Update Outdoor Projectors in 2021

Hi Friends, 

You can see about of outdoor projectors in 2021. BenQ's HT2050A is one of those rare projectors that manages to have exceptional image quality without completely breaking the bank. 

 

With best-in-class contrast ratios, brightness, and color accuracy, plus native HD resolution, you're pretty much guaranteed a quality viewing experience no matter where you decide to set your projector up.

 

🔄 Portable Entertainment: Anker Nebula Capsule 🔄

Tiny projectors have a basic speaker or two built-in, but sound quality and volume are typically quite low. That's an issue when you're outdoors, as background noise can easily overwhelm whatever you're trying to listen to. There's no such problem with Anker's Nebula Capsule, however, as a quick glance suggests—it looks like a proper portable speaker, and sounds like one, too. 

The 5W omnidirectional speaker pumps out plenty of sound in all directions, while the 100-lumen, 854 x 480 display can project in sizes up to 100 inches. At up to four hours, battery life is enough to get you through even the longest movies. Running Android, with a wide range of apps available, it's easy to play much of your favorite content directly from the projector.

If not, there's always USB, HDMI, and screencasting over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi instead. The size of a soda can and weighing about a pound, the Nebula Capsule makes for a flexible, useful, and highly-portable outdoor projector for your next camping trip.

🔄 Overall: BenQ HT2050A 🔄

There's a single 10W speaker that's louder than that found in much of the competition, and should be enough for most outdoor uses. If not, there's a standard audio out jack, to go along with the HDMI, USB inputs, VGA, and component inputs. An inexpensive dongle adds wireless support for streaming from a phone or tablet as well. You can happily watch 3D movies with the HT2050A as well — it's not quite as good for this as our Optoma top pick, but you're very unlikely to be disappointed with the result regardless. Unlike much of the competition, it includes true vertical lens shift (rather than the inferior software-driven version). 

The lamp will last up to 6,000 hours depending on which projection mode you use, although official replacements aren't cheap. As far as grab-and-go solutions are concerned, Anker has one of the best bets in the projector game for a few reasons. The first generation introduced the concept pretty well, but the Capsule II steps up the specs just enough to be considered in the modern landscape. For starters, the resolution is now 1280x720 — not mind-blowingly sharp, but definitely better than the 480p resolution offered by the Capsule I. You might also find the brightness a tad lacking with 200 lumens, but that’s almost double what the first generation offers. 

What you get with this device is truly portable entertainment, from the 8-watt built-in speaker all the way down to the 2.5-hour battery life — a figure that’s pretty impressive considering how many pixels this thing is pushing. But what’s truly impressive about this standalone media device is its built-in app functionality. There’s Android TV compatibility right on-board, and Anker has even loaded in a Chromecast so that you can stream media via more than 3600 apps from your phone, tablet, or computer. 

 

🔄 Small Size: APEMAN NM4 Mini Portable Projector  🔄

While most outdoor projectors are used in parks and yards, an increasing number of pint-sized models means you can now fit a theater in your pocket and watch movies anywhere you can find a wall, tent, or another flat surface to project onto. The APEMAN Mini M4 is tiny, at just 3.9 x 3.9 x 0.9 inches and 1.2 pounds. 

Input options are limited but sufficient—you can play from a USB stick or hard drive, or stream via HDMI. A standard ⅛-inch audio jack lets you plug in headphones or an external speaker. While the specs sound relatively low (854 x 480 native resolution, 50 lumens, 1000:1 contrast ratio), the M4 is designed to be used within a few feet of whatever it's projecting onto, so video looks noticeably better than you'd expect. Lasting 90 to 120 minutes on a full charge, the video projector can usefully also act as an external battery for charging your phone or another device. Both HDMI and USB charging cables are included in the box, as is a small tripod.