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The Best Portable Projectors You Can Actually Afford

A portable projector, or a pico projector, is a great little gadget because it lets you put a big screen almost anywhere. We’ve rounded up our favorite portable projectors of 2020.

sony portable projectorSony

By Tucker Bowe

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A portable projector, or a pico projector, is a great little gadget because it lets you put a big screen — over 100 inches, in most cases — almost anywhere. When shopping for a portable projector, there are a number of things to look out for. There’s its brightness and the size of the picture it can project. There’s also the matter of connectivity and whether it has built-in operating system which will allow it to stream content directly without the help of a laptop, tablet, or smartphone. There’s its size, because not all portable projectors are actually that portable. And then there’s cost, of course.

Below, you’ll find some of our favorite portable projectors of 2020.

Pros

  • It's Anker's smallest and most portable pico projector
  • Built-in Android operating system makes it easy to stream
  • Capable of creating up to a 100-inch image

Cons

  • 100 lumens of brightness isn't great
  • 2.5 hours of battery life isn't enough to get through the longest movies

Pros

  • Supports USB-C charging
  • It has an extremely portable design

Cons

  • 2.5 hours of battery life isn't enough to get through the longest movies
  • A max brightness of 105 lumens isn't the best
  • No built-in operating system so you need to connect to a smartphone, laptop or gaming console

Pros

  • Capable of producing an image up to 120 inches
  • Max brightness of 600 lumens is better than many other pico projectors
  • Very small and portable design

Cons

  • No built-in operating system, so need external source source to stream
  • It only has 90 minute battery life, so prepare to use it plugged in most of the time

Pros

  • Max brightness of 500 lumens
  • Built-in Wi-Fi makes streaming easy
  • Good sound with built-in stereo speakers
  • 15-degree tilting hinge allows you to easily adjust the picture

Cons

  • More expensive than other pico projectors
  • Despite being relatively small, it doesn't have the most portable design

Pros

  • 4 hours of playtime is very good
  • Built-in Android operating system means it can be used as a standalone streaming device
  • Can project up to a 150-inch screen, which is huge

Cons

  • 300 lumens of brightness is pretty average
  • Not the most portable design