I provide honest ratings and reviews on tech, toys, and consumer home goods that I've purchased and used. Reviews are based on hands-on testing and personal observations. All opinions and comments are my own.
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Takeaway: Works indoor/outdoor, tight wrinkle-free screen, durable frame, lightweight, packs compactly. You'll receive the projector screen in a nylon padded duffel bag on which the handles can be Velcro'd together for easier carrying. Inside are the instructions for assembly, PVC screen, rectangular frame, two legs, four ground stakes, two rigging cords, and two hanging rings. Setting up the frame for the screen takes about 5-10 mins for one person to complete on their own. The entire metal steel frame is collapsible which is how it fits into a relatively small bag. It weighs about 25 lbs. Assembly is tool-less and everything snaps or screws together easily. The hardest part the first time I set this up was getting the screen stretched out enough to reach all the button clasps. It may be because I was assembling it in the cold outdoors (~40° F), so I expect that in warmer weather or indoors the screen material might be a tad more flexible. Even so, with lots of pulling I was able to get the screen buttoned down all the way and after leaving it up for a few days, the wrinkles from being folded up relaxed and faded and the screen stretched out a bit so subsequent setups have been much easier. The screen has nylon pull straps at each corner to help you with stretching it out, but it's always going to be a tight fit, which you want to ensure the screen is completely flat. I was impressed that the screen didn't rip or tear from all the tension and pulling. The outside black border around the visible white portion of the screen appears to be synthetic leather for added durability.
For windy outdoor conditions, you can add the retention rings to the top of the frame and utilize the rigging cords and ground spikes to anchor the frame and provide additional stability. However, you best solution is to simply sandbag the feet if you're worried about the wind. The back of the screen is covered in black PVC for an impenetrable light barrier that prevent light bleed from the back. This also means, however, that you won't be able to do rear projection onto this screen. The fully assembled screen measures about 79" or about 6.5' high. The width is 92" and the clearance for the legs is 35". The viewable area screen is 99.5", just under the advertised 100" diagonal. To fill the screen, I need to set my projector about 15 feet away.
The smooth white background of the screen provides an excellent surface to project onto. It doesn't distort or discolor the image like the offwhite paint on my walls/ceiling, and it reproduces the contrast of the images well. The screen performs best in very dark conditions, and the small wrinkles in the screen from creases were not visible in the projected image. There was little if any shadowing as the full-frame prevents the screen from developing waves from uneven tension. It works great indoors and outdoors. The construction is sturdy and lightweight making it easy to move fully assembled or packed away. It works great for family movie night, projecting live TV, and could also be used for work presentations.
Takeaway: A basic pull up screen, easy to setup, clear images, construction is lightweight. This projector screen is large and measures 94" long and consists of a tripod and the self-retracting screen. It weighs 25 lbs and has a handle with which you can carry it. The unit I received may have been a refurbished/returned unit as the cosmetic condition wasn't pristine. There were a couple of spots of black spray paint meant to hide some scratches and a few dents on the metal housing that didn't impact the functionality but perhaps speaks to the overall durability of the construction, which is not super heavy-duty.
The tripod can be removed from the screen for setup and opening the tripod and screen only takes a few minutes. The feet of the tripod do not locked in the closed position, but I didn't find that this was a problem as long as the tripod was locked to the screen during storage. The screen takes a little effort to pull initially to unroll it, but it slides smoothly in and out of the metal housing. The tallest height for the screen is 92" from the floor to the top, although it can be lowered about 1-2 feet if necessary. The screen itself isn't super flat when fully open and mine appeared to have slightly more tension in the lower corners results in some mild waves from the center of the top down to each corner. The very sides of the screen also tend to roll inward a little, but this affects mostly the outer black border which helps eliminate slight over-projection of the viewing area. The screen is a fairly fragile element. The material can pick up stain, scratches, and indentations you you have to be very careful if it gets dirty and that nothing gets on the screen before you roll it up and put it away. You want to keep the white portion of the screen as clean as possible without using any harsh chemicals. The paint used for the screen smells strongly of spray paint when you first open it so you may want to air it out when you first receive the screen.
