Much brighter and incredibly adaptable

Samsung announced its all-new portable projector ahead of its First Look presentation at CES 2026, but you may have been a little confused as to what’s changed. The company claims that is almost twice as bright as the Freestyle Projector 2022rated at 230 ISO lumens, which was rather disappointing. The new Freestyle+ can produce 430 ISO lumens. If this is the first time you’ve heard of ISO Lumens, it’s an internationally standardized rating for projectors, intended to standardize manufacturers’ brightness claims.

It still looks a lot like its predecessors, with a 160-degree rotation that makes it easy to install in most homes, Airbnbs or meeting rooms. Samsung has added support for Q-Symphony, allowing you to connect it to the company’s soundbars, if you have one nearby. Although the sound quality of its built-in speaker was difficult to test in the middle of a post-Keynote living room, you’ll probably want to boost the built-in speaker, if only because it’s so small.

Vision AI, mentioned several times during Samsung’s CES keynote, is also integrated into the portable projector. You can invoke Bixby to adjust settings and whatever else you’re watching. From the demos I’ve seen, you’ll need to speak into the remote to access Bixby.

Further improvements bring the projector into 2026, with keystone correction and focus. The Freestyle+’s AI OptiScreen can calibrate projections on different surfaces and wall colors to improve visibility on even your brightest walls.

The 3D Auto Keystone update fixes distortion even when projecting onto uneven or non-flat surfaces, such as corners, curtains, or tilted walls. It’s hard to put into words, but pointing the Freestyle+ at a corner or undulating curtain and watching the image morph and contort was almost hypnotic. The idea is that you can point it at any area of ​​your house (or even, say, the side of a tent), and the 3D Auto Keystone will flatten the image in seconds.

There’s also Screen Fit, which automatically adjusts the image to fit the projector screen size. The Freestyle+ can project up to a maximum of 100-inch 1080p image. However, the wall calibration might be the most technically impressive in a device of this size. It detects and analyzes the color of the projection surface and recalibrates the color tone of the image to minimize the effect. It can even detect and match a wall pattern to reduce visual interference, which worked well in person. The Samsung spokesperson used the aforementioned Bixby voice commands to calibrate the screen.

If there’s still anything left to sort out, it’s that this portable projector needs to be plugged in to work. When it can be a power bank or a wall outlet, it seems a bit cheeky to call it portable.

Samsung usually announces pricing and launch dates after the dust has settled from CES, but it’s expected to arrive in the first half of 2026. Previous iterations cost around $900, but first impressions suggest this is a versatile little projector.