ViewSonic M1 mini Plus Pocket LED Ultra-Portable Projector

This was my first foray into projectors, so to be honest I didn’t know what to expect.
I did a fair bit of research beforehand-I didn’t want anything expensive as I am only planning on using it for digital decorations (Halloween projections etc), but honestly I love this little projector!
It’s extremely simple to set up-just take it out of the box and enter your wi-fi code, and plug a USB with your files on, and it’s ready to go.
The picture is sharp, and the colours look great.
I haven’t used it for watching films or TV (NETFLIX is already on the projector), so I can’t really review it as a film critic, but it’s perfect for what I want it for.

I bought this because it said there was a ceiling mount option but I cant find one.

Everything else about it though is great!

Pros
Small compact and the picture is clear not 4K but still awesome, the built in speaker is also great I’ve not needed to go louder than 5 out of 30 the size of the screen goes from small to very large I currently have it set up in my bedroom at 67″ and it’s brilliant.

Cons..
There is a built in battery which last 2.5 hours if you are trying to charge it while using it the battery will keep draining but once it is fully charged it will work fine

This is a very nicely designed unit. For the price it promises good performance. The negatives for me were that weakness in the ‘apps’ and streaming facilities meant that the WiFi capability was pretty much useless, so I just used a chromecast dongle instead (meaning the projector WiFi was even more of a waste of space). The other issue is focus; the focus ring is stepped and the best focus always seemed to be between steps, also focus was not consistent across the image and the focus changed over time & so needed tweaking and lastly the focus sometimes popped in and out.
In summary, it’s a lovely package which does not quite deliver on its potential.

Over all I’m pretty impressed with the m1+,,
In the pic it’s at about 75inches in a room that’s not very dark and the colours are all fairly bright, with a good contrast between light and dark! The speaker is actually pretty incredible, loud but clear even at top range!
I’m finding using a usb stick the easiest way to watch things, I have an iPhone and doesn’t seem to play Netflix or YouTube when mirroring. The Netflix app that you can download onto the m1+ does have a few flaws as you can’t use the search bar, only scroll through programs, sometimes it won’t let you select something to watch either. Although it’s a bit of a let down, I’m sure I can live without it! (If anyone does have away of making Netflix work could you comment tho please) the remote isn’t lit either but I’m sure I’ll learn the buttons fairly quickly!
Great little product, will be taking it on holiday with me soon, looking forward to watching it outside!

This projector is a quality product with good picture and features. The automatic screen adjustment works brilliantly and the charge lasts for ages. I used the powered USB port to run a chromecast and it worked well and was incredibly pleased with the sound quality.

The after sales for this product isn’t the best as I was looking for a second charger and a car charger so I could use the projector in my camper van because it is a very good all in one unit with the sound and battery. I couldn’t find an official one so if anyone wants to get one an alternative is an Acer Iconia Tab W7 compatible charger. The company Power 4 Laptops does both a car and mains supply and it does fit all be it a little tight and is the right amps and volts.

Nice little bit of kit. But the WiFi/Bluetooth is a little disappointing. You can only do screen mirroring over the same WiFi network which I doubt very much will work in hotels, which was what we wanted it for. Bluetooth is audio only. It’ll be great with the Switch though.

So if you don’t have access to WiFi where you are going, get an HDMI cable.

So I’m returning it and getting the cheaper version without WiFi and Bluetooth. The Bluetooth is basically making it a speaker not a projector, and the WiFi access password length is limited to 20 characters which means I literally cannot connect it to my home network at all. Not worth the extra money.

EDIT This review is of the M1 Mini projector with Bluetooth. It sometimes appears on other projectors.

This item has a wide array of connectivity including hdmi input, aux output and USB. We have the M1+ connected to a soundbar via aux cable as the on board speakers are very tinny. We have a hdmi switch with NowTv and PS4 connected into the projector via this method. The keystone config is more than you could ask for and allows you to project an image pretty much anywhere! The focus ring is very sensitive and takes a bit of tweaking to get the image as clear as possible. As per the photos of how we have stood up the projector, we can project an image of about 80 inches onto the ceiling above the bed, which makes the comfort value of this item well worth the price and perfect for watching movies and tv shows at night time. The swivel stand allows for a very portable projector that can be used anywhere! Although for the price you pay, even though the resolution is standard 480p definition I was expecting the image quality to be better but cannot fault the vibrancy of the colours in the image. If you value comfort over image quality, this item is well worth the price tag. I will be looking into a more higher definition solution in the future. If you are curious about the M1+ I would recommend giving it a go as long as you keep in mind the standard resolution.

The Viewsonic M1 is a pretty good all-in-one package and it isn’t difficult to list a number of its great features.