Fortunately, the cosmetic defects to the outer housing and the wrinkles on the screen didn't show up when projecting an image on the screen. Even the waves in the screen only created a slight darkened band that you wouldn't know was there unless you were looking for it. Once I got the projector image up on the screen in a darkened room, you couldn't really see these issues. To fill the screen I have my 720p projector about 14-15 feet from it at shoulder level. The screen itself provides a nice clean white background for the projection image which doesn't distort the image colors and has no light bleed from the back which is painted black. Functionally, the screen worked pretty well. One thing to consider is that the screen just hangs from a single point on top, and it is easily distorted or sways if it's bumped or moved around. Even though it is advertised for "outdoor use," I would say it performs best indoors where the wind won't blow the screen around. I also don't think the tripod would be able to stand up to a big gust of wind catching the screen like a sail and that it could potentially fall over in windy conditions. Other than that it works for its intended purpose and would be great for a movie night, party slideshow, or office presentation.
Takeaway: Good image quality and WiFi streaming, little/no lag, use external speakers for better audio. You'll receive the mini DLP Projector, a wall adapter, a mini tripod, remote control, HDMI cable, and an instruction manual. The projector has a glossy black finish and measures 6"L x 3"W x 3/4"H. The outer frame is aluminum and on the bottom is the built-in speaker and ¼"-20 threaded hole for mounting to a tripod. The included tripod is a bit flimsy though so I prefer using a full size camera tripod. The lens is on the short side of the projector and the IR receiver is in the back, so to control it, you need line of sight to the back of the projector. There are 2 USB input/power ports, a TF card slot, headphone audio out jack, and HDMI input. When you plug the unit it, the internal battery will start charging, but you can use the player while it is plugged in as well. If you're not near an outlet, you get about 2 hours of playback, and unfortunately a USB cord for power isn't included so you wouldn't be able to use a portable USB output battery pack.
When you turn the power switch on, the unit will be in standby and you have to touch the power button on top to turn the unit on. The other touch controls are for menu and menu navigation. The projector takes a few seconds to boot up and is pre-loaded with Android 4.4.4. It has built-in WiFi for connecting to your home WiFi network and Bluetooth capability so you can stream the audio to a Bluetooth speaker or headphones. Using the remote to navigate the interface is simple, and the remote also lets you change the volume and bring up a mouse cursor, but typing with the remote is cumbersome. It's much easier to use a wireless keyboard and mouse/touchpad.
The wireless capability worked great for streaming internet video from Netflix and YouTube (pre-installed). I was also able to download Amazon Prime video from the Google Play store, though sometimes when streaming video there is a bit of lag between the audio and picture. Other times I didn't notice any sync issues so it may just depend on your bandwidth and signal quality. The 80ANSI lumen brightness of this projector makes the image hard to see in a brightly lit room when the projected image has a large diagonal, but it looks fine in complete darkness. The image also appears brighter when the screen size is smaller and thus could be usable in a room with the lights on at screen sizes less than 50". Since there's a fixed amount of light coming from the projector, the larger the image, the lower the perceived brightness and the more visible pixels will be at its 480p native output resolution. Text may also become blurred, but in generally I found it to be quite readable even at 120". While the projector accepts input resolutions up to 1080p, it downscales the output accordingly. The color, contrast, and saturation were fine and in general the images are clear and crisp. The onboard audio isn't great, but for budget projectors it never is. If you have no other option, you can turn up the volume to drown out the fan noise. However, the Bluetooth function works surprisingly well, and I did not notice any between audio and video when streaming the audio wirelessly. If you experience lag, try hooking up the speaker via a male-to-male 1/8" audio cable.
Since I have an Android phone, I was able to cast my smartphone screen wirelessly to the projector, but there was definitely a delay between what the phone showed and the image and sound from the projector. This function is best reserved for slideshows of photos, presentations or web browsing. Overall, the projector delivers impressive quality for its size and I thought the image quality was completely acceptable at large dimensions for home movie viewing at night. It works great as a streaming video player, is compact, and portable, though the battery life could be better or at least include a USB cable to extend its usage while traveling.
