ViewSonic M1 mini Plus Pocket LED Ultra-Portable Projector with integrated JBL Audio, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, WVGA, 120 Lumens, HDMI, USB, Compatible with TV Sticks & Gaming Consoles, in 3 Colours

I bought the ViewSonic M1+ Projector 12 months ago and I am very pleased that I did. For all the features it provides, it is certainly great value for money. It is portable, weighing 700g and measuring 5.9 x 4.9 x 1.5 inches. It has a stylish design that is also practical. Its metal stand doubles as a lens cover. When the lens is uncovered, the projector is instantly switched on. All the ports are easily accessible. This short-throw projector provides up to 1080p resolution, but with ViewSonic’s Cinema SuperColor+ technology, the picture quality is enhanced to produce realistic colours. For such a small device, it can project images onto screen sizes 60, 80, and 100 inches!I found the built-in battery to be a bonus as most projectors do not have one. As it can run up to 6 hours on a full charge, it is ideal for outdoor use. The projector’s interface is very user-friendly; it has an Auto Keystone feature that corrects distorted images. This device has both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. I can connect my Amazon Fire TV Stick, Blu-ray Player, and external hard drive to the device. I have also used it to stream videos from my phone and tablet. The Remote Control is well-designed, sturdy and practical.The Harman Kardon dual speakers are simply awesome! The cinema-sound experience is so satisfying that I never need to connect my Dolby Atmos sound system! There is a Movie mode, Music mode, and User mode for customising sound to my own preference. The projector can also be used as a Bluetooth Speaker in which to play music from other devices! To add to its many advantages, the projector has up to 30,000 hours of light source life.

The Viewsonic M1 is a pretty good all-in-one package and it isn't difficult to list a number of its great features.1. The picture is generally very good. It is sharp and in good focus across the screen.2. Image brightness and colour seem to be very uniform across the image.3. A lot of image adjustments are available, some on-screen (i.e. the image can be adjusted while watching: colour, hue, sharpness and 3-d functions only).4. The on-board sound is convincing and loud enough for me. No need for additional speakers.5. The rotating stand works very well and is quite stable even with cables attached. It holds the projector at any angle without slipping, is easily and rapidly adjustable and allows a lot of versatility in where to project (including the ceiling). It does rely on standing on a level surface, but there is a tripod mount where this is difficult. Amongst othe places, I've had it stood stably on a cushion tray at the end of the bed. The auto turn on/off when the stand is rotated is a neat feature.6. Rapid set-up is helped by the automatic keystone, which works very well.7. The battery life between charges is long. The claimed six hours in battery saving mode seems about right and you can get through a movie at high brightness levels. The battery also charges while projecting; some don't. The battery is a boon in such a portable package but also a possible drawback as it could well limit the device life. It is not user-replaceable and might not be cost-effective to return for service replacement, even if this is possible. Unfortunately, the specifications don't give any idea of the life-expectancy of the battery, possibly understandably as it might depend on how it is used. It is worth asking yourself whether you really need this level of self-contained operation - it is surprisingly useful though.8. There is a useful charge level indicator on the back of the device.9. The USB port can power a Fire stick or other streaming device (drawing up to 1 amp), even in battery mode, making a self-contained streaming unit.10. The cooling fan noise is very subdued. It is inaudible to me until the unit is about foot from my ear, and my hearing isn't particularly poor.11. The remote sensor is on the front of the device and responds well when the remote is directed at the projection screen, rather than the projector, at least at the distances where this short-throw projector is likely to be used. This is much more practical and flexible than having the sensor on the back where cables get in the way of the beam. The remote works well and is reasonably ergonomic.12. There is a good array of modern inputs, including USB-C.13. You get some useful items in the box: a soft case and USB-C cable.14. There is a native Office suite on-board, with functions like scrolling and slide movement via the remote. The projector is bright enough to make a 40-60 inch presentation in subdued light, i.e. in enough light to take notes by, rather than in total darkness. Total darkness is best for films and TV though (unless you are happy with a very small screen).15. Given that the device can easily be picked up and waved about the automatic lamp shutoff could be quite useful. The projector could also be used at close quarters for (say) tracing artwork where the shutoff could save your eyesight - or possibly be a little annoying depending on how close to your hand or surrounding surfaces get to the sensor. In this case, there is an option to suspend auto-shutoff.16. The construction seems high quality. It is reassuringly solid.17. It is backed by a reputable company with a support team and a 2-year warranty, though for some reason this is a year less than that in the US. The product is firmware upgradeable by a not-too-difficult process should any further upgrades be made.18. The instructions say it is 3-d compatible. I've put this last as I probably won't use it.Doubtless there are other features that I have not yet noticed. The projector may be one of the higher priced WVGA offerings, but it is a solid, chic-looking all-in-one solution. That being said there are bound to be compromises in putting such a package together. The following are some acceptable compromises (or non-essential improvements).1. The device really could do with brightness and contrast controls in the on-screen display (OSD). You can control hue, sharpness and saturation from the OSD while watching video. Adding brightness/contrast would be very useful a device such as this. The reason is that ambient light affects the picture a lot and you end up wanting to adjust these more often than on a normal TV. It is a real hassle to have get out of the video, get into menu mode, guess what brightness and contrast are needed (a tonal panel at the bottom left helps a bit), get out of the menus, back into video … and then repeat the process if it not quite right. There are also three ways of adjusting brightness, which introduces further complication here.2. There is a faint circle of stray light well outside the picture area. I think that it is scatter from the case around the lens. Baffling this area might help – but then it would not look so chic. It isn’t a problem really.3. The focus wheel is quite sensitive; a millimetre or so can take it off focus. This appears to be a common issue with the small focus wheels on portable devices. I didn't have any problems but perhaps not easy for those with slight unsteadiness.4. The PowerPoint version installed is not 100% compatible so you don’t always see what was originally generated on a PC. Native PowerPoint is a handy feature though, and the occasional reformatting is easy to work round by suitable preparation and rehearsal. There may be compatibility issue with the other Office packages - I haven't checked. But it is certainly better to have them than not.5. As with all DLP projectors with a single DMD chip, there are sometimes rainbow artifacts if you are sensitive to them (I am, but many are not). It is difficult to get away from this.6. Because the projector is at its best in the dark, an illuminated remote would be useful. You eventually memorise which buttons are which, and fortunately the OSD button is the big one in the middle, but there is some frustration beforehand.7. There is a headphone socket but no on-board Bluetooth for remote audio. However, the on-board speakers are very good and remote speakers can be connected, if desired, via the Bluetooth on any attached streaming device (e.g. Firestick).8. Though it handles all sorts of inputs, the native resolution of this device is WVGA (854 x 480). However, the picture quality is very good and, apart from a very few instances, I can't say that I have noticed the lack of higher resolution.There are also a couple of compromises that take a bit more getting used to (for me, anyway).1. Projected images are surrounded by a light outer frame (a few inches in width on a 50 inch picture) that makes it look like you are watching a TV with a greyish bezel as shown in the attached screenshot. This frame does not keystone with the picture, with the result that at moderate tilts you have the appearance of watching a movie/TV show on a large trapezoidal TV set. It is particularly noticeable during dark scenes, such as the example; the light ones tend to swamp with light reflected round the room it or at least focus attention back to the rectangular movie area. Projecting onto a screen sized to the picture area, rather than a wall, would remove or alleviate this, and it can also be made less noticeable in some circumstances by setting an appropriate picture brightness. I'm told that this frame is an unavoidable side-effect of the DMD chip in DLP projectors, but it is the first time I've noticed it. I have another, otherwise inferior, portable that does not show it.2. Despite the claimed contrast ratio, shadow detail is not great. For example, the dark scenes in Sweeney Todd (and it is mostly dark scenes) weren't handled particularly well no matter what adjustments I made. Darks are difficult for projectors, but it is possible to do a bit better in a portable format.Notwithstanding these issues, if you want something to watch the football at night on a big screen or give presentations to small groups in subdued lighting, with the convenience of needing no mains power, then you've come to the right place.

