Leica Cine Play 1 review: home cinema meets design

Introduction

Home theater projectors are rarely the most graceful gadgets, so they’re usually hidden away once the credits roll on your last movie night. The Leica Cine Play 1, on the other hand, deserves a permanent display. This Shiner 4K stands out with an all-metal chassis, a compact footprint and an industrial design worthy of wearing the famous Red Dot logo.

Like the ultra-short throw Leica Cine-1, the Cine Play 1 shares much of its internal workings with a model from Hisense – in this case the C2 Ultra. Except the German lens specialist has supplied its own aspherical glass here, along with in-house image processing and focus adjustment technology that promises to deliver a superbly sharp image. A bright triple laser lamp should also deliver impactful HDR content.

At $3,795/£2,949/€3,490, it’s quite a steep price compared to its equally user-friendly short-throw DLP 4K rivals, such as the Xgimi Horizon S Max and even more so LG CineBeam Q. little. Can the emphasis on image quality justify the extra money?

Design and construction: worth exhibiting

Projectors have come a long way from the white plastic boxes of a decade ago that would be more at home in a classroom than a home theater setup, but the Leica Cine Play 1 still stands out from the crowd. The compact cube is wrapped in aluminum, with evenly perforated sides for abundant airflow over the DLP chip and laser light source. The glossy black front panel, which contains the lens, is the only fingerprint magnet – and you really shouldn’t put your digits near the lens glass anyway.

The Cine Play 1 comes pre-mounted on a tabletop stand, making it a great choice for a more temporary home theater setup. It tilts for image adjustment, but does not swivel. The way it integrates the power cable to reduce tangles of wires going into the projector itself is really clever. Leica will sell you a matching floor stand for £335/€395, which can do the same thing.

Together, the projector and table stand weigh less than 10 kg. I could easily move it from room to room and the thick rubber base ensured it remained stable wherever I put it. Anticipated Leica owners would want to move the Cine Play 1 fairly regularly, so it comes with a separate carrying case for the external power supply and a supplied remote control.

You’ll only find a physical power button on the projector itself; everything else is controlled using the remote, which feels equally premium. The metal body is cool to the touch, it doesn’t overwhelm you with buttons, and the streaming service shortcuts are ones you’re actually likely to use. However, the buttons aren’t backlit, and it swallows two AAA batteries instead of something truly luxurious like solar or USB-C charging. Still, the way pressing a release latch on the back pops the battery tray out of the bottom of the remote is pretty nifty.

Features: find focus

All inputs are on the projector, rather than the base. One of the two HDMI ports supports eARC, and there is a digital optical audio connection for audio output to a soundbar or surround sound system. The two USB3 ports can play just about any file format you care to mention if you have a library of offline content. AirPlay and screen casting are also built-in for wireless playback.

Ethernet is built in in case your router can’t provide the built-in Wi-Fi with enough signal for stutter-free streaming, and there’s a 3.5mm headphone port for personal listening. I could see the latter proving useful if you’re using the projector in a home office or in a bedroom while the rest of the house tries to sleep.

That’s not to say the built-in speakers aren’t up to the task, either. Dual 10W full-range speakers get quite loud and do a reasonable job with fast-paced action scenes. He was also adept at delivering clear dialogue. The bass is just okay, as there is no built-in subwoofer like the one on the Hisense C2 Ultra. If you want more punchy sound, a home theater system is the way to go.

Fortunately, the Cine Play 1’s operation was very quiet, so I never felt the need to turn up the volume to drown out a noisy cooling fan. Even the broadcast TV shows were enough to mostly drown him out.

Configuration and interface: long live VIDAA

Turn on the Cine Play 1 for the first time and it automatically calibrates the projection, adjusting focus, zoom and keystone distortion. This also takes into account obstacles such as photo frames. It will remember your settings so will only need re-calibration if you move the projector. Do this while it’s on, and it will take around 35 seconds to refocus, which isn’t as quick as some rivals.

