5 Best WXGA HD Portable Compact Projectors Reviews

Are you a business person? Do you have to travel frequently? Do you have to take presentations and classes often? Then you will need a portable projector to make it all easier. Portable projectors have hit the market so strong now that anybody can show presentations or videos anywhere they go. There are many classifications in this category.

Pico projectors are small and lightweight with low brightness and performance. They are cheap also.

Palmtop projectors are lightweight but not smaller like pico. They have more brightness and high resolution.

LED based mini projectors are the new addition in portable projectors which features high brightness, image quality and compactness.

Usually these projectors come with internal memory or USB port to store data and to avoid the burden of carrying a laptop together.

Of course the first priority should be the dimensions and weight.

Then Quality: DLP based projectors are good for showing presentations and short video clips but tend to have rainbow artifacts.

"The "rainbow effect" reveals itself by a brief flash of colors when the viewer rapidly looks from side to side on the screen or looks rapidly from the screen to side of the room. These flash of colors look like small flickering rainbows."

LCD projectors do not have this problem. But they are heavier and bigger compared to DLP based.

DLP chip and LED light source can reduce rainbow artifacts and increase image quality.

The Resolution: Decide what resolution do you want. VGA resolutions (SVGA, DVGA, FWVGA etc.) are good for showing presentations and are inexpensive, but if you want to emphasize on details, you will need higher resolution than VGA. The next higher resolution is XGA (1024x768) and WXGA (1366x768 and similar) and after that full HD (1920x1080).

You don't need to spend much for getting full HD projectors for presentations and showing videos. It is most useful for movie lovers and gamers. It is better to stick with WXGA or XGA resolution.

WXGA is suitable with laptops having widescreen aspect ratio 16:10. This is the most common aspect ratio for business projectors.

Here is the list of best WXGA 720p portable projectors you can find on the market at the lowest price. Enjoy!

Acer introduced K335 as the lightest projector in the market. Weighing only 2.8 pounds, it is very light but not as compact as others in the list. It has a low profile and sits firmly on the surface. As it is an LED projector, it does not produce much heat, yet there is a heat sink on the left side for effective heat dissipation.

The projector is simple to set up but the operation is a little difficult. The buttons are inconsistent in their activation areas. The remote is useful in this case. Menu options and navigation is very easy in this model. There is a High altitude mode than gives maximum performance and Eco mode to reduce power consumption by dimming the light.

Speaking of picture quality, it is good but not great comparing to others in the list. K335’s maximum resolution is 1920x1080 full HD. Acer claims the image throw of K335 to be 30 to 100 feet but it gets pixilated after 20 feet. Different color presets are available for a quick change and 1 user settings to manually adjust everything. It features automatic keystone correction also.

The 3 watt mono speaker is good for presentations and all but it is not the loudest. Connectivity options are VGA, HDMI and single composite video input. There are 2 USB ports also. USB A for reading media from flash drive or WiFi adapter and USB B for connecting to laptop. There is a built in card reader for picture presentation from digital cameras.

Acer offers 1 year limited warranty for K335 which is pretty standard. Overall, this can be a good easy to use LED portable projector, but definitely not the best.

Rating: 7.8/10

List Price: $699.99 | Amazon Special Price: $590.33

Epson PowerLite 1761W is an ultra-light, cute and slim WXGA portable projector at affordable price. It has a rated brightness of 2600 lumens and 1280x800 resolution. It is based on 3LCD technology which was developed by Epson. It measures 2.1x11.5x8.3 inches and weighs 3.7 pounds. It comes with a carrying case which is very useful. One of the specialties of Epson PowerLite 1761W is its collection of inputs. It features VGA, HDMI, RCA Video, 2 USB A, 1 USB B and audio-in ports.

The image quality is excellent for a business projector although it remains so. Texts can be easily seen and is very clear. Video quality is also good as it is an LCD projector; it does not have any rainbow artifacts as seen in DLP projectors. You can present any length of video using the projector without losing clarity. The audio is a disappointment actually. The 1 watt speaker is good for small rooms but in a noisy environment like class rooms, it doesn’t perform well.

It has a lamp life of about 4000 hours which is pretty good for a business projector. The set up is easy as others in the list. It also provides WiFi connectivity and has automatic vertical keystone correction and Auto Screen Fit feature. Overall, this is a ultra-thin lightweight portable projector excellent for business use at affordable price.

Rating: 8.0/10

List Price:$799.99 | You Can Get it @ $676.45

InFocus IN1112a is an ultra light portable projector which has high brightness and 2 GB internal memory to make your presentations whole lot better. This DLP based projector has a rated brightness of 2,200 lumens and 1280x800 resolution. It is very easy to use, compact and lightweight. It measures 2.5x8.4x7.1 inches and weighs only 2.7 pounds.

The connectivity options are also quite good. It features HDMI, VGA, RCA composite, Audio-in and Audio-out, USB A, USB B and 2GB internal memory. You can also buy optional WiFi adapter at $29.

The projector has high image quality and sharp texts. Rainbow effects are there for long videos as it is common to DLP based projectors although it is not severe and it shouldn’t be a problem in data presentations. You can show short clips without loss of clarity.

Almost all portable projectors share the same fate when it comes to audio output, the 1-watt speakers are crappy. But you have the option to connect the projector to external speakers.

Overall, InFocus IN1112a is not good as Epson PowerLite 1761W in terms of video clarity, audio output and image quality but it is more compact and lightweight than 1761W. Video and audio quality aside, if portability and compactness is the main concern, go for InFocus IN1112an otherwise choose Epson PowerLite 1761W.

Rating:8.0/10

List Price:$1,099.00 | Grab this @ $899.99

The lightweight projector, W304M from Optoma is one of the best in the current projector market. It is DLP based which is better than LCD based projectors in the same class. It measures only 2.8x8.7x7.0 inches which is one of the most compact projectors. It also comes with a carrying case for easy transportation.

The set up is very easy and standard. There are only 3 connectivity options such as HDMI, VGA and composite video. The lack of USB port is a major drawback in case of portable projectors and this model is an example.

Optoma W304M has a longer lamp life (5000 hours in Eco Mode). The quality is pretty decent and the colors are clear and vivid with minimal noise. But another major drawback is that it shows rainbow artifacts with long videos. It is really annoying. Means W304M is not good to show long videos.

But it can be pretty good for presentations and the compactness makes it easier to carry around. Overall, this 3100 lumens DLP projector is good for business use and presentations which delivers more brighter images.

Rating: 8.4/10

List Price:$1,599.00 | Amazon Special Price:$741.95

InFocus LightPro IN11146 can be easily voted as the best compact portable projector on the market, thanks to the amazing image quality, brightness and affordable price tag. The projector is based on DLP with LED light and has WXGA resolution. It is lightest and slimmest in the list. It measures 1.8x6.9x5.4 inches and weighs only 1.3 pounds.

The set up is pretty basic and easy. It has a bundle of connectivity options such as HDMI, VGA, SD card slot, USB A, AV-in. You can purchase an optional WiFi dongle also. The buttons on the projector can be used to do every functions and it is a lot more useful than searching for remote every time.

The colors are bright, texts are clear and sharp. InFocus LightPro IN11146 is known for its high quality images and videos. Video quality is better than all the rivals for short or long period. It does not have any rainbow artifacts for videos.

The 2 watt speakers are good enough for small to medium rooms. You can also utilize an external audio system if you want more sound. Overall, InFocus LightPro IN11146 is best when it comes to connectivity, portability, image quality and price.

Rating:9.3/10

Price:$799.00 | Special Price:$609.99