The best mini projector to take on the go

If you’ve always wanted to own a projector but can’t commit the money or space for a full theater setup, the better option is a pico, or pocket, projector. These small, portable devices are cheaper than any other projector you’ll find. Plus, they’re ideal for summer. Picture yourself at a park being the coolest person around because you brought a projector for all your friends to enjoy. You can watch movies, play back old footage from a vacation, or even show off a PowerPoint presentation. Your friends will love it!

A great pico projector is easy to use on the go, super portable, and should have a battery with enough capacity to watch a two-hour movie. Ideally, this projector also won’t be too expensive or hard to set up. This guide isn’t going to tell you everything you need to know about the ultimate home theater projector, but if you’re looking for something to shine a movie on the go, you’ve come to the right place.

This article will be continually updated as new devices are released, so be sure to check back if you’re not buying a projector right now.

The best pico projector: Anker Nebula Capsule

Anker’s Nebula Capsule is the easiest projector to use outdoors (or anywhere really) because it runs Android. This means you can access Android apps like YouTube and Netflix, as long as you have Wi-Fi or hot spot access from your phone. You won’t need to plug in your laptop over HDMI, which is a huge benefit, and, more than anything else, that put it at the top of the projector list. (Feel free to plug a streaming stick into that HDMI port.) Even if you don’t have Wi-Fi, you can broadcast what’s on your phone to the projector over either AirPlay or Miracast.

On top of all that, the Capsule had the best speakers of the group. You definitely won’t need external speakers to enjoy a movie, and Anker takes advantage of the device’s quality sound by allowing users to switch the projector into Bluetooth speaker mode if they just want to use it for music. The battery can reportedly last for up to four hours of video playback and 30 hours of music. I didn’t watch anything for four hours, but it did handle the 2.5-hour Captain America: Civil War just fine.

You can control what’s happening on-screen through the Capsule’s remote, which requires a direct line of sight to work, or through the projector’s companion iOS / Android app. The app is incredibly easy to maneuver, but I had some trouble pairing my phone with the device.

It projects up to a 100-inch image at an 854 x 480 resolution, and everything I watched looked fine. I wouldn’t say it was the best picture of all because it was a little dim compared to other options, but it was more than acceptable. Other than its brightness, I wish the Capsule charged over USB-C like some of its competition. Micro USB just feels cheap for a projector that costs as much as the Nebula.

Overall, the Nebula Capsule is easy to toss in your bag, and it projects fine enough images, especially considering that you don’t need to rely on its HDMI port to play content.

A more expensive, bulkier alternative: LG PH550

If all you care about is image quality, you’ll want to consider LG’s PH550 projector. It’s advertised to project at 550 lumens, and it’s definitely the brightest of the projectors we considered for this review. It also projects at a 1280 x 720 resolution, and because it ships with a remote, you can easily adjust all sorts of display settings, like brightness, color, and contrast. You also have tons of port options, including HDMI, USB Type-A, 3.5mm audio jack, and even an included digital TV tuner.

But with all that said, the LG is much larger than the rest of the competition and won’t easily fit in your bag. It’s also significantly more expensive.

Other options

The rest of the projectors we tested worked well enough, and each offered some sort of defining feature. None were as quick and easy to use and set up as the Capsule, however. But if all you want is a small projector, these will all do the job.

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