Anker has come up with the crazy idea of combining a laser projector with a hefty, portable party speaker on wheels, creating a device that can throw up big-screen images on any surface with thumping sounds guaranteed.
Unveiled at IFA 2025 in Berlin, the device is called the Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro, and it’s basically just a combination of a customized Soundcore party speaker and Anker’s popular Nebula X1, which was released in April and is one of the brightest 4K portable projectors that money can buy.
The result is something that looks more like R2D2 than it does a media playing device, with the Anker Nebula X1 housed right inside the upright, rectangular wheeled chassis, which houses a pair of dual 80-watt 5.25-inch wireless subwoofers that fold out, and supports wireless surround sound for some seriously thunderous bass effects.
According to Anker, the Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro is the first portable projector that supports both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos audio, with a pair of 40-watt wireless rear speakers that stick out of the chassis helping to create more atmospheric surround sound effects. When not being used for movies, it can instead be used as a Bluetooth speaker.
One major benefit of having wireless speakers is they can be popped out of the main chassis and placed anywhere, creating a true surround sound effect.
The projector unit is exactly the same as the Anker Nebula X1, by all accounts, as it features the company’s proprietary LaserForge 2.0 projection technology, which is based on a 4K triple-laser optical engine. It’s extremely powerful, delivering 3,500 ANSI lumens of brightness, while the picture covers an impressive 110% of the Rec.2020 colour spectrum. Anker says the images have a native contrast ratio of 5,000:1, while dynamic contrast hits 56,000:1. There’s also some AI smarts to help simplify setup, adjusting the size of the image to fit the surface, auto-focus, while the adaptive brightness and adaptive contrast help further optimise it.
The sturdy rolling wheels at the base of the Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro and the rugged, retractable handle should ensure it can easily be moved around and into position, despite its 33 kilogram weight. It should stand up fairly well to the elements, with IP43-rated water and dust resistance.
Anker said the Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro is going to launch on Kickstarter later this month, and anyone who fancies one is going to have to stump up between $4,000 and $5,000 (between £2,970 to £3,685) to get their name on the pre-order list.
It’s not known exactly when the Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro will ship, but Anker said it’s targeting retail availability for March 2026, so Kickstarter pledgers may get it a little earlier than that.
