LaView Galaxy Star Projector review

Well-packaged and sporting a quality, weighty build, it's clear that LaView wants its Galaxy Star Projector to compete with the very best star projectors on the market.

In many ways, it's a good contender: Its projection quality is great, and its support of interchangeable disks gives it a welcome degree of versatility. But in other ways, it feels a little like a cheap projector dressed up as something fancier — and given its $100+ asking price, the LaView Galaxy Star Projector doesn't quite deliver as it should.

Still, there's a lot to like here, even if a few factors hold it back from greatness. Having interchangeable disks makes it a competitor to the market-leading Sega Toys Homestar range, but cheaper options (that we personally prefer) are available too, like the excellent Hommkiety Galaxy Projector.

Read on for our full thoughts on the LaView Galaxy Star Projector and see if we think it's worth its asking price.

LaView Galaxy Star Projector review: Design

• Solid design
• Quality build
• Very well packaged

The design is where the LaView Galaxy Star Projector really shines. This build quality here is second-to-none: it's weighty, well-made and attractively designed. It stands on a sturdy base and can be rotated 90 degrees to switch easily between pointing to a wall or a ceiling. There are four buttons on the side of the projector unit, and you can also control the unit with a remote control, which feels better-made than most of what you'll find included with other star projectors, too.

We're not totally sold on the colorways of the LaView Galaxy Star Projector: It's available in black, white, blue or pink. The blue and pink colors cheapen its appearance somewhat, so we recommend opting for white or black, which look much more premium. But that's just a preference: If you're shopping for a child, chances are they'll prefer blue or pink.

The box of the projector is also very high quality, although inexplicably it's labeled as 'Odyssey XI' — nothing else about the projector, including its store page, suggests that this is the product name.

LaView Galaxy Star Projector review: Performance

• Clear projections
• Disappointing coverage
• Laser stars are cheap and unnecessary

The projections from the LaView Galaxy/Star Projector are sharp, clear and bright. Using the Northern Hemisphere disk, the image quality rivals that offered by the Sega Toys Homestar Classic in terms of how vivid and sharp it is. It's let down drastically by its narrow reach, however. The projection is noticeably smaller than most other star projectors that we've tried, with the circular projection area barely covering the width of a double bed when projected from bedside cabinet height. Of course, results will vary depending on how high your ceilings are and how far away you're projecting, but it's something to keep in mind.

Unfortunately, the option to turn on laser stars alongside any projection completely ruins the realism offered by the likes of the Moon disk and the Northern Hemisphere. The cheap, green stars have a wider reach than the projection, but we'd highly recommend turning them off — and leaving them off.

The projector is pleasingly quiet in operation: Even with rotation turned on, the motor doesn't take away from the experience of using it.

LaView Galaxy Star Projector review: Functionality

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• Comes with 4 interchangeable disks
• Sleep timer
• No Bluetooth speaker

Like the Sega Toys range of star projectors, the LaView Galaxy Star Projector uses disks, meaning you can display a range of images from the same projector. Included in the box were two space-themed disks — the Northern Hemisphere night sky and the Earth and moon. Both look fantastic, particularly the Northern Hemisphere. There are also two 'fun' disks: A dinosaur and an underwater scene. More disks are available to purchase separately, too, giving you more variety — though bear in mind they cost roughly $50 for a set of four.

There's a sleep timer built into the projector, so you can fall asleep without worrying about it staying on all night. That's about all you get in terms of 'extra' features, though. There is no built-in speaker here, but considering that most speakers built into projectors tend to be of poor quality, it's not something we miss.

Should you buy the LaView Galaxy Star Projector?

We have mixed feelings about the LaView Galaxy Star Projector. Undoubtedly, this is a decent projector: Its build quality is excellent, and having interchangeable disks is a boon. But while its projections are vivid and clear, they are on the small side, limiting the degree of immersion on offer.

If you can find this projector on sale, it's worth picking up. But for the full asking price of $100+, it's a bit on the expensive side. We found the projections offered by the Hommkiety Galaxy Projector to be just as good, if not better, and that costs less than half the price of this one.