PCMag is obsessed with culture and tech, offering smart, spirited coverage of the products and innovations that shape our connected lives and the digital trends that keep us talking. Taking your smart projector on-the-go? READ NEXT: The best cheap projectors to buy. Its long battery life makes it ideal for portable, on-the-go use. If home entertainment is your preferred use, opt for 4K resolution. Portable projectors are not only perfect for a backyard movie screening, giving you the opportunity to have a large home cinema projector experience whenever you want, but also for students who want big screen entertainment in their dormitory, and for people who travel for business and need to make presentations in various locations. It's neither the lightest nor slimmest machine, and it isn't battery-powered, but if you're after a cheap and cheerful portable projector for watching occasional films, sport or TV programmes with the family or friends, the Yaber V7 Pro is an excellent choice. You wont get the same levels of contrast and brightness with a portable projector, either. The listed 400 lumens brightness means the Nebula Solar Portable will struggle to remain visible in bright environments, while dark scenes are difficult to make out even in ideal viewing conditions. Many recent consumer-oriented small projectors (including some Bluetooth-speaker models) incorporate their own Android operating system. Just make sure you pick one that's designed for the images you're projecting and the space you'll be in. You can run the GV30 from the bundled mains adaptor, a USB-C PD power bank or the internal lithium-ion battery, although the latter only lasts for around 90 minutes with the brightness at a decent level. The Anker Nebula Solar Portable is a compact and stylish mini-projector that delivers in almost every area. They vary considerably in size, brightness, features, and performance. Many can project content from a smartphone or tablet, either wirelessly or via an HDMI port that supports Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL). But, not all smart projectors suffer from poor resolution. Whats more, the Harmon-Kardon sound is fantastic. Connectivity is excellent, with HDMI 1.4, USB-A and USB-C, which you can use to hook up an Android smartphone or simply plug in a streaming stick. It comes with one MHL-ready HDMI input, a USB 2.0 slot for thumbdrives, a universal I/O slot, and a microSD card slot. Read our full Yaber V7 Pro reviewfor more details. Or can it fold into a travel-ready container? While theres no onboard battery, you can power it from a USB-C power bank with USB PD. The Epson EpiqVision Mini EF12 is a smart TV masquerading as a portable projector. The image correction feature is also handy for households with children: if the projector is moved or knocked slightly, it will automatically adjust the picture. Also note: At the very end of this article is a detailed spec breakout of our top choices. TechRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. With battery-powered operation, built-in speakers and lamps that last for tens of thousands of hours, these portable projectors are perfect for take-anywhere entertainment. Most of these portable models have a relatively short throw and the shorter, the better if youre stuck for space or planning to project from a coffee table. The Anker Nebula Apollo entertainment projector can project videos, photos, and Android apps, as well as play music and operate as a Bluetooth speaker. We asked Luke Chen, senior business line manager at Viewsonic (opens in new tab) Europe, a display and projector specialist for his point of view (no pun intended). If you dont already have a premium sound system integrated into your home theatre, opt for premium speakers. They generally have low resolution, often 854 by 480 pixels (aka FWVGA or 480p), with a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. We have lately seen a growing number of small multimedia projectors that can double as Bluetooth speakers. The 1080p Anker Nebula Solar Portable offers lots of desirable features, including support for 4K and HDR, built-in Android TV, and good brightness for its size and weight. Key specs Brightness: 1,200 ANSI lumens; Native resolution: 1,920 x 1,080; Speakers: 3W stereo speakers; Throw ratio: 1.23:1; Max recommended image: 100in; Inputs and outputs: USB-A, USB-C, HDMI 2.0, SD card, 3.5mm headphone/audio; Wireless: 802.11n, Bluetooth 4; Lamp life: 30,000hrs; Dimensions: 224 x 224 x 51mm; Weight: 1.32kg. Key specs Brightness: 400 ANSI lumens; Native resolution: 1,920 x 1,080; Speakers: 2 x 3W internal speaker; Throw ratio: 1.2:1; Max recommended image: 120in; Inputs and outputs: HDMI 1.4, USB-C, USB-A; Wireless: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth; Battery life: Up to 3hrs; Dimensions: 188 x 100 x 100mm (WDH); Weight: 1.4kg. It means you no longer have to rely on bulbs, which need to be replaced over time. So, it makes sense to have an app store enabled on your projector. LEDs have exceptionally long lifetimes and are generally rated for 20,000 hours or more, so the light source should last the lifetime of the projector. While youre limited by the 480p resolution, the image is surprisingly vibrant with deep blacks and punchy colours when used in a darkened room. There are some aspects of the M2 that were not convinced by, particularly the built-in Android OS with its dated versions of the most popular streaming apps youll get a better experience and better image quality by plugging in your own Roku or Amazon Fire TV stick. Bath In isolation, though, its very watchable in dark conditions, and theres no easier projector to lug around and pull out whenever you can find time and space to set up a screen. The ViewSonic X10-4KE delivers 4K UHD resolution, HDR, and built-in streaming, plus an excellent audio system. We have seen a few small laser-based projectors and a smattering of liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) models. The Kodak Luma 350 Portable Smart Projector is an Android-based palmtop that throws a larger-than-usual usable image given its brightness output. Most pico and palmtop projectors can run files from a USB thumb drive and/or SD card, so you don't need to lug your laptop with them. Their optimal image size tends to be between 36 and 60 inches, depending on their brightness and resolution. Want home cinema everywhere on your own terms and without the usual hassle? Thats not a bad offer for a $2,199 gadget. ViewSonic's M1 mini is a highly portable palmtop projector that counters its modest brightness with a cleverly designed stand, decent image quality for photos and videos, and the ability to play music files. Lamp-Free is what to look for. 1080p and even 4K content can look fantastic in a dark room. So-called palmtop projectors are larger (and generally brighter) than pico projectors, typically a bit too large to fit comfortably in the palm of your hand, even with your fingers outstretched. You can connect a USB flash drive or hard disk and play files directly. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). The ML550 handled our 90-inch test screen with impressive results, and peaked at a 60-inch-or-so size. All projectors have whats called a throw ratio, which determines how big the picture will be at any given distance, and some are whats called short-throw projectors, meaning theyre designed to give a bigger picture even from a distance of one or two metres. The Asus ZenBeam E1 is a beautifully designed pocket projector that's small and light enough to carry around with you if you often make presentations on the road - or if you like to watch movies while travelling. Slightly larger mini-projectors can have brightnesses of 1,000 lumens or more. Elsewhere, this thing is stuffed with features. In short, theres no such thing as a one-size-fits-all projector. The Miroir Synq M189 delivers impressive color accuracy and robust audio, plus it packs a compartment big enough to hide your favorite streaming stick. The M2 is in a different class. In normal or bright mode, the image is crisp and well-defined and colour performance is solid, enabling you to project a bright, watchable image up to 100in in size in dim or dark rooms. This makes it easy to hook up a good range of different devices. But as projectors have come down in size, portable models have come into their own, making it possible for you to project your data and video anywhere you go. The Anker Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K is not your average compact projector. Sounds good? LED portable projectors tend to achieve anything from 100 to 2,000 ANSI lumens, with the vast majority sitting somewhere between 300 and 800 ANSI lumens. And for once the Android TV 9.0 software works well, sticking closely to Googles UI and coming with Amazon Prime, Disney+ and YouTube pre-installed, along with the Google Play Store. Mini projectors have the hardest time with resolution. Android-based projectors let users run pre-installed apps (such as YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix), download more from the Google Play store, and perform other standard Android functions. There was a problem. However, there are some that still need to be plugged into a power supply (opens in new tab), so bear that in mind when choosing the best portable projector for your needs. Contributions from You can use them with a big screen in the living room or pair them with a portable screen when you take them away on holiday. The same goes for auto-focus features, although most models have a manual slider or wheel. Its important to know what to look for when buying a smart projector. Whats more, this projector optimises itself, taking care of keystoning and focus for you, although you can tweak all the settings (and maybe turn the rather aggressive motion interpolation settings down). Lamp Free means no glass bulb is needed, which means no mercury. Sporting a sleek design, it will look great on a shelf in your living room between uses, and its small enough to fit easily into a drawer, or even a backpack or tote bag for taking out and about. Read our review of the Anker Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K. We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices, HDMI 2.0 input, 3.5mm analog audio output; powered USB type-A, Senior Journalist, Phones and Entertainment, Managing Editor, Computing and Entertainment, Are you a pro? As well as listing the best portable projectors, we also have our very own price comparison tool that will help you find the best prices as well. For one thing, most of these models use a low-resolution DLP chip to create the picture thats beamed to the screen. Some palmtops have 480p or lower resolution, and a few have resolutions up to 1080p (1,920 by 1,080), but most are 720p (1,280 by 720 pixels). Still, it's a great portable projector, especially for work presentations. A proper home cinema projector will dish out 2,000 ANSI lumens or more of brightness, so that you can have bright whites, deep blacks and rich colours in dark conditions. It's our top pick for portable streaming projectors.