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Bring the big screen with you wherever you go

Is there anything better than settling down on your sofa after a long, tiring day to enjoy a much-raved-about Oscar contender/mindless reality show? Yes, actually: settling down on a beanbag in your mate’s garden with a session IPA to do the very same thing. But how can one achieve such a dream scenario, we hear you ask? With a portable projector that isn’t locked down to the TV cabinet.

You might have seen our rundown of the best overall projectors any true cinephile should be proud to own, but what if you want to take your movies out to the garden or into a different room? With summer evenings spent with friends and loved ones fast approaching, it’s about time you considered a mini projector to keep you occupied.

Lightweight, affordable, and delivering top-quality imagery, these devices are a BBQ BFF but there’s a lot to consider when buying. The last thing you want is to get one and not be able to see the movie in the sun’s glare, or one with a battery too short to last through the film marathon.

It's not just films that should be on your al fresco viewing schedule. We've got Nations League and Wimbledon to look forward to this summer, and plenty of TV to catch up on across Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime.

Below are our picks of the best portable projectors you need to buy this year.

TV with added Vitamin D, portable projector allows you to take your movies out with you into the world. Or it can simply be transported to another room or house for a change of scenery. The world's your oyster.

Small and robust enough to fit in your bag and often powered by their own internal batteries, these devices offer a bright image for viewing in sunlight, and can be as good as some of the best dedicated indoor projectors available.

There’s a lot to balance though, as you’ll be figuring out your own budget, how important the image is to you, and if you want your projector to come with its own speaker or not.

Resolution: Just like your telly, your projector will have varying degrees of image quality, ranging from entry-level 720p options up to 4K.

The price will increase as you get a better image, but cinephiles will want to go for 4K to get the most out of their outdoor viewing. It’s the gold standard for modern movie-watching, and you won’t find better clarity.

Unless you’re on the ultra-expensive Netflix premium plan, you may not be streaming in 4K to make the most of the detail, though, so we’d also recommend 1080p (Full HD) models too. An added bonus? These should also keep costs in check.

Weight and dimensions: The best bit about portable projectors is they are small and lightweight enough to take around with you. At-home models can be as big as a microwave – this 11kg monstrosity is the opposite of portable – so there’s no way you’ll catch us carrying one of those around.

Instead, these mini models can be as small as a can of beer and weigh less than a few kilos. Larger models might have a carry strap to help you lug it around, but most should be small enough to fit in a duffel bag or rucksack.

Projection size: Another great benefit of projectors is that you can choose how big you want your films to be. Our top picks can display images as small as 20 inches all the way up to 120 inches if you have the space for it. You can adjust the projection by placing the device closer or further away to the wall, with some models capable of “short-throw”, meaning you can tuck it right up close to the wall and get a huge picture.

Keep in mind that you might want to pick up a projector screen that you can beam your images onto if you’re making these garden parties a regular thing, otherwise you’ll need a flat white surface to watch on.

Lumen count: If you plan on taking it outside, you’ll need to get a projector that can show off the goods in direct sunlight, or at least with the curtains open. The brightness is measured in lumens, and while you do want to get a model that has as high a number as possible, you can easily make do with one that only has around 100 lumens.

Colours may start to look a little washed out at lower brightnesses, and it’s obviously always best to project your movies in dark, hermetically sealed rooms, but anything around 300 is a good start.

Contrast Ratio: Now the brightness is sorted, you’ll need to focus on the contrast ratio, which tells you how well your device manages blacks and whites. The larger the ratio, the better the performance will be, with some models below stretching beyond 2,000,000:1, while cheaper alternatives might be around 500:1, where colours won’t be so distinct and blacks won’t look so inky.

Battery life: The last thing you want is for your projector to die right at the climax of your The Godfather rewatch, so keep an eye on the battery life of your projector. We’ve chosen options that can last at least two and a half hours to contend with all but the longest movies, but we’d recommend getting one that has at least three hours worth of juice.

A few of the below might require or offer a physical plug into a wall socket or extender, which limits your freedom of where you can set up, but if you’re watching in the garden, you could always run out an extension cord through the window - just don’t trip over it on the way to the beer cooler.

Additional Features: A few projectors come with smart features like voice control or a dedicated app to help you browse what to watch or change the volume. Alexa and Google Assistant are most prevalent assistants, and you might also notice extra stuff like Chromecast, Bluetooth, and USB/HDMI ports to plug in games consoles or laptops.

As they are smart, they will also have preloaded apps from your favourite streaming services so you might not need to carry these extra devices around, but you will need an internet connection or wifi to get those working.

All the models on this also come with built-in speakers, for a complete outdoor theatrical experience. If they don’t they will have Bluetooth or ports to hook up smart speakers as well.

