Kodak's LUMA 400 lacks the qualities needed for a $450 projector

Less than a year on the market, the Kodak LUMA 400 Portable HD Smart Projector already feels outdated. I cannot recommend it as a home theater option, but that’s not the selling point here. The LUMA 400 is Kodak’s mid-tier option for a portable projector, and to their credit the size and startup of the actual projector is marvelous; you can fit this thing in just about any bag and set it up anywhere with an internet connection or plug it in to just about any HDMI-compatible device without jumping through a bunch of hoops.

Unfortunately, the projector’s wow-factor stops there. From poor battery life to a clunky operating system to the perplexing absence of basic compatibility options that should be standard at this point, the LUMA 400 will leave most wishing they spent a little more money to get a better projector or spent less on something that will mostly project the same picture quality.

What’s in the box?

If you’re anything like me and you love white electronic devices, you’ll love the color of the Kodak LUMA 400 portable HD smart projector. Credit: Riley Eubanks/Mashable

Aesthetically, the actual projector looks great. It’s light, sleek and comes with an eggshell remote to match. You can either charge it with the provided DC cord or by using any USB-C brick. It also has USB and aux cord ports in addition to DC adapters, making the charger compatible with any two- or three-pronged outlets. Kodak also threw in an HDMI cable in the box, though the cord is extremely short. You’re better off using any of the other dozens of HDMI cords at your disposal.

I found the provided plastic tripod to be mostly useless unless you need something to get it at the exact right angle or if your only other option is projecting from the ground. If you’re projecting directly in front of you, you’re better off just setting it on a flat surface. Weirdly enough you can actually just hold it and it’ll work just fine which is ideal if you want to watch something on your ceiling while laying in bed. I found the fan to be quite efficient. The projector never got too hot and it stayed mostly quiet even amidst an hours-long session.

I charged the projector for about an hour and I was able to use it for about 60 minutes before I needed to plug it in again. It boasts a 230-minute battery life, but that’s only possible on the lowest brightness setting.

A natural groove at the base of the Kodak LUMA 400 allows it to rest on the provided tripod, which can be adjusted accordingly so you can project at an angle. Credit: Riley Eubanks/Mashable

Setup is not seamless

After selecting a language and connecting to a WiFi network, the native operating system launches and there’s some pre-loaded apps to try. Unfortunately, any apps pre-installed will have to be updated, which can be done through the Google Play Store or the Aptoide TV app.

The Google Play Store also required an update, so for the sake of the time I just used the Aptoide TV app to download and update any apps.

One of the first things you’ll notice is how terrible the remote is. The cursors hardly work and aren’t compatible with basic apps like Netflix so you’ll have to use the mouse cursor instead, which moves at infuriatingly slow speed.

There’s a Kodak LUMA remote control app for both Apple and Android devices, which sounds good on paper, but in reality the iOS app is broken. The touchpad cursor doesn’t work much better than the actual remote control and the on-screen keyboard hardly works at all, so I immediately deleted the app and just stuck to the provided remote.

Somehow, I was able to sign into Hulu on the LUMA’s web browser but I wasn’t able to log into the app I downloaded even after updating it. So, I went and downloaded Netflix instead so I can finally start watching something.

Naturally, the first thing I watched was "The Power of the Dog," which would be a terribly frightening movie to watch while camping. Credit: Riley Eubanks/Mashable

Quality leaves something to be desired

I couldn’t get past two key factors with this projector: the video output and sound, both which left a lot to be desired. Natively this thing is locked into 720p, which is fine for smaller, portable devices but not for anything with a large screen. If you’re outdoors and just want to entertain the kids or you don’t really care about the quality of whatever you’re watching, this works just fine. But in this day and age, 720p simply isn’t going to cut it for me on a big screen (this thing can project a video up to 150 inches, which is just going to make that poor picture quality more and more noticeable).

I can’t recommend using the built-in speakers of the LUMA 400 to watch anything. I’m used to headphones and soundbars, so these quiet, crackly speakers are just going to ruin the whole experience of watching anything for me. Most smartphones have better speakers than this projector. Thankfully, it is Bluetooth compatible and you can use the audio jack to plug it into most speakers. But that sort of takes away the big selling point of it, right? At $450, you should expect to have a quality viewing experience without using any other devices, but unfortunately you’ll have to screen mirror or plug the projector into something to get past its horrendous operating system and you’ll have to use bluetooth or speakers to have a quality audio experience to match whatever you’re watching.

The picture quality improves when plugging it into a device with an HDMI cable. I didn’t notice any unreasonable framerate drops while playing "Horizon Forbidden West," though for gaming it’s still less desirable than using a TV or streaming it to another device. Credit: Riley Eubanks/Mashable

Compatibility with other devices boosts quality

Fortunately, plugging it into a device is a much smoother experience and that’s how you’ll be able to use it at a resolution better than 720p. I first plugged it into my PS5 and launched Hulu and noticed a much better picture quality, though unfortunately it was locked at 1080p despite using a 4K-compatible HDMI cable. Kodak says the LUMA 400 can project a 4K-quality picture, but I’m not really sure if that’s feasible.

If you’re using the LUMA 400 outside, plugging it into a laptop is your best bet at projecting the best picture quality. That is unless you have access to an outlet, then you can plug whatever you want into it. I can see a few instances where this would be cool for kids, like if they wanted to play video games outside on a big screen. I didn’t notice any significant frame rate drops when I plugged in my PS5, so you could be the cool uncle and plug a Nintendo Switch into this at a family camp out.

Colors translate reasonably well when plugging the Kodak LUMA 400 projector into another device with an HDMI cable. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," a decade-old movie, looks alright, but I could see how watching sports on the projector would look really good. Credit: Riley Eubanks/Mashable

Watching sports looks better while the projector is plugged into another device via an HDMI cord. Credit: Riley Eubanks/Mashable

Only after looking into it did I learn that the LUMA 400 projector cannot natively mirror from all Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) devices, a modern standard for most non-iPhone smart devices that allows for compatibility with other smart home and streaming devices. You can natively mirror the screen from a Windows 10 computer or any other device with Android OS, but not having native DLNA compatibility severely limits the devices you can screen share with. There are third party apps you can download to cast from DLNA devices, but it’s not nearly as efficient as having native compatibility.

For the sake of future-proofing your portable projector, I recommend paying a little more for one with DLNA compatibility. At $550, the Kodak LUMA 450 Portable HD Smart Projector has DLNA compatibility. That’s worth it for the extra $100 alone, but the LUMA 450 also runs natively at 1080p and has better speakers.

You can probably skip this projector

At $450, the the Kodak LUMA 400 Portable HD Smart Projector seems to be at a crux of being cheaper than its nicer, more efficient counterparts but much more expensive than low-end, sub-$100 projectors that’ll likely provide the same picture quality as the LUMA 400’s native 720p resolution.

This is probably the cheapest HD projector you can get that has its own operating system and can theoretically run on its own. It even has 4GB of storage and different projection modes. But unless you can find it on sale somewhere, I suggest spending a bit more to get a projector with more bells or whistles that can actually suffice as a home theater alternative or spending less on a portable projector that will do most of what the LUMA 400 will give you.