Formovie Dice in test: The home cinema to go?

The Formovie Dice is a portable mini projector that wants to convince with its eye-catching and compact design and Android TV as the operating system under the hood. After all, projectors are no longer only found in the business sector, but have already found their way into the private sector. Therefore, we test the Formovie Dice for you today and check whether it can meet our demands for a portable projector. Could it even be suitable as a full-fledged TV replacement in the best case scenario?

Formovie was founded jointly by Appotronics Corporation and Xiaomi Technology and focuses specifically on laser TVs and smart projectors. Especially with Xiaomi behind them, they can bring a lot of industry knowledge specifically into the company and thus also pass on the usual high quality to the consumer.

Technical data

Formovie Dice

Formovie Dice

€ 649.00

N/A

Buy now* Formovie

Scope of delivery

• All components are protected by foam on the sides
• Cleaning cloth for lens included

In addition to the Formovie Dice and the associated remote control, a power adapter and a cleaning cloth for the lens of the projector are also included. On top of that, the user manual and a warranty notice are in the rather inconspicuous white box.

Features

• Android TV 9.0 under the hood
• Play Store integrated for downloading numerous apps

Formovie offers a compact mini projector with the Dice, which comes with a native Full HD resolution. Besides the integrated Google Assistant, Chromecast support is also on board, so that the user’s own smartphone or computer can be conveniently mirrored with a few clicks. The beamer has a total of 16 GB of internal memory, of which around 11 GB can be actively used.

As an operating system, the mini projector relies on Android TV version 9.0, which allows for quite simple operation. This makes it possible for numerous apps from the Play Store to be added conveniently. Netflix is not available in our EU version ex-factory and cannot even be found via a search in the Play Store – installing the app is only possible via sideloading the APK via USB stick. We did not notice any restrictions and streaming in Full HD resolution worked without stutters.

The build quality of the mini-beamer is positive. Formovie relies on a modern and timeless design in discreet gray for the case. The surface itself is matte, whereas the Dice literally resembles a cube. This not only looks high-quality, but also feels solid throughout. An eye-catcher is the orange-beige leather handle on the beamer’s upper side, which also serves as a carrying bracket for transport.

All connection options are found on the back of the Formovie Dice. Coming from the left, these include the power and headphone connections, a USB 2.0 input with support for USB-to-Ethernet and additionally an HDMI port for connecting to another output device. WIFI and Bluetooth 4.0 are also integrated.

Setup

• Quick and easy setup within five minutes
• Optional setup is also possible via Android smartphone

After the first start of the Formovie Dice one is accompanied by a short introduction. To begin, one connects the remote control with the mini-projector and pairs this in the follow-up to his Google account. The setup can either be done directly via the remote control or by using an Android smartphone to transfer the login data. In our test, this process went without complications and thus the Formovie Dice was ready for use after about five minutes.

Operation

• Simple and elegant remote control
• Amazon Fire TV Stick connects via HDMI port

Android TV 9.0 cuts a fine figure out of the box. It feels very good as an addition to the overall package. All animations can be smoothly reproduced on the Formovie Dice. We did not notice any jerking or the rather well-known “thinking seconds” at any time. Thanks to the additional Play Store, you can also install thousands of apps at will or play games on the mini projector. Optionally, an Amazon Fire TV Stick can be connected via the HDMI port to use its functions on the Formovie Dice – our conclusion: Cool!

The smart Google Assistant didn’t behave quite as intelligently in our tests from time to time and either couldn’t understand us or gave completely different results. A second search via Google Assistant subsequently helped us find the desired result.

The Bluetooth remote control of the Dice is based on minimalism, so you will not find many buttons. Besides an on/off button, volume up and down buttons, the usual directional pad with enter function and a button especially for Google Assistant, we have three more buttons at the same height. We can quickly jump to the installed apps via the left button with the many squares, and the center button with the arrow icon serves as a back function. Pressing the circle button navigates us to the start overview of the Android TV interface. The remote control requires two AAA batteries as a power source, which are not included.

The fan of the Formovie Dice is continuously audible in operation, but we did not find this annoying. In quiet scenes or environments, this noise can be detected as a low hiss, but is quickly overshadowed as the movie progresses.

Picture Quality

• Image projection possible between 40-200 inches
• Bold image with clear colors at night
• …which, however, quickly becomes pale in light

In short, with a resolution of 1080p, the projector cannot keep up with today’s 4K TVs, but all movies or videos still look crisp and sharp. In our opinion, this is more than sufficient for most applications. For comparison: Any 4K projectors can only be found with a much higher budget from 800€ upwards and are rather available in a bulky format.

