It's a good time to shop for portable projectors, with the Nebula Capsule 3 GTV projector down to its lowest price and now the more powerful Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air going for $419.99 (originally $599.99), also its lowest price, according to price-tracking tools. Both of these projectors are portable, but the Nebula Mars 3 Air is more suitable for outdoor use.
The Nebula Mars 3 Air came out last August to an "average" review from PCMag due to its auto-focus feature (keystone) being finicky and the image being darker when watching 1080p SDR input content. However, it's still a great portable projector for the right person.
This projector has 1080p resolution and supports 4K HDR input, and like the Nebula Capsule 3, it has a built-in Google TV with the Netflix app, which not a lot of other portable projectors offer. Google TV is also my favorite smart TV OS for projectors since you can cast your smartphone using the Chromecast feature.
Since you'll likely be using it outdoors, brightness is important because you can only control the light outdoors to a certain degree. The 400 ANSI lumens doubles the brightness of what the Nebula Capsule 3 offers. The screen size ranges from 30 inches up to 150 inches. If you plug it in with the AC power, you get a boost in brightness, which is always appreciated. Otherwise, you can expect a battery life of 2.5 hours in Eco mode and 1 hour at full power. This projector also doubles as a Bluetooth speaker and lasts 8 hours when just playing music.
If you're looking for a portable projector that you can easily carry around the home or want to use it outdoors, consider the Nebula Mars 3 Air. At its current price, it's a good bang for your buck and better than the Nebula Capsule 3 if you plan to use it outdoors.
