This budget-priced gem is getting plenty of hits on social media, but it wasn’t until we got a sample to our office that we understood what all the fuss was about. Crisp and clear picture quality, tick. Intelligently featured, tick. Easy to use, tick.

But here’s the thing: the AURO projector wasn’t signed by any of the usual heavyweight projector brands. It’s a carefully considered product made by a proud home-grown Singaporean brand called LUMOS.

The LUMOS ethos is to first build a terrific product and one that is crammed full of leading hi-tech features. And lastly, LUMOS pares back the costs to the consumer by using a direct-to-the-consumer business model that cuts out the middleman.

Normally you’d expect that with a S$299 video projector that many corners have to be cut. The result being that the end product metaphorically speaking, ends up with a cylindrical performance; not so with the AURO. In an admittedly brief in-house session, we found the AUROS has a 1080p picture quality made up of true 1920x1080p resolution.

As for features, the AURO has more than its price suggests. You can expect an integrated Smart TV loaded with Android OS, Netflix, YouTube and MiraCast and a considerable picture size. This compact projector can display a 100 to a 300-inch screen with what seems like arrogant ease. And no, you don’t have to position the AURO a football field away from a wall because it has a truly short throw of about 1.5 to 3-metres.

Installation is also straightforward because the AURO has been designed as every person’s plug ‘n play device. A remote and wireless mouse make usage even simpler.

Connections suffice to keep most users content. These include two additional HDMI inputs to connect say, a laptop, Apple TV, Kodi Box or a Blu-ray player. Others comprise VGA, SD card slot, etc., but HDMI is bound to be the input most used. The AURO has Bluetooth built-in, and we were able to pair our Bluetooth speakers and Bluetooth headphones quickly and easily.

If the AURO has a weakness, it is its brightness level which at 6000 lumens when compared to rivals three times its price isn’t the greatest. But LUMOS makes the valid point that 6000 lumens are 50 per cent more than you’ll get from the average portable projector.

Three other features make the AURO a standout bargain, and these are support for Dolby Audio AC-3, Keystone Correction and Digital Zoom.

It all adds up to fantastic value, but the downside is LUMOS only ship its talented AURO projector within Singapore (at the time of writing).

For more information visit LUMOS