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Cheap portable projectors are all over Amazon boasting 5-star reviews, massive displays, and crisp "4K support." But are these budget devices actually worth your cash, or are they just electronic waste?
In this episode of Value Verified, the Tom’s Guide Savings Squad brings four of the most popular cheap portable projectors into the lab for a technical gauntlet. We measured true brightness using a professional Lux average meter, tested fan noise levels, and pluged in a PS5 to see how they handle real-world gaming.
The results were wild. From a completely unreadable 9.7 Lux screen that looks like a toy, to a legitimate home theater budget miracle, we verify which ones are actually worth your money.
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0:00
Spending 30 bucks on an Amazon projector sounds like an absolute steal until your favorite video game looks like it was rendered on a toaster
0:08
Welcome back to Value Verified, the series where the Tom's Guide saving squad buys the internet's most popular, aggressively cheap gadgets to find out if they're a hidden gem or a complete scam
0:19
Today, we are diving deep into the wild world of budget portable projectors on Amazon
0:24
Every single one of these on my table claims to deliver massive screens, crystal clear images, and cinematic sound, all for under $50
0:33
But, you know the drill? We don't trust marketing copy around here. We collect our own data
0:40
To keep things completely fair, we put four contenders through a value-verified gauntlet
0:45
Every projector was set up at the exact same distance from our flat testing wall, and we measured three things
0:51
First, brightness. We projected a 100% solid white image and took an average of 9 distinct light readings across the screen using a lux meter
1:00
Next, fan sound. Cheap projectors run hot, so we placed a decibel meter exactly 1.5 feet away to see which ones come with their own soundtracks
1:09
Finally, real-world experience. We hooked up a PS5 to play Marvel's Spider-Man 2 to test motion latency and artifacting
1:16
streamed a high-definition nature video for color depth, and loaded up a standard corporate
1:22
spreadsheet to see if you could actually read it. Together, this information revealed which
1:27
projectors are worth it and which ones missed the mark. Coming in at the bottom of our benchmark
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sheet is the Mir LED Mini Projector. Now, its Amazon listing is full of beautiful promises and
1:39
over 11 reviews But in our lab it scored an average brightness of just 9 lux and our winner quadruples that for context We plugged in the PS5 and the buildings in New York looked like a complete
1:52
smudge. The frame rates and motion response were so bad, it actively made it harder to play the
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game, and at more than one point, the projector just straight up cut out. The text is barely
2:03
legible, probably because this projector features a native resolution of just 800 by 480, and it
2:09
sounds like it's being broadcast from a tin can underwater accompanied by a lovely crackling noise
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The only positive? At 63.5 decibels, it was technically the quietest fan on our list
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but that's probably because it barely has the energy to run. Sure, it's super cheap
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and that's probably why it's been purchased so many times, but as far as I'm concerned, this thing is a straight-up scam
2:33
On a not that much better note, we have the C-Best Mini Projector, yet another puzzling one with
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thousands of reviews. At 18 lux, it still struggles significantly in a room that isn't completely
2:48
pitch black. When we booted up the PS5, the motion and frame rates were actually quite good
2:52
You could definitely get through a gaming session on this. However, the colors are flat
2:56
the picture is still a bit blurry, and struggles with fine high-resolution details
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The spreadsheet test yielded similar results. The text is readable, but you genuinely need to squint to make it out
3:07
It is slightly passable, but the audio shares that same crackly cheap quality
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while the fan noise also jumps up to a noticeable 69.2 decibels
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Encroaching on that 70 decibel threshold, that's your standard dishwasher or washing machine noise level
3:22
which, in my opinion, is way too loud for anybody to properly enjoy a projector
3:27
all right now we getting into the real contenders this is the tmy Bluetooth projector earning our silver medal today On the brightness front it pulled an average of 32 lux and that is a massive leap forward
3:41
But brightness isn't everything. Despite the extra power, the colors on the TMY fell flat and washed out during video playback
3:49
and the bright highlights were completely blown out. When we threw up our lab spreadsheets, we could easily read bold black text
3:55
but standard colors and smaller logos were still blurry and tough to differentiate
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Where the TMY actually wins, though, is its utility features. It has built-in phone casting support and boasts the biggest, best-sounding internal speakers of the entire group
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The downside? To keep that brighter lamp cool, the fan has to work overtime
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Clocking in at 72.8 decibels, this thing is loud. I've seen this one go in and out of stock, but after testing it out
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I generally consider buying a TMY brand projector for the value because it's passable
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And that brings us to our undisputed champion, the Altwi-Nit? Alwit-Nit? The Alwit-Nit mini projector
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You guys let us know how it's pronounced in the comments, but this device completely dominated our benchmarks, pumping out a chart-topping average of 37 lux
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And the visual difference is night and day. When gaming on the PS5, we can make out an incredible amount of detail
4:54
The color depth was genuinely good, and there was zero artifacting during high-speed web swinging
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Our nature videos looked rich and sharp, and even our spreadsheet test was an absolute breeze
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Logos and tiny text looked crisp and sharp. It also comes packed with native apps like YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, and the Google Play Store
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while managing to project a wider further image than anything else on the list But wait there is a catch and it a brilliant piece of budget tech deception to the point where you almost have
5:25
to respect it. When we plugged this into a Windows PC, Windows detected it as a 4K display
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but when we plugged it into the PS5, it did not. Brands often install cheap display chips that
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essentially trick a computer into transmitting a 4K signal, even though the physical glass lens
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on the front of the projector is only capable of outputting a native 1080p resolution. So as long
5:46
as you know that the 4K support is just a digital masquerade and you're actually buying a solid 1080p
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device, I think we're ready to call this what it is, a verified value. So what have we learned today
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on value verified? If you're looking for a genuine budget-friendly home feeder option that can handle
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gaming, movies, and clear text, the Allwittnet Mini Projector is the only one here that is truly
6:10
worth the money. Just keep an eye out on your audio cable as we noticed a tiny bit of speaker
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crackling depending on the HDMI cable used. The TMY is a decent backup if speaker volume is your
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number one priority, but you'll have to deal with a loud fan and washed out highlights. Avoid the
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other two unless you want to end up owning some straight up junk. The data doesn't lie and your
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value is officially verified. Drop a comment below to tell the saving squad what suspiciously cheap
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products you want us to put through the lab next and don't forget to like and subscribe. As always
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I'm Phil Rodriguez this is Tom's Guide and I will see you in the next video
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it sounds like it's being broadcast from a this is sorry this is like a
6:49
this is a roast fast this is like this is this projector's getting cut
6:54
but that's probably because it barely damn it sorry on a not that much better beep
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