This product is so good, I bought it twice. I broke my first one through stupidity and negligence, note to all purchasers, don't place it anywhere that it may fall several metres onto gravel. My second one has been just as good as the first and it hasn't fallen off my window sill (yet). I've seen a lot of other reviews complaining about the inbuilt software, screencasting and Bluetooth issues. I can assure you these reviewers are just not trying hard enough to solve their own problems. Get yourself a Firestick or just get a HDMI cable and plug the projector in to your laptop/phone/Switch/anything else portable. It's a display device, not a computer. You can't expect this thing to browse the web, pull up applications, download and update softwares. It DOES all those things, but not very well. Plug in a device that can do those things PROPERLY and you'll find yourself enjoying your purchase a lot more. I project mine onto my bedroom ceiling and I lie in bed playing games and watching movies. In the past I've taken it camping and done a similar thing on the ceiling of my tent. A power bank with the right adapter solves the problem of tents not having plug sockets in them. A full battery will last 8+ hours on Eco mode, and about 5 on full brightness mode. That's plenty of time for a couple of movies if traveling with it. The screencasting is so unbelievably easy, it's a 3 step job and it tells you how to do it on the display. I've only ever run into problems when my internet is bad and that's not the projector's fault. There can sometimes be a bit of audio lag when screencasting but it's never more than a 1 second delay. I have a high end PC with a 4k monitor and yet I still spend more time watching/playing on my projector because of the comfort and portability. It is easily my favourite piece of technology I own.With a couple of other cheap purchases, you can maximize the potential of this product fully but even without those purchases, it is a great product if you are persistent enough to navigate the inbuilt software. And let's be honest, if you're in the market for a portable projector, a tricky UI is probably the only inconvenience you'll face all week