What are the Top 3 Outdoor Projectors?

Projectors have two ways you can realistically measure brightness: in lumens or in nits. Lumens are more common, but brightness in general matters because projectors have to project light strongly enough that it overcomes ambient light without losing detail or color.

Most of the time, a projector is going to be used in a fairly dark room to help give the unit the best chance of displaying content the way it was intended, but higher lumens output let you watch content in progressively bright spaces – or across longer distances on bigger screens. For standard dynamic range content, we recommend at least 1000 lumens for most home applications, but more isn’t a bad thing, and 3000 lumens or more are ideal.

Mini projectors have to actually be “portable”mini”, and one way to confirm that is by looking at the measurements of the projector. Height gives you a decent idea of where you can set a projector, particularly if you want to stow it in a bag or place it on a set of shelves.

We don’t have a specific recommended size for height; you simply need the projector be short enough to suit your needs, which varies depending what kind of storage solution you have for the projector.

Width is just as important as height when it comes to mini projectors. Get too wide and you’ll run into significant issues with being able to place the projector wherever you want, which is the whole point of getting a mini projector.

We don’t have a recommended size for width; you just need the projector to have a small enough footprint that you can put it wherever you want to or need to.

Projectors make noise when they’re running, and if the noise level is high, it’s going to start cutting into the content you’re watching. This is distracting, so the quieter a projector can run, the better.

That said, there’s no real “ideal” noise level for your projector, it just shouldn’t exceed 40 dB. For reference, a typical conversation is about 60 dB.

Projectors can produce images of varying sizes, and the maximum screen size is as the name suggests: the maximum size screen a projector can output. Anything larger and you start to lose focus and quality.

We don’t recommend a maximum screen size for most applications unless you’re trying to use a projector for a church or outdoors on something like a garage wall. Generally speaking, you should opt for a maximum screen size that is no larger than what you’d realistically try to project. You don’t have to avoid projectors with large screen sizes, but there’s no reason to pay extra if, for example, that’s the only difference between the two choices you’ve narrowed things down to.