In a pinch, the brightest portable mini projectors can also show a PowerPoint or other presentation in a room with the lights on, but these aren't primarily business projectors. AAXA P6: The P6 is brighter and more color-accurate than its predecessor, the P300. We looked at the top 20 and dug through the reviews from 36 of the most popular review sites including and more. 
Speakers:All of the portable projectors on this list have built-in speakers, so you dont have to carry a pair around with you to watch a movie. The picture quality of the Mars, however, is better than that of the Mars II by every metric. projector p300 pico aaxa brightest battery powered
Choose Your Screen SizeThis mini projector can be used both indoors and outdoors. All of the projectors on our list weigh less than five pounds, and will fit in a backpack, but this is definitely a factor to consider if youre planning on carrying your projector around a lot. Anker Nebula Mars Lite Portable Projector, 19.
If youre looking for a projector thats mostly for office presentations, and occasionally for outdoor movie nights, this is your best bet.
When you open these apps, a pop-up appears on the screen telling you to use the control app.
Look for a projector that is compatible with iOS and Android devices, letting you grab documents, photos and videos from your phone. In our tests, the projector's battery lasted about three hours, 45 minutes while continually streaming video from Netflixas long as it was in battery mode, which decreases the brightness of the projector slightly to conserve battery life. 
Despite being portable, some projectors dont run on battery power, so youll have to consistently find somewhere to plug in your adaptor. What We Liked: Not only does this mini projector have an advanced cooling system, but its lamp life is 55,000 hours!
For true portability, look for models with big batteries that will last as long as you need them to. But if you don't mind having to connect a computer, Blu-ray player, media streamer, or thumb drive in order to watch content, the Mars Lite offers surprisingly good image quality and long battery life at a much lower price than our other picks. It manages to produce all those lumens by adding an excessive blue tint to the image, which makes it appear brighter but produces a horrible image.
You can even use some projectors as a Bluetooth speaker to listen to your favorite music. Plus, its battery life is a little bit shorter than that of the Mars II, and this model costs more.
Think of it this way: You could play a Blu-ray on an old tube TV. Daniel spent several hours using each projectorthrough at least one run of its battery lifestreaming movies and TV from his computer and, when possible, using the internal streaming applications. Photo: Sarah Kobos, The Mars and Mars II remotes are identical, as well. Even if you're using the Mars in an environment with some ambient light, you should be able to enjoy a well-saturated image with a nice amount of detail, and the higher light output lets you go larger on the screen size and still get a bright picture. Their work builds off of the testing that was conducted in previous years by staff writers Chris Heinonen and Sabrina Imbler. Photo: Sarah Kobos, All of the Nebula projectors have a slide-up cover to protect the lens. After testing seven models this year, we think the Anker Nebula Mars II is the best portable mini projector for the occasional movie night or Netflix marathon. CiBest Built-In Speaker Portable Mini Projector, 6. Magnasonic Plug & Play Mini Projector, Kick-Start Every Morning With Coffee Maker. We were able to navigate the Android TV interface using both the included remotewhich is laid out cleanly and features only the buttons you'll useand the smartphone app. At max volume, the Mars Lite's speaker is a little quieter, but you'll still be able to understand dialogue and hear the score. These projectors likely aren't bright enough for an outdoor movie night, but if you keep the image small and your yard is dark, it might work. Native Resolution:A lot of projectorsaccept HD content, but very few of them can actually produce an HD image. With some mini projectors, you wont even need the mobile device. On the audio side, its speaker was one of the best that we tested. at Its not battery-powered like the other projectors on this list, but at only 2.1 pounds, it wont weigh you down. Those projectors use standard metal halide lamps, rather than the little LED lamps inside these mini projectorsso they can be five to 10 times brighter and can easily create images 100 to 120 inches in size. What impressed us most about the Mars II is its ease of use, great Android TV interface, and long battery life. Don't just take for granted what one reviewer says. This makes it a little harder to just sit down and cue up something to watch, and it makes the system less portable because you have to take source devices along with you. Many of these models are battery powered and have apps like Netflix built in, so you don't need to lug around power cords and source deviceswhich makes them great to take with you to a friend's house or on vacation. Two of those ports arent available on any of the other options on this list. There are posterization artifacts with moving objects, especially on faces, which makes it a worse choice for movies. Screenshot: Sarah Kobos, With no built-in streaming services, the Mars Lite relies on HDMI and USB for sources.