The image sharpness and the colors were consistently clear and rich in contrast and convinced us in dark rooms all along the line. The projector lacks a bit of brightness in bright daylight or when the room light is turned on, which is why scenes in the movie are rather difficult to recognize. For movie nights or warm summer nights outdoors, the projector is thus always optimally suited, but those who want to watch TV during the day should better resort to regular TVs.

In retrospect, we had enormous fun watching several movies across the board, and the cinema feeling also came up in this regard. We tested different screen sizes, starting from 40 inches up to about 130 inches. The distance between the projector and the screen varied several times between about 0.8 meters and up to 3.5 meters. Formovie does state that the Dice is suitable for up to 200 inches – but at this image diagonal, you would probably have to be very far away from the projection surface, otherwise the image could look rather washed out at 1080p.

Sound quality

• Astonishingly clear sound
• Multiple Dolby profiles selectable
• Optional pairing with additional Bluetooth speakers

For the size of the mini projector, the sound quality is absolutely convincing and can reproduce various sounds in detail. Any explosions in movies felt massive in this respect, so we would definitely rate the sound experience as balanced and differentiated. From our point of view, the only drawback is the bass, e.g. if you want to play music videos on YouTube. Here, the two built-in speakers with 5 watts each are not enough to provide a convincing sound experience in the bass. In such cases, you should probably rather pair a Bluetooth speaker with the Formovie Dice. As for the overall volume, the Dice can be turned up tremendously, though usually 50% should be enough to fill a medium-sized room.

In addition to Dolby Audio, the Dice also supports the DTS-HD audio codec. Additionally, several profiles for the sound effects can be found in the settings. For this, we have a Dolby profile for the cinema mode, a music mode as well as a separate user mode, in which the dialog amplification and the virtual sound can be adjusted with a dial. We find the cinema mode to be very balanced and used it the most in our test.

Alignment

• Precise autofocus within ten seconds
• 4-corner keystone correction works well, but often requires manual correction

In the heat of the moment, it can of course happen that you accidentally get to the projector and suddenly the image slips or becomes blurry. At this point, we can give the all-clear. The Formovie Dice has a very good autofocus and an integrated 4-corner keystone correction.

The autofocus is automatically executed when the mini-projector is started, and then the optimal image is conjured up on the surface to be projected. This process takes just under 10 seconds and all worked very well in our tests. Alternatively, the image can be fine-tuned via the settings, which we have only had to do once so far.

In contrast, the automatic keystone correction is a bit bumpy. On the whole, it can always do a good job with slipping and different positioning of the projector and correct the image properly, but it is better to adjust the settings manually. Formovie allows us to do a quick correction for this, or alternatively to correct each of the four corners individually. Both functions are quite helpful and the output looks noticeably smoother afterwards – a trapezoidal image is thus quickly history.

Battery life

• Up to 3 hours possible in the frugal Eco mode
• Normally rather just under 2 hours of battery life

The worst case for a relaxing movie night outdoors would probably be when the projector gives up in the middle of the movie because the battery is empty. In this case, we were actually positively surprised. The manufacturer states an average battery life of about 3 hours for the Dice, which we would also sign in Eco mode. However, you have to accept a slightly lower performance and lower brightness in this mode. In the usual view mode with a total volume of around 30%, the mini projector lasted rather barely 2 hours in our test when streaming a movie via WIFI. The sound was output by the mini projector itself in all tests.

Consequently, it can be said about the battery life: if you want to watch movies with excess length and at the same time always exploit the full picture quality, you’d better not do without the power supply.

Formovie Dice review conclusion

Chapeau Formovie! The Dice Mini projector offers an all-around successful package for a projector in the price range up to 500€. At this point, the very good picture quality with strong colors and the easy usability via the Android TV interface should be emphasized. The setup was completely smooth in our case and streaming from separate devices always worked flawlessly as well. However, we see the Dice as less suitable for bright environments, such as in daylight. In this case, a large part of the picture quality and thus the typical home theater feeling would be somewhat lost. The sound, on the other hand, impressed us despite the small casing. The integrated autofocus as well as the 4-corner keystone correction were also convincing on a high level.

In conclusion, the Formovie Dice is an optimal option for those looking for an easy-to-use and portable projector to show movies, videos or any presentations. We therefore consider the current price of $399 to be reasonable for what is offered. Especially the slim dimensions make the Dice ideal for on the go. Thus, the cinema experience can also be shifted outside quite happily!

Formovie Dice

Formovie Dice

€ 649.00

N/A

Buy now* Formovie