NEBULA by Anker Solar Portable 1080p Projector, Full HD Smart Projector with WIFI and Bluetooth, 400 ANSI Lumen, 4K Supported, Autofocus, Keystone Correction , Built-In Stand, 3 Hour Playtime

First time projector buyer so this will be from a newbie’s perspective. So far very impressed. The size of the projector is very portable. Not soda can portable, but reminds me of a mini-PC or Mac Mini. Can easily mount to a Joby Gorillapod (DSLR) or regular triped. It includes an Anker PowerPort III 65W as the charger and a 3-meter USB-C cable that I assume is also Anker so it should be high quality. The autofocus and keystone adjustability is really nice and quick and the picture quality is very clear even on a non-white wall (ours is a light eggshell color). I don’t have a complete blacked out room/home theater but nightime viewing against a wall is very impressive and bright, and totally sufficient for movie nights. I would imagine a proper screen would improve things even more.

Immediately updated firmware after initial setup. While it doesn’t have fully native Netflix from the Google Play store, the Solar has a built in app called Nebula Manager that you can use to sideload Netflix and get most of the functionality of a native app. The only downside I’ve experienced to this solution is that you can’t get a Netflix favorite to display on the Android TV homescreen (or their recommendations ribbon) and the Netflix app is best controlled by the Nebula Connect app on your phone (connected to the projector through bluetooth). When using the sideloaded Netflix app, you can’t pause/resume the video with the remote control, but the phone/app controls work fine to engage pause/resume. Otherwise seems to tick all boxes. I’ve installed and tried out Amazon Video, Disney+, Vudu, Hulu, HBO Max, Movies Anywhere, Shotime Anywhere, FandangoNow, and Plex and they all install normally through the Google Play store onto Android TV. Chromecasting works well for everything except Netflix. The Nebula Manager app for AirPlay, AirPin(PRO), seemed to work fine for generic mirroring of an iPhone display but conked out when trying to play protected videos as well (i.e. Netflix).

Pros:
True HD
USB-C power input so easy portable charging with a 65W battery pack
Anker PowerPort III 65W charger ($40 value and multi-use)
Netflix compatible-ish without having to plug in Chromecast/Fire Stick/Roku

Cons:
Bluetooth audio only allows for 1 connection at a time, so an external speaker is ok but 2 simultaneous headsets won’t work.
(Updated 3/31/23) – Nebula now sells a compatible carrying case. A bit expensive but does the job to securely store the projector, charging block, cables, and remote) No Carrying Case and Nebula doesn’t sell an official one yet like they do for the Capsule and Mars. Need to store in box until I find a proper storage solution
Would be nice to have a lens cover/protector
Netflix controls are limited with remote, need to use phone/Nebula app for complete controls
Play/Pause buttons on the remote would have been nice, or ability to switch to mouse controls on remote to resolve Netflix constraint

Overall, very pleased with the overall quality and excited to use this more. Seems like an excellent all-in-one system for movie watching, especially if you have a solid wifi signal. Also have had good experience with Anker products and customer support in the past so I feel a little more confident with this purchase and their warranty coverage.

Small size with centered tripod mount. Nice built quality including remote.
Good battery life, 1.5 hrs at max and 3 hrs at 50% of 400 ANSI lumens.
Auto Focus works great.
Android Pie with Google TV and Chromecast work seamless and responsive.
Samsung Dex works great with USB C to HDMI cable and Bluetooth keyboard connected.
Picture quality is convincing and text readable. Sound is acceptable even for movie watching, no distortion.
USB C charging port.
Even if the unit is several years old, it beats all the others I’ve tried.
Also ordered matching carry case.

The project is well built with good design and speakers. I really like its convenience and portability. However, the light is not bright enough and the keystone correction is not as good as others. Most importantly, I had a terrible experience with the return process on Amazon. There was no way to track the status of my return and the information provided by customer service agents was consistently incorrect. I spent an hour chatting with four different agents, none of whom were able to provide me with accurate information or a resolution to my issue. To make matters worse, the return status on my account was erased, leaving me with no way to know when my refund was issued. I will have to contact Amazon again to try and resolve this issue. The customer service agents I dealt with, Rajesh, Sriparna, and Sanket, were the worst I have ever encountered at Amazon.

This is a good portable projector with clear images and decent though not great colors. I find the brightness to be fine at night or when used close to the wall. However, it has issues processing streaming video at times and will flicker for a few seconds, especially when streaming 720p @ 60fps. Hopefully there will be a software update to resolve this.

I did a lot of searching and reading before I bought my projector. This is bright and clear, it gets warm like many projectors, the cooling fan can be heard but isn’t too loud. I’m happy with this purchase.