The Nebula Mars offers the best overall image quality of any projector we tested for this update, and it has the same inputs, Android TV interface, remote design, and size and shape as its newer sibling. Mini Projector, PVO Portable Projector for Cartoon, Kids Gift, Outdoor Movie Projector, LED Pico Video Projector for Home Theater Movie Projector with HDMI USB Interfaces and Remote Control (Electronics), Mini Projector,HOMPOW Portable Projector 1080P Supported 2022 Upgraded Movie Projector and 176" Display, Compatible with TV Stick/HDMI/VGA/USB/TV Box/Laptop/DVD/PS4 for Home (Electronics), AuKing Mini Projector 2022 Upgraded Portable Video-Projector,55000 Hours Multimedia Home Theater Movie Projector,Compatible with Full HD 1080P HDMI,VGA,USB,AV,Laptop,Smartphone (Office Product), Mini Projector, 2022 Upgraded CiBest Video Projector Outdoor Movie Projector 7500L, LED Portable Home Theater Projector 1080P and 200" Supported, Compatible with PS4, PC via HDMI, VGA, TF, AV and USB (Electronics), Mini Projector, GooDee W18 WiFi Movie Projector with Synchronize Smartphone Screen with 1080P Support and 200 Video Projector Support TV Stick, HDMI, VGA, USB, Laptop, PS4, and iOS/Android Phone (Office Product), DWYM simplifies the research process by aggregating the reviews of the top product review sites. But those projectors lack some usability features that we think are more important to the overall experience. SCRIPPS CO., ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
COPYRIGHT THE E.W. Youll probably see the term lumens when youre researching projectors. Thankfully thats no longer the case, and theres never been a better time to pick up one of these portable projectors, which let you easily cast a large image for movie nights, Netflix binging, live sports and karaoke from the comforts and convenience of home. This should be more than enough power to last through an entire movie. It offers plenty of connection options, and it features the Android TV operating system to stream services like Netflix and Hulu. The pictures are both clear and bright, leaving you feeling like youre in a real movie theater. GooDee Bulit-In Stereo Speaker Mini Projector, 9.
VANKYOs Leisure Mini Projector is an excellent beginners choice for people who want to bring a big screen with them on the go.
When you purchase an item through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Perhaps more important, the Mars Lite has the same auto focus and keystone system as the Mars and Mars II, which makes the Lite's crisp image just as easy to attain without much extra effort. Photo: Sarah Kobos, The Mars Lite lacks the Android TV OS and built-in apps of its more expensive siblings, so the user interface is very basic. DWYM is your trusted roduct review source. Sign up for our newsletter. These projectors have their own operating systems that let you access your own files and even use built-in apps. What We Liked: This mini projector connects easily to a whole host of devices, including DVD players, smartphones, laptops and even PS4s.
at AAXA P4X: Although it's small and portable, this projector isn't bright enough for most situations, and owner reviews are generally negative. Its not the highest-resolution projector, and youll need to plugged in at all times, but VANKYOs Leisure Mini has a lot to offer. Some projectors connect up to your favorite smartphone or tablet to let you access your files or stream from your favorite apps.