Takeaway: Nice video quality, bright, good color, decent audio when hooked-up to sound system.. You'll receive the projector, remote control, 5 ft power cable, 7" A/V to RCA input cable, 5 ft VGA cable, cleaning cloth, and instruction manual. The projector measures 11"W x 9"L x 4"H and weighs just over 5 lbs. On the front of the projector is the 2.75" lens and hard plastic lens protector. On the top are onboard controls for navigating the menus, selecting source, and powering on/off the unit. The ports are in the back which include an audio out, RCA in, IR receiver, 2 USB ports, two HDMI ports, and a VGA port. The projector has a built-in 5 Watt speaker which sounds a bit boxy, but does get loud enough to drown out the fan noise (which is significant if you're close to the projector. For mounting options you have 4 threaded screw holes for a universal ceiling mount and a 1" fold out tilt foot. However, there's no 1/4" or 3/8" threaded hole for use with a tripod so a platform adapter must be used with a tripod instead. The remote requires 2 AAA batteries which are not included.
The projector has a stated brightness of 3200 lumens and at a projection size of about 100" the image is visible during the day but looks somewhat faded. In very brightly lit rooms you may not be able to see an image at all but if the shades are drawn and the lights are dimmed somewhat, the image is usually serviceable. The native output resolution is 1280 x 800 pixels which is HD but a non-standard ratio. While the projector can accept video feeds up of to 1080p in resolution, it gets downscaled when projected on the screen. I compared this projector to my other mini LED projector and the quality is much nicer. In comparison the GP90 has better color balance, brightness, sound, and saturation, but is a larger unit and the fan is louder. Thankfully, the audio out can be hooked up to a speaker or sound system and that makes the audio output much cleaner and loud enough to make the fan noise less apparent. This also relieves any issues that the onboard speaker has with audio distortion at higher volumes.
While the unit doesn't have any WiFi or Bluetooth capabilities built-in, I was able to use a Chromecast hooked up to the HDMI port and powered by one of the USB ports; this allowed me to stream video wirelessly over my WiFi connection. The color saturation and contrast are full and accurate but at larger display sizes the pixels became more noticeable (>100"). Overall, this projector great job at projecting large, high definition video. You'll get the best performance out of it in very dark settings, but in a room with some ambient light, it's still usable.
Takeaway: Great video quality, bright, nice saturation, loud fan but decent audio w/hookup for sound system. The projector comes with a remote control, 6 ft power cable, 40" RCA input cable, 5 ft gold-plated flat HDMI cable, two spare fuses, 4 mounting screws, an instruction manual, 1" tilt foot, and microfiber cleaning cloth. The projector is mid-size weighing 5.5 lbs and measures 13"W x 9.5"L x 4.5"H. On the front of the projector is the 2.75" lens which has a silicone rubber lens protector. To its right is an IR receiver for the remote control. there's another IR receiver on top along with the power button, navigation keys and OK button, menu key, and source selector, additional functions are on the remote only. The remote requires 2 AAA batteries which are not included. There are a variety of inputs: two USB ports (also can be used for power), RCA audio out ports, RCA/component input ports, TV coaxial, VGA, and two HDMI inputs. There's no headphone jack and the unit does not support Bluetooth, so if you need to hookup an external speaker, it must be able to accept RCA audio input or you can use a converter.
On the bottom are four rubber feet and a small threaded hole for the tilt foot; the tilt foot cannot sit flush with the feet on the unit even when fully screwed in. If you want to ceiling mount the unit, you'll have to remove the four rubber feet to reveal threaded holes underneath for use with a universal bracket. Note however, that there is no 1/4" or 3/8" mounting hole for tripod mounting, and you'll need an additional platform adapter for use with a tripod.
If you have a bookshelf at a suitable height and distance from a flat wall that's also close to an outlet, you won't need an extension cord. Otherwise, it can be tricky to get the placement of the projector in your specific room just right. I prefer to use a tripod whenever possible, so I plan on getting a laptop platform that will fit the projector on top. When set about 11' from the wall, the projected image has about a 9' diagonal. The 2800 lumen brightness doesn't show up that well in a brightly lit room, so this won't end up being your everyday TV projector. When I dim the lights it's a bit better, but the projector is best viewed in pitch dark conditions (no windows or ambient light). The image is somewhat brighter when the projector is closer to the screen, but the image will be smaller, of course. When used with a Chromecast hooked up to the HDMI port, I was able to power the device using one of the USB ports to stream internet video. While the projector doesn't have WiFi capability, the HDMI and other input methods worked fine. Note that while it accepts input resolutions up to 1080p HD, the native output resolution is 1280 x 720p so it's still HD but higher quality video will be downscaled. The screen can be set to 16:9 ratio for widescreen movies and switch to 4:3 ratio for TV broadcasts. The color saturation and contrast is pretty good but the larger the projection, the more visible pixels are and the fainter the colors and brightness look.
