Compact, stylish and charming, the Epson Lifestudio Flex Plus makes a compelling case for a more flexible approach to home entertainment
I’ve spent the past two weeks in bed staring at the ceiling. No, I haven’t recently taken a lover. Nor am I nursing a broken heart. I’ve simply found a new bedside companion in Epson’s Lifestudio Flex Plus (EF-72), a compact home projector that’s both intuitive and flexible. And just between us, is there anything more desirable than a partner who projects?
Before we get too deep into armchair psychology, it’s worth unpacking who this device is for. After all, a lifestyle projector measuring 25cm by 19cm isn’t trying to outmuscle a dedicated home cinema or traditional television setup on performance. More than anything else, the smart projector prides itself on its versatility and is designed for the spontaneous homeowner who’d enjoy watching a quick film with friends in the living room just as much as alone in bed.
This versatility starts with the design. The projector sits on an integrated stand that allows the body to rotate and tilt upwards by as much as 90 degrees, making it equally comfortable projecting onto a wall or ceiling. Couple this with its plug-and-play nature (features such as autofocus, auto keystone correction, and obstacle avoidance help automate much of the setup process) and you have a hassle-free device that takes only a couple of minutes to set up. In most cases, it is simply a matter of placing it down, pointing it at a blank wall, and letting it sort itself out.
Epson has also managed to make the home projector look like, well, something that belongs in a home. Rather than another anonymous piece of tech, the EF-72 is wrapped in a textured fabric, finished with an oak-toned top panel, and at a glance, could pass off as a table lamp.
Case in point: I’d left it on the shelf while having a few of my nosiest friends over and received no questions about what new-fangled tech I was testing this time. Granted, none of them asked where I’d bought my new lamp either.
Now, none of this matters if the viewing experience is subpar. Thankfully, the Epson Lifestudio Flex Plus doesn’t disappoint. With a brightness of 1,000 lumens and an image size of up to 150 inches, the projector is able to deliver a fine experience during the day but, as with most projectors, you’d want to create a darker environment for the best picture.
Epson markets the EF-72 as a 4K projector, though this comes via its 4K PRO-UHD technology rather than native 4K. Translation: the projector is equipped with 1080p panels but uses some clever image processing to create a sharper image. In practice, the picture quality is sharp and detailed, with warm colours and natural skin tones that give films a cinematic quality. Unless you spend your weekends arguing about pixels online, you won’t feel short-changed.
Perhaps the most surprising feature of the EF-72, however, is its audio. Epson has continued its partnership with Bose here, reinforcing the projector’s credentials as an all-in-one lifestyle device. The result is an audio profile that is, for lack of a better word, inoffensive. Dialogue comes through clearly, there is enough body to avoid sounding thin and it is more than capable of carrying a casual movie night without immediately sending you shopping for external speakers. Of course, those wanting more can still connect a soundbar, speakers or headphones, but the built-in system doesn’t feel like an afterthought.
With Google TV and streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV and YouTube available straight out of the box, it is the seamlessness of it all that makes the EF-72 such an enjoyable device to live with.
In fact, I managed to finish several films that had sat on my to-watch list for years simply because I could enjoy a quasi-cinema experience while rolling in bed. It might still be a bed for one, but the Epson EF-72 may have just captured my heart.
