BenQ Joybee GP1

The basics

The BenQ Joybee GP1 is a tiny LED projector that has a contrast ratio of 2,000:1, a fixed zoom and manual focus lens, a lamp life of 20,000 hours and an ANSI lumens of 100. It has a native resolution of 858 x 600 pixels in 4:3 aspect ratio. It measures just 136x120x54mm and weighs 0.64kg.

The good

Forget your mobile phone projectors, the BenQ Joybee GP1 is a mini image thrower that's so small it can fit in your hand but still looks as the Projector God intended - like a projector. It's so small in fact that it'll slip in your manbag no problem. It's unbelievably easy to use too, with three slots - an audio output, USB reader and multi-input socket - for getting content out there. Compared to other dinky projectors (the Optoma Pico pocket projector for example), this is a real an achievement: the picture was fine even in daylight and you can boost the image up to 80 inches across! It's the features where this pocket projector stand out though: this has there is auto focus, dynamic keystone correction, wall colour correction and high altitude and ceiling-mounted modes!

The bad

USB is the easiest way to carry your movies around, but it's fiddly convert files into MPEG-1 or MJPEG format. BenQ has included software though for doing this though, but it's still not as easy as we'd like. Also, fussy home cinema buffs certainly won't be all that impressed with the image. The only other area that the BenQ Joybee GP1 falls down is the price: at around £400 it hurts like a swift kick to the unmentionables.

The bottom line

Get past the price and forget about its little flaws and the BenQ Joybee GP1 is cute, highly portable projector. Still, this is leading the pico projector brigade. And how!