It’s not often that you get to experience a home entertainment technology that completely reshapes your perspective on how you watch films and shows. But after spending a month with the Formove Theater Premium ultra-short-throw (UST) projector in my living room, I’ve gone from being firmly attached to my 55-inch OLED TV to a convert who now can’t imagine going back. The Formovie UST projector doesn’t just deliver a large screen; it offers a true cinema-grade experience, and if you’ve ever dreamed of bringing the big screen into your home, the Formovie Theater Premium might just convince you to take the plunge.
I was initially intimidated when a massive flight case landed at my doorstep. Since Formovie sent the Theater Premium via Aytexcel, its official distributor for India, I received it in a projector case, but if you buy the retail unit, you won’t get it in a flight case.
The Formovie Theater Premium maintains a similar industrial design to its predecessor. At 9.8kg, it’s a substantial piece of equipment that feels premium the moment you lift it out from its packaging. The black metal casing feels more refined than its predecessor, with a matte finish that blends into a darkened home theater environment.
The fabric mesh across the front houses the Bowers & Wilkins speaker system. The rear maintains a practical array of connections, including three HDMI 2.1 ports (one with eARC), two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, an RJ45 LAN port, and optical audio output.
What I particularly appreciate about the physical design is the inclusion of height-adjustable feet, which made precise alignment much easier during setup. In addition, the built-in power supply means you’re only dealing with a single power cord rather than a bulky external brick that would have otherwise made your media console look cluttered.
Setting up an ultra-short-throw projector can be notoriously finicky, but with the Theater Premium’s 0.21:1 throw ratio, I was able to achieve a 100-inch image with just 16-17cm of distance between the projector and my living room wall.
The automatic electric focus worked well, and the eight-point keystone correction allowed me to fine-tune the image alignment, even though my wall wasn’t perfectly flat. However, given its price, I would have loved to skip the hassle if there had been an optical sensor for automatic keystone adjustment.
The Theater Premium’s triple-laser ALPD (Advanced Laser Phosphor Display) 4.0 system creates a color experience that’s difficult to describe without sounding hyperbolic. Colors don’t just look accurate, they look true to life. The slightly enhanced saturation gives content a visual punch that most viewers will appreciate, creating a more immersive viewing experience.
I’ll never forget the first time I fired up Dune: Part Two on the Theater Premium, as the sweeping desert landscapes spread across the wall of my living room. The combination of the massive 120-inch image, the impressive 2,200 lumens of claimed brightness, and a 3,000:1 contrast ratio created a viewing experience that genuinely rivaled my local cinema.
Watching the sandworms emerge from beneath the desert surface, I felt a visceral thrill that my TV had never managed to evoke. It just looked as expansive as when I watched it in a theater. The depth and dimensionality of the image were striking. Dark scenes revealed details that I’d otherwise miss in theatrical viewings, while bright scenes looked true to life without looking washed out.
The optical system has been redesigned, resulting in significantly better edge-to-edge sharpness, maintaining excellent detail across the entire projection. This improvement is particularly noticeable with fine text or detailed landscapes in 4K content.
While the Formovie Theater Premium claims 107% coverage of the BT.2020 color space, our testing showed it falling short, achieving closer to 90% of BT.2020, which is still impressive but not quite as advertised.
For gaming, the Theater Premium offers ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) and a Game Mode that reduces input lag significantly.
The projector does accept 1080p signals at 120Hz, though it cannot display 4K at 120Hz due to the limitations of its single-chip DLP architecture.
Even in rooms with some ambient light, the brightness of the projector was impressively strong, delivering vibrant colors and sharp details. In Standard mode, the Theater Premium produced vibrant, punchy imagery, making it much more versatile for everyday use rather than being restricted to dedicated light-controlled environments.
The contrast performance remains one of this projector’s strongest suites. In dark scenes from films like The Batman, Interstellar, Nosferatu and shows like Mr Robot, Daredevil Born Again, the projector rendered shadows with impressive depth while maintaining detail. Black levels aren’t quite OLED-TV deep, but they’re excellent for a projector, creating a cinematic experience that feels properly immersive.
The Theater Premium projector supports a comprehensive range of HDR formats, including HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and HLG. When displaying properly mastered HDR content like Dune: Part Two or 4K HDR videos on YouTube and apps like Netflix and Prime Video, the projector created an impressive spectacle with its brightness and contrast.
The Bowers & Wilkins sound system is impressive for built-in audio. With two 15-watt speakers featuring titanium dome tweeters and mid-bass drivers, along with a side-firing bass reflex port, the Theater Premium produces rich, detailed sound with surprising bass presence.
The system supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X via virtualization, creating a convincing sense of spaciousness with surround sound. The Theater Premium’s speakers are more than capable as a standalone solution for most users.
The Google TV interface is intuitive and visually appealing, with content recommendations and a unified search function that works across different streaming platforms.
Perhaps the most welcome addition is native Netflix support. Switching between Disney+, Netflix, YouTube, and Prime Video felt effortless. The included Bluetooth remote is functional if somewhat basic, and voice search via the remote worked consistently, unlike some other smart remotes I’ve used.
At a street price of ₹3,80,000 (MSRP ₹4,75,000), the Formovie Theater Premium is a significant investment but one that delivers a genuine cinema experience in your home. It occupies a competitive position in the premium UST projector market, yet its contrast ratio, brightness, sharpness, and audio quality are all impressive.
If you’ve been considering making the leap to a UST projector, the Formovie Theater Premium offers a compelling combination of performance, features, and value that’s hard to beat in today’s market. But to truly unlock its potential, I’d highly recommend going all-in on a proper home theater setup, which means investing in comfortable recliners, soundproofing, ambient lighting, and a high-quality surround sound system. With the right setup, this projector doesn’t just replace a TV, but it transforms your space into an immersive cinematic experience that rivals your favorite movie theater. Just be prepared for one unexpected consequence: your friends may never want to watch movies anywhere else again.
