For travel and watching movies in nature: Review of the portable projector ViewSonic M1 mini

Portable projectors are becoming a popular choice for family outdoor activities or long travels. They allow you to project your favorite cartoons, movies or TV series on the ceiling of a sleeping car or on the side of a tent in a deserted forest. Children will be delighted, and adults may well succumb to romantic moods.

The last couple of years in our local market, the most famous mini projector has been CINEMOOD from immigrants from Skolkovo, and now other solutions are beginning to catch up in the growing segment, for example M1 mini from company ViewSonic

APPEARANCE AND DELIVERY

The ViewSonic M1 mini comes in a thick, multi-colored cardboard box that opens like a casket. Inside is the projector itself in yellow paint and two interchangeable color panels in green and gray. Also included are instructions in several languages, remote control and USB A – Type-C lanyard.

The projector can be charged from standard chargers and can be operated in standalone mode for up to an hour and a half.

All control and navigation through the menu is carried out exclusively using the remote control. If you lose it, it will be impossible to start the projector.

The ViewSonic M1 mini has a scroll wheel and outputs for flash drives and memory cards. The device has 16 gigabytes of internal memory inside, where you can record multimedia content. Also, the projector works via HDMI with computers or game consoles. We tested the M1 with the PlayStation 5.

The model went on sale in Russia in the summer of June 28 this year. The recommended price in our country is 17 390 rubles.

JOB

The projector weighs about 300 grams and is considered as compact as possible. The leg, which is also a 360-degree lid, serves as a protective mechanism for the lamp, in which, unlike the older models, the mercury solution was abandoned. Inside the M1 mini is an LED source, which, according to the creators, can work up to 30 thousand hours.

The pride of the creators is a 2W speaker from JBL. It sounds acceptable for a portable solution. Other specifications are as follows:

  • Hardware Resolution: 854×480
  • Brightness (LED Lumens): 120 Lumens
  • Contrast Ratio: 500: 1
  • Number of colors: 1.07 billion colors
  • Light Source Life: LED
  • Light source life (standard mode): up to 30,000
  • Lamp Power: LED RGB
  • Lenses: F = 1.7, f = 7.5mm
  • Projector Lens Shift: 0 +/- 5%
  • Throw Ratio: 1.2
  • Optical Zoom: Fixed
  • Image size: 24 “-100”
  • Distance from the projector to the screen: 0.64-2.66 m
  • (39 “at 1m)
  • Keystone Correction: +/- 40 ° (vertical)
  • Audible Noise (Standard): 26dB
  • Audible Noise (Eco): 25dB
  • Supported Resolution: VGA (640 x 480) to FullHD (1920 x 1080)
  • HDTV Compatible: 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
  • Horizontal frequency: 15 Hz – 135 kHz
  • Vertical scan rate: 23 ~ 120Hz

entrance

  • HDMI: 1
  • USB Type A: 1 (USB2.0 read, power split)
  • Micro USB: 1 (DC input)

Output

  • Speaker: 2W Cube x 1
  • USB Type A (Power): 1 (USB 2.0 – 5V / 1A, shared with USB for reading)

As I noted above, we tested the M1 mini in conjunction with the PlayStation 5. Although the manufacturer claims support for 1080p, the native resolution for the projector remains 480p. Therefore, the games do not look the way we expect from the latest generation consoles. For games on heavy-duty hardware, you should opt for larger and more powerful devices. When projected at 100 inches, most of the brightness and palette is lost, so the optimal solution for twilight is the option of 28-30 inches.

Launching a cartoon, movie or TV series is a task for the M1 mini. The truth here is another not very positive nuance – the projector makes a lot of noise during operation. You can tolerate this if you raise the sound level. Otherwise, like a toy for travel – it will do just fine, but do not forget to get portable batteries. Without them, the ViewSonic M1 mini will only last for an hour and a half.

Author: Alexander Loginov (XTR)

Read also: OPPO Enco W11 Inexpensive TWS Earbuds Review

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