The Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen is a 1080p portable LED projector. It's small and light, and it tilts on its base, letting the user adjust its viewing angle easily. You can even combine two Freestyle 2nd Gen projectors to create a larger viewing area. It also has Auto Keystone correction, auto leveling, autofocus, and manual scale and image adjustments for an easy setup. This projector comes with Samsung's Tizen OS smart interface, is compatible with the Bixby and Amazon Alexa voice assistants, and is fully cast capable through Samsung's SmartThings or Apple's AirPlay 2. It has an integrated 5W speaker, Wi-Fi 5, and Multi Bluetooth support, so you can pair two different sets of earbuds to the device.
Our Verdict
The Samsung Freestyle 2 is subpar for watching movies. It has a wide color gamut, but its contrast is subpar, so its blacks look gray in a pitch-black room. Furthermore, the projector's brightness is very low, so it always looks dim, and it's just not bright enough to make its colors pop. Its color accuracy is decent out of the box, but you can greatly improve it through the projector's extensive calibration options.
Small and light, and tilts on its stand, making it easy to carry and install.
- Impressive suite of smart features and calibration options.
Subpar contrast leads to raised blacks in dark scenes.
Dim all the time due to its very low peak brightness.
The Samsung Freestyle 2 is definitely not a gaming projector. It tops out at 1080p @ 60Hz, and there's no 120Hz path, with high input lag, making it sub-optimal for most games; stick to turn-based titles if you want to game on this projector. Samsung's Gaming Hub does add cloud-gaming support with Bluetooth controllers, but you're still limited to 60Hz, and you're stacking network and controller latency on top of the projector's own delay. If you just want to play slower titles on a wall, it's fine; competitive players should look elsewhere. It also doesn't project a good-looking image, as it's a dim projector with limited contrast.
Small and light, and tilts on its stand, making it easy to carry and install.
Subpar contrast leads to raised blacks in dark scenes.
Dim all the time due to its very low peak brightness.
Limited to 1080p @ 60Hz.
Very noticeable input latency.
Changelog
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Updated Oct 22, 2025:
We've added Imaging, Optics, Noise, Supported Resolutions, HDR Format Support, 3D, Input Lag, and Audio Passthrough boxes as a result of our latest test bench. We've also added a Gaming usage in the Verdict section.
- Updated Oct 14, 2025: We've converted the review to Test Bench 0.10, which updates our Design tests, and adds a whole new suite of Inputs tests. We also added new gaming-oriented usage scores in Our Verdict. See the 0.10 changelog.
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Updated Aug 21, 2025:
We mentioned the newly reviewed LG CineBeam Q and added a mention of it in the Brightness section.
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Updated Feb 07, 2025:
We made some minor in-text adjustments to improve readability and better convey product details.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We purchased and tested the Samsung Freestyle projector, which has no variants but is a successor to a first-generation model. Both generations share most of the same features, with the main differences being increased memory in the second-generation model and the inclusion of Samsung's Gaming Hub for cloud gaming.
| Model | Smart Platform | Gaming Features | Optics | Zoom / Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freestyle (2nd Gen) | Tizen (Streaming apps, Cast/AirPlay) | Gaming Hub for cloud gaming; 1080p @ 60Hz | DLP + LED, ~1.2:1 fixed throw; autofocus & auto-keystone | No optical zoom; no lens shift |
| Freestyle (1st Gen) | Tizen (earlier hardware, less memory) | No Gaming Hub; 1080p @ 60Hz | DLP + LED, ~1.2:1 fixed throw; autofocus & auto-keystone | No optical zoom; no lens shift |
Our unit was manufactured in July 2023.
Popular Projector Comparisons
The Samsung Freestyle 2 is a feature-rich smart projector with a flexible tilting stand and slick Tizen apps, but its brightness, contrast, and gaming latency are limited. If you want a cheaper ultraportable, the XGIMI MoGo 2 is smaller and has a cleaner Android TV experience, though it's not brighter. For roughly the same money, the XGIMI Elfin delivers better picture quality and also caps at 1080p/60 for gaming, but generally looks sharper and cleaner in a dark room. Unless you specifically need the Freestyle's tilting stand and Tizen ecosystem, these alternatives will suit more shoppers, especially if gaming responsiveness matters.
Check out our recommendations for the best portable projectors and the best outdoor projectors. If you'd prefer to shop for another product in the same price range, look up the best projectors under $1,000 instead.
The LG CineBeam Q is significantly better than the Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen. The LG is brighter, has way deeper contrast, and has a wider color gamut. The Samsung is, however, more accurate right out of the box, but that's pretty much all it has going for it compared to the LG.
The Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen is a bit better than the XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro. While the XGIMI is a bit brighter, the Samsung has better contrast, a far wider color gamut, and is much more accurate right out of the box. The Samsung does lack a USB data port, which the XGIMI has, but in turn, the Samsung has eARC and Bluetooth 5.2; XGIMI is limited to Bluetooth 5.1 and just ARC.
The Anker Nebula Capsule 3 Laser and the Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen deliver very similar picture quality, but the Nebula is a slightly better portable projector. It has a built-in battery that Nebula advertises to deliver up to 2.5 hours of movie-watching. It also supports USB-C data delivery, so you can project directly from your laptop or smartphone.
The XGIMI Halo+ is better than the Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen. The XGIMI is much brighter and has better contrast than the Samsung, so it projects a much more vibrant image. The Samsung is, however, vastly more accurate than the XGIMI, so you might prefer it if you care about image accuracy.
We've independently bought and tested over 60 projectors, and we've published all the detailed results for each so you can decide which one to buy. These have all been tested under the same standardized methodology, allowing you to compare them side by side. We still have all these projects in our lab so we can continually go back and compare them to ensure our reviews are still accurate. All our test methodology is also public on our website, so you can validate the results yourself.
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Test Results
Unfortunately, the Samsung Freestyle 2nd Gen's brightness after calibration is very low. Although its brightness uniformity is excellent, it isn't bright enough for a satisfying movie-watching experience on a 100" screen, even in a pitch-black environment. If you're looking for a brighter portable unit, consider the LG CineBeam Q instead.
The Samsung Freestyle's contrast is subpar overall. It's passable in brighter scenes, but it's inadequate in darker ones, leading to visibly raised blacks when viewed in a dark room.
Out of the box, the projector has decent color accuracy. Colors are satisfactory but have frequent accuracy errors throughout the entire color range. White balance is okay; blues are overrepresented in brighter whites, while reds, in turn, are underrepresented, giving whites a noticeable blue hue. You can see this in the color temperature, which is mediocre at best, as it leans far too cold.
The Samsung Freestyle projector has a full-color calibration mode and a 10-point white balance calibration. After calibration, the color accuracy is fantastic. Colors still have very minor accuracy errors throughout, but the white balance is very near perfect, and so is the color temperature.
The Samsung Freestyle Gen 2 has a wide color gamut. It covers almost all of the Rec. 709 color space used with SDR content. It even does a decent job with the wider Rec. 2020 color space, although here most colors are off-target, especially greens and cyans.
The Samsung Freestyle projector uses a single-chip DLP engine with an LED light source. LEDs give you instant on/off, long life, and stable color over time with no lamp replacements. Some viewers may notice rainbow artifacts on high-contrast edges due to the single-chip design.
The projector is a fixed-lens long-throw design with autofocus and auto-keystone for quick setup; there's no optical zoom or lens shift. Here are some typical throw distances:
- 70" image: 6.1 ft from the screen
- 80": 7.0 ft
- 90": 7.8 ft
- 100": 8.7 ft
- 110": 9.6 ft
- 120": 10.5 ft
- 130": 11.3 ft
- 150": 13.1 ft
The Samsung Freestyle features a compact design and weighs only 1.8 pounds, which makes it easy to carry. However, it lacks an integrated battery, so it must remain plugged into an outlet. Samsung does sell a compact battery base for the Freestyle, but it must be purchased separately. Otherwise, it includes full auto keystone correction and autofocus, simplifying setup, and its tiltable stand allows you to adjust the projection angle as needed.
At full brightness, the fan is audible at arm's length, but from a typical seating distance, it blends under dialogue.
You can only use the USB-C port to charge the device; it can't carry data. The device has Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.2 support. The micro HDMI port doubles as an eARC port for audio passthrough when using the internal apps.
In Game Mode, latency is very noticeable on this projector; this unit is only truly usable in very slow games, like turn-based titles.
The single HDMI port supports eARC, but think of it as audio out of the projector's own apps, not a passthrough hub. Because there's only one HDMI, you can't connect an external player and also use the port for ARC at the same time.
From internal apps, eARC can return the following:
- LPCM: 2-channel and 5.1 (6-ch) at common sample rates (up to 192 kHz listed for multichannel).
- Dolby Digital (AC-3): 5.1.
- Dolby Digital Plus (DD+): up to 8-ch (used for streaming Atmos).
- Dolby MAT (MLP): 8-ch container (object-based/Atmos over PCM).
The projector has Samsung's popular Tizen smart OS with full casting support through Samsung's SmartThings or Apple's AirPlay 2, so you can share your phone or laptop screen directly to the projector. It also has a 5W speaker system.