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My toddler has a chronic case of FOMO, which means bedtime is a struggle every night. I’m not usually an advocate of having a TV in a child’s bedroom, but the Anker Nebula Capsule Air has become a very valuable addition to my bedroom arsenal of stories, lullabies, and deep pleading for my son to sleep.
The $400 Capsule Air is the smallest and arguably the most impressive of Anker’s Nebula portable projectors. It’s about the size of a can of soda (or, in my case, a can of Red Bull Sugar Free) and weighs just 1.4 lbs. Although it may not fit in your pants pocket, as some of its advertising materials suggest, it is still very small and won’t take up much space in a bag or a closet shelf.
Check out the Air Capsule in the Nebula
Check out Capsule Air on Amazon
Setup is easy as the projector works like a new Google TV. It provides access to all the standard streaming apps. Most importantly for my family, it includes the PBS app, which offers all of my child’s favorite shows, such as City Island, Sesame Street, and Alma’s Way.
As with other small projectors, you should be aware that if you put it backwards, the screen gets bigger. About 8 feet from the wall gets you 100 inches of screen space. It may take some distance testing to get the screen size right.
It also has an HDMI input to connect a game console or laptop—perfect for gaming or as a second laptop screen in a pinch. I plugged in my Xbox Series X and played Halo Infinite in the dining room next to the wall. So, you can make game night a thing, as long as you don’t mind playing in 4K.
There is something exciting about having a portable smart TV that you can pull out of your bag whenever and wherever needed. The Capsule Air offers just under two hours of battery life and charges via USB Type C. However, Nebula also provided me with a Power Bank Tripod ($90), which adds another two hours of use and serves as a more stable base up to 33 inches.
Image quality is surprisingly sharp, coming in at a resolution of 1280 x 720. Color accuracy is generally decent, and HDR handles dark scenes well. Let’s say you want better image quality in a bigger package. If so, I’d probably opt for the Capsule 3 Laser, which offers 1080p resolution and is a little smaller—but at $750, it’s nearly double the price. For my use case, Capsule Air struck the perfect balance.
After watching what felt like an endless episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighbors, I tilted the projector on the tripod to face the ceiling. We switched to something more relaxing—YouTube videos of stars in the sky set to lo-fi beats. Minutes later, my son fell asleep, counting the stars.
At first, I was concerned that the Capsule Air’s 150 ANSI lumens might not be bright enough. Although it doesn’t perform very well in daylight or in well-lit rooms, it really shines in complete darkness. It was bright enough for cartoons, stars, and other late night games in my office. If you have lights, you will notice that the colors tend to wash out a bit. But in terms of kid entertainment, my three-year-old didn’t care. He was just surprised that his cartoons were somehow flashed on his wall. Color washed or not.
Beyond bedtime, the Nebula Capsule Air is a great portable projector that I can easily take with me on vacation or camping trips. It’s light, flexible, and offers great image quality for its price. While it may not be as bright or powerful as other projectors and it may not be good enough to fit your OLED TV, its size and ease of use make it one of my favorite gadgets I’ve tested all year. Also, it made my kid think I was a bedtime wizard, featuring a giant screen from “My Magic Soda Can.”
Check out the Air Capsule in the Nebula
Check out Capsule Air on Amazon
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