Portable projectors allow you to watch your movies or play games anywhere, so you can watch the playoffs while camping or have a movie night with the kids in the garden. The smallest models can fit in your hand with a compact, lightweight design with built-in rechargeable batteries, so you can watch shows anywhere. While larger options often leave out the batteries but increase the resolution and sound quality to offer an incredible home theatre experience.

At Pocket-lint, we’ve reviewed many brands and models, including the best 4K projectors, to make it easier to find the best product to suit your needs. This time, we’ve selected the best portable projectors based on their price, features and performance – so there’s one for every buyer and budget.

Anker’s Nebula 3 tops our list because of its amazing all-around design and performance for a competitive price. Its compact cylindrical shape resembles a soda can and only weighs 950 grams to fit into most bags. Connectivity is decent with HDMI, USB-C, and Bluetooth, and there’s an integrated 8-watt speaker and 3.5-millimetre port for audio. There’s also a built-in battery offering around 2.5 hours of viewing and up to eight hours in Bluetooth speaker mode.

As a laser projector, it’s brighter than conventional LED variants and has a longer estimated lifespan of around 30,000 hours. Its FHD 1080p resolution is expected at this price and ensures vivid and clear picture on a massive 3-metre display. You can also fine-tune the image quality with three presets or create a custom alternative with contrast and sharpness to suit your preferences.

The Nebula 3 feels like a quality product thanks to its sturdy design, and it’s perfect for weekend getaways and other outdoor entertainment at a compact size, capable of going anywhere with you. Its picture quality is great for the price, although it could be brighter, and it’s a pity there’s no included Netflix app.

BenQ’s GP500 is the best option if you want high resolution and fantastic brightness, but it comes at the cost of portability. This projector is marketed as a home cinema but manages to scrape through onto this list because its 26 x 26.6 x 18.2 cm design and 5.4kg weight is feasible to carry outside for barbecue entertainment or a movie night under the stars. Part of its size is due to its four integrated 5-watt speakers providing excellent 360-degree sound.

The main reason to get the GP500 is its stunning 4K UHD picture quality and exceptional 1,500 ANSI lumens of brightness for one of the best viewing experiences possible. It’s also HDR-compatible and can display lower-resolution video in 1080p, depending on what you’re watching. Gamers can enjoy the Fast Mode to reduce latency while playing their favourite titles.

You can’t have it all, and it’s easy to forgive the GP500’s bulk, considering its outstanding audio and visual capabilities that push it past most conventional portable monitors. Its hefty price tag aligns with its performance and delivers great value when you get a cinema-like experience with 4K UHD content on a massive 3-metre display.

Netflix-bingers or anyone looking for an affordable yet powerful projector can check out the Emotn N1. Unlike many rivals that lack native support for the streaming service, the Netflix-certified Emotn N1 opens the app automatically when you turn it on to give you access to your entire media library. It offers FHD1080p resolution with HDR10 compatibility to enhance the picture and decent brightness of up to 500 lumens while viewing on a huge 3-metre display.

Lookswise, the Emotn N1 has a simple yet functional all-black design with a built-in stand to get it into the perfect position and a pair of five-watt speakers for sound. The port selection is acceptable, with an HDMI, a USB-A, a 3.5-millimetre audio outlet, and a LAN port. You can also use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi if you prefer to connect wirelessly.

There’s no need to go all-in with an expensive model if you’re looking for your first projector because the Emotn N1 provides Netflix access, multiple connection options and a great viewing experience for a low price. It isn’t perfect and could have a more stylish design and another HDMI port, but these are minor drawbacks considering the value on offer.

Gamers demand speed from all their devices, and Epson’s 2350 was designed to provide low latency and high resolution to satisfy the needs of the complex 3D graphics of modern AAA titles. That said, its 20-millisecond response time is better for single-player console games rather than online shooters, MOBAs, and other competitive titles requiring split-second inputs. It’s not only for gaming, and the 4K UHD resolution with a bright 2,800 lumens of brightness is perfect for movies and sports too.

The Epson 2350 has an all-white rectangular businesslike design with a pair of 10-watt speakers for audio. When it comes to connectivity, there are two HDMIs, a 3.5-millimetre audio output, and a USB-A port, although one HDMI is used for the included Android TV dongle by default. This projector blurs the line of portability with its 4.1 kg weight and 12 x 33 x 28 cm dimensions and made this list because it’s still possible to take it on the road, even though most buyers won’t

While the Epson 2350 has the speed to bring out the best in the latest PlayStation and Xbox games, it’s also great for movies and shows, thanks to its high resolution and incredible brightness. Its blacks aren’t very rich in certain lighting conditions, and the single usable HDMI might be inconvenient for some users, but it does little to detract from its comprehensive feature set and value, which make it a top choice for all types of buyers.

Xgimi’s Halo+ offers the perfect blend of picture quality and portability, and its speakers blow most of the competition away. It oozes class with a stylish silver 11.3 x 14.5 x 17.1-centimetre and 1.6kg design that’s probably too bulky for most laptop bags but portable enough to carry nonetheless. Connectivity options include a single HDMI port, a USB-A, and a 3.5-millimeter audio port, and you can connect via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

The Halo+ stands out from the competition by including two 5-watt Harman Kardon speakers for best-in-class audio and a built-in battery offering around 2.5 hours of viewing when there’s no power available. It has the picture quality to match, with FHD 1080p resolution and 700 ISO Lumens of brightness for outstanding visual performance.

