The HY300 is a popular budget-friendly heavily advertised on social media as an affordable way to add a large screen to a room without the inconvenience of a TV.
In this review will go over the details of this projector to see if it is a worthy TV replacement and worth consideration.
Who makes the HY300?
The HY300 appears to be made by the company Shenzhen Rongqi Technology Co. Ltd., who was established in 2023 and based in Shenzhen, China. It specialises in the production and sales of DLP & LCD projector and sells its products wholesale or produced whitelabel with another company’s name on it.
Our projector appears to be the RQ-L10 and resold under different names or branding.
Technical Specifications
Due to the wide range different advertising available online, I will be referring to manufactures’ official spec sheet and details I can confirm about the actual projector I received.
- Maximum Resolution: 1280*720P @60hz
- Brightness: 160 ANSI lumens
- Projection Size: 40-130 inch between 0.5-3M. (Optimal 85″ 1.68M)
- Android Version: 11 (11-RS-20241120.1231)
- CPU: Quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 @1.39GHZ
- GPU: Mali G31 (HEVC/VP9/AVS2/AVC 4K@30fps and MPEG1/MPEG2/AV1/VP9/H.265 1080p/60fps)
- RAM: 2.0GB (Claimed) – 1GB Verified
- Internal Storage: 16.0GB Claimed (10GB Indicated – ~6500MB Free)
- Wifi: Dual band WiFi6 + BT5.0 (Internal Antenna)
- Speaker: 1x 3w
- Interfaces: HDMI (Optional), 3.5mm Audio Out, USB2 Input, IR
- Power: Universal AC90-260V/50-60HZ Input (35w)
Unboxing
The HY300 arrives in a somewhat generic brown box, with ‘Ultra HD’ written on it, which it absolutely is not! Opening the box we are greeted with a well packaged projector wrapped in a bag to prevent scratches and thick foam padding surrounding it on 4 sides.
Within the box we find a right angle 2 pin figure power cord for our region, plastic wrapped remote, and as basic ‘getting started’ guide. Annoyingly the remote did not include the pair of AAA batteries and the power cord is very short at just over a metre!
Projector Impressions
Looking at the back of the projector we can see the following input/outputs:
- HDMI
- USB
- 3.5mm (stereo headphone jack)
- Power: 2 Pin Figure 8
- IR Input (for remote)
There is a single 3w speaker on the rear which is practically useless and a output vent for the internal fan. The fan is mostly inaudible and keeps internal temperatures manageable. In normal operation the projector is hot to touch and internal diagnostics report a chipset temperature of over 80c.
The projector itself is very compact with all electronics contained within its central tube and a sturdy rubber padded base which can supports the projector in any orientation. The mount provides ~235° of movement including straight up thanks to its right angle power cable, in intervals of every 12-13° which is very functional but can limit fine adjustment.
Focus is performed using a black wheel on the top of the projector and relatively straightforward to get the hang of. The projector does not have any ability to adjust the roll if the projector is not sitting perfectly level, requiring paper or cardboard to be shimmed under the mount.
Display Quality
From about 1.8m away in my messy dimly lit hotel room, the projector displays a large very usable image with acceptable colour contrast. Note that it is on a white painted wall and not a projector screen which would likely improve the image quality.
Within the settings of the projector, you have comprehensive settings to adjust the keystone, 4 point scaling and whole scaling. This is an essential step in getting a good image and will need to be performed every time the projector is moved.
The projector does have auto-keystone thanks to a built in gyroscope however it performed poorly compared to manual adjustment.
Obtaining a good focus for the projector is a mission and nearly impossible compared to other projectors I’ve used in the past. Part of the problem is field curvature, where if you get the inner middle part of the screen is focused, however the outside is blurry, forcing you to compromise between either a sharp inner or outer screen or overall less than ideal sharpness.
This can be partly mitigated by using the ‘whole scaling’ to digitally reduce the size of the image away from the outer edges and when playing movies does not cause any major issues.
Generating only 160 lumens with it’s 30w LED, the projector does require a dimly lit room to function acceptably . It would not be suitable for a brightly lit office or outdoors where a much more powerful bulb of over to 3000 lumens would be required. This is the difference between a sub $100 portable projector and a $1000 projector.
The audio volume and sound quality was terrible and required a set of speakers plugged into it with the 3.5mm outlet. This output volume is controllable with the remote.
Software & Smart Features
The HY300 is a ‘Smart Projector’ and has its own inbuilt computer in it, comparable to that of an entry level smartphone. This makes it incredibly powerful as a standalone device which does not need to be plugged into a computer.
The projector we received is running with Android 11 (Patch Level 2022-02-05) which has not been rooted. This interface is snappy and responsive with the included remote which works even over long distance.
The default installed apps are Youtube, Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video. Google Play allows for additional Android TV apps to be installed such as VLC, Web Browser, Plex and Jellyfin. If you have a portable hard disk, the projector allows you to plug it in and will play most common file formats.
The projector has more than enough power to play most video streams. One complaint is the audio out volume appears to be very low which required amplifying the output in VLC and turning the volume up on the external speakers.
Similar to most Android TV device, the projector support Mirror cast, Airplay and Youtube Cast which performs well thanks to its dual band wifi chipset and ability to connect to a 5GHZ access point.
Lies & Deception
Sadly not everything is above board on this particular projector we received.
Screen Resolution
The first major but forgivable point is it almost universally being marketed at a resolution it is not due to 3rd party sellers exaggerating its capabilities as 1080p or 4K. The HY300 is a 720p projector. Yes the GPU may be able to decode higher resolutions, but that’s just as useless as a screen door on a submarine.
This was confirmed using a Screen Resolution Checker which confirmed the display output is 1280 x 720.
Falsely Advertised RAM Amount
The HY300 ships in both 1GB and an optional 2GB DDR3 system memory variant which we ordered and to the unsuspecting person, received.
Not being an unsuspecting person, person I installed ADA64 and starting nerding through the technical information a little more deeper. Not to my suprise, it appears the actual Install memory amount is 1GB and 2GB is just hardcoded into the interface.
This is probably not a deal breaker for normal use, but may cause issues for larger applications and games.
Final Thoughts
For under USD$40 it’s hard to deny the HY300 represents expectational value and very practical if you are realistic with expectations and have a suitable dark environment. If you plan to do anything that requires sound, factor in purchasing a good set of speakers.
When buying the HY300, be sure you check what version you get as it ships in both a cheaper ‘wireless’ without a HDMI port and full version advertised here.
What’s Hot
- Ultra Low Cost
- Rugged Design Self Contained Power Supply
- Practical IO and wireless casting options
- Android TV OS + Google Play
- Good Remote
What’s Not
- Batteries Not included & Short Power Cable
- Misleading Specifications
- Poor Speakers and Audio Volume
Price: ~USD$37.39
Date of Review: December/ 2024
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars)
Where To Buy:
The HY300 is doing the rounds on social media with dropshippers frequently trying to sell it over $100USD. Be sure you buy it directly from a seller at closer to its $40 RRP.
Some suggestions on where to buy it include:
AliExpress (Global)
Amazon (United States)
Do you have any questions or thoughts about this product? Let Us Know In The Comments Below
