Not many devices fall under the ‘whimsical’ category, but it’s always the box I’d put projectors in. I’m no Nicole Kidman, but I do think there’s something completely magic about casting a film onto a silver screen in the darkness of a theater — somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like that. But I don’t think that feeling should be limited to the local cinema or AMC mega-movie-monster.

That’s why I was elated to get my hands on Dangbei’s N2 Mini projector. If you’re a newbie to the projector world, don’t fret — so was I. And the experience I’ve had thus far with the N2 Mini makes me want to recommend this cheap (but versatile) projector to anyone interested in stepping into their movie-hosting era.

This projector is incredibly approachable for all users and casts a beautiful picture that’s clear enough to make having a movie night with my friends (or totally solo) finally more interesting again. Here’s everything you need to know about the Dangbei N2 mini.

4/5

Brand

Dangbei

Native Resolution

1080p

ANSI Lumens

200

The N2 mini projector is a fantastic entry-level device perfect for movie nights and users who don’t want steep learning curves to host one. 

A fun and beginner-friendly projector

Wallet-friendly, too

The Dangbei N2 mini projector is available from Dangbei and Amazon for $199. On both sites, the projector is currently marked down from $229, which throws an automatic 10% off your way, which is pretty sweet. In the specs department, it comes with a built-in gimbal stand that allows for 190-degrees of tilting freedom, so you could project Kpop Demon Hunters straight onto your ceiling if you so desire. It also has four rubber feet to grip whatever flat surface you lay it on, so you don’t have to worry about any unnecessary slippage.

The projector itself uses a single LCD and white LED light that will last you around 20,000 hours. It has native 1080p, and its EngineX optical engine is sealed to block dust and boost its general lifespan by 30%. This also makes the fan particularly quiet.

Its projecting power varies from 40-inches all the way up to a 120-inch personal cinema, but Dangbei recommends keeping it to 100-inches. I found that seven feet from the wall was the perfect picture quality for my own viewing purposes, but then there is the matter of the cable (which I’ll get to shortly). The 200 lumen maximum left some room for desire, but the picture still showed up beautifully in a room protected by blackout curtains. But when I did break it out during the day to test it in my ambient-light-filled living room, the brightness and picture quality still held up fairly well — not well enough to entertain company or sit through a whole movie, but we don’t have time to do that during the day anyway.

The N2 mini uses Linux as its native operating system, which is arguably my favorite part about the projector. Instead of dealing with screen mirroring or HDMI cables (both of which are still options, though, if you want to plug in a laptop, game console, TV stick, etc.), I can use the Bluetooth-powered remote to log right into Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, or my other major streaming platforms.

I can’t emphasize enough how much I love that the projector can operate on its own accord, which is typically the most annoying dilemma I’ve seen other projector owners run into while hosting their own movie nights. Nothing like that awkward silence while your generous host troubleshoots and plays with cables.

What I love about the Dangbei N2 mini Projector

No learning curve

The N2 mini is intuitive. After you set it up, it’s almost impossible to get lost in its interface. All you have to do is plug it in, turn it on, and use the remote to navigate the homepage like you would with any smart TV. Sure, Linux might not be as polished as Apple’s tvOS, but it gets the job done on a device you aren’t just leaving on for ambiance.

Dolby Atmos (Audio, Digital, and Digital Plus) is built into the projector itself, which is a nice touch. The speakers aren’t great, but it’s still a nice thing to include if you aren’t worried about immersive audio. Noise-wise, after watching two episodes of Invincible, I still could barely hear the fan cooling the engine down — the only reason I noticed it at all was because I was sitting right beside it on the floor during my testing and felt the warm air hitting my leg. It’s quiet enough (27 dB) that you’ll forget you’re not watching a real TV screen until someone walks through the projection beam to go get a popcorn refill.

Another thing I really appreciated was the built-in AI features that made the original setup (and all the times after) a total breeze. I don’t have to touch many settings at all at first just to get a good picture up on the wall clearly. The Auto Focus is quick, and Auto Keystone adjusted my picture angle before I could even tilt the gimbal where I wanted it. Screen Fit and Obstacle Avoidance are two other perks I haven’t had the chance to test out yet.

What I don’t like about the N2 mini

Room for improvement

First things first, there’s no good way to store the projector. It doesn’t come with a storage case, carrying bag, or even a nice way to stow the remote and power cord. In fact, the remote is significantly bigger than my Roku remote, which feels a bit strange considering all the empty real estate on it.

Speaking of the cord, it’s only 4.5 feet long. This severely limited the number of places I could plug in the projector without an extension cord. I wish the cord itself was even six or eight feet long — though that would make storage even more of a nuisance, I suppose. However, I’d also love a battery-powered option to combat this issue in general.

The audio is also not great. It’s loud enough to get through a watch session without missing anything, but you aren’t truly “feeling” any audio coming from it. The 6W built-in speaker fills a small room decently well, but I definitely wouldn’t count on it to hold its own over a chatty group of guests. However, there is an audio jack that you could use to connect to external speakers, solving that problem if you have the right gear on hand. The projector having built-in speakers in general is a perk, but at the $199 price point, I wasn’t actually expecting anything ground-breaking.

My last gripe with the N2 mini is that every time I plug it in again, it doesn’t automatically reconnect to Wi-Fi — a problem I don’t encounter on any of my devices besides this one. While the projector remembers the network and password, I have to manually hit ‘connect’ to get everything up and running, which I usually only remember to do after receiving an ‘error’ message in Prime Video.

Should you buy the N2 mini Projector?

If you’re a beginner, absolutely

Let’s face it — if you want a perfect projector, you need to be looking at devices upwards of the $1000 mark. However, if you don’t necessarily need cinema-quality picture or audio and are just looking for a fun projector to get started with, the N2 mini is a fantastic investment to begin your journey.

Each pain point I listed above is easily remedied, even if I couldn’t resist docking a few points off my review. Projectors in general aren’t nearly as foolproof as a TV, so you’re obviously going to encounter trial and error with any model you choose. However, I must say, I was expecting many more obstacles than I actually encountered during my time with the N2 mini. In fact, just a few minutes after the quick setup, I said “that’s it?” out loud to my completely empty apartment.

The N2 mini Projector is an affordable projector with a picture quality and user-friendly interface that could fetch a much more expensive price tag, in my opinion. The built-in AI and streaming options make it just as easy to use as your TV, and I’d say it’s a fantastic entry-level projector that does almost all the heavy lifting for you moments after you take it out of the box.

4/5

Brand

Dangbei

Native Resolution

1080p

ANSI Lumens

200

The N2 mini projector is a fantastic entry-level device perfect for movie nights and users who don’t want steep learning curves to host one. 

The N2 mini projector was provided to Pocket-lint from Dangbei. The company did not have an input as to the contents of the review before and after publishing.