Of course, you can take over manually if you want, with the full range of lens controls in the settings menus. Leica’s main user interface is very easy to navigate and doesn’t overwhelm you with modes and options. It has all the picture quality options you’d expect, including noise reduction, upscaling for low-resolution content, and motion processing to smooth out movie judder.

There’s also a dedicated gaming mode, which reduces input latency and lets you prioritize refresh rate over resolution. Serious gamers wanting 4K/120p will have to look elsewhere, but I think gaming at 240Hz in Full HD is a more than fair compromise. A black level booster, frame rate counter, and aspect ratio adjustment are all pretty standard fare.

The smart TV system, meanwhile, has been taken over wholesale by Hisense. VIDAA offers all the usual streaming services, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and YouTube, but catch-up services vary by region. Unfortunately, the UK unit I was testing didn’t have one, so you’ll need to add a streaming stick or set-top box for things like BBC iPlayer or ITVX. The App Store isn’t full of big-name services either, with Spotify and Sky Now TV among those missing.

At least the home page is customizable, so you can put frequently used apps front and center. I didn’t need the full-width carousel advertising VIDAA’s features, but I appreciated the content recommendations further down the page. Everything feels responsive and streaming apps load quickly and satisfyingly.

Image quality: see the light

The Cine Play 1’s DLP chip and laser light source combination can spit out a 4K resolution image just 1.3m from a wall, if you want a size rivaling that of a 65in TV; go up to 10m and it will project a huge 300 inch image. There’s some pixel shifting involved in getting that UHD resolution, but you’d never know it without measuring equipment. This projector delivers wonderfully sharp and detailed images.

Leica’s custom lens helped it produce an exceptional level of sharpness and clarity, even though my office doesn’t have the greatest amount of free wall space and therefore has to use a bit of keystone and focusing. the ladder to avoid objects.

I also didn’t have access to an ambient light rejecting (ALR) projection screen, but the Cine Play 1 still produced punchy images day or night. It was never going to manage black levels comparable to an OLED TV, and even with the lights off I thought the contrast was okay rather than great – but darker scenes still had a fair amount of punch. Colors looked natural, with lots of gradients between hues.

The IMAX mode is a strong point, being very well calibrated from the factory and quickly becoming my choice for late night movie watching. HDR images also shined in the right places, with Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and HLG all supported.

Brightness in general is excellent considering the size of the projector. Leica claims a peak of 3,000 nits, and it was easily intense enough for use in the brightest daylight conditions, just a few feet from the projection surface. I found that I could reduce the intensity of the laser at night to get additional contrast in darker scenes. The automatic picture modes will do this to some extent, but I preferred to keep things consistent.

The only thing I had no control over was the DLP rainbow effect, which I thought was a bit more prominent than I would have liked for a projector in this price range. I mostly noticed them on light objects against dark backgrounds, with rapid movement also being a factor. Not everyone notices DLP rainbows, but if you do, I recommend visiting a Leica showroom before clicking the buy button.

Leica Cine Play 1 verdict

The Cine Play 1 has a lot in common with Leica’s line of cameras, in that there may be better priced alternatives, but few can match it in terms of top-notch build quality and minimalist design. I also think the £500 higher asking price than the Hisense C2 Ultra is justified by Leica’s extensive lens know-how, which really results in a wonderfully sharp image.

This isn’t a breeze, as the smart TV system doesn’t really cater for all the countries the projector is sold in and DLP projection isn’t safe from rainbows. But you’ll either have to pay even more money, or compromise on portability, to find a projector that is.

In all other respects, this is an accomplished compact projector, worth considering if portability and balance are high on your priority list.

Technical specifications of the Leica Cine Play 1

Display type	DLP
Display resolution	3840×2160 (via pixel shift)
Light source	laser (lifespan of 25,000 hours)
Brightness (claimed)	3000 lumens
Connectivity	2x HDMI, 2x USB3, digital optical, Ethernet, 3.5mm output
Smart TV operating system	VIDAA
Dimensions	242 x 261 x 229 mm, 6.7 kg (projector only)