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I have been that person, several times, struggling to get my laptop to work with someone else’s projector so that I could give a presentation. Thanks to the Pocket Projector Pro, sent to me to review by Brookstone, I may never be in that frustrating position again.
The Pocket Projector Pro is a small (less than 5” on each side, and about an inch high), light, super-portable projector that can connect to just about any device. It comes with enough cables and adapters to connect out of the box to most Android and Windows tablets, Android phones, and laptops.
It’s worth noting, however, that if you want to use it with Apple products you will have to buy an adapter.
The projector also comes with an AC adapter and two plugs – one for the US, one for European outlets (this was definitely designed with travelers in mind). Connecting to my Surface was very easy with the included micro HDMI adapter, and I was ready to go.
The projector has a speaker that I think would be loud enough for a boardroom, but not for watching a movie – you’d want to hook it up to an external speaker via the headphone jack (every Bluetooth speaker I own has an input for connecting this way with a cable, which is usually included with the speaker).
There’s a manual focus dial on top of the projector, as well as volume buttons and a keystone adjustment button. What is keystone adjustment? It’s a really cool feature which allows you to project up onto a wall at an angle (up to 40 degrees), and the projector corrects the picture so that it still looks rectangular, not skewed.
Keystone Correction, before and after:
However, in order to get that angle, you’ll have to prop the front of the projector up on a book. Some kind of simple kickstand would have been a fantastic addition to this product – the lack of one is my only real complaint. They do sell one here, and it comes with a case for the projector as well.
The picture was bright and crisp, even when I pulled the projector all the way to the back of the room. The lighter the wall color, the brighter the picture. Even just hanging a white sheet on a wall would make a great screen – you don’t need anything fancy.
The great thing about this projector is that it doesn’t have to be far away from the wall in order to get a big picture. You can put it six feet away and project a 60” HD picture. This would enable you to put it on a coffee table in front of your family, instead of having to mount it behind you to keep heads out of the way. If you do want to put the projector farther away, you can still get an HD image up to 100 inches!
The lights supposedly last for 20,000 hours, basically meaning that you could do a two-hour presentation every weekday for about 40 years until the bulb ran out.
The projector comes with a drawstring carrying bag, but I’m not sure if it’s meant to hold the projector or the cables and plug – it definitely doesn’t hold both. Not a big deal if you’re only using it at home, but if you’re going to take this on the road I’d recommend a more durable case to keep it safe.
So, to sum up, I think that this is a fantastic projector for a frequent traveler or for someone who does a lot of presentations. It can give you great movie options in your house if you have a good set-up for it, but if you’re not traveling with it and size isn’t a factor you might be able to get more for your money with a bigger projector. This was definitely designed with a road warrior in mind and I think a traveling business person would be thrilled with its performance.
You can buy the Pocket Projector Pro at Brookstone and on Brookstone.com.
See it in action here: