REVIEW – There seems to be a number of different form factors popping up with projectors recently. Very slim projectors, portable cubes, and today’s variation which looks more like a spotlight than a projector at first glance. The XGODY Gimbal 3 projector looked like a fun projector to try out and looked very portable. Read on to see how it stacked up!
What is it?
The XGODY Gimbal 3 projector is a small, portable projector with an onboard power supply and speaker.
What’s included?
- XGODY Gimbal 3 projector
- HDMI Cable
- Power cable
- User Guide
Tech specs
Design and features
The XGODY Gimbal 3 projector is a small projector with an onboard power supply. It can flex over 180 degrees from one side to another. It comes with some flavor of Android 11 preloaded that I didn’t recognize, but it does say that it is Google Play protected. It also has an onboard speaker to put everything needed in one place. Another feature that I must note is that it has automatic keystone sensing and with adjust those aspects for you. I wasn’t expecting that feature, so it was appreciated.
Assembly, Installation, Setup
No assembly required beyond plugging in the device. It’s plug and play. There are a number of different playing options built in. It has WiFi connectivity, so I was able to connect to my router very easily.
Once connected, there was a system update available, so I let that go ahead and install.
A reboot later, I was ready to go.
Performance
With the onboard apps, I was able to log in and get rolling easily. First up was YouTube.
I ran a few different videos and they all worked well. The biggest issue I saw was that the audio coming out of the speaker is not great. It’s fine if that’s all you have, but if you have a spare speaker nearby, you’re going to want to use it. I noticed that at certain tones there was a buzz from an internal component.
Light Room Testing – This is not a great projector for daylight use. For a regular room inside the house it’s okay, but still fairly dim. I think you’re going to want to use this in dimmer or dark rooms if you can, especially at distances further away.
Dark Room Testing – In a dark room the output was fine. The larger the scale, the more you start to lose definition on words and fine details, but that’s going to be the case for any projector.
Since I’m trying to keep the number of devices that are logged into my accounts to a minimum, I prefer connecting a Roku that already has my information and profiles. I tried to power the Roku off the USB port, but it had too low power and I had to connect to something else. Once powered up, it worked great.
Excuse the photo quality on this one. Taking a picture in a dark room turned out blurrier that it actually was.
What I like about the XGODY Gimbal 3 projector
- All in one device
- Onboard app availability is a nice feature
- For the price point, brightness is pretty good
- Automatic keystone adjustment
What needs to be improved?
- Onboard speaker is not great
- Higher power output on USB
Final thoughts
In general, the XGODY Gimbal 3 portable projector is a nice little projector. You’re not going to win any awards on sound and video quality, but if you want to quickly throw a movie on a sheet outside for movie night or create an impromptu theater room for the kids, this will do the trick as long as you keep it under the 6 foot width, in my opinion. It could work nicely for a quick business presentation as well. Given that it’s loaded with Android 11, you’re going to have to expect that the natively loaded apps are going to stop working with time as it falls further and further behind. That’s not a huge problem as I prefer connecting from other sources. There are a lot of projector options on the market right now, but this one definitely holds its own against others I’ve seen in this price and brightness range.
Price: $89.00
Where to buy: Amazon (save 40% with code: 40XGDOYG3NP expires 11/30/24)
Amazon UK (save 40% with code: JXG54AZI expires 11/30/24)
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by XGODY. XGODY did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
