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Let’s be real here: Family movie night at the theater can really put a ding on your wallet. Between ticket prices, popcorn, snacks and, of course, drinks, taking the gang out to the theater can end up weighing heavily on your budget. That said, grabbing the kids for a backyard movie night is a wonderful option to cure those big-screen woes. In fact, all that’s really needed to make this happen is a compact projector and a flat wall. We can’t help you with the wall part. We’re sure you’ve got that covered. To assist in finding the perfect model to fit your budget and needs, we’ve brought together our top picks for the best outdoor projector of 2023 below.
Whether your preference is a portable, battery-powered model or a wired one that comes with built-in streaming features and a hefty amount of brightness to bring your outdoor cinema to life, we’ve got you covered. Of course, you’ll need some type of screen to bring the whole experience together. A large white sheet or poster board can easily suffice when using an outdoor movie projector.
Each projector on this list have speakers, but for those of you who yearn for a fuller sound — whether it’s because you have a larger yard or just wish to hear things better over the cacophony of excited children — it’d be a wise choice to connect to a Bluetooth speaker and other external speakers.
If your Wi-Fi isn’t strong enough to reach where you want to show the movie, you can turn your phone into a hotspot.
In a few cases you can download some content to the projector itself, but don’t expect this from every model, nor with every streaming service.
Here are the best outdoor projectors, with impressive picture quality, that we’ve tested.
The small Mars II Pro isn’t the brightest, nor smallest, nor cheapest projector on this list. It’s not even the easiest to use. But it does combine a pleasing image with decent sound for a good price.
It’s an all-around great option without the serious drawbacks of many other portable projectors.
The main issue with the Mars II Pro is it doesn’t use the full version of the Android TV streaming service like some newer models.
As such, it’s not as easy to use and you won’t get every streaming service. The big ones are here, like Netflix and Disney Plus, but not Max.
You can connect a streaming stick, and there’s a USB connection to power it right on the back.
The battery lasts about the length of a long movie. Be sure to activate the instant coupon at Amazon to knock $100 off the list price.
A great step-up option
Xgimi Halo Plus
The Xgimi Halo Plus is a 1080p projector with a built-in battery.
It’s reasonably bright, looks good and has Android TV built in. That means it streams a wider variety of content, and does so with less hassle, than most portable projectors.
Overall it looks better than most portables as well. However, it’s fairly expensive, and doesn’t perform nearly as well as more traditional home projectors that cost the same.
If you’re looking for something that’s easy to use, offers good away-from-an-outlet picture quality, and don’t mind paying for it, this is a great choice.
Best budget outdoor projector with a battery
AAXA P6X
The AAXA P6 throws out an impressive amount of light, and lasts up to a promised four hours with its built-in battery.
You’ll need to add a streaming stick to watch anything, but there’s a USB connection to power one so that’s easy to do.
Overall the image quality is OK, but not great. The colors are off, the contrast ratio isn’t great and its resolution of 1,280×800 pixels is noticeably softer than 1080p and especially 4K projectors.
That said, it’s bright and inexpensive, which is a great combination.
Best budget outdoor projector without a battery
AAXA P8
The AAXA P8 is tiny, like the Nebula Capsule below, but rectangular to that projector’s cylindricalness. It’s significantly brighter than the Capsule, but it lacks that projector’s battery.
Like its big brother, the P6X, the P8 doesn’t have the best picture quality. However, it’s inexpensive and bright, two things we like a lot.
For similar money the Vimgo P10’s picture quality is arguably a little better, but that projector has its own serious drawbacks.
All ultrabudget projectors have concessions to price, but with the P8 those concessions don’t include brightness and size.
Smallest outdoor projector with a battery
Anker Nebula Capsule
The adorable Capsule is the size of a soda can, but has a built-in battery, streaming, and even a speaker. For something to take on a backpacking overnight, it’s ideal.
The main downside is it’s very, very dim. While the other options here can easily create TV-sized images or more, the Capsule’s image is more like computer monitor sized. Not necessarily a dealbreaker, if your main concern is size.
Note that it’s $50 off for a limited time at Amazon.
Budget outdoor projector without a battery runner-up
Vimgo P10
The Vimgo P10 can be yours for less than $150. It’s a strange product, doing something right and a lot of things wrong. The image it produces is watchable, and has an impressively high contrast ratio, but the colors are flat-out atrocious. The brightness and sharpness uniformity are some of the worst I’ve seen, which means everything that’s not dead center in the image is dimmer and softer than the middle. It also has no upwards throw, so it needs to be placed at the same height as the middle of the screen, which is, like I said, strange for an inexpensive projector.
The biggest drawback for this list is its lack of a battery. But for the added price of an extension cord it’s still cheaper than most other projectors on this list.
Best high-end outdoor projector (with a handle)
Anker Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K
The Laser 4K’s claim to being portable and “outdoor” boils down to a huge handle built into its design. It lacks a battery, is quite heavy, and it’s really expensive.
It is, however, exceptionally bright. One of the brightest projectors we’ve ever tested. It has built-in Android TV too. It’s more portable, and better suited to outdoor movie nights than, say, the Epson 5050.
The Optoma UHZ50, the BenQ HT2050A or the Epson Home Cinema 2250 are better overall, however. They’re all bright, cheaper and easily carried, though they lack a stylish handle.
Other products we’ve tested
Anker Nebula Solar Portable: The Solar’s sibling, the Mars II Pro, is better. The Solar’s main disadvantage compared to others on this list is its relatively dim image, which means it can’t project as large a picture and still look good. If you want a sleek, budget-friendly portable with 1080p and plan on keeping the image on the small side, however, this is a solid choice. Read our Anker Nebula Solar Portable Review.
LG CineBeam PH30N: The tiny LG PH30N is only slightly larger than the AAXA P8. It’s not particularly bright, however, nor does it have built-in apps. The battery doesn’t last as long as the AAXA P6X although it is a bit cheaper. Read our LG CineBeam PH30N review.
Samsung Freestyle: The small, stylish, cylindrical Freestyle is an interesting idea, but it’s not very bright, lacks a battery, and is quite expensive. Read our Samsung Freestyle review.
Xiaomi Mi Smart Projector 2: Is another relatively expensive small projector that could be better. You may appreciate the compact size, 1080p resolution and built-in Android TV streaming, but it’s relatively dim, especially for the price. It also lacks both a built-in battery and compatibility with a USB power source, so it’s not truly portable. Read our Xiaomi Mi Smart Projector 2 review.
How we test outdoor projectors
We don’t treat outdoor projectors any differently, testing-wise, than any other projector. Just because a projector has the convenience of being portable doesn’t mean it shouldn’t perform to reasonable standards. The biggest difference is checking the performance on the battery vs. plugged in. That almost always just results in a difference in light output.
Read more: How We Test Projectors