In-Depth Review of the iRulu BL20 1080P HD 3D Projector

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One of the best cinematic experiences any of us can have is a trip to the silver screen. Unfortunately, there are a few downsides to the cinema. First, you’ve got to wait in line for half an hour. Then you need to pay admission. If you want popcorn, that’s going to cost you $20. A group of four heading out to the movies can easily cost upwards of $100.

Movie buffs often recreate the cinema experience from the comfort of their own homes. With a decent set of speakers, a new projector, and a box of Orville Redenbacher, you’ve got the joy of the theater in the comfort of your own home.

The only problem is that projectors are expensive. Five years ago, you couldn’t even find a standard definition projector for under $1000. But today, projectors are now more affordable than ever. Sure, you still drop a month’s wages on a 3D projector that produces 4k video. But then again, were can you even find 4k content?

If you’re looking for cinema on a budget, you can’t go wrong with iRulu projectors. Instead of all the bells and whistles you don’t really need, they sell simple projectors that do exactly what they’re mean to – play video. The end result is a projector that can let you permanently recreate the movie theater experience in your own home, for less than the cost of a family trip to a single movie. Let’s take a look at their latest offering, the BL20, and see what you get for your money.

iRulu-BL20 Projector

First Impression

Taking it out of the box, the first thing you notice about the iRulu BL20 is that it’s very small. We’ve reviewed a few high end projectors recently, and they tend to be huge mammoth devices. But the iRulu is lightweight and compact. You could easily throw it in a backpack if you wanted to head over to a friend’s house for a movie night. On the outside, the projector looks pretty standard. You’ve got the lens, the focus ring, some inputs, and a couple buttons. Let’s take a look and see what’s under the hood.

iRulu-BL20 Projector

Connectivity

Although virtually all media players use HDMI now, iRulu has still given you a plethora of connectors the plug in any Blu-ray, DVD, game console, or laptop you have kicking around. If you’re going to mount it in one position, there are two HDMI inputs that would allow you to leave your media connected and switch between them via the included remote. You’ve also got a VGA cable for connecting laptops that do not have HDMI, as well as component input. If you’re going to be playing older DVDs or VHS tapes, there is a composite input as well.

iRulu-BL20 Projector back panel

You may have also noticed the USB inputs on the back. This is one of the coolest features of the projector. You can plug in a flash drive or external HDD (note: 2.5” only!) and play your movies off the drive. This is great for people that download their films, as long as there is no DRM present. You can also view images, if you want to share a slideshow.

Image Quality

While the image is clear and bright, this is definitely a projector for a casual movie experience. It supports scaling from 1080p, however the actual resolution is 800×480. This is an EDTV resolution, not HDTV. What this means is that images are clean and sharp, but not quite as detailed as you’d get with a 1080p projector. Fortunately, images are scaled and not cropped. There are many economy projectors on the market that use a nonstandard resolution, and have to chop off the edges of your film in order to make it fit. But with the iRulu BL20 1080P HD 3D Projector, the entire frame is visible.

iRulu-BL20 Projector

The image is quite bright for such an affordable projector. Most of the time, they offer 1200 lumens at best. This requires a completely dark room in order to get a clear image. But the iRulu BL20 has a 2600 lumen bulb. This isn’t bright enough to use outdoors in direct sunlight, but it will be fine indoors with the curtains drawn.

Image Size

The benefit of a palm size projector is that it has a very short throw distance. This refers to the distance from the projector itself, to the actual screen. You can use this projector as close as 1.2 meters from your screen, giving you a reasonable 32-inch display. If you want a bigger screen, you can place it as far as six meters back giving yourself a massive 200-inch screen. Remember, screens are measured diagonally. 200” is huge. This is bigger than your garage door. If you stood at the bottom of a 200” screen, you head would probably be less than halfway from the top. If you’re sitting six feet or so from the screen, this is equivalent to an Imax movie. We’re very impressed that such a tiny little projector can produce such a huge image.

iRulu-BL20 Projector

Maintenance

One of the biggest drawbacks of digital projectors is the maintenance expenses. Generally, they use expensive bulbs that will burn out after a year or two. Replacement bulbs are often over $500. The iRulu BL20 is one of the only projectors we’ve come across in this price range that uses an LED bulb. Not only are LED’s brighter, but they last a very long time. On this particular projector, you can expect 20,000 hours of life. This means that if you watched a two-hour movie every single day, it would be 27 years before the lamp burned out. How many 27-year-old electronics do you have in your house? Probably not too many, so you can use this projector as much as you want without fear of having to replace the bulb.

There is one little bit of maintenance required. You have to let the projector cool occasionally. The manufacturer recommends a 30-minute break after four hours of use. This probably won’t make much of a difference to most users. However, if you’re planning to watch the entire Lord of The Rings trilogy in one sitting, you might want to plan for snack breaks.

iRulu-BL20 Projector

Sound Quality

The iRulu BL20 projector also has built in speakers, so even if you don’t have a home stereo you can still begin to enjoy movies right out of the box. The sound quality is actually quite impressive, comparable to the speakers built into most modern televisions. They’re clear, don’t suffer from distortion, and are loud enough to fill up a room.

The only problem we found with the speakers is that they are both located inside the projector, which is quite compact. If you’re watching a huge 200” screen, you might want some speakers that are a little larger, or at least placed on either side of the screen. The included speakers still work very well, but they are just don’t have the same cinematic experience you get from the huge image size.

iRulu-BL20 Projector

Optics

The included 10-piece lens is made completely from glass. At this price range, there are several projectors out there that use plastic lenses. These should be avoided at all costs. Plastic has a tendency to heat up and warp, which fogs up your image. The glass lens keeps everything sharp and won’t degrade over time. This also means that the focus is very easy to adjust. Simply turn the lever behind the lens until the image is sharp.