Unfortunately, not all projectors come with good speakers, and youll probably find that applies to miniature projectors, as well. Youll likely want to factor in size and weight when choosing a portable projector, especially if youre hauling it around the country. When testing TVs, we've found that the Android interface can be laggy and unresponsive. If you plan to use it in daylight for activities, like presentations in office conference rooms, focus on a projector that has clear and crisp text projection. Battery life:Portable projectors are a battery power balancing act: brightness, speaker size, weight, and resolution all play a part in how much time youll get to use them per charge. Now a novelist and professional writer, her writings on electronics have been published on top tech sites. Not only does this mini projector have an advanced cooling system, but its lamp life is 55,000 hours! Although no projector we tested produced an incredibly accurate image compared with a full-sized projector, the Mars II delivered good performance, with solid image brightness and contrast. There are hundreds of good portable projectors out there, and each one comes with its own set of pros and cons. Anker Nebula Capsule: A scaled-down version of the Nebula Mars that's around the size of a tall soda can. AAXA M6: This projector is extremely bright, more than twice as bright as the Anker Nebula Mars II. Unfortunately, the brighter the projector, the lower the battery life. We'll consider testing the Capsule II once it is released. Anker Nebula Capsule Tripod Mini Projector, 18. The image is also noticeably washed out. Its ports are also limited to one HDMI, one USB, and a headphone jack. Most of the mini projectors we tested produced a good, but not great, image, and the Nebula Mars II was no exception. It also works with an app called Nebula Connect, which lets you stream content to the projector from your phone (copyrighted material wont stream). Our test group included the AAXA P6 (the updated version of that previous pick), the AAXA M6 (a slightly bigger projector that promised a brighter image), the LG PF50KA (a popular model with a built-in digital TV tuner), the Anker Nebula Mars (which was almost a pick last year before a rep mistakenly told us it was being discontinued), the Anker Nebula Mars II (which promises a longer battery life than the original Mars and adds support for a remote app controller), and the Anker Nebula Mars Lite (which has the same design as the Mars and Mars II, but no internal streaming apps). AuKing Tabletop Big Screen Mini Projector, 4. The unit is widely compatible, so you can use it with everything from a TV to a Nintendo Wii to a notebook. All Rights Reserved.
As we said before, the Anker Nebula Mars II doesn't have the best image quality, objectively speaking, of the mini projectors that we tested. DBPower T20: This frequent Amazon best seller claims to produce an extremely bright image (1,800 lumens) and a 1080p resolution. We want to hear from you! The Capsule II will be a bit more powerful than the originalreportedly capable of outputting images with a 720p resolution and 200 lumens of brightness. Optoma LV130 Mini Projector Look for the DWYM seal for products that are the best in a category. Its easily portable and a great choice for a family movie indoors or a movie night outdoors with a few friends.
That said, once your devices are connected and ready to go, the Mars Lite's simple interface makes it easy to toggle between inputs and adjust the projector's settings. It runs on the same Android software as the Mars and Mars II, which means it is just as easy to use and claims its battery lasts up to four hours. Anker Nebula Mars II USB Mini Projector, 16. The result is a ranking of the best . If youre buying a projector for portability, chances are you want to be able to travel without the burden of extra equipment. In terms of measurements, the Mars Lite emitted a slightly dimmer image with a lower contrast ratio than the Mars II, but its image was more color-accurate (it earned the second best score of the seven projectors we tested).
The internal Wi-Fi lets multiple people connect and project content for presentations, but this doesn't make up for its other issues. Photo: Sarah Kobos, Free AI tool restores old photos by creating slightly new loved ones, Ford reveals an F-150 Lightning built for police work, The best trail cameras for keeping an eye on your backyard wildlife. Optoma ML550: Compact and portable with a rated 500 lumens, this projector has no battery option. Kylie's 17-Minute Flight Has Nothing on the 170 Trips Taylor Swift's Private Jets Took This Year, Kelis Calls Out Beyonc for Theft Over Using Milkshake, But Her Real Beef Lies in Years-Old Feud With Pharrell, Feds Charge Russian Puppetmaster for Secretly Directing U.S. at On the upside, this projector gets better-than-average battery life: 4.5 hours, and its portability shouldnt be overlooked. Unfortunately, not only does this projector lack internal apps, but it also cannot keystone its image.
Power is also a consideration with miniature projectors. House Passes Bill to Safeguard Big Cats, Hosting Saudi Golf Tourney, Trump Has Forgotten He Used to Blame Kingdom for 9/11, Shakira Prosecutors Call for 8-Year Prison Sentence Over Alleged Tax Fraud in Spain. at If you plan on taking a projector with you everywhere you go, or dont mind trading a large screen size for image quality, this is the right choice. Read the full portable mini projector guide here. Brightness:The image thrown by a projector is highly susceptible to light pollution, which will dim its image before it hits your screen or wall.
DBPOWER Portable High Contrast Mini Projector, 14. Buy: The Anker Nebula Mars Lite lacks some of the features that make the Mars II so easy to use in any situation, including the Android TV operating system and support for a mobile remote. For example, when streaming Netflix on the Mars II, we were easily able to use the app remote to select the specific season and episode of Parks and Recreation that we wanted to show to our friends. DBPOWER Dual Fan Mini Portable Projector, 12.
