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Vankyo Leisure 410 Review 720p Projector With Carry Bag

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Projectors have really come along way in price and down in weight since the days of rear projection TVs, costing over one thousand pounds and weighing over 200 lbs (90kg)! These projection TVs were basically gigantic television cabinets with a huge plastic mirror and three CRT tube colors/capacitors inside it to achieve a picture. 
Today's projectors such as the Vankyo Leisure 410 are much lighter (around 1kg) and a bit safer too since these CRT tubes inside rear projection TVs were also giant capacitors capable of storing a charge of 10,000 volts for months after being disconnected!
Like most modern projectors, the Vankyo Leisure 410 accepts several input sources, namely VGA, HDMI, AV, ATV and USB, allowing you to project from a computer, TV, blu ray player or USB flash drive. You can also project from a smartphone (android and iOS), although you will need an adapter since the Vankyo Leisure 410 does not integrate Wifi functionality built-in. If you do want to connect wirelessly to the Leisure 410 projector from a phone or computer, you will need to use a device like Chromecast (for android).
For a wired phone connection to the Vankyo Leisure 410, there are a couple of options, namely HDMI or VGA connection, using a cable adapter such as a micro-USB to HDMI or USB-C to HDMI adapter to connect from an Android device. You can also use a MHL to VGA or Mini-HDMI adapter but a VGA connection only carries video signal; whereas HDMI supports both audio and video signals. To connect the Vankyo Leisure 410 projector to an iPhone/iPad, you will need a Lightning to VGA adapter or a Lightning Digital AV adapter.
Connecting via a USB to a projector is probably one of the easiest ways since playback is done locally without wireless or cables getting in the way. The Leisure 410 USB port does not support NTFS; hence you cannot store large files sizes and stream large movie sizes over 4GB. Since the Leisure 410 only support FAT32, it will only let you playback video files that don't exceed 4GB in size. When playing back audio and/or video files, the Leisure 410 uses the navigational buttons to let you control the playback function of the audio/video files. A visual playback control appears showing you the control functions available, which include play/pause, volume, fast forward and skip.

The projection test seen on the video above was tested at a 2.3 meter distance from the floor to the ceiling, which generates a 71-inch image size (160cm horizontally and 90cm vertically). The Vankyo Leisure 410 minimum projection distance is 1.1 meter, which creates a 33-inch image. The maximum projection distance is 6.6 meters (200-inch image size). The further the projection the more washed out the image will look, especially with low lumen projectors. The Leisure 410 has 85 ANSI lumens, which is bright enough to project at a distance of 3 meters (90-inch image size) with ambient light in the background.
The Vankyo Leisure 410 projector uses an LED bulb light source with a single three-colour LCD panel, which works well, although it is not the same as a proper three-panel LCD system, which uses a color filtering prism to evenly distribute light. Cheaper projectors tend to use a single LCD panel, which can sometimes make the centre of the image appear brighter than the surrounding image.
Helping the image quality of the is the 1280 x 720 native resolution, which allows the Leisure 410 projector to support HD videos without having to upscale. The projector is also capable of rendering in 1080p without losing too much detail and sharpness, as long as there isn't too much light in the background and the projection distance is between 2 and 3 meters. 
The Vankyo Leisure 410 projector measures 21cm long, 17cm wide and 8cm high and, it has a plastic outer shell with a white glossy finish on top and bottom and a silver ridged finish on the sides. The rear of the projector has a plastic silver fascia with perforated holes on the bottom left side, protecting the single 2 watt speaker. 
There is a focus ring and a total of eight physical (rubbery) buttons on top of the projector, as well as connectivity ports on the right side and the rear of the projector where you find the HDMI port, IR receiver, keystone wheel, aux-out jack (for headphones or external speaker) and AV-in jack so, you can connect the Leisure 410 projector to a camcorder or DVD player via 3.5mm to RCA connection. On the base of the Vankyo Leisure 410 projector, there four raised legs with hard plastic feet.
The right side of the Leisure 410 projector features a power port, USB port, SD card slot and a female coaxial socket so, you can connect the Leisure 410 projector via coax cable and watch TV. Depending on your connection method, you may be able to position the Leisure 410 upright (on its back) to project onto a ceiling. The internal fan is located on the left side; hence no worries about overheating. The speaker is built-in on the rear generates very good sound considering it's just a 2 watt speaker. The volume output is really loud and without distortion at max volume.
The Vankyo Leisure 410 projector focus ring uses a helicoid-like structure to manually rotate the lens of the projector so, you can bring the image into focus. A lot of projectors use a focus ring, while some projectors use a sliding switch or motorized automatic focus. The focus ring works well and it's probably more reliable than having a motorized focus. That said, a focus ring does have moving parts; hence it's also liable to get stuck or jammed, which can sometimes get easily fixed by simply gently tapping on the side of the focus ring. 
Another drawback with focus rings is that some of them can be hard to spin. This does not apply to the Leisure 410 focus ring, which has a smooth operation so, you can easily spin the focus ring with one finger, using very little force. When spinning the focus ring, the Leisure 410 lens does not protrude out of the casing, which protects the lens and, it also allows you to put the cap on without having to retract the lens all the way back, which is something you have to do with a lot of projectors that have a focus ring.
The Vankyo Leisure 410 projector supports 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratio; hence you can make the projection image rectangular or square in shape, although there is no 2D keystone support - only vertical keystoning support up to 15 degrees. Aspect ratio is adjusted from the menu features, which are easily access from the projector. The menu interface is simple, brightly lit and easy to navigate. It is basically the same menu as the Cinemango 100 projector so, you have access to picture and sound settings, which includes a basic equalizer that allows you to manually adjust the treble and bass or choose one of three sound presets (movie, standard and sports).
The  Vankyo Leisure 410 includes several accessories, one of which is a generic tripod for mounting the projector. The tripod is made of lightweight plastic with a threaded metal ball joint so, you can remove the rubberized plastic shoe plate. The tripod is lightweight (122 grams) but sturdy, although the ball joint locking mechanism is flimsy so, it struggles to hold the weight of the Leisure 410 projector (1.1kg). The included tripod measures 20cm long (in closed position) and 15cm high with the legs wide open. The tripod legs aren't lockable but do have rubber feet for stability. 
A few other items you will find inside the box are a HDMI cable, IR remote (no AAA batteries included), power cord, a 3.5mm to RCA cable adapter and a Vankyo-branded carry bag, which weighs 207 grams. Compared to the included tripod, the carry bag looks and feels better quality. 
The carry bag opens up via a dual zip slider and it is thickly padded on all sides and corners. It features velcro strap fasteners, a divider compartment and side pocket sleeve for storing the accessories. The outer shell material is coarse knit polyester which should repel some water. 
The zip is made of regular plastic teeth with metal pull tabs. The bag has a thick woven strap grab handle with reinforced stitching. The internal dimensions are 28cm long, 18.5cm wide and 6cm deep/high. You can buy the Leisure 410 from amazon and Vankyo. Check out the review of the Performance V700W projector.

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