So, Should I Get The iRulu BL20 1080P HD 3D Projector?

If you’re looking for a large screen projector that won’t break the bank, the iRulu BL20 is a very affordable option. It’s one of the most inexpensive projectors on the market, and it’s compact enough to carry around. This makes it excellent for impromptu movie nights. Hang a sheet in the back yard and have your own outdoor theater for the kids. Or, pack it with you while you go camping and give the kids something to watch in the tent so you and your partner can have some quiet time. It’s versatile, durable, and overall a great purchase.

iRulu-BL20 Projector

It is important to remember, however, that this is one of the most inexpensive projectors you can get. You can’t expect the quality to match the latest televisions that usually cost 5 to 6 times as much as it. The video is still totally watchable, it’s just not quite as sharp as a true 1080p display.

25 thoughts on “In-Depth Review of the iRulu BL20 1080P HD 3D Projector”

  1. Hey TechGuru thanks for the informative, helpful and lengthy review of the iRulu BL20 projector. I picked this projector up for my class and have been surprised on how well it’s served me over the last few months. The image quality is amazing with rich and vibrant colors and plenty of resolution to make the audience go “wow”.

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  2. Can I ceiling mount the Irulu projector? Does it have enough keystone correction to hang from a 7′ ceiling onto a 100″ screen also being pulled from the ceiling?

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  3. Thanks for the review TechGuru! I scooped the iRulu on Amazon Prime at a great price for my outdoor Pre-Halloween/birthday party. It was more than I could hope for the price. Picture was clear and crisp. I did have THREE main issues. First, the factory remote is shotty, at best. Even with new batteries, it’s infrared communication with the iRulu base is terrible and does not connect the majority of the time – even just in front of the eye. Second, was the volume. The internal speakers are clear and, I guess, loud. However, the fan is also quite loud – in fact, loud enough to almost drown out the movie sound. Also, since we were outdoors and a party was at hand the internal speakers were not enough. The computer speakers I have were not compatible with the iRulu which was not made clear in the description and/or manual. Which brings me to the Third issue: the User Manual is in broken English, does not give any rear-panel connection information and has gives methods such as: “The distance between the remote controller and the projector can not be too far.” HOWEVER, in saying all of this, iRulu (thus far) is tip top as I am certain that I will be able to overcome these trivial issues. I’ll find some speakers that are compatible with the iRulu panel; and look for a universal remote to support my iRulu needs: then I will keep looking to nerdtechy.com for instructionals. THANKS!!

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  4. I purchased one not too long ago and am 100% pleased with its performance. My only question is: when I do have to change the bulb (for whatever reason) how do I do so? There were no instructions on maintenance in the manual I received and I haven’t found much information online.

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    • Red/Blue but so far I can’t get it to work for 3D. My Samsung 3D blu-ray player puts up a message “Your Blu-ray 3D player has not detected that it is connected to a 3d player”. Samsung instant chat support walked me thru a check of the player. Irulu has an awful tech support and thus far has not responded or been able to tell me what to do to correct this.

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  5. Just purchased one and i love everything bout it. Just one problem, there is no sound from the projector and no sound from the audio output when i hooked up my speakers for better sound… I am using HDMI 1 slot for my PS3 and HDMI 2 slot for my PS4 and still no sound… Please help

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  6. Overall I’m happy with the purchase, but out of the box, I kept getting NO SIGNAL when plugging the projector to my laptop with an HDMI to HDMI cable. Even though I tried SOURCE and both HDMI1 and HDMI2, it kept saying NO SIGNAL. It was not until I tried using the remote control (where you go to SOURCE, scroll to HDMI1 or HDMI2 and then hit ENTER) did it work right. Not sure if there is a way to do ENTER from just the projector but I wasn’t finding it, and the not-well-written user manual doesn’t say anything about that …

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  7. I bought this unit yesterday. I was initially pleased but will probably return it if I cannot find a fix to the one HUGE problem.

    The video is faster than the audio. At the beginning of a movie, the problem is not too bad. But by the end of the movie, you are listening to the audio from the prior scene.

    Is there a way to slow down the video (or speed up the audio) by a fraction of a second to make this problem less of an issue over the duration of a 2 hour movie?

    And I have tried other movies and other storage devices. It is definitely a projector problem.

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  8. I recently purchased a BL20 projector but find that the image does not seem to be bright enough. Is there a way for my to adjust the brightness? The manual that comes with projector does not show how to do that. Thank you

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  9. Before purchase iRULU BL-20 projector.my questions.Is this projector work by DC cord.if not work, can I fitting DC cord in projector

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  10. Has anyone tried to use the dtv part of the projector? Would love to know if you can use a antenna and how to get the right cord to connect one

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    • I bought a projector like this one, I used a normal TV cable, the picture is very good, but the sound does not work, it sounds flashy.How can you adjust the sound?Tks

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  11. I have been trying to get it to work. Had to buy a special adapter for my coaxial. Hooked it up to an antennae and did an auto tuning procedure. Couldn’t find any signal.

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  12. has anyone figured out how to order a replacement bulb? Or where I can find one? My bulb is now burned out and I have had a lot of trouble trying to find one that is made for this projector.

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  13. I have had this projector for approximately 3years with minimal use. Recently it just shuts off randomly and unable to restart. I have cleaned the filters and run a fan on it for cooling purposes. The picture still shows on screen but I’m trying to diagnose the shutoff problem. Any ideas? Thanks.

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  14. Is there a universal remote that works with the BL20 because most everything does not have iRULU for a device compatible with most universal remotes. Does it possibly have a different name. Please help I got the projector used and it has no remote and it’s a pain to get up and down all the time. Thanks

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