The Nyrius Orion Prime Wireless USB-C to HDMI Video Transmitter & Receiver frees you from needing to string an HDMI cable across your office or living room. Plug one gizmo into your MacBook, iPad, or iPhone, and another into your TV, and they’re connected.
The wireless adapter sends HD video a surprising distance and doesn’t require a Wi-Fi network.
I tested the wireless video transmitter out for myself and came away impressed. That said, it does have a limitation that makes it better for entertainment than work.
Nyrius Orion Prime Wireless USB-C to HDMI Video Transmitter & Receiver review
HDMI cables are both wonderful and irritating. They let you connect your laptop, tablet, even your phone to a giant screen to get work done, make presentations, or learn back and enjoy a movie. It’s great. On the other hand, the cables are bulky, ugly and often too short.
The Nyrius Orion Prime Wireless USB-C to HDMI Video Transmitter & Receiver removes the hassle. It’s as easy to use as an HDMI cable and has “wireless” right there in the name. It even saves the need for a USB-C to HDMI adapter for your computer.
You can use it to skip the ugly cable in your office, but the living room might be a better option. You have apps for all your streaming services on your Mac, iPad or iPhone, and this wireless video transmitter makes it easy to send them to your TV.
You should also consider Orion Prime as a travel accessory. You won’t have to worry about whether your rental house has a smart TV when you can easily stream video from your Mac or iPad.
Stream movies, TV shows, or sports wirelessly from a USB-C source to a TV or projector with an HDMI port without requiring inconvenient cables, apps, drivers, or Wi-Fi.
- Up to 150 foot range
- 1080P resolution
- No Wi-Fi network needed
- No 4K
Table of contents: Nyrius Orion Prime review
- Wireless video transmitter
- Nyrius Orion Prime: Amazing wireless distance
- The one drawback
- Nyrius Orion Prime Wireless USB-C to HDMI Video Transmitter & Receiver: Final thoughts
- Pricing
Wireless video transmitter
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
If you can connect an HDMI cable between your Mac and an external screen, you already have the technical expertise to use this wireless video transmitter from Nyrius.
As the name indicates, it’s made up of two components: a transmitter and a receiver. Plug the transmitter into a USB-C port on your Mac, iPad or iPhone. Plug the receiver into an HDMI port in your TV. There, you’re 90% finished.
There’s just one more step… the transmitter draws power from the USB-C port it’s plugged into, but the receiver needs an external source. Fortunately, any good TV has a USB port near its HDMI ports. This accessory comes with the cable needed to connect this USB-A port to the USB-C port on one end of the receiver to supply power.
Each of the components of the Nyrius Orion Prime Wireless USB-C to HDMI Video Transmitter & Receiver is 2.75 inches by 1.6 inches by 0.6 inches, with a short cable projecting from one end featuring either an HDMI or a USB-C connector.
That makes the product travel-size, or something you could leave on a coffee table until you need it. That’s not true of an HDMI cable — it’s a hassle to travel with and clutters up your living room.
Nyrius Orion Prime: Amazing wireless distance
Photo: Nyrius
The transmitter and receiver communicate via Wi-Fi, but no hotspot is needed. They make a direct connection. You can connect the wireless video transmitter to a projector in your backyard and not need a separate Wi-Fi network.
My tests confirm that the two components do not require a line-of-sight connection. One can be behind a TV and the other in front of it, and they operate just fine. Making a wireless connection between them takes only a few seconds, and I can’t tell a difference between it and an HDMI connection.
And the range is much longer than typical HDMI cables. Nyrius promises up to 150 feet, and my tests of Orion Prime show that’s possible, under the right conditions.
Consistently connecting across my living room was no problem at all. And the transmitter and receiver could communicate over 40 feet apart when going through a wall, only dropping when I got close to 60 feet. In fact, I could walk anywhere in my house and keep the two components connected.
In a test outdoors, with a line-of-site connection and nothing between them but air, they were still connected at 178 feet. That’s the point I ended the test because I needed binoculars to see the screen, not because the connection dropped.
The one drawback
I wish I could say everyone can pitch out their HDMI cable and use a Nyrius Orion Prime Wireless USB-C to HDMI Video Transmitter & Receiver instead, but it comes with one major limitation. It tops out at 1080p (1920 pixels by 1080 pixels). It also supports lower resolutions but not higher. 4K is definitely out.
1080p is a decent resolution for watching TV shows and movies, but hopefully you have a 4K monitor to do work on.
The max refresh rate is 60Hz. That’s just right for video and work, but gamers might want more.
Nyrius Orion Prime Wireless USB-C to HDMI Video Transmitter & Receiver: Final thoughts
I see two best uses for this wireless video transmitter. In one, it’s part of a home entertainment setup, with apps on a Mac, iPad or even iPhone providing the video.
The other great option is as a travel accessory. Anywhere you go on holiday, you can be certain you can watch your shows as long as there’s a TV, your computer, and this wireless adapter.
★★★★☆
While Nyrius’s product is mostly brilliant, it doesn’t earn five stars until it can handle 4K video.
Pricing
The Nyrius Orion Prime Wireless USB-C to HDMI Video Transmitter & Receiver costs $79.99.
Buy it from: Amazon
A second version of the Nyrius Orion Prime wirelessly connects HDMI port to HDMI port. It costs $69.99.
Stream movies, TV shows, or sports wirelessly from a USB-C source to a TV or projector with an HDMI port without requiring inconvenient cables, apps, drivers, or Wi-Fi.
- Up to 150 foot range
- 1080P resolution
- No Wi-Fi network needed
- No 4K
You might also consider the EZCast Pocket, which we tested and reviewed when it launched.
Nyrius provided Cult of Mac with a review unit for this article. See our reviews policy, and check out more in-depth reviews of Apple-related items.
