See your favorite movies and shows in even greater detail with the 500 ANSI lumen LED lamp. The Mars II Pro has a built-in rechargeable battery with a massive 12,500mAh capacity. Did you know? After enjoying this product for about 9 months, something went wrong and it wouldn't start up. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Welcome to Nebula! There is almost no visible difference in quality between DLP and LCD today. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. On the contrary! It is built well with adequate padding and a nylon exterior. I love the size of it though - it fits easily on my nightstand, and we do movie night in bed, on a big projected screen. We don't share your information with anybody else. I currently focus my testing efforts on 3D printers, pro and productivity displays, and drives and SSDs of all sorts. The fan noise is audible, but at a frequency and volume that isnt annoying - sort of like a low whoosh - definitely tolerable, even with using just the built-in speaker at a low volume. But there are a few differences between them. Yet, its number of input options, including USB and microSD, won my heart because that meant not having to bring along a laptop to play a movie from. PCMag, PCMag.com and PC Magazine are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. Although this isNOT ACCURATEbecause of the many factors involved that affect brightness, it provides a generic reference to which to compare products by. I researched projectors for a while before I went ahead and bought this one. There were some issues and limitations that held me back from giving this product a perfect score, but one can hope that Anker will address some through a future firmware upgrade. USA: 1-800-988-7973Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM (PT)International Markets. We often sit back a good ways from the projector, and while the built-in sound is fine for me, my husband is kind of hard of hearing. I've been able to watch Netflix, Disney+, Hbomax, Amazon Prime, and Youtube with no problems. Like so many of its recent peers, the projector doubles as a Bluetooth speaker system, in this case a powerful stereo setup combining a pair of 10-watt speakers. For a very long time, the lack of an apple-to-apple comparison between projector brightness had been a source of frustration. The website cannot function properly without these cookies. If that changes, I'll update this review, but I don't suspect I'll need to. PCMag Digital Group. Your subscription has been confirmed. By using this site, you agree to its use of cookies. In testing, I streamed video and viewed photos and web pages over an HDMI connection, played music and video, and viewed photos, stored on a USB thumb drive. I, Generally, manufacturers will tell you that mixing different brands is not recommended, Thanks for this helpful review. Since 2004, I have worked on PCMags hardware team, covering at various times printers, scanners, projectors, storage, and monitors. And they even sent out a replacement unit that same day so I wouldn't have any downtime. I've also written a host of articles about astronomy, space science, travel photography, and astrophotography for PCMag and its past and present sibling publications (among them, Mashable and ExtremeTech), as well as for the PCMag Digital Edition. Lets take a look! The entertainment-oriented Anker Nebula Mars II Pro has good brightness, resolution, and image quality for a mini projector, and it doubles as a Bluetooth sound system. Among all the projectors I had tested over the years, last years ManyBox V501 was our favorite: it was small, decently bright, did not draw too much energy from a portable battery station, but suffered from speakers that were tinny and only adequately loud for a small room setting. Once that arrived, I put my old unit back in the box and sent it (with their free label). We live in a garden home neighborhood, which means we're close to our neighbors and their lights and have plenty of streetlights and other light pollution. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of PCMag. I like it, It's still "a thing" in July 2022. We often have the fire pit going or the lights on in the gazebo, and there's still a great clear picture. At a cost of $549, the decision to spend so much was not taken lightly. A better analogy, though, is a handheld lantern. Its ball head can be removed and attached to other tripods that have a standard screw mount. You've got a handle on portable projecting now. Take Mars II anywhere for a unique movie-watching experience every time. 10/10 would recommend! For an Anker 4K projector, check out our other reviews: Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K (portable) or Cosmos Max 4K(LED). Anker Nebula Mars II vs Mars II Pro: What Are the Differences? For the more cost-conscious owner, consider the slightly less expensive Aproca Hard Travel Case. Anker Nebula Mars II and Nebula Mars II Pro are both portable projectorss with leather handles. It claimed to have immersive, 360 degree sound through a single 5W speaker, Android 7.1 based apps, and up to 4 hours of playtime. Once your account has been created, you will be logged in with it. Former is slower