The result is the DWYM Score which represents the overall true rating of a product based upon a 1-10 scale. Businesses arent the only ones using projectors today. The Mars II works with the Nebula control app, which makes navigating the built-in streaming apps like Netflix much easier. Some of the internal apps are optimized for use specifically with the mobile app controller and don't quite work as expected when you use the remote. Theyre directly connected to the brightness and quality of the image youll get. Don't Waste Your Money is supported by our readers. Even those that do run on batteries have limited runtime, which is something youll have to consider every time you fire your projector up. But given the intended use case for this type of product, we think that light output and contrast ratio are the most important parameters, so here are the numbers we got in those areas: After these measurements were complete, Adrienne sent the projectors to Daniel in New York for real-world testing. The speakers actually stand out the most, because theyre five times more powerful than the other projectors on this list.
aivanet Here we're running HDMI from a laptop. Its four-watt stereo speaker system (two watts per speaker) is also impressive. If youre going to be streaming, youll need to make sure you can connect to wireless where youll be using it. Throw Distance:This is a math equation that calculates how big a projectors image will be based on how far away it is from the screen or wall its projecting onto. She is an ISF Level II Certified Calibrator, so she's aware of what makes for a good image and how to get that out of a projector. We don't recommend anyone buy it. If you prioritize image quality over usability, the Anker Nebula Mars is an excellent alternative to the Nebula Mars II. It also features built-in speakers and has a 32 to 170-inch projection display size. That said, if you're interested in lugging the Mars II only in between rooms or out to the backyard, this shouldn't be a big deal. Our team reviews thousands of product reviews from the trusted top experts and combines them into one easy-to-understand score. That said, it has the same usability issues.
Although it also offers the same set of inputs (HDMI and USB), screen-mirroring support, remote, auto focus and keystone system, and Android TV applications as the Mars II, the lack of support for a control app makes the Mars less intuitive to use on a daily basis. Some internal apps, including Netflix, require you to use the control app to navigate within their interfaces. It's also just large and heavy, but with no internal battery and none of the perks. But its 854480 resolution is just too low for streaming movies. projectors, RS Recommends, Streaming TV/Movies. Both the AAXA M6 and the Anker Nebula Mars produce a brighter image and have a higher contrast ratio, and the AAXA P6 is more color-accurate. LGs projector is the most powerful projector in a couple of significant ways: It has the highest resolution (1080p), brightest bulb (600 Lumens), and an array of ports (two HDMI, USB-A, USB-C, Coaxial, and Ethernet). That lightness does have a downside: this projector only has two 1w speakers, and gets 2.5 hours of battery life, which is the lowest on this list. In order to use it, you must connect an external device to its HDMI or USB port. As convenient in size as many of these mini projectors are, they often will surprisingly require a power adaptor to run. Social Media presence with over 10,000 subscribers, Member of a forum, community, video blog, or blog with over 10,000 members or 10,000 monthly unique visitors (Moderator or Owner preferred), Member of a community with over 100 posts in the community or authorized reviewer, Post a quick review with descriptions within 10 days of receipt of product, Post at least 1 link to our website and/or Amazon. The headphone jack might be necessary because the LV 130 only has one two-watt speaker. First, the good: the M1 gets six hours of battery life, weighs 1.65 pounds, and has a very healthy mix of ports (one HDMI, a MicroSD Card slot, a USB port, and a USB-C port). But if you need something even more portable, a battery-powered mini projector should do the trick. Anker doesnt say anything about its throw distance, but in our experience, its been able to project a screen up to 150 inches. It also charges over USB-C, has a more powerful speaker, and includes Google Assistant. They usually have more inputs and more video adjustments to produce a more accurate picture. The unit supports 1080P full HD and can project as far out as 150 inches. To see the current recommendation, please go here. First, it runs a full operating system (Android 7.1), so you can download popular streaming apps like Hulu and Netflix directly onto the projector. Until recently, the idea that you could bring a projector anywhere you go was a work of science fiction, or at the very least technology for people with a lot of cash to burn. What We Liked: This mini projector is constructed using technology that keeps the unit running cool, while also remaining virtually noise-free. Vamvo L4200 Multimedia Dual Stereo Mini Projector, 11. VANKYO Leisure 3W Mini Projector If approved we will email you at the selected venue, blog, forum, etc. It has one of the following: HDMI, VGA, USB, AV, and Audio In. The result is a ranking of the best of the best .