Best portable projectors

Android Authority

Sony MP-CL1

At first glance, you may mistake the Sony MP-CL1 to be a smartphone, with Sony’s classic rectangular design to be seen here. The projector is as compact as a phone, allowing you to easily slip it into your pocket. It is also quite thin and light weight, making the MP-CL1 a truly portable option.

The Sony MP-CL1 projects using laser technology, which means that it will behave a little differently. The brightness is just 32 lumens, which sounds like you would barely be able to see it. However, the human eye perceives laser projections a little brighter than your standard LED projections at the same lumen count. That being said, the projected image with the MP-CL1 is still a lot darker than the JmGO View, but bright enough to enjoy at any distance less than 40 inches away.

This projector doesn’t need to be very far away to project a huge image though, and only being 40 inches away will create a 120 inch image with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Keystoning is also available, but rather strangely, no focusing capabilities, be it automatic or via manual controls. Thanks to this being a laser based projection system however, the image always remains pretty clear, regardless of how close or far you are.

The plastic stand it comes with seems a little flimsy, but gets the job done. It can clip onto the front or back, but at a fixed position, so you may need to use some extra books or other objects to prop it up perfectly. Like most projectors, you will be able to stream media via Miracast, plug in a USB flash drive, or connect a Mini HDMI or MHL cable. There are built-in speakers available, but they are pretty weak, so you’ll be better off using the auxiliary jack to use an external pair of speakers.

There aren’t a whole lot of extras with this projector, like a remote, but if portability is key, the Sony MP-CL1 is the device for you. The price doesn’t hurt either, with the MP-CL1 currently priced at around $350.