![]() ![]() Since it includes a USB port, you could connect external drives to the Latte and then play contents from them, but there is no default mechanism or applications to do this, oddly. Where it is slightly less impressive is in respect of flexibility, since it lacks a few features that we’d have reasonably expected. It is highly transportable, even if Asus dropped the ball in the charging mechanism, limiting its useful life to just three hours on battery. Putting aside that you can buy a conventional projector for this money and get higher resolutions and a brighter projection, the big selling points of this device are its portability and the flexibility that provides. (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) Final verdict But, going with an obscure app store source and not having a more robust upgrade mechanism for the device does make the Latte L1 feel more like a work in progress than a finished commercial offering. ![]() In short, given its record of accomplishment, we’re confident that Asus will address these issues soon, and they may have done that by the time you read this. ![]() The device refused, insisting that the update it chose to download wasn’t for this device, confusingly.Īnd, after several failed attempts to resolve this with Asus support, we drew a line under Aptoide Tv and the Latte L1. In our attempts to resolve this issue, we tried to upgrade the firmware of the Latte L1, as a newer release was available from Asus. Despite a solid wireless connection, apps wouldn’t install despite numerous attempts and resets.Ī quick search around the internet revealed that this isn’t a new scenario to those that have used Aptoide Tv in the past. Our scepticism about this choice appeared well-founded when we tried to install some apps, and the device refused to comply with these requests. Image Credit: Future (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) It wasn’t a good sign that Asus mislabelled ‘Apdtoide TV’ on the menu, and when we discovered that it uses Facebook logins as its account control mechanism, we became even less enthusiastic about it. Instead, users are provided with Aptoide Tv, an alternative store with a much more limited selection of applications that can be installed. It was then that we discovered that Asus chose not to make this a Google compliant device, which means no official Play Store access. Or, more specifically, when we tried to augment the default application set with a few to our liking. Under the skin, this is an Android distribution built around a 64-bit ARM SoC, and it essentially works like a phone or tablet using that OS.Īnd this, regrettably, where our Latte L1 review took a sharp left turn. Once powered up, you are presented with a basic menu that lets you define the configuration with WiFi access passwords and connect the Latte to Android and iOS phones. Setting this device up is straightforward, assuming you have a surface to aim it at and you’re not expecting it to work outside in bright sunlight. On the side is an air vent for cooling, and nearer the top is the focus wheel, infra-red remote sensor, and lens assembly.Īnd finally, on top is the same menu and function selection that all projectors these days come, and all these functions are replicated on the remote. Inputs include the charging power line, USB and full-size HDMI, all around the bottom rear edge. And, ours also had two power cables designed for the US and EU markets.Īs projectors go, the Latte L1 has all the typical features you might expect, but they’ve been organised around the cylindrical shape rather than a box. Along with the L1 you get a wrist strap that connects to the softcover, a laptop-style PSU for charging, a small remote. To project it on its travels, Asus include a soft zipped cover, and it also is protected inside its box by a stiff cardboard tube. It embodies an oddly anachronistic to-go mentality, ironically in a world where most people aren’t going anywhere in a hurry, currently.īut, as we’ve come to expect from Asus, this is a very elegantly engineered and designed device that has a fabric surface that feels good to handle.
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