I’ve had my Auking M8-F mini projector for a couple of years now. It was originally a birthday gift from my wife so I could host Mario Kart parties for friends and not have to crowd around our living room’s 50-inch Samsung TU8000. But after about three years of road trips, Halloween movie marathons, and the aforementioned Mario Kart tournaments, the Auking mini projector remains a great, affordable option for streaming media outdoors.
The LED lamp has a life expectancy of up to 55,000 hours so you never have to worry about replacing lamp bulbs. You can also adjust the screen from 35 to 200 inches, perfect for projecting onto an exterior wall of your home, a dedicated screen, or a blank interior wall. It connects to your laptop or game console via HDMI, and while it’s not the brightest projector, you still get great colors and sharp detailing with 1080p HD resolution.
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The built-in speaker is also great for when you don’t want to set up extra sound equipment in the yard, and it has surprisingly clean audio quality if you don’t crank the volume too high. It’s handled everything: God of War Ragnarok on the PS5, Overcooked on the Switch, and even one night in the woods when my friends and I watched the Blair Witch Project. The Auking mini projector is a great addition to any outdoor entertainment space, and I can’t recommend it enough.