Nebula Capsule 3 1080p Portable Projector Review
The Capsule 3 is the second projector I’ve tested from Nebula, a brand under the same umbrella as Anker, the popular purveyor of power products. I first tested the Nebula Solar back in 2022. Fast-forward two long, arduous years and the Capsule 3 is better in every way.
While the Capsule 1 and 2 pre-dated the Solar, their compact size meant they had to compromise on image quality, and both fell short of clearing that all important 1080p bar, making them functional but a hair short of perfect.
The perfect mini projector does not exi…
The Capsule 3 doesn’t compromise. It’s probably the best projector I’ve tested to date, simply because it’s so very small, and yet so very feature complete. From its backlit remote, to its auto-keystone and smart obstacle avoidance you’d be forgiven for thinking it has no downsides. But there is one- the price. The RRP is a whopping £499. When you can buy a passable 1080p projector for half that, you’ve got to ask yourself how much the Capsule’s compact design and impeccable style are worth to you. That said, at time of writing the Capsule 3 is on sale for a much more palatable £380, but that’s still a lotta beans and if I weren’t lucky enough to be writing about one… I don’t think I’d buy it.
But, yes, speaking of luck Anker/Nebula were kind enough to supply the Capsule 3 for review, which is great because I don’t make a shred of pocket lint running this time and monkey sink of a blog. So this is me, right now, reviewing it.
The trouble is… I don’t have all that much to say. The Capsule 3 doesn’t do anything quirky, interesting or completely broken that I can complain about. It defies all effort to figure out how to take it apart, and I’m not going to ruin it by prying. It looks, feels and works so well that I’m left with only one thing really worth saying: buy it.
But this is ostensibly a review site and I’m supposed to give you actionable information to insist in your decision making process. So here we go-
Look & Feel
If you’re used to regular, non-portable projectors then the first thing that will surprise you about the Capsule 3 is its size. While it’s cylindrical it stands just slightly taller than my phone, and is just slightly wider too. Despite its diminutive size Nebula have somehow managed to squeeze in a USB port, an HDMI port, a 3.5mm audio jack and – thank you – a USB Type-C connector for power.
Some ports, kinda rectangular ones, a rounded one, a fully round one and some chaotic long boat shape.
The Type-C port isn’t centered on the back of the projector, but rather something like 45 degrees off to the right (looking from the back). This makes it easier to tuck the Capsule 3 back against a wall, even when power is plugged in. Not easy, mind. But easier.
You’ll also find Wireless and Bluetooth connectivity, and while these are a foregone conclusion in this day and age you might not know how easy this makes pairing a couple of retro-styled 8bitdo controllers and rocking some nostalic games on your bedroom wall.
The Capsule 3 is peppered with holes which offer a mix of ventilation and somewhere for sound to get out. You’ll find the fan quiet and the speakers… quite loud. That something as small as the Capsule 3 sounds as good as it does might have surprised me, if I didn’t have my hands on a Soundcore Motion 300. A dedicated Bluetooth speaker button turns on the standalone speaker mode with the characteristic Soundcore “doop doop dop doop.” It sounds every bit as good as a Soundcore speaker and the size, coupled with the shortcut button make this feature practical and useful rather than just a box-ticking exercise.
There is a dedicated Bluetooth speaker button and you’d better believe it makes a decent Bluetooth speaker…. Somehow!
The fan seems to blow out near the top on the right-hand side of the projector (looking from the back.) It’s – to borrow an overused phrase – whisper quiet. You’d be forgiven for thinking that small projector equals small fan, and small fan equals more speed (and noise) to push enough air for sufficient cooling. As far as I can tell this isn’t the case.
Usage And Quirks
Despite its ridiculously small size the Capsule 3 manages to project a watchable, 80” picture even with some daylight bleed through curtains or blinds. Obviously blacks can only be as black as your wall is dark, but you’d be amazed how easily your eyes will deceive you. It’s only a 1080p projector so you’ll notice a little screen door (visible pixels and gaps) effect at large picture sizes. This is most noticeable in small areas of mid brightness and I notice it periodically with a throw of about 2.5m or roughly an 80” screen. This screen size seems to be about the limit for reasonable brightness, on battery, with blinds and curtains making a poor effort of blocking out the sunlight.
