How a mini projector can transform your movie nights

Whether you're traveling for business and need to give on-the-go presentations, or you want the flexibility to host an occasional backyard movie night, there are a ton of mini projector options to match your needs. Find out which is best for you.

Your HD LED TV probably isn’t the most portable option if you’re looking to host a movie night somewhere other than your living room. In fact, most entertainment systems pose major inconveniences when it comes to portability. A mini projector, however, can give more flexibility.

With a mini projector, you can enjoy a movie night just about anywhere. This includes pretty much any room in your house, or even outside on warm summer nights. You can even take your projector camping.

Of course, not all projectors are made alike. Nowadays, it’s possible to find a portable mini projector that gives you the benefit of versatility without sacrificing in terms of frame rate, contrast ratio, or resolution.

These high-quality portable projectors can add great value to your movie-hosting abilities alongside your stationary home theater or big-screen TV. Check out our favorite mini projectors that give you the perks of portability without any compromise in quality.

Philips NeoPix Easy+ Mini Projector

This Philips projector gives you incredible versatility at a reasonable cost. Find a flat spot for the projector and you can display up to 80 inches in size from less than six feet away from the wall or screen. It’s a big-screen experience that comes from a projector weighing less than two pounds. It’s also just eight inches at its widest point, so it’s easy to transport from your house to the yard, or to a friend’s house nearby.

Laser Beam Pro Eye-Safe Laser Projector

If you’re looking for high quality, the Laser Beam Pro is just what you need. Along with its highly compact and portable size, this powerful projector can actually deliver a beautiful 150-inch screen in high definition. Connecting to your device via Wi-Fi, the Laser Beam Pro has an eye safety design to keep your eyes protected. Plus, because it uses Wi-Fi, it works with any connected device including your smartphone, laptop, tablet, media players, and more. Measuring just over 5.5 inches long, it’s easy to stash this projector in your bag and bring it absolutely anywhere.

Philips PicoPix Smart Pocket Projector

Android users will benefit from the easy sharing capability that comes with the PicoPix Smart Pocket Projector. This projector offers LED technology combined with SmartEngle System technology to give you bright HD images and high-contrast video that looks great no matter where you take it. It projects up to 150 inches, so you can bring the whole neighborhood to your backyard to show off your latest international vacation photos. It’s complete with Wi-Fi sharing, screen mirroring, and HDMI/MHL functions, so you can share content from any device in a variety of ways.

Piqo Smart Mini HD Projector

The Piqo Smart Mini HD Projector is one of the smallest out there, but that doesn’t mean it’s not packed full of the same quality hardware as projectors twice its size. For starters, the projector provides Hi-Fi speakers and cinematic power for movie-viewing on the go. It also comes with intuitive touch controls, letting you choose your media by simply dragging and clicking, so you won’t have to worry about any technical difficulties during presentations. With 200 lumens of brightness, the Piqo projector delivers stunning HD footage day or night. And it’s small enough to fit in your pocket.

LG HD LED Portable MiniBeam Projector

This LG HD projector offers up to 100 inches of HD resolution, with guaranteed high-quality imagery and rich detail at a high frame rate. So you won’t have to deal with any distracting flickering as you watch movies, present slideshows, or run your favorite B-roll during a party. It comes with a built-in battery so you don’t have to worry about finding an extension cord for your backyard movie nights. It also comes with a wireless monitoring function so you can project wirelessly from your smartphone, tablet, or computer.

Nebula Capsule Pocket-Sized Cinema

The Nebula Capsule is one of the few true pocket-sized mini projectors out there. It’s roughly the size and shape of a soda can, so you can basically take it wherever you go. And despite its small size, it delivers an impressive 100 inches of high-definition viewing. The cylindrical shape of the speaker also gives you 360-degree audio dispersion, which almost feels like surround sound when you immerse yourself in your favorite TV or movies. It also has a battery life equivalent to a full-length feature film or a few of your favorite TV episodes, so you won’t have to worry about it dying on you before any big movie twists are revealed.

PISQ TT Virtual Touch Projector

Although it’s not the smallest projector on our list, the PISQ TT Virtual Touch Projector is still compact and portable, but its hardware is truly next-gen. Using Android, this projector was constructed with a dual-optic system that cleanly autofocuses at any distance or screen size. It also gives you virtual touch capabilities. The remote gives you responsiveness much like tapping and swiping on a smartphone. And as an extra party trick, the PISQ can automatically recognize objects and project interactive, responsive content onto them.

Sony Portable Ultra Short Throw Projector

If you need to project a large screen but you have limited space, the Sony Portable Ultra Short Throw Projector will provide. It offers stunning high-quality images at short distances. In fact, it can produce images up to 80 inches with little distance required. It offers a 720p resolution and a battery life of up to two hours to get through longer films or a few of your favorite TV episodes. And its dedicated app makes it easy to control from anywhere in the house or the office.

Whether you travel a lot for business, host a lot of backyard movie nights, or want to illuminate your tent with your favorite films on a backpacking trip, it’s worth investing in a mini projector that you can take anywhere. Modern compact projectors are plenty powerful to give you a high-definition experience wherever you go. As long as you can find a flat wall to project onto. If you’ve used mini projectors before, which are your favorites?