The fan is quite loud on this unit, but I was actually impressed with the built-in stereo speakers because it was pretty loud as well. However, in order to drown out the fan noise, you have to turn the volume way up and the sound started to distort around the mid 50s (of 100 levels). For this reason I recommend using the RCA audio out with an external speaker like a soundbar or surround sound system. Unfortunately, without a headphone port nor Bluetooth capability, it's not directly compatible with most Bluetooth speakers.
Overall, this projector does a much better job at projecting photos and video than smaller mini LED projectors (1500-2000 lumens). It has pretty decent color, brightness, sound, and saturation, although you'll still need pretty dark conditions when using it. I highly recommend using an external speaker to drown out its loud fan. But it's definitely more than suitable for movie night or gaming. In a pinch you can show work presentations as text is fairly easy to read when the projection has an 80" or less diagonal (depends on text size and font type).
Takeaway: Decent SD resolution, loud but boxy audio, USB can't power some TV sticks like Chromecast. You'll receive the projector, remote control, 5 ft power cable, 5 ft HDMI cable, RCA input cable, and an instruction manual. The projector is compact and light, weighing a little less than 2 lbs. It measures 7.5"W x 5.75"L x 3"H. On the front of the projector is the lens which comes with a plastic snap-on lens cap. The lens is 2.25" in diameter. On the right side of the unit are the ports. There's a full size SD card slot, AV input, audio out, HDMI in, USB input, and USB out for charging a device. On the back is the remote control IR receiver, VGA input and power port. On the bottom of the unit there's a screwfoot that can add about 1/2" of tilt which can also fully retract for level viewing. There's also a 1/4" mounting hole for a standard tripod, which I prefer to use.
On top are the controls. You have the power button, input selector, return or exit key, menu selection arrows and OK button. The remote has additional keys and functions like playback controls, volume, menu, and mute. The remote requires 2 AAA batteries which are not included. Just behind the lens are two dials. The first, larger one, controls the image focus while the second smaller one is the keystone for adjusting focus pitch when the projector is projecting at an angle. The power cable for this unit tends to be too short to reach most outlets, so I typically need to run an extension cord. I mostly use this on a tripod, so I can place the projector anywhere in the room to control the size and height of the screen be changing the distance from the wall/screen. The 1200 lumens isn't all that bright, so you'll need really dark conditions to see the screen clearly.
The HDMI and other input methods seemed to work fine, but I found that the USB port can't read my USB 3.0 thumb drives. Also, the USB ports didn't provide enough power to run my Chromecast, which would power on initially but couldn't stay on. Since the remote control is infrared, it only works if you're pointing at the receiver on the back. It won't work from in front of the projector. While this projector accepts input resolutions up to 1080p HD, the native output resolution is only 800 x 480p which is standard definition, so higher quality video will be downscaled. At larger projected screen sizes, the pixels can be really obvious.
I was actually surprised at how loud the volume could get on this unit. It does sound sort of boxy and distorts at higher volumes, and it competes with the internal fan that can be quite loud. Using an external speaker hooked up to the headphone port improves the sound and makes it easier to drown out the fan noise. Overall, the contrast and color saturation appeared accurate to the source footage but wasn't very deep or rich. Sometimes images looked a bit washed out or faded or perhaps too dim/dark. However, this entry-level projector works fine for a family movie night with the kids so you can watch theater style movies at home or even outdoors. It's also fine for running slideshows at parties. Text can be a bit tricky depending on the size (though large captions were fine) so I don't recommend it for business presentations or powerpoint.
