AAXA P8 Smart Mini Projector Review – Hardware Posted on May 23, 2022 By Philip Boyle 1. AAXA P8 Smart Mini Projector Review2. AAXA P8 Smart Mini Projector Review – Notable Features3. AAXA P8 Smart Mini Projector Review – Hardware4. AAXA P8 Smart Mini Projector Review – Performance5. AAXA P8 Smart Mini Projector Review – Summary THE CHASSIS The AAXA P8 weighs in at just 8.8 ounces, and measures 3.9” X 3.4” X 1.4” making the P8 a true pocket projector. The Projector housing is largely gray plastic with blue accents around the lens as well as a blue accent strip that goes all the way around the projector. INPUTS AND CONNECTIONS Inputs and connectors are located on the right and rear of the projector On the left side of the projector are a recessed hard reset button, a TF Card slot for Mini-SD cards, a USB-C and a USB Type-A connector. The back of the unit has a 12V power connector, an 3.5mm AV input connector, one 3.5mm headphone out, a full size HDMI connector and the projector on/off button. AAXA has also included three threaded ¼ tripod input on the bottom of the projector for easy connection to compatible tripods or light stands. THE CONTROL PANEL Traditional AAXA touch sensitive control panel on top The keypad on the AAXA P8 is simple and easy to figure out. The keypad works well. No complaints. The buttons are large with visual icons for Up, Down, Left, and Right; Volume Up and Down; a Menu and a Back button; and the Enter button labeled “OK” in the middle. The arrangement is typical of projector control panels. The buttons are ultra-sensitive capacitive controls. Unfortunately, AAXA did not use any raised elements to allow you to identify each control button or even feel that you are on a button. This makes the projector almost impossible to control without mistakes in the dark. THE LENS The lens is recessed and accented with a silver casing. The lens is relatively safe from scratches. It does not come with a lens cap, but the deep setback means it shouldn’t require much cleaning. A periodic wipe with a microfiber lens cloth should do the trick. This fixed lens has no zooming capabilities, typical of the small LED projectors in this class. When there are exceptions, the amount of zoom usually is minimal. The theory is this type of projector can easily be moved closer or farther away from your screen surface. MENUS There are multiple menus on the AAXA P8, which is more than a little confusing at first. Most of this is covered in the photo gallery above but take note that there are separate menu systems, with some of them sharing overlapping functions. The AAXA classic menu The new AAXA menu The Android TV menu REMOTE CONTROL The included remote is small, has no backlight, and all the buttons are the same design, right down to how much pressure each button takes to press, which gets irritating when entering search terms or web addresses in the Chrome browser app. Starting at the top left, there’s the Power button, then the Inputs button. Under that are the Menu, Mute, Volume Up, and Volume Down buttons surrounding the navigational arrows and the OK button. Below are the buttons for Keystone Correction, all of the necessary buttons for playing and navigating through media player content, and a Back button. The remote includes other one-button shortcuts, such as pressing the top right button to access the digital video input and USB-C input connections. FYI, if you happen to have a spare Bluetooth Android TV remote lying around I recommend you pair it with the projector. I could only achieve successful pairing and operating using the actual Android TV menu, which can be accessed from the projector’s “Advanced” option under settings. 1. AAXA P8 Smart Mini Projector Review2. AAXA P8 Smart Mini Projector Review – Notable Features3. AAXA P8 Smart Mini Projector Review – Hardware4. AAXA P8 Smart Mini Projector Review – Performance5. AAXA P8 Smart Mini Projector Review – Summary AAXA P8 Smart Mini Projector Review – Notable Features AAXA P8 Smart Mini Projector Review – Performance
