I sold my television six months ago. This was not a dramatic gesture or a digital detox or a statement about anything. It was a practical decision that followed a simple realisation: I had a 55-inch television on my wall, and I was watching it from a sofa eight feet away, and the experience was fine but not particularly special. I'd been thinking about a projector for years. I finally bought one. Then I sold the TV.
I have not missed it once.
Why I Decided I Needed It
I watch a lot of films. Not casually — properly, with attention, in the dark, with the sound up. I care about the experience of watching films in a way that a 55-inch television, however good, doesn't fully satisfy. Cinema screens are large because size matters. The peripheral vision engagement, the sense of being inside the image rather than looking at it — these things change how a film feels, and they require scale that a domestic television can't provide.
I'd been researching projectors for about two years. The barrier had always been brightness: most portable projectors are too dim for a properly lit room, and I didn't want to have to black out my flat every time I wanted to watch something. The Pico Genie Impact 2.0 Plus Elite changed that calculation. The brightness specification was high enough for ambient light conditions, the 4K support meant the image quality would be genuinely good, and the Android operating system meant I could run streaming apps directly without needing additional hardware.
I ordered it from ALTOE for £299. The television sold for £180. The net cost of upgrading from a 55-inch TV to a 120-inch projected image was £119. I find this extremely satisfying.
Why This One Specifically
The Impact 2.0 Plus Elite sits at a point in the Pico Genie range where the specifications become genuinely serious without the price becoming genuinely painful. The 4K support means that 4K content looks as it should. The Android 11 operating system runs Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+ and everything else I use without any workarounds. The built-in speaker is better than I expected — adequate for casual viewing, though I use a Bluetooth speaker for proper film nights.
The portability is also a genuine feature rather than a marketing point. I've taken it to a friend's house for a film night, used it in the garden in summer projected onto a white sheet, and taken it on a long weekend where I wanted to watch something properly rather than on a laptop screen. A television cannot do any of these things. A projector can do all of them.
What Happened When I Set It Up
Setup took about twenty minutes. I positioned the projector on the coffee table, pointed it at the white wall opposite, connected to my WiFi, logged into my streaming accounts, and watched the first twenty minutes of a film I'd been meaning to rewatch. On a 120-inch image. In my living room.
The experience was immediately and significantly better than the television. Not marginally — significantly. The scale changes everything. Scenes that were impressive on a 55-inch screen became genuinely immersive at 120 inches. The peripheral engagement I'd been missing was there. I watched the whole film that evening and then sat in the dark for a few minutes afterwards, which is what happens when a film has actually worked on you rather than just played in front of you.
I listed the television for sale the following morning.
How It Changed Things
I watch films differently now. More attentively, more deliberately, more as an event rather than as background. The scale of the image demands attention in a way that a television doesn't, which turns out to be exactly what I wanted. I watch fewer things but engage with them more fully, which is a trade I'm very happy with.
My living room also looks better without a television on the wall. When the projector isn't in use, it sits on the shelf looking like a piece of considered technology rather than dominating the room. The wall is just a wall. This is a significant aesthetic improvement that I hadn't anticipated but have come to appreciate enormously.
For £299, the Pico Genie Impact 2.0 Plus Elite gave me a home cinema. A proper one, in my flat, that I can also take to the garden or a friend's house. The television was fine. This is better.
Get the Pico Genie Impact 2.0 Plus Elite Projector here: Pico Genie Impact 2.0 Plus Elite Portable Projector – 4K Support & Android
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