Doing the circuits on gadget blogs the Evolution R1 micro projector from beambox was quite a surprise for me to come across, while this picture doesnt seem to do it justice its not a hugely pretty box, despite being heralded as a “sexy” micro projector on the manufacturers website.  Beambox appear to be a uk outfit creating these tiny micro projectors in the uk. The claims against this little grey (red is prettier option) box are basically the matching of the 3m micro projector available now, supposedly with the weight less than an iPod.

The number of inputs makes this box seem appealing, as well as the fact it seems to be readily available early on in the cycle of micro projectors – this might mean that the company will quickly bring out a second model, which is always a more sensible buy if they do it in a timely manner.  The Evolution R-1′s hole in its armour is probably its battery life, their product description says 90 minutes. This really is very short when the 3m/samsung equivilent micro projectors claim nearer to 3/4 hours battery life.

Despite the short battery life this new microprojector does have some aces up its sleave, namely in the form of a high 30 lumen brightness – the best we have seen so far from any micro projector manufacturer – and potentially why the battery drains in half the time. The led lamp powering the Evo R1 Beatbox micro projector also lasts an extra 10k hours over the competition, boasting a 30 thousand hour operation capacity.

It will be nice to see some more in depth feature lists for the BeatBox Evolution R-1, such as capable resolutions and full input’ lists, but it seems at this point Beatbox have not released these.

We would say all in all this micro-projector is one to watch – potentially worth a try at £265 plus postage but if you can hold out for The Evo R2 (if it comes out within 6 months) this might be worth holding off, we will certainly be watching Beambox closely this year!