Review: Samsung The Freestyle Smart Portable Projector

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Meet The Freestyle

If you've ever loved the idea of a movie night in the back yard or playing video games on a big screen, you'll want to keep reading. Samsung's new portable projector, The Freestyle, is a portable all-in-one home theater solution. Its small size and built-in sound gives you the flexibility to set up a theater experience in almost any space.

Features:

• The 180-degree design gives you the flexibility to point, play and enjoy a big-screen experience
• See your content in 30 to 100 inches of high-definition color 
• The projector optimizes screen size, auto-focuses, and levels the image even when pointed on an angle
• Access your streaming apps, listen to your favorite playlist, and more
• Equipped with Alexa and Bixby voice assistants
• Compatible with external USB-connected battery banks for pack-and-go portability
• The Freestyle automatically aligns the picture so that you're ready to watch your favorite shows in seconds

Smart Calibration

One of the coolest features of The Freestyle is Smart Calibration. This feature will automatically adjust the brightness and color settings depending on the environment and the color of the wall you are projecting on, which is important considering The Freestyle will most likely be used in sub-optimal settings without lighting control or a screen. If you wish to override the auto calibration, we have good news. You can manually adjust the focus and keystone in the settings of the projector, and you can even use the Samsung SmartThing's app to adjust the brightness and color settings as well. 

We tested this feature in our Montgomeryville showroom, where we bounced the image between two hard angles of the showroom wall. The Freestyle quickly adopted to the new angles and optimized the projected image on the dark beige wall.

Full HD Viewing

The Freestyle is a Full HD 1080p projector that supports HDR10 and an image size of 30" to 100." HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, which is essentially how many shades of color a display can produce. HDR10 is just one of many formats of HDR that is widely used. Many streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and even YouTube now support HDR. The Freestyle is already equipped with these streaming platforms, which easily lets you access your favorite shows and movies.

If you are not interested in using the built-in apps or have a photo gallery you want to share with the family from your tablet or smart phone, Samsung has you covered on that front as well. If you have a Galaxy S8 or newer, you can take advantage of Tap View. By downloading the Samsung’s SmartThings app, you can enable Tap View on your mobile device, and then simply tap it to the tap view icon on the projector and boom: your phone's screen is now being cast to The Freestyle!

Accessories

Final Thoughts

Overall, The Freestyle is a great solution for someone that is looking for more flexibility with a projector. It’s small and compact, so you can bring The Freestyle along on your travels, have a spontaneous movie night in the back yard, or even use it indoors for a bigger screen than you’re normally used to. But with its small size comes some limitations with sound and image quality. It’s not a substitute for a traditional projector but something completely new.

Make sure to watch our full video review above to learn more and see how we put it to the test.