than 5 GHz but has larger signal coverage and better compatibility with older devices, Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and Plex available by default through, Bluetooth pairing, Back, Volume Up/Down, Directional pad with center OK button, The physical volume control is VERY much appreciated, Some apps do not support directional movement and will require the use of the mouse, Gets triggered every time you move the project but can be turned off in Settings, Internal eMMC storage is only 8gb, leaving not much space for storing content or installing more apps, Does not recognize FAT-formatted USB flash drives. Although it is fine for taking on occasional trips and has a handle for toting, the Mars II Pros size and weight make it less portable than many of its peers, making it best suited as a home projector. The heavy price tag at times turned my smile into a worried frown of potentially having made a stupid, expensive buying decision, but the ability to install Android apps to stream video content and play games with powerful sound made for a very enjoyable, portable viewing experience. For example, when watching a movie, you want the black to be as deep/dark as possible without affecting the lighter parts of the scene. The 10% off code will be sent to your email! Measured vs Perceived Brightness (Helmholtz-Kohlrausch) /Viewsonic. Look for those that have ANSI or ISO Lumen numbers during your research. Without hesitation, Anker is a brand that I have come to trust for a long time. I'm sharing that so you understand how strongly I am praising this company. Speaking of Android, the Mars II Pro runs built-in Android 7.1, like the Anker Nebula Apollo. The company has since added several brands to its portfolio, including audio-focused Soundcore, Eufy smart home devices, Nebula video projectors, and ROAV car accessories. With all these projectors, I used a Roku Express 4K (great device by the way) and didnt rely on the built-in apps. Before the Nebula Mars II Pro, I bought and returned these other projectors: Nebula Capsule Max, BenQ GV30, Vankyo E30T (530W), and XGIMI Elfin. Notable upgrades the Mars II has over the original Capsule include: As I had shared earlier, I somewhat reluctantly purchased the Anker Nebula Mars II Pro after seeing how happy children were watching movies while camping in the backyard or going on a road trip. One notable observation over the years of having owned Anker products is their focus on excellent customer service. https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de. Furthermore, Viewsonic also points out that LED-based projectors produce higher, perceived brightness over older lamp ones despite having the same ANSI lumen rating. Auto (vertical 40) Manual (horizontal 40), Front Projection / Rear Projection / Front Inverted Projection / Rear Inverted Projection, Panasonic PT-FRZ680C vs Panasonic PT-BMX50C, Panasonic PT-SMZ78CL vs Panasonic PT-WZ3600, Paris Rhne 4K UST Laser Projector vs Dangbei Mars Pro. Photos looked very good, shining bright and with realistic colors. It makes it SO much easier to deal with logging into all the accounts and typing in your passwords if you're just shining it on the wall in your living room the night before movie night instead of trying to set everything up while everyone stares at you! Ahighercontrast ratio is generally better and can go as high as 10,000:1 (white is 10,000x brighter than black), though the human eye will have difficulty discerning the miniscule difference past a certain point. Those on a budget can find cheaper alternatives that accomplishes the same, basic concept of positioning the projected image, but keep in mind that they would likely be of lower quality and be heavier. It very much works like a decent quality tripod used by photographers by securing the Nebula onto a removable ball head. I highly recommend setting up all your accounts in the projector ahead of time. https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/anker-nebula-mars-ii-pro, Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. That made it a snug fit and eliminated any wobble. It was connected to a RAVPower 80W AC Power Bank, lasted nearly two hours, and made for a very, very happy son! Video was nearly free of the possibly distracting rainbow artifacts that we often see in the images of single-chip DP projectors. With twin 10-watt speakers, it doubles as a powerful Bluetooth sound system. This review will share our experience with the top-end projector from one of my favorite battery companies: Anker. A good ratio to look for should fall between 1,000:1 and 3,000:1. Connect and watch content from HDMI and USB devices or mirror content from your phone with Miracast. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time. Audio quality and speaker loudness is just under the BenQ but isnt polluted by the loud fan noise of the BenQ. Please agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. (See how we test projectors.). Also, the keystone correction on the Mars II Pro is limited to 40 degrees vertical and horizontal, which from where my projector is pointing this results in a bit of a trapezoidal shape on the ceiling even with the keystone correction at maximum levels.