One of the most versatile portable projectors, Anker’s Nebula Capsule II is sleek, compact, and roughly the size of a large can of beer (literally pint-sized). It’s lightweight and surprisingly rugged, meaning it can sit in your backpack as you hike to your outdoor theatre.

The resolution is lower than HD which is disappointing by today’s standards, and the battery life won’t stretch much past longer films like The Irishman (though honestly we also struggle to last that long) but if it’s portability you’re after, this one is among the best.

Resolution: 720p (HD Ready) Weight: 0.7kg Dimensions: 15 cm x 8 cm x 8 cm Projection Size: 20-100 inches Lumen Count: 200 Contrast Ratio: 600:1 Battery Life: 2.5 hours Additional Features: 1 x 8W speaker, HDMI, USB-C, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Chromecast

If the 720p resolution of the Anker above has you scoffing, check out Acer’s Full HD model, which is an excellent battery-powered portable alternative for almost £150 less.

Also shaped just like a beer can, the best thing about this one is that you can lay it flat on its side or stand it up on its end, and the projector will automatically rotate the 100-inch image depending how you set it up. It’s durable and has a built-in speaker too, so you don’t have to bring additional gear to get the most out of your movies.

The five-hour battery will more than keep up with most movie marathons you have planned, and its 300 lumens of brightness is good enough for decent clarity in direct sunlight.

Resolution: 1080p (Full HD) Weight: 0.6kg Dimensions: 18.8 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm Projection Size: 20-100 inches Lumen Count: 300 Contrast Ratio: 5,000:1 Battery Life: 5 hours Additional Features: 1 x 5W speaker, HDMI 1.4, USB-C, USB-A, 3.5mm headphone output, microSD card, Bluetooth

The cheapest and lightest model on our list is ViewSonic’s M1 Mini, which is a great choice if you want a super-portable projector to move around the home.

You’ll have to put up with some compromises for this manageable price and portability, namely the short battery life and low lumen count, but thrifty movie-lovers will still appreciate what’s on offer.

We actually didn’t mind the image quality during our testing, though we don’t recommend playing it outdoors in the height of the summer, as the colours looked too dim.

If you’re working with a smaller telly and you want to watch the football on a bigger screen, this could be a good one to pull out to host a watch party.

Resolution: 1080p (Full HD) Weight: 0.3kg Dimensions: 11 cm x 10.4 cm x 2.7 cm Projection Size: 20-100 inches Lumen Count: 120 Contrast Ratio: 5,000:1 Battery Life: 2.4 hours Additional Features: 1 x built-in JBL speaker, 1x HDMI, 1x USB Type-A port, swappable top plate

Offering a visual upgrade on the Nebula at the top of the list, the Solar is a slightly chunkier portable projector that offers Full HD images for a similar price.

We found it easy to move around the home, packing up quickly and setting up in a new environment within a few minutes. It has a built-in stand that flips out to give you more control on the viewing angle, and is just over a kilo in weight so isn’t too difficult to pop in the car or tuck under your arm to take with you elsewhere – it’s just not as simple as the beer can-sized Capsule.

Plenty of pre-installed apps means you don’t have to worry about bringing a streaming stick with you to get your favourite sports or movies, and you can mirror content from your smartphone through a dedicated app.

Resolution: 1080p (Full HD) Weight: 1kg Dimensions: 19.2 cm x 19.2 cm x 5.8 cm Projection Size: 20-120 inches Lumen Count: 400 Contrast Ratio: 5,000:1 Battery Life: N/A Additional Features: 2 x 3W speakers, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x USB Type-A port, Google Assistant, Chromecast

If the outdoor viewing experience seems a bit beyond you but you still want to move your projector around your home with ease, we’d recommend Optoma’s Cinemax P2.

A 4K powerhouse, this model offers the best visuals across any on this list, and earned a spot on our roundup of our favourite at-home cinema projectors.

The specs should speak for themselves: a dazzling 3,000 lumens and a wide contrast ratio means you won’t have to keep the curtains drawn to get the most out of it, and the built-in speaker is up there with some of the best we have used.

It’s also very light for a premium 4K projector, weighing just under half a kilo, and it’s a short throw, so you can put it right up against the wall and still get up to 120 inches of movie goodness at home.

Resolution: 3840 x 2160 (4K) Weight:0.4kg Dimensions: 13 cm x 56 cm x 38 cm Projection Size: 20-120 inches Lumen Count: 3,000 Contrast Ratio: 2,000,000:1 Battery Life: N/A Additional Features: 1 x built-in speaker, 2 x HDMI2.0, 1 x HDMI 1.4, 1 x USB3.5mm headphone jack