A Tiny Projector That Shines Best in the Dark

Ideally, a portable projector has everything it needs to watch a movie, self-contained, while remaining small and easy to travel with. The Anker Nebula Capsule 3 gets really close to this ideal state because of its Google TV software, 2.5-hour battery life, and decently loud speaker, but its brightness level is a weak point and might be a little too dim to use anywhere.

The Capsule 3 Is Ultra-Portable

The prime reason to buy the Capsule 3 is its compact, all-inclusive design. It has built-in speakers, a battery that’s long enough for most movies, and streaming software, all within the size of a small Gatorade bottle. (You can see how it compares to a 12-ounce can of La Croix.) Unless you’re putting it on a tripod or plugging it into power, there’s nothing else it needs. It features a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, has HDMI input, an 8W speaker, can do front or rear projection, and weighs under two pounds.

It’s a little too big to be pocketable but incredibly small for a projector. It got an “Oh, that’s cool” from people in my family when they saw its size in my hand. The Capsule 3 even has touch controls on top, so if the remote isn’t close by, you can still pause the movie or adjust the volume. On the surface, it’s a very neat device.

A Projector That Can Travel

I took the Nebula Capsule 3 on a weekend trip to see how it handled being on the road. Because the device is so portable and easy to move around or travel with, I do wish it came with a case or some kind of lens protection. Packaging it in a backpack with some of my other devices made me a little uneasy.

At the destination, I connected it to hotel Wi-Fi and was even able to authenticate a room number and access code with the remote’s “mouse mode.” It was a bit tedious, but it worked.

I do recommend some sort of small, table-top tripod. (There is one made for Capsule 3 for a premium price.) The Capsule 3’s size makes it versatile to place anywhere, but it could usually benefit from being angled up. Also, be aware that by default, each time the projector is moved, it will re-focus itself and do its keystone correction. (This can be turned off in the settings.)

The Capsule 3 has 200 ANSI lumens of brightness, which puts it on the lower end of most projectors. Its brightness is probably the biggest compromise of its compact frame. I did find the device to be brighter than I expected, but it still needs a fairly dark room to see all parts of a movie.

The Capsule 3 focused and leveled itself fast and accurately each time I used it. If it did need to adjust its corners or crop its picture to be smaller, it handled that automatically, too. Unfortunately, the light around the modified borders was still visible. This was especially noticeable in a completely dark room at night. It was a tiny bit distracting to see skewed lines around the outside of the picture, but overall, it wasn’t a dealbreaker.

Although there’s no reason the projector can’t be used outside, it will need to be completely dark, even more so than when used indoors. There are a lot of variables, but I’ve found that even at dusk and just after sunset can still be tough as the picture gets washed out outdoors.

On the trip, my original plan was to stream content from my iPad to the projector, but I had trouble casting to it wirelessly over hotel Wi-Fi. This is almost certainly because these networks are typically set up to keep devices from seeing one another. Even with my iPad and Capsule 3 on the same network, the Netflix app couldn’t see the device to cast to it. If this is your primary use case, I would simply recommend picking up an HDMI cable.

Google TV Is Good But Has Its Problems

The idea of casting to it is a little silly anyway because each time I tried to at home, it still wanted me to sign in to the app on Capsule 3. The Google TV software on the projector can handle nearly every streaming capability natively, so there’s little point in using two devices instead of just controlling it from Capsule 3. When I did get casting to work, there was some buffering and pauses that were not present when using the native apps.

To state the obvious, Google TV isn’t perfect. In this case, it has a lot of settings that are buried. For example, seeing the battery percentage requires digging four or five menu levels deep. The projector-specific and Google TV settings are also intermingled, which can be a little confusing at first. This is less of a concern in the long run with more familiarity.

I did also experience some occasional stuttering. There’s a quad-core ARM CPU and a dedicated GPU inside, along with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, which seems adequate to run Google TV, so I don’t know where the culprit was for the occasional freezing and buffering—I doubt it was my 2GB home internet connection.

Still, even though Google TV has its rough patches, it is worlds better than the custom software that some projectors include. Those projectors rarely get updated and usually only support one or two streaming services you pay for. They’re weird and buggy. Here, Google TV keeps the Capsule 3 as modern as possible, which should mean decent software support for the immediate future.

Battery Life

Each time I used the Capsule 3 on battery power, I was able to make it through a full movie. I started watching “You Hurt My Feelings” with a battery level of 86%, and when I finished the 93-minute movie, it was at 12%.

When the Capsule 3 was fully charged, I made it through the 87-minute “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and then about 50 to 60 minutes into “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” before the projector died. Whenever I used the projector, I also opted for the standard brightness level versus the less bright eco mode.

Price and Availability

The Nebula Capsule 3 retails for $549. If you like everything it offers but think you’ll need more brightness, there’s also the Nebula Mars 3 Air, which retails for $599. Despite being a little bulkier and heavier, it offers 400 ANSI lumens of brightness but the same 1080p resolution and 2.5 hours of battery life.

Should You Buy the Anker Nebula Capsule 3?

The Anker Nebula Capsule 3 projector offers a lot of capabilities packed inside a palmable-sized canister. In my use, it performed about as well as I expected it to. It’s not quite the watch-anywhere device it might seem like from its promotional material, simply because its brightness can’t handle lighter areas.

But if you don’t mind hunting for the shadowy corners of a room during the day or waiting until nightfall, then there’s not much to dislike about what this projector can do. It’s a solid value from a reputable brand with modern software onboard.

Anker Nebula Capsule 3 Mini Projector

$500 $550 Save $50

Ultra-Portable Cinema Experience: Transform any space into a movie theater with this outdoor projector’s 120-inch max screen size, offering an unparalleled portable viewing experience in a pocket-size design that is 50% smaller than comparable models.