Samsung updates The Freestyle projector despite murky brightness claims

The projector market has long suffered from creative accounting regarding light output, a practice that recently prompted Epson to launch a series of legal challenges against competitors. Brands including Anker, Xgimi, and Yaber have since been forced to adopt the more rigorous ISO lumen standard to ensure consistency. Samsung’s move to label the Freestyle Plus at 430 ISO lumens is a direct response to this shift, even though the company previously marketed earlier models using the less reliable 550-lumen metric.

Beyond the numbers, the hardware remains largely unchanged from the 2022 original. The device retains its signature rotating barrel design and integrated speaker while gaining modern automated calibration tools for focus, keystone, and wall-color compensation. Despite these software refinements, the unit still lacks an internal battery, requiring external power banks for true mobility. With no official pricing or release date confirmed ahead of CES, the successor faces the same hurdle as the original: justifying its value in a market that previously balked at the $899 launch price.