Thanks to our friend the LED, there is a new generation of incredibly inexpensive, small footprint projectors that offer good brightness and decent image quality. I’m reviewing one such device, the black Meyoung Pro Mini LED Projector (JT-GP5S), but if white is your thing, it’s also offered in that case shade. Each model is selling for just north of $50 as of this writing.

The box.

What you get.

In the box you get the projector itself, a composite RCA AV cable that terminates to the single connection the projector needs, remote control that requires two AAA batteries (not included), approximately three foot long AC adapter, and a user manual.

A size comparison with the Apple iPhone 6 Plus.

A rear view.

The Meyoung Pro Mini LED Projector features a plethora of inputs: composite AV, VGA (60hz), SD, USB A, and HDMI 1.4. There’s also one 3.5mm audio output for headphones or external speakers.

A side view.

Native resolution of the TFT-LCD panel is only 320×240, but it still handles 720p (recommended) or greater input. Image quality, despite low contrast, is acceptable overall for non-text images (although pure text documents are OK), as is the brightness, which is rated at 100 lumens. Sound is about what you’d expect from a device this small with a 2W onboard speaker, but the 3.5mm audio output jack mitigates that issue for when you need something better. The controls, both onboard and via the remote, and onscreen display, are all reasonably intuitive.

Displaying a text file from a USB stick.

As noted by the SD card and USB ports, you can insert a full-sized SD card or USB stick with video, audio, photo, or document files for display through the projector. Supported formats are: MPEG, AVI, MP4, RMVB, FLV, VDB, MOV, WMA, MP3, M4A, JPEG, BMP, PNG, and TXT, so there’s a good chance this will play what you have.

Projecting Pac-Man Connect & Play 35th Anniversary Edition via the composite connection.

Since it’s LED-based, bulb life is rated at 20,000 hours, so that should easily last the lifetime of the product. Fan noise is rated at 32 dB, which is definitely noticeable, but not unexpected for a product of this type.

While the Meyoung Pro Mini LED Projector is clearly not a replacement for a higher end unit, as long as you’re aware of the obvious limitations, it is a nice casual option, particularly when its small size is considered. While the projected image is not particularly large or detailed, it’s still kind of neat to have a functional projector for this price.

Thanks to JIETIAN Technology for the discounted review unit.