The choices when it comes to small portable video projectors are plentaful. A stroll through the electronics department at a big box store will quickly prove that it’s possible to grab one for under $100. Problem is, not all portable projectors are created equal. In fact, many of them are downright horrible. WeMax is promising something much different with their new WeMax Go – a portable laser projector. I took the WeMax Go for a test in my home.

Hardware

The first thing you’ll notice about the WeMax is how small it is! The company claims it’s the world’s thinnest laser projector. That might just be true. It’s only about an inch thick. The WeMax is light but has a decent weight to it. The shell is plastic but I was pretty impressed with how solid it feels. On the top you have some navigation buttons (there is no remote included with the WeMax Go), on the back you’ll find ports for power, USB, HDMI and headphones or speakers. There is also a small manual focus adjustment on the side.

The front of the WeMax Go has a sleek silver design that slides open to turn on/off the projector and reveal the projector lens. It’s a slick way to both protect the lens and also power the projector on and off.

What is a laser projector?

Before I even get into how the WeMax Go worked for me, I want to quickly cover the difference between a laser projector and a more traditional video projector. For years, video projectors used bulbs to project an image onto a screen. These bulbs had to be super bright. This also means they usually get super hot and have to be replaced on a regular basis. Budget projectors have only been able to do SO much. They often aren’t very bright and look pretty bad in daylight situations.

Laser projectors, on the other hand, use a laser as the light source instead of a bulb. The difference is that laser light uses less power, can pack a brighter punch and will typically last for a very very long time without being replaced.

So – how does work?

When you power on the WeMax Go you enter into a very basic menu. Unfortunately a remote is NOT included so you’ll have to use the buttons on the top of the projector to navigate the menus. This felt clunky to me. While I would have liked to see a remote included in the box, most people will use their photo to “cast” to the projector or plug in some type of smart stick to the HDMI port and use a different remote anyhow. The WeMax Go doesn’t have any apps built into the projector itself so it’s designed more as a “dumb” projector to be used with a phone, AppleTV or Android stick.

The picture itself was very bright and impressive. The difference between a laser projector and a cheap small “pico” projector is huge. While you will want to turn off the lights when you’re using the WeMax Go, it’s impressive how well it works in situations with mild light in the room. This is where the WeMax Go shines… literally. In a completely dark room the picture looks super bright and colors look good.

What you should know is that the WeMax Go has a limited resolution. You can connect a HD or 4K source but the projector is limited to a 960×540 resolution. This isn’t a huge surprise at this price point and makes sense that they focused on the brightness versus the resolution in a budget projector. The picture looks good but I’d keep it below 80″ or you’ll really start seeing individual pixels.

Things I’d change

There are a few things I’d change about the WeMax Go. First, I would like to see a simple remote included in the box. Navigating the menus using the buttons on the projector is fine but not ideal. Second, while the WeMax Go does support wireless streaming (miracast technology) from your phone, it would be SO much easier if it supported Google’s Chromecast and/or Apple’s Airplay. Miracast is great for mirroring a laptop or smartphone screen for a presentation but it’s not great for streaming Netflix or Youtube. You’ll likely need to use some sort of streaming stick if you plan on doing that. Finally, a tripod attachment on the bottom of the WeMax Go would just make sense. This projector is so small and light that a simple flexiable tripod would be simple to use with it. I was pretty surprised that it doesn’t have a tripod attachment. I found myself using books to get the projector to the right height.

Conclusion

Despite my few small suggestions, the WeMax Go is an impressive little laser projector with an impressive price tag. The laser spits out a super bright picture that works even in mild daylight situations. It’s the perfect projector for anyone looking to setup a small theater area for the kids. It’s perfect for a business traveler who wants to have a projector in their go bag ready to go for a presentation. Overall, I’m not sure you’ll find a better small projector for under $300.

The WeMax Go is part of an Indiegogo campaign (I said Kickstarter earlier but it’s actually Indiegogo). You can order it right now but it won’t be delivered until February.