Optoma Photon Go (ML1080ST) Portable UST Projector Review

The Optoma Photon Go (ML1080UST) is a portable, battery-powered, ultra-short-throw RGB Laser DLP Projector. The Photon Go displays a native 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution and is rated at up to 650 ISO lumens of brightness.

The defining feature of the Photon Go is the combination of a 0.18:1 ultra-short throw lens in a battery-powered portable form factor. The unit’s throw ratio of 0.18 to 1 means the Photon Go can project a 100-inch image from just under 10 inches away or a 60-inch image from under 4 inches.

Optoma’s ultra-short throw design in this projector allows it to display a large image from only inches away, making it especially appealing in small spaces where traditional throw distances are impractical. Ultra-short throw projectors have traditionally been large, heavy fixed-installation products, laser TVs designed to sit permanently in front of a dedicated screen or wall.

The Photon Go weighs only 3.8 pounds and runs on a built-in battery. The practical result is that you can set this UST projector on any flat surface, push it against a wall, and have a 100-inch image in under a minute, then pick it up and move it somewhere else entirely.

Most portable projectors at this size and price use LED light sources, which tend to sacrifice brightness or color accuracy in exchange for the small form factor. The Photon Go is equipped with an RGB laser light source that reproduces 110% of the BT.2020 color gamut, which is wider than the DCI-P3 color space used to master most streaming and theatrical content. HDR10 and HLG are both supported, and content mastered in HDR benefits considerably from this color capability.

The ultra-short-throw lens makes this projector a great option for compact spaces where a conventional projector would not work.  There is no optical zoom or lens shift. placement. The projector includes digital zoom (100% to 50%), which reduces image size but also lowers resolution. Auto-focus and auto-keystone are both triggered automatically on startup and when the projector detects movement, configurable in the Advanced Settings menu. Manual four-corner correction is available when the projection surface is irregular or the auto system's results need refinement.

The ultra-short-throw lens makes this projector genuinely practical in spaces where a conventional projector cannot work. A studio apartment where the longest clear sightline is 5 feet, a bedroom where furniture blocks a traditional throw distance, a dorm room with a desk against every wall, usually makes projector placement challenging. However, these are the environments where no other portable projector will work, and the Photon Go will. At 9.7 inches from the wall to a 100-inch image, placement challenges that would rule out any other portable projector simply do not apply here.

The Photon Go utilizes the Google TV platform, which is identical to what you find on many smart televisions. This platform provides access to over 10,000 apps, including popular streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, and YouTube TV. Users can browse and play content directly on the projector without an external device, such as a streaming stick or media box.

The Google TV interface was responsive and well-integrated. The Google Assistant voice search worked reliably for finding content across services. Another big benefit of Google TV is that it integrates smart TV features and projector picture settings into a single menu, making the projector feel like a single cohesive device rather than two loosely connected systems.  When streaming apps, inputs, picture settings, keystone, focus, and audio controls all live in the same interface, you are not bouncing between an external dongle menu and a separate projector OSD.  

When it comes to battery life, in addition to Brightness mode, factors like volume level and whether you are streaming content via Wi-Fi can affect runtime. I decided to test the battery runtime in Bright mode with the projector connected to an external video source and volume set to about 50%.

While Optoma said the battery should last about an hour, our tests showed a runtime closer to 50 minutes, which is fine if you want to watch a few YouTube videos and a couple of TV shows. When using the battery, I suggest setting the projector's Brightness mode to Auto or ECO to extend the projector's runtime. 

When using the projector in Bluetooth Speaker Mode, the image is disabled, and the battery can deliver up to 4 hours of audio-only runtime. Fully charging from a depleted battery took approximately two hours and 15 minutes using the included 100W USB-C adapter.

At an 80-inch image size, the Photon Go produced a clean, sharp picture with good pixel fill. Text in streaming menus and title cards was crisp, and fine detail in film and documentary content rendered clearly without obvious softness. At 100 inches, sharpness held up well at a normal viewing distances of 8 to 12 feet, though moving closer than 6 feet revealed the limits of the 1080p resolution.

HDR10 and HLG content are supported, with tone mapping applied to the 1080p output resolution. While HDR performance is limited by the unit’s brightness, the projector’s wide color gamut helps maintain the visual impact of HDR content. Even though the unit supports HDR, unless you are watching on a screen smaller than 80 inches, I recommend using SDR to maximize on-screen brightness.

Focus uniformity, which is essentially sharpness from center to corners, is worth examining specifically on an ultra-short throw design, where the extreme lens geometry can introduce falloff at the edges. The auto-focus system using the ToF sensor locked on quickly and accurately in our testing, and manual focus adjustment via the remote was straightforward when needed.

When the Photon Go is switched into Game Mode, the Input lag at 1080p/60fps is around 27ms. This is responsive enough for casual and console gaming, including popular portable systems such as the Nintendo Switch and handheld PCs in docked mode. Competitive gamers may want lower input lag, but for the projector’s intended audience, gaming performance is more than adequate.

Audio is produced from the dual 10W stereo speakers. The sound is good for a small unit, and the projector plate is loud enough to fill a small to medium-sized room. Dialogue was clear and intelligible.

The unit has five preset audio modes so you can choose the one that sounds best for the content being played. The Photon Go supports Dolby Audio and when the surround setting is engaged movies did sound more immersive,   For apartment or dorm room use, the onboard audio is a legitimate substitute for a separate speaker in most scenarios.

Bluetooth Speaker Mode worked as advertised. Pairing with a smartphone was quick and easy. Sound quality in speaker-only mode was good for a compact projector, but a similarly sized portable speaker would deliver noticeably better performance. However, using the Photon Go as a wireless speaker is convenient because you don’t have to carry two devices.

To deliver high brightness from such a small chassis, the fans need to run at a fairly high speed when using the projector’s maximum light output.  Optoma rates the noise level at 30dB from 1 meter away. The unit’s fans were noisy enough to be heard from 8 feet away during quiet scene but the sound not overly distracting.