AAXA P300 Neo Pico Projector - Review 2022

The AAXA P300 Neo ($294) is an upgrade to the AAXA P300, the first battery-powered pico projector we tested. The P300 Neo is slightly brighter than the original P300, and although the Neo'due south resolution is marginally lower, its ratio is more suitable to displaying movies and other widescreen content. It has reasonably clear image quality and a wide range of connectivity choices, including displaying content stored on a microSD card or USB thumb drive, though it lacks wireless connectivity. Its portability and long battery life make the Neo a solid projector to toss in your bag for on-the-road use.

Tiny Widescreen DLP Projector

A DLP projector with an LED-based low-cal source, the P300 Neo has 720p (i,280-by-720) bones HD native resolution, slightly less than the original P300'due south 1,280-by-800, but its attribute ratio is more suitable for movies and other widescreen content. Its rated brightness is 420 lumens, a step upward from the original P300, which was rated at 300. The LED calorie-free source's claimed lifetime is 30,000 hours, so the lamp should terminal every bit long as the projector.

AAXA P300 Neo Pico Projector

Measuring 1.2 past 5.five by 3.five inches (HWD), the P300 Neo is compact plenty to fit into my outstretched palm, and should easily fit in a coat pocket. It weighs just 12.viii ounces, so it is very portable. It looks much the same as the original P300, though information technology'due south slightly smaller, some of the ports accept been relocated, and the lens has been switched from the left to the right side (as seen from the front end). The P300 Neo includes a sturdy mini-tripod that screws into the bottom. Its congenital-in, rechargeable battery provides up to two.5 hours of operation on a charge when in Eco mode, according to AAXA.

Connectivity and Navigation

The P300 Neo has a familiar range of input ports, similar to what we saw on the original P300. In back, it has an HDMI port, an AV port for employ with the included composite sound/video connector cable, a port for a USB pollex bulldoze, and an audio-out jack. On the right side (as viewed from the back) are a mini-VGA port (which requires an adapter cable that is not included), the on-off switch, and a slot for a microSD bill of fare, labeled with the outdated Sandisk "TF-card" nomenclature. (The recent AAXA Hard disk drive Pico Projector is the first AAXA projector we have encountered that labels the slot "SD card.") On the left side is the focus wheel. Although the projector comes with a credit-bill of fare-sized remote, there are also basic controls on the projector's superlative for navigating menus.

One feature that the P300 Neo lacks, which we are seeing on a growing number of mini projectors—including the AAXA P2-A Smart Pico Projector, the Philips Pocket Projector PPX4350 Wireless, and the XSories Ten-Projection WiFi—is wireless connectivity. Fortunately, it has enough connectedness choices to leave well-nigh users happy.

Congenital-In Media Player

In addition to showing content from external sources, the Neo has what's in effect a congenital-in media player. When turning the projector on, after briefly seeing an intro screen showing the company's name and URL, yous come to a carte du jour screen that offers 6 choices: Videos, Music, Photos, Text, Settings, and Input. You can navigate between them either by using the remote or the arrow controls on the acme of the projector. If you printing the OK button when 1 of the first 4 choices is highlighted, it will permit you choose between using a microSD menu and a USB drive, and run content stored on either of these devices. (Each volition appear with an icon and a drive letter: "C:" or "D:", or both if a card and USB fundamental are attached.) For Input source, you can choose between VGA, digital input (HDMI), and RCA (blended audio/video), and projection content plugged into the respective port.

AAXA P300 Neo Pico Projector

It supports the following file formats: AVI, BMP, GIF, JPG, MP3, OGG, WMA, WAV. Note that no native text formats are supported; to view text, you demand to salvage the files as JPGs.

Data and Photos

I tested the P300 with the projector positioned between three feet and 6 anxiety away from the screen. Optimal prototype size for brightness and detail in a nighttime room was about 36 inches. With the introduction of ambience calorie-free, a more comfortable prototype size was nearly 24 inches. In testing, I projected content over the HDMI connection, and also viewed some photos and video clips that I had put on a USB thumb bulldoze.

Data image quality is reasonably good, suitable for typical presentations to minor groups. Colors were well-saturated and realistic-looking. With photos, though, colors—particularly reds—often crossed the line from vividness into oversaturation.

I saw occasional rainbow artifacts—little cherry-red-green-blue flashes—in some bright areas against dark backgrounds in the P300 Neo's information images. This so-called rainbow issue is less pronounced with the P300 than is usual with DLP projectors, though, and even people sensitive to the effect shouldn't be bothered by it in data presentations with this projector.

AAXA P300 Neo Pico Projector

Video and Audio

To its credit, few rainbow artifacts were visible in the P300 Neo's video, and it'south unlikely they would be distracting to anyone. The big event with video is that—similar to photos—colors, particularly reds, were significantly oversaturated. Switching betwixt colour modes didn't really improve this. With video, the projector is best kept to YouTube or similar videos, or clips every bit office of a presentation, rather than total-length movies. On a related notation, audio from the unmarried 1-watt speaker is quite soft, and you lot take to be very shut to the projector to hear information technology clearly. For louder or better-quality sound, you could connect a pair of powered external speakers to the projector's audio port.

A Projector for the Route

Unlike some recent cube-shaped pico projectors such every bit the AAXA HD Pico Projector and AAXA P2-A , as well every bit the RIF6 Cube, the AAXA P300 Neo Pico Projector has the more than traditional, rectangular pocket-projector form. As such, it is brilliant for a projector of its size and offers 720p resolution, which is high for a model of this size. Data and video image quality are suitable for presentations to small groups, though both photos and videos suffer some oversaturation. Like most micro projectors, its audio is faint. The P300 Neo's small size, light weight, and long bombardment life go far a good choice for taking with you on the road. If you're willing to pay a premium toll, y'all could get the slightly larger and brighter LG Minibeam LED Projector (PH550)—our Editors' Pick palmtop projector—which has ameliorate image quality and adds Bluetooth connectivity and fifty-fifty a TV tuner.