SKUOU HY300 Plus

Press F+ or F- and the lens moves in small steps while you watch the picture. A TOF (time-of-flight) distance sensor pairs with six-way auto keystone, so the frame squares itself after the projector moves; SKUOU quotes 0.8 seconds for a flat picture. The Plus sits a rung above SKUOU's other HY300 models in several ways:

• Motorized focus rather than a hand wheel.
• 260 ANSI lumens from a four-channel RGB+B LED light source.
• Android 14 on a Mali-G31 GPU, with Wi-Fi 6 plus Bluetooth 5.4.
• A 5W SoundBase speaker with a DSP audio processor.
• 210° swivel on a sturdier bracket, from wall to ceiling to floor.

The body keeps the familiar HY300 cylinder on a round speaker foot, so it looks like a Pro+ on the shelf. The difference shows the first time the picture goes soft after a swivel and nobody needs to leave the duvet.

Anyone torn between focus styles will find the auto keystone and focus guide useful: it explains what each system does for the picture.

Every row scales from SKUOU's 100-inch figure, rounded to a tidy 10 cm. The 260 ANSI lumens are a real step up from the 200-lumen norm of the Pro range, enough to hold 80 inches in a room with the curtains drawn and a small lamp on. At 100 inches, turn the lamps off.

Two picture features sit on top of the light:

• HDR10+ decoding reads HDR films correctly, so colours are mapped rather than washed out. The panel cannot show real HDR brightness; it shows a well-mapped SDR picture.
• MEMC motion compensation adds in-between frames, which smooths football pans and can make films look like video. Turn it off for film nights if faces start to look too slick.

The wall itself decides how much of that light reaches the sofa. Matte white paint or a pull-down screen returns the most; a grey or coloured wall tints every face and swallows a share of the lumens before the film starts.

A 2000:1 contrast ratio keeps dark scenes watchable on a matte white wall. For the picture modes that squeeze the most from those lumens, see the HY300 brightness settings, and the screen size chart covers every distance in between.

The ports and wireless cover the rest of the evening's sources:

• HDMI 2.1 for a games console, a laptop or a streaming stick.
• USB 3.0 for a flash drive or an external disk of films.
• NAS LAN direct connection, which plays films stored on a home network drive.
• Bluetooth 5.4 for a larger speaker in the garden or headphones for a late film.
• Screen casting from phones and laptops on the same network.

SKUOU lists MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264 and H.265 decoding, which covers most films on a USB drive, including the smaller H.265 files that modern phones record. The 720p panel is the ceiling on sharpness, so the HDMI 2.1 label brings compatibility with new consoles rather than extra detail.

Sound got the same attention. The 5W SoundBase speaker runs through a DSP processor, and the night cinema mode reins in sudden loud scenes so explosions do not wake the children while whispers stay audible. The cooling uses a dual air duct, and SKUOU rates fan noise at 22 dB(A), quiet enough for a bedroom.

A firmware check on the first evening keeps the apps current, and the firmware update guide covers the steps.

Against SKUOU's own Ultra, the Plus brings 40 more ANSI lumens on an otherwise very similar spec. Against the Game Console edition it adds the focus motor, a newer Android and Bluetooth 5.4. Magcubic's Ultra matches the brightness and adds an air-mouse remote with voice, from Magcubic itself.

The Game Console edition is the one to weigh hardest, since both come from SKUOU and share the swivel body. Its lower price buys a hand-turned focus and Android 13, a fair trade for a projector that stays pointed at one wall.

Choose the Plus when these ring true:

1. The projector moves between wall and ceiling often enough that a focus wheel would annoy.
2. The room can be dimmed but not blacked out, so the extra lumens matter.
3. A network drive of films is waiting to be played without a laptop in between.

Before ordering, check one thing: the remote in the box is the only way to drive the focus motor, so treat it well. Replacement infrared remotes that name the HY300 Plus exist, but check that a spare carries the F+ and F- keys before relying on it. SKUOU covers the Plus for 12 months, and the light source carries a 30,000-hour rating.