Low-Cost Mini Projectors Let You Set Up a Home Theater Almost Anywhere

With the best overall picture quality and a few features not found on other models, the LG topped our ranking. It was the brightest projector of the bunch and capable of producing the best very large image. It has a number of useful features, including Bluetooth and wireless mirroring, which lets you send videos from a smartphone or tablet to the projector.

It was the model that came closest to a real home theater movie experience—and it was the priciest model we tested.

Another plus is its built-in battery, which will last for up to 2.5 hours, enough for just about any movie short of "The Irishman." It was also the only model with a built-in TV tuner, so you can connect an antenna and get free over-the-air broadcasts.

While it topped our rankings, the LG wasn't perfect, especially compared with a full-sized home theater model. For example, black levels were elevated, meaning that the darkest areas of images weren't as dark as what we see on better TVs and projectors. As a result, contrast was a bit reduced; there was less "pop" in dark scenes, giving them a slightly hazy appearance.

This model has 720p resolution, below that of most home theater projectors and certainly below the growing number of more expensive 4K home theater models. So it lacks the crispness and finer detail you get with a 1080p projector. But that's not a problem that will draw anyone's attention; it will still provide satisfying detail. In general, watching movies on this projector was a pleasure.

We found the LG easy to set up and use, with a fairly traditional TV remote control and on-screen menu. There's a manual focus lever on the top of the unit, which moves smoothly and gives a fairly wide range of focal lengths that are easy to dial in. Although it does have a built-in rechargeable battery, we noted that this was the only tested projector where the brightness drops when you rely on the battery. If you can, use the included AC power adapter.

The built-in sound was relatively poor. With this and all the projectors we tested, you can use Bluetooth technology to send audio to a Bluetooth speaker, sound bar, or headphones.

This model can also play 3D movies—yep, remember those?—but you'll need special "DLP-Link" 3D glasses, which aren't included.

Coming in at No. 2 in our rankings is the midpriced Aaxa Pico Projector, which like the LG is a 720p model. It could be a good choice for those looking for a very compact, no-frills projector with generally decent picture quality and better-than-expected sound for such a small, affordable device.

In terms of picture quality, the Aaxa was aced only by the LG and generated sufficient brightness to produce even large images. Given that it costs a few hundred dollars less than the LG, the Aaxa may offer the best bang for the buck. 

Like most of the projectors we tested, the black levels are elevated, so dark scenes tend to look a bit hazy. Also, we noticed some white-level "clipping" on brighter scenes, which happens when the projector can't reproduce the very brightest scenes and near-white shadows flatten out so you lose image detail. With this model, the very brightest scenes also took on an odd tonal effect. It wasn't always visible, though.

The Aaxa has a bare-bones menu system, which can be a bit awkward to navigate. The unit's focus wheel is tiny, with a limited range of movement that makes it tough to dial in the right focus. And unlike the LG, which comes with a full-sized remote, this model has a credit card-sized remote with soft buttons that don't always respond to finger presses.

A problem we noticed was that the noise from its cooling fan was fairly loud when used at the highest brightness level. 

On a positive note, the sound on this model was surprisingly good compared with the other models. While it lacks bass, the sound was otherwise relatively full-bodied within its limited range. It was adequate for casual listening and was the only model that didn't send us running for an external speaker.

Also, like a few other models, it has a built-in battery, which the manufacturer claims can last up to 6 hours when used in an "eco" mode. We didn't test battery life as part of this project, but in that mode we'd expect the projector to extend battery life at the expense of image brightness, thus degrading the image.

This super-portable model—about the size of a paperback book, among the smallest of the group—offers hassle-free operation and the ability to project fairly big and satisfyingly bright images at 720p resolution. But its mediocre overall picture quality is below that of both the LG and Aaxa when it comes to watching movies, and at $400 it's among the pricier models we tested.

The projector lacks settings that let you do much to address its picture-quality shortcomings, such as a lack of contrast and the same kind of white-level clipping we saw on the Aaxa.

