The Anker Nebula Mars 3 projector is available to pre-order in regions including the U.K., North America and Europe. It’s a portable and fairly bright projector with a five-hour battery that makes it ideal for outdoors viewing, and can be purchased from the company’s own website or Amazon for just over a grand.
Anker is a Chinese electronics brand that has already made a number of popular portable projectors, and the Mars 3 promises to be no different with double the peak brightness of its predecessor, the Mars 2 Pro, at 1,000 lumens.
With its 185Wh battery, Anker promises that the Anker Nebula Mars 3 LED projector will last for up to five hours while delivering local or online playback at 1080p resolution. This is, however, achieved with the projector operating in Eco Mode, which is a low-power mode that reduces the brightness to just 300 lumens. Still, it’s notably longer-lasting than the company’s previous portable projectors, including the Capsule 3. In Standard Mode, the battery life is reduced to just two hours of playtime at the maximum of 1,000 lumens. Of course, users can always plug the thing into the wall socket to enjoy unlimited use.
Other features include a “Smart AI System” that automatically adjusts brightness based on the ambient conditions around it. So, it will try to maintain a balance between brightness and battery life, optimising the picture to ensure it can be seen clearly without squeezing too much juice. The Intelligence Sensor helps to perform keystone correction, autofocus and screen fit in just seconds, making it simple to project onto various surfaces without the need for a projector screen. In terms of image size, the Nebula Mars 3 can throw up an impressive 200-inch picture if necessary. However, Anker says the best image quality is achieved at between 80- and 150-inches.
Going by Anker’s marketing materials, the Nebula Mars 3 is aimed at outdoorsy types who might want to watch a movie while out camping, for example. To that end, the projectors is rated as IPX3 water and dust resistant, enabling it to operate in light drizzle with no issues. It’s also drop resistant from a distance of half a metre, and has a height-adjustable stand that enables it to be set up on an uneven surface.
There’s a sturdy-looking handle for carrying the thing, and the device has basic volume and sound controls as well as a directional pad for navigating menus. With regards to sound, it’s equipped with three 40-watt Dolby Audio speakers which eliminates the need to heave an external speaker into the wild whenever you go camping. It can also function purely as a listening device, in which case the battery will last up to 15 hours. Users can also plug other devices into it and charge them, as if it were a battery pack.
Android TV 11 is built-in, providing tons of content options so if you can get a signal, there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t go streaming Netflix shows in the woods. Chromecast is also supported, and Google Assistant provides voice command functionality.
In terms of connectivity, the Anker Nebula Mars 3 has built-in WiFi, two USB ports, a single HDMI slot and a 3.5 millimetre AUX output for connecting an external speaker. Bluetooth is also supported for those who want to connect a speaker wirelessly.
Anker said the Nebula Mars 3 is available to buy now, with a price tag of £1,099 in the U.K.