With a reasonable price tag and great audio and video performance, the Xgimi Halo+ is an excellent choice for anyone wanting to watch movies and other content on the move. It lacks a Netflix app, and the brightness is mediocre when using a battery, but these drawbacks go with the territory and aren’t anything to worry about.

Aaxa’s P7 is the best option if you’re looking for a palm-sized projector that can go anywhere with you. Its 6.8 x 11.9 x 11.1 cm and 670-gram design may be tiny, but it houses a pair of two-watt speakers and a range of connectivity ports like HDMI, mini-VGA, composite AV, USB, and SD-card reader. The extensive options mean the P7 is effectively a tiny media player able to display images and videos or play audio from most devices despite lacking wireless connectivity.

For an ultra-portable projector, the P7 impresses with a native FHD 1080p resolution, which is acceptable considering the size and price but won’t compete with premium options. You also get a built-in battery with a decent 90 minutes of playback and a long-lasting 30,000-hour life span from its LEDs.

There’s no denying the P7’s ingenuity and sheer number of features, considering its diminutive size. Its video quality might be more for presentations and short videos rather than a cinematic experience, but having a battery and media player abilities make up for it. It’s also significantly more affordable than many rivals here, making it an excellent budget option for someone wanting to try out their first portable projector.

Samsung’s The Freestyle takes the stress out of setting up a projector with its unique design, making life easier for you. Its all-white cylindrical shape is attached to a base with an arm on each side, allowing it to rotate up to 180 degrees freely. This design enables you to easily adjust the projector’s height to match your wall, and you can even project videos and images onto the ceiling or floor if you’re having a party. This feature combines with the autofocus, levelling, and keystone features, making it a breeze to get going.

The FHD 1080p resolution with HDR is expected at this price point, and it delivers excellent colour accuracy, if slightly dim. Sound is courtesy of a 5-watt speaker providing sound in all directions with Samsung’s “360-degree” system. Connectivity is limited to a single micro-USB port and a USB-C for power, and most buyers will use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to connect. The Freestyle has the same Tizen operating system as Samsung’s TVs for a fluid experience, and it also has Bixby and Alexa voice assistant compatibility for added convenience.

It’s hard to judge The Freestyle on a like-for-like basis with the other projectors here because, on paper, it offers less for more, and you must buy the battery as a separate accessory. On the other hand, it’s difficult to put a price on convenience and practicality, and the extra you spend will be worth it when you don’t need to waste time setting it up all the time.

The Kodak Luma 75 is another ultra-portable projector handy for business presentations or road trips. Measuring 7.6 x 7.6 x 2.0 cm and weighing just 150 grams, the Luma 75’s flat design is compact enough for the smallest bags, yet tough, with a metal finish on the sides and touch controls on the top. All the inputs, like the USB-A, HDMI, and SD card reader, are on the side, and there’s also a nifty tripod mount. For a compact projector, there’s also an integrated battery with a two-hour life expectancy and a built-in 1.5-watt speaker that barely gets the job done.

Kodak claims the Luma 75 to be an HD projector, although it has a native 640×360 resolution and scales the images to fit. It still performs well for presentations, images and short videos but might not be the best for movies and shows because of its small display area of around two metres.

In this case, you get what you pay for, and the Kodak Luma 75 offers an impressive port selection, a built-in battery and excellent build quality considering its budget-friendly price. It’s far from perfect, with average sound and picture quality, but it still offers incredible value as a sturdy device that can fit in your pocket.

The bottom line. Which is the best portable projector?

The Nebula Capsule 3 from Anker is the best portable projector because it’s compact, includes a built-in battery and has great image quality for a competitive price. BenQ’s GP500 is the best premium pick because of its 4K UHD resolution and four speakers for a home cinema experience. The Emotn N1 offers the best value because it comes at a significantly lower price than the others and has Netflix certification and HDR10-compatible FHD 1080p resolution.

How did we pick these portable projectors?

Our team tests all types of hardware from various brands and decided to try portable projectors as fantastic niche products offering something different. They have hands-on experience with most models listed here and used image quality, construction and value as the three main criteria when evaluating them.

Image quality is the most important aspect of any projector, and we graded them based on their resolution, brightness, contrast and general visual performance for the price.

Construction was interesting because portable monitors come in various shapes and sizes. The easiest way to assess them was by comparing size and weight to see how portable they really are, then considering other factors like connectivity, speakers, and batteries to see how they rank.

Most buyers, including us, make purchasing decisions based on value, and the best way to determine which projectors are best was to compare their image quality and construction to their cost factor to work out a price-to-performance ratio. All the projectors on this list offer great value, and we only recommend the options we’d buy for ourselves.

What is the number one portable projector?

There are many great portable projectors, and the Nebula Capsule 3 is one of the best options.

Are mini projectors worth buying?

Yes, mini projectors are worth buying because they are compact enough to go on the road, so you can watch movies, shows, and other content on camping trips or fishing expeditions.

Is a projector better than a TV?

They both have their pros and cons. TVs can deliver better 4K resolution and a sharper picture, but they have a smaller display area and aren’t portable. Projectors have massive display sizes and portability but won’t match a high-end TV’s image quality.