If you want something that's small enough to fit in a coat pocket or a small bag that will allow projection onto a wall then Optoma has a range of tiny projectors that may be ideal.

Product Overview

Overall rating:

87%
Overall score:87%

Pros:

  • Small and light, easy to use, good connectivity, reasonably bright projected image

Cons:

  • Projected image not an accurate rendering of original, quite pricey for casual use

Product:

Optoma Pico PK320

Price as reviewed:

£350.00

Digital Projectors are the modern version of the slide projector, and like their analogue predecessors tend to be quite heavy and bulky – certainly too big to carry around, unless you have a car. But if you want something that’s small enough to fit in a coat pocket or a small bag that will allow projection onto a wall then Optoma has a range of tiny projectors that may be ideal.


The top of the range PK320 is little bigger than a compact camera and weighs just 250g. The built-in media player can handle jpegs, a variety of movie file formats, as well as Powerpoint, Excel and Word documents, but if you plug it into a computer it will of course show whatever your computer has on its screen. When it comes to connections the PK320 leaves nothing to chance, providing USB, HDMI, VGA and composite connections so you can plug almost anything into it, including your phone or card reader, and there’s also a built-in Micro SD card slot.


Easy to use, its 100 lumen LED light source can project an image up to 150 inches wide, with a decent screen. It can do so for up to 1.5 hours from the rechargeable battery, or it can run off the mains.

The PK320 does a good job but isn’t a substitute for a full-size projector and if colour accuracy is important you should look elsewhere. The colour and contrast in the images projected don’t necessarily match those displayed on the laptop screen, and while there are fine-tuning controls in the set-up menu, they aren’t sophisticated enough for critical adjustment. Also, the depth of focus is very small so you need to keep the projector level, otherwise you’ll be able to get either the top or the bottom of the image sharp using the focus ring around the lens but not both.

www.optoma.co.uk

Verdict

Overall, the PK320 is an excellent portable solution for small group business presentations, showing off your pictures or videos on the road, or even for turning your hotel room into a cinema when you're on holiday.