There's nothing wrong with watching movies on a TV, but sometimes you might prefer to watch on a bigger screen and have a better viewing experience. This is where a projector comes in handy, and nothing beats a small, portable and affordable projector that you can take wherever you go. Vankyo Leisure 3 LED Projector is one such projector. Let's see how it works and if it's worth it.
ContentsSmall and portableUsageConfiguration optionsPerformancePriceConclusionThe first thing you'll notice when you open the package is how small the projector is. It comes with a small carry bag and everything is well packed inside. The carrying bag makes it easy to carry and you can keep it in your closet without taking up much space.
Open it and you will find the following:
It is very easy to use. To start watching movies on the projector:
There is a set of control buttons at the top of the projector, so if you lose the remote, you can still control the projector. The set of control buttons includes a power switch, a back button, an OK button and four directional keys, a Menu button and finally, a source selection button.
On the front, there are two buttons to control the lens. One is for changing the focus of the lens, while the other is for controlling keystone distortion. The keystone is used to adjust the tilt of the display image to suit your viewing angle.
At the bottom of the projector is a screw where you can lengthen or shorten it to adjust the projection angle.
There are several configuration options. All are pretty basic. Most of the time, the default options will suffice and you won't need to adjust the settings.
This Vankyo projector has a throw distance of 1.5-5m. If you want your screen to be really big (and you have a large surface area), you can move it far back and still have a clear image on the screen.
One thing I found is that even though it supports 1080p resolution, the output doesn't seem to be of that quality. The image is clear and crisp, but it wasn't exactly HD quality. The following pictures show what it looks like.
Since I don't have a projection screen, the film was projected onto a white wall (with some edges). It's not really that bad, although I would prefer it had a sharper image.
Also, you need to use it in a dark room or at night. By using it during the day in a room with the curtain closed, the brightness is not sufficient and the image fades.
Trying to keep the package small and compact, only a short power cable (about 1m) is provided. This means you either have to upgrade to a longer cable, place the projector near a power source (not really applicable most of the time), or use an extension cord. Although it's supposed to be small and portable, the short power cable added a lot of hassle when setting it up.
Like most projectors, it heats up easily and the cooling fan hummed quite loudly from the start, which drowned out the sound a bit. It is better to connect to an external speaker for better and louder audio quality.
The Vankyo Leisure 3 portable projector is priced at $89.99 and is easily one of the cheapest projectors around. Until September 5, 2018, you can use the code RVCXTHSR to benefit from a 10% discount on the price.
Overall, the Vankyo Leisure 3 portable projector is a joy to use. It's small, compact and the carry bag makes it really easy to transport. It's also easy to set up and everything works. Graphics quality is good, although it could be better. For a price under $100, I think it works very well.
Vankyo Leisure 3 Portable Projector