Also, the projector will automatically apply a feature called "keystoning," which adjusts the image to keep it looking square or rectangular if it's being projected at an up or down angle.

While this can be an advantageous feature when necessary, it also tends to lower the resolution of the image. On this model, the feature is activated with even the slightest reorientation of the projector, and the loss of resolution increases as the angle increases. The Miroir doesn't let you disable the feature.

Overall, the Miroir is very easy to set up and use, although it was the only model that didn't come with a remote control. It does have a built-in battery with a claimed run time of about 2 hours. It also has the shortest throw ratio of this group, meaning it was able to provide the largest image at any given distance.

This model has the usual HDMI and USB ports, but it also has a USB-C video input, which lets you connect newer Apple devices without needing an HDMI cable. There's also a second USB-C port you can use to charge devices.

It's pretty remarkable that you can spend about $100 and still get a projector capable of producing a decently sized image. But that's what we found with the Vankyo. While it's toward the bottom of our mini projector rankings, budget-minded shoppers might consider it if price and convenience matter more than top-notch picture quality.

The Vankyo is considerably larger than the other models in our tests and lacks a built-in battery, so it's not as easily portable as other models. But it can produce a fairly large image with decent, if not great, brightness. One thing you give up is true HD resolution; our tests measure it at about 480p, so it lacks the finer detail we see on 720p models. You can even see the projector's somewhat coarse pixel structure if you sit too close to the screen.

We found color accuracy to be a bit inconsistent, and while contrast is acceptable on brighter scenes, images appear flat and lacking in dynamic range due to the limited range of brightness levels. The elevated black levels, common to all of these projectors, limit contrast on dark scenes. And this model's sound quality—thin and somewhat muffled—was among the worst of the group.

Unlike the other tested projectors, which can be positioned as close as 12 inches from a screen or wall, this projector needs to be placed at least 4 feet away, which could limit its utility. Its menu has a feature that can reduce image size to 75 percent of what's being projected—useful if you're projecting onto a smaller screen—but this further reduces resolution below 480p quality.

The Vankyo is fairly easy to set up and use, and the focus knob made it easy to dial in the picture. There's a keystone adjustment, like the Miroir's described above, but in this case it doesn't affect the projector's resolution.

The on-screen menu is somewhat primitive, though, with limited picture settings. The included remote has only basic control buttons, and there is no way to control volume other than a mute button on the remote. The unit's connections include an SD card slot and a VGA input for connecting a computer.

It's hard to beat the diminutive Piqo for portability; the 2.5-inch cube-shaped projector can easily fit in a pocket. Also, it was the only smart model in our tests, with built-in streaming capability when connected to a WiFi network. With the Piqo, convenience, not picture quality, is the strong suit, although at $400 it's also among the pricier of the projectors we tested.

The Piqo website claims that the projector has 1080p resolution, the only model with that claim. But our tests showed it was closer to 480p, well below HD. As a result, its pixel structure (the tiny dots that make up the image) was visibly coarser than what we saw with the 720p projectors. And the odd way they were arranged—in a diagonal rather than rows—made the edges of objects appear more jagged.

While we were able to get sufficient brightness for a 65-inch image, it just wasn't bright enough for the 100-inch screen. But surprisingly, the Piqo had the darkest black levels of all the tested models, though picture quality fell short in other areas.

For example, color accuracy is pretty far off on this model, and the rainbow effect was more pronounced on the Piqo than on all the other DLP projectors. There was also significant oversharpening on images when we used the HDMI connection, making edges and fine details too prominent. We couldn't turn it off because this model lacks picture adjustments. But this image processing disappears when you use the projector's built-in Android streaming capability.

The projector was fairly easy to set up and connect to WiFi. To navigate menus, you can either use the remote or the top surface of the projector, which is like a touchpad. The focus knob is tiny but fairly easy to dial. This model has a keystone adjustment, which can be turned off.

Thanks to the built-in Android smart TV platform, the Piqo has access to lots of streaming apps and services. It supports Android, iOS, and Windows devices, plus Bluetooth, Apple AirPlay, and screen mirroring from a smartphone or tablet.