CNET’s key takeaways
- Anker’s Nebula Mars 3 Air is a compact portable projector with a reasonable $599 price (and currently on sale for $470).
- Despite its size, it delivers a bright picture and loud audio for a portable projector. It can even double as a Bluetooth speaker.
- Its size is great for backyard movie nights or car camping, but might be a little large for backpackers.
I recently took an epic road trip through a land of giants, and there’s only one compact projector I would take with me to complete my camping experience.
Anker’s Nebula Mars 3 Air made my nights at Kings Canyon National Park, home of the world’s largest grove of sequoia trees, even more picturesque, without taking up too much space.
I review projectors for CNET, and I’ve also built a DIY campervan, so I know that a lot of the best portable projectors sacrifice too much for their size. Not this one. With the side of my van (which is conveniently white) doubling as a screen, I rewatched some episodes of Andor I’d downloaded from Disney Plus after the sun went down at the campsite, capping off a beautiful day in nature with the right mix of bright picture, loud audio and portability.
If you want to watch a movie with the family while camping, and crowding around an iPad doesn’t cut it — this is the way to go.
PORTABLE PROJECTOR DEALS OF THE WEEK
Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.
My experience with the Mars 3 Air
As far as performance goes, the Mars 3 Air does quite well for its size and price. In my lab, I measured a contrast ratio of 405:1, which isn’t amazing, but it’s better than most portable projectors. That means the image doesn’t look washed out or flat. (You can see all my testing data in my guide to the best portable projectors.)
Sound-wise, the 3 Air’s two 8-watt speakers play loudly, offering performance similar to many Bluetooth speakers, which is fitting since it can also double as a Bluetooth speaker.
The battery life is good as well. You should be able to get around 2.5 hours of playtime for video and 8 hours if you’re using it as a Bluetooth speaker. Disappointingly, it can’t recharge via USB, so you’ll need to connect to AC power to charge it.
The side of my campervan makes for a decent impromptu projector screen.
What makes the Mars 3 Air the best portable projector option for camping trips is how it does everything well without doing anything particularly poorly. It’s also very easy to use.
It runs on a full version of Google TV, so it has access to all the typical streaming services. Many portable projectors only have some streaming apps, and if they do support some streaming apps, they might not support the full versions of the apps, which can make portable projectors harder to use.
Keep in mind that the easiest way to watch shows and movies on the Mars 3 Air is to make your phone a hotspot. If you don’t have service where you are, like in many national parks, you need to download shows and movies ahead of time. This can only be done via a mobile device connected with HDMI, and sometimes not even then, depending on your phone. Something else you’ll want to keep in mind: This projector doesn’t show full frame with a USB-to-HDMI.
The specs
- Native resolution: 1080p
- Lumens spec: 400
- Lamp life: LED
- HDMI inputs: 1
- USB port: 1
- Audio output: Headphone output
- Internet: 2.4/5GHz
- Battery life: 2.5 hours
While you wouldn’t want to backpack with it, the Mars 3 Air is compact and shorter than my Jetboil MiniMo camp stove.
CNET’s buying advice
The Mars 3 Air is the best all-around portable projector because it does most things well, some things really well and almost nothing wrong. It looks good, sounds good and doesn’t take up a lot of space.
There are two other options I want to talk about that might be better in certain situations. The first is Anker’s own Capsule Air. It’s the size of a soda can, making it even more portable than the Mars 3 Air. It also has Google TV built in, is battery powered, can double as a Bluetooth speaker and (unlike the Mars 3 Air) it can charge via USB-C. That means you can have longer viewing sessions between charges as long as you have a battery bank. It’s dimmer and can’t play as loud as the Mars 3 Air, however.
The other option is the AAXA M8. It’s also much smaller than the Mars 3 Air, and significantly brighter and cheaper. Overall, it looks quite good, though its colors are pretty strange. It also has extremely loud fans, and the streaming options are far more limited. If you want to create larger-than-TV-sized images on the go and don’t mind screaming little fans while you’re watching, the M8 might work better for you than the Mars 3 Air.
The Anker Mars 3 Air is the best overall, though, and it’s the one I’ll be taking with me on my next trip.