Takeaway: Budget projector that displays SD quality, fun for movie night with the kids or a slideshow. You'll receive the projector, remote control, 5 ft power cable, 5 ft flat gold plated HDMI cable, RCA input cable, 1" tilt foot, and an instruction manual. The projector is small and lightweight, weighing 2.25 lbs. It measures 8"W x 6"L x 3"H. The lens is 2" in diameter and comes with a rubber lens cap. The inputs for this unit are full size SD card, HDMI, VGA, RCA/AV with the included adapter and USB 2.0. There is also audio out for headphones or an external speaker, which I highly recommend you use because the on-board sound is quiet and the internal fan is loud. On the back near the bottom is the keystone dial for adjusting screen pitch if the top/bottom of your screen aren't in focus at the same time. There are controls on top of the unit but the remote has additional functions like volume, play/pause, fast forward and rewind. The remote requires 2 AAA batteries which are not included. On the bottom of the unit is a small screw hole for the tilt foot and a 1/4" screw hole for standard tripod mounting which is really convenient for placing and adjusting the projector or mounting it.
My tilt foot had a flaw where the plastic affixing the screw portion to the foot crept into the threads which prevented me from screwing it in all the way flush with the unit. This prevents me from accessing shallower angles which is slightly inconvenient but not a deal breaker since I mostly use the tripod mount anyway. The power cable on this unit is a bit short so I usually need to run an extension cord. The 1200 lumens is brighter than I expected as I have other projectors with this spec that are much dimmer during the day but distance matters too; the farther from the wall the dimmer the image. You still need very dark conditions to see the screen well, but in sufficiently dark conditions you can read text like subtitles without a problem.
While the projector doesn't have WiFi capability, the HDMI and other input methods worked fine. Note that while it accepts input resolutions up to 1080p HD, the native output resolution is 800 x 480p so higher quality video will be downscaled. At larger screen sizes (60 inch diagonal or more) the pixels will be visible. Even when set at 100 the max volume, the sound is somewhat quiet because it competes with the loud internal fan. It can also sound somewhat boxy. The sound can be improved greatly by using and external speaker connected to the audio out headphone port. In general, the contrast and color saturation were accurate to the source footage, though at times were washed out, and I had to make manual adjustments. Still, this is a budget level projector, and I wasn't expecting quality better than an old CRT TV. This projector makes it easy to have movie night at home or outdoors and show slideshows at parties.
Takeaway: Simple setup, low resolution/brightness, short cord, WiFi works ok, no tripod mounting. The projector comes with a 5 ft power cable, RCA input cable, a remote control, and an instruction sheet. The projector is fairly compact measuring 8"W x 6"L x 3"H. It weighs just over 2 lbs. On the front of the projector is the 2.5" lens which comes with a rubber lens cap. There are two dials behind the lens, the large one controls the size/focus of the image and the smaller ring controls the pitch of the image; if the projector is on tilt it can correct for that. The remote requires 2 AAA batteries which are not included.
The lens cap for the projector is pretty flimsy and tends to fall out a lot on its own, so it's easy to lose. The cap can only be "attached" with the lens retracted all the way and there are no snaps which is why it always falls out. The power cable on this unit is a bit short and the projector doesn't have a thread mounting hole on the bottom for attaching to a tripod.
At 1200 lumens, the image isn't super bright, so you'll need pretty dark conditions to see the screen. During the day it is faded, so this unit won't be able to replace your big screen television. Also the resolution is only 800 x 480 px like a VGA computer monitor. It is not HD (Hi-Def). The WiFi connection is a bit tricky at first but once explained is straightforward. Once connected, any device on the network with DLNA can stream content tot he projector like music, video, and photos; the projector cannot browse those network locations.
The internal speaker on the unit is pretty weak so a separate external speaker hooked up to the headphone jack is recommended. The color depth produced by the projector is not deep and the color balance was way off (very orangey).
In general, the projector works alright with a bit of effort. There are a few design improvement that would make the unit more usable, like a tripod mounting option, longer power cord, a better lens cap, and more powerful internal speaker. The resolution isn't very high at 800x480 so expect pixelated picture quality similar to VHS on a tube television (low color depth and contrast). It could be okay for movie night with the kids or a slideshow at a party. Just make sure it's pretty dark wherever you use it.