The projector throws quite high, so it works best at a kitchen table kind of height, on a 140cm bookcase (IKEA Kallax) it throws a little too high and needs a little tilt downwards to compensate. You’ll have to buy a stand, re-use a tripod, or just wedge a thin book under the back edge of the projector to accomplish this, though.
Same setup with the Capsule 3, which you can barely even see in this picture 🤣🤣 image is much, much higher up.
The remote is a pretty standard far with shortcuts for YouTube, Netflix and Prime which share a 2×2 grid toward the middle of the remote with the Mute button which is a little awkward.
Picking up the remote usually activates the backlight which illuminates eight of the buttons, giving you an easy, glanceable idea where less used buttons like Focus and Settings are even in the dark. Of course the reflections from a projector against the bare wall of a dark room are usually sufficient lighting. It feels like a nice-to-have feature, but as I turn on the projector while I’m writing this I got a low battery warning- I’ve only been testing it for a few weeks! (Still beats the couple of days my TV remote batteries seem to last, grumble!)
Okay turns out I’d thrown some old batteries into the remote- nothing to see here, moving swiftly on;
Auto focus is effective, though does have a knack of over-correcting sometimes and resulting in a slightly skewed picture at off-center angles. This isn’t super obvious and can be corrected manually but it’s a little irritating. The obstacle avoidance not only works but is perhaps a little sensitive. I removed a shelf from our bedroom wall and filled the holes roughly (planning to sand them and repaint later) and the projector sees and avoids the rough patch on the wall. In some cases this is desirable, but if you’ve got an old house and less than perfect walls you might find it frustrating.
By comparison the Nebula Capsule 3 sits flat and shoots high by default so it’s really practical for setups like… this…. Yeah I’ll fix that coving I swear!
It’s also a portable projector… to a fault. It will turn off completely, and require a long press of the onboard power button to turn back on. The remote wont help you! If you’re planning to put it up out of the way and leave it there, you might find this really, really annoying. If it’s getting lugged around the house and set up in various locations (by your kids, no doubt) then this is a non-issue. In fact I’m pretty sure the remote is currently lost, and my middle child just uses the touch-sensitive buttons on top for all the navigation… not a bad setup.
All this adds up to the fact you’ve really, really got to want a portable projector for the Nebula Capsule 3 to make sense. If you’re planning to leave it in one place it’ll still work, but it’s not optimal.
Under The Hood
The Capsule 3 is powered by a MediaTek m7332 with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. You can expect to have about 11GB of that storage available, which will fit a few- uh- video game files if you’re so inclined. With a few apps installed I saw roughly 8GB left.
It runs Android 11, which reports as “Android Anker-tv Edition” and I was able to install GFXBench and convince it to launch via ADB. Benchmarks seemed to crawl through slowly and it was only upon getting a “Low Battery” warning that I realised why. After pushing the USB connector all the way into my power supply things went a little more smoothly. Unfortunately the results weren’t super useful- the m7332 is a 5+ year old chip designed for TVs and projectors so it doesn’t benchmark well.
It’s so. Darn. Small.
What it did do well was play Gameboy Advance games in GBA.emu, and while I still have my GBA SP there’s something to be said about playing Advance Wars on a big, bright screen instead.
Similarly the UI is responsive, though noticeably a little more sluggish than – for example – a 4K Fire TV, and streaming apps seem to work as you’d expect.
Overall
The Capsule 3 is a great portable projector, and you’ve absolutely got to want portability to pick it over something more affordable (all the fancy auto-focus and auto keystone features only really make sense in a portable package) but if you do, you won’t be disappointed. It has supplanted every other projector in this household. Why? Because a five year old can pick it up, take it to whatever room they want, and fire it up and I don’t have to worry about mains power supplies, heavy things crushing toes or having to swoop in and fix the picture. It is, simply, excellent.
Well I wouldn’t have picked the couch as a projection screen, but somehow it works…
In fact my kids will stick it on the kitchen table a half meter from the wall, or point it at the back of the sofa and happily watch a “small” screen in less than ideal conditions. It’s a step up from a mobile phone. Less squinty, less awkward to prop up, and less likely to stop abruptly to handle an incoming call.