1. The picture is generally very good. It is sharp and in good focus across the screen.
2. Image brightness and colour seem to be very uniform across the image.
3. A lot of image adjustments are available, some on-screen (i.e. the image can be adjusted while watching: colour, hue, sharpness and 3-d functions only).
4. The on-board sound is convincing and loud enough for me. No need for additional speakers.
5. The rotating stand works very well and is quite stable even with cables attached. It holds the projector at any angle without slipping, is easily and rapidly adjustable and allows a lot of versatility in where to project (including the ceiling). It does rely on standing on a level surface, but there is a tripod mount where this is difficult. Amongst othe places, I’ve had it stood stably on a cushion tray at the end of the bed. The auto turn on/off when the stand is rotated is a neat feature.
6. Rapid set-up is helped by the automatic keystone, which works very well.
7. The battery life between charges is long. The claimed six hours in battery saving mode seems about right and you can get through a movie at high brightness levels. The battery also charges while projecting; some don’t. The battery is a boon in such a portable package but also a possible drawback as it could well limit the device life. It is not user-replaceable and might not be cost-effective to return for service replacement, even if this is possible. Unfortunately, the specifications don’t give any idea of the life-expectancy of the battery, possibly understandably as it might depend on how it is used. It is worth asking yourself whether you really need this level of self-contained operation – it is surprisingly useful though.
8. There is a useful charge level indicator on the back of the device.
9. The USB port can power a Fire stick or other streaming device (drawing up to 1 amp), even in battery mode, making a self-contained streaming unit.
10. The cooling fan noise is very subdued. It is inaudible to me until the unit is about foot from my ear, and my hearing isn’t particularly poor.
11. The remote sensor is on the front of the device and responds well when the remote is directed at the projection screen, rather than the projector, at least at the distances where this short-throw projector is likely to be used. This is much more practical and flexible than having the sensor on the back where cables get in the way of the beam. The remote works well and is reasonably ergonomic.
12. There is a good array of modern inputs, including USB-C.
13. You get some useful items in the box: a soft case and USB-C cable.
14. There is a native Office suite on-board, with functions like scrolling and slide movement via the remote. The projector is bright enough to make a 40-60 inch presentation in subdued light, i.e. in enough light to take notes by, rather than in total darkness. Total darkness is best for films and TV though (unless you are happy with a very small screen).
15. Given that the device can easily be picked up and waved about the automatic lamp shutoff could be quite useful. The projector could also be used at close quarters for (say) tracing artwork where the shutoff could save your eyesight – or possibly be a little annoying depending on how close to your hand or surrounding surfaces get to the sensor. In this case, there is an option to suspend auto-shutoff.
16. The construction seems high quality. It is reassuringly solid.
17. It is backed by a reputable company with a support team and a 2-year warranty, though for some reason this is a year less than that in the US. The product is firmware upgradeable by a not-too-difficult process should any further upgrades be made.
18. The instructions say it is 3-d compatible. I’ve put this last as I probably won’t use it.

Doubtless there are other features that I have not yet noticed. The projector may be one of the higher priced WVGA offerings, but it is a solid, chic-looking all-in-one solution. That being said there are bound to be compromises in putting such a package together. The following are some acceptable compromises (or non-essential improvements).

1. The device really could do with brightness and contrast controls in the on-screen display (OSD). You can control hue, sharpness and saturation from the OSD while watching video. Adding brightness/contrast would be very useful a device such as this. The reason is that ambient light affects the picture a lot and you end up wanting to adjust these more often than on a normal TV. It is a real hassle to have get out of the video, get into menu mode, guess what brightness and contrast are needed (a tonal panel at the bottom left helps a bit), get out of the menus, back into video and then repeat the process if it not quite right. There are also three ways of adjusting brightness, which introduces further complication here.
2. There is a faint circle of stray light well outside the picture area. I think that it is scatter from the case around the lens. Baffling this area might help — but then it would not look so chic. It isn’t a problem really.
3. The focus wheel is quite sensitive; a millimetre or so can take it off focus. This appears to be a common issue with the small focus wheels on portable devices. I didn’t have any problems but perhaps not easy for those with slight unsteadiness.
4. The PowerPoint version installed is not 100% compatible so you don’t always see what was originally generated on a PC. Native PowerPoint is a handy feature though, and the occasional reformatting is easy to work round by suitable preparation and rehearsal. There may be compatibility issue with the other Office packages – I haven’t checked. But it is certainly better to have them than not.
5. As with all DLP projectors with a single DMD chip, there are sometimes rainbow artifacts if you are sensitive to them (I am, but many are not). It is difficult to get away from this.
6. Because the projector is at its best in the dark, an illuminated remote would be useful. You eventually memorise which buttons are which, and fortunately the OSD button is the big one in the middle, but there is some frustration beforehand.
7. There is a headphone socket but no on-board Bluetooth for remote audio. However, the on-board speakers are very good and remote speakers can be connected, if desired, via the Bluetooth on any attached streaming device (e.g. Firestick).
8. Though it handles all sorts of inputs, the native resolution of this device is WVGA (854 x 480). However, the picture quality is very good and, apart from a very few instances, I can’t say that I have noticed the lack of higher resolution.

There are also a couple of compromises that take a bit more getting used to (for me, anyway).
1. Projected images are surrounded by a light outer frame (a few inches in width on a 50 inch picture) that makes it look like you are watching a TV with a greyish bezel as shown in the attached screenshot. This frame does not keystone with the picture, with the result that at moderate tilts you have the appearance of watching a movie/TV show on a large trapezoidal TV set. It is particularly noticeable during dark scenes, such as the example; the light ones tend to swamp with light reflected round the room it or at least focus attention back to the rectangular movie area. Projecting onto a screen sized to the picture area, rather than a wall, would remove or alleviate this, and it can also be made less noticeable in some circumstances by setting an appropriate picture brightness. I’m told that this frame is an unavoidable side-effect of the DMD chip in DLP projectors, but it is the first time I’ve noticed it. I have another, otherwise inferior, portable that does not show it.
2. Despite the claimed contrast ratio, shadow detail is not great. For example, the dark scenes in Sweeney Todd (and it is mostly dark scenes) weren’t handled particularly well no matter what adjustments I made. Darks are difficult for projectors, but it is possible to do a bit better in a portable format.

Notwithstanding these issues, if you want something to watch the football at night on a big screen or give presentations to small groups in subdued lighting, with the convenience of needing no mains power, then you’ve come to the right place.