during normal use.

The projection looks similar to a movie theater projection (non-laser, non-IMAX, non-Dolby Cinema). Colors will not be super-saturated, but film-like in their somewhat muted representations. For example, lush green fields will never appear as vibrant as seen on OLED TVs.

Standard picture mode might be too muted for those coming from modern OLED TVs and phones, so switching to Vivid mode can add that missing vibrancy. In all modes, the TCL C1 manages to prevent shadow areas from becoming impossible to see by automatically pulling up the blacks. This is better out-of-box performance than some competitors, such as the Yaber T1 Pro, which require occasional tweaking. Owners generally only need these two modes to obtain an enjoyable projection across most movies and shows.

All LCD projectors have light leakage, so even pure blacks will be projected as a very dark gray—unlike a top-end laser projector such as the ~$350k Christie Eclipse. This is typically not noticeable with the TCL C1, except during dark movie scenes.

The projector has no visible color rainbowing. Viewers sitting more than 1.5 m (5 ft.) from the screen will only see a seamless image, not the pixels. The image processing manages to keep aliasing in check, especially in tough scenes such as the shot of Shanghai skyscrapers at 41 min 27 sec in Skyfall. Banding is rarely seen, and only across areas of flat color, such as the moment Bond opens the door to enter the glass-walled office during the Shanghai sniper scene in Skyfall.

Focus and resolution across the projection after auto-setup are very good, as long as the projector is relatively square to the wall. When the projector faces the wall at a severe angle, there will naturally be additional image degradation.

The TCL C1 comes with an 8-watt rear-facing speaker with Dolby Audio mounted behind the rear grill. As a result, voices are slightly more intelligible when sitting behind the projector than in front due to mild treble frequency roll-off—especially at lower volumes or during quieter scenes.

The single speaker will not outperform or overpower desktop speakers like the Bose Companion 2 Series II, and it will not create any earth-shaking low bass, but it reproduces soundtracks well—like a good television speaker.

The sound reproduction remains clear with no distracting distortions, even at maximum volume, and regardless of volume level, dialogue remains intelligible. Within a volume range of 0 to 100, it can reproduce audio loud enough to cover up the noise from the cooling fan above 25, fill small bedrooms when the volume is set to 50, and fill large living rooms when the volume is set to 100. The fan also continues to run when the TCL C1 is in Bluetooth speaker mode.

Owners can also listen to audio using wired 3.5 mm or a wireless Bluetooth headphones. The unit does not have a low-latency Bluetooth audio mode, so video sound played through the C1 projector might become out of sync. During testing, videos played in VLC on an LG G7 smartphone with audio output from the projector required about a -350 msec timing adjustment for proper lip sync.