A little-known U.S. company called Aurzen earned plenty of plaudits at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in January when it showed off what it believes is the world’s smallest projector, based on a novel tri-folding design.
It’s called the Aurzen ZIP, and it has finally gone on sale.
When it’s folded up, the Aurzen ZIP takes on the same form factor of something like an old Sony Walkman -- literally half the size of a smartphone -- meaning it can be slipped inside a jeans or trouser pocket and carried virtually anywhere. Yet it unfolds to become a strange Z-shaped device, with three major sections – one of which is a battery - capable of delivering big screen images on any surface, including the wall or ceiling.
The incredibly compact design of the Aurzen ZIP brings new meaning to the idea of a portable projector. In comparison, competing devices such as Samsung’s Freestyle, Dangbei’s N2 mini and XGIMI’s MoGo Pro 3 all look downright clunky, even if they can still be held in just one hand.
In a blog post announcing its launch in January, Aurzen said the ZIP was designed primarily for camping and other outdoor viewing scenarios, where it says existing portable projectors still come up short with unstable brackets and poor network signals.
Whereas some brands have tried to overcome this by integrating stands, the downside is that they become much bulkier, making them less portable. So instead of doing that, Aurzen came up with its tri-folding concept, where the device is made up of three connected slates. One of them contains what Aurzen says is the world’s thinnest-ever HD optical engine and the world’s smallest DLP chipset. The mid section houses three “ultra-thin” one-watt stereo speakers, providing a total sound output of three-watts, and the third slate houses the battery and comes with an anti-slip base.
When folded up, the Aurzen ZIP measures 84 x 78 x 26 mm, and it’s incredibly light too at just 280 grams. To create such a lightweight, slimline device, Aurzen had to make a few sacrifices in terms of specifications, so you won’t be getting stunning picture quality.
Brightness is rated at 100 lumens, meaning it’s only really usable when the sun goes down, and the resolution is capped at just 720 pixels. Aurzen doesn’t specify the image size, but various user reviews suggest it maxes out at around 80-inches, which is not massive by projector standards, but still bigger than most TVs.
Although the image specs aren’t quite at the level of other portable projector models, the Aurzen ZIP makes up for it with some impressive features. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.4 and AirLink wireless screen mirroring, which allows it to mirror the content of any connected iOS, Android or Windows device.
In addition, the ZIP has the rare ability to flip the angle of content and display it vertically in a 3:2 aspect ratio, making it ideal for watching TikTok videos, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels when connected to your smartphone. So you could realistically cast social media videos onto a very girthy tree trunk when you’re out camping, for lack of a better surface.
There are various set-up features too, including Auto Keystone and Zero-Lag Focus technology to ensure nice and sharp pictures every time.
As for the battery, it has a capacity of 5,000 mAh, which is enough for around 1.5 hours of continuous watching. Maybe not great, but the USB-C port means you can bring along a power pack or two and greatly extend its lifetime.
Admittedly the Aurzen ZIP’s picture quality is unlikely to wow many viewers, but that’s not the point. It’s laser-targeted at travellers and outdoor enthusiasts and anyone else who lives a mobile lifestyle, giving them the opportunity to enjoy Netflix et al with a much bigger view from wherever they are. If you’re feeling drained after a gruelling business trip, the ZIP might be perfect, allowing you to relax on the bed and watch a movie beamed onto the ceiling.
The Aurzen ZIP is on sale in the U.S. now, priced at $399 (around £297) from Aurzen’s website and also Amazon.com. However, if you select the titanium gold colour option instead of the dark gray model, you’ll be able to snap it up at a discounted price of just $379 for a limited time only.
Aurzen said the ZIP is available to preorder in the U.K., Europe and Canada, and will launch in those markets in the coming weeks.
