Overall and Final Verdict
The Nebula Capsule is an interesting product because on one hand the idea of a portable soda can-sized projector that you could load up a few movies or your kids' favorite movies and shows and to be able to project those up onto the side of a building or a wall when traveling or camping could be a lifesaver for parents who need a break. The Capsule also doubles as a portable Bluetooth speaker as well which is also nice to have around. But like me, its age shows. Its 480p resolution is enough to be able to watch things, but I think most people at this point are going to be wanting 720p even for a small device like this. The built-in Android device which makes this such a nice all-in-one product is also extremely dated with Android 7.1 which stopped getting security updates in 2019 and a processer from that era as well. It has enough power to handle Plex but you have to jump through a lot of hoops for Plex and most other apps because the base app store is very limited and even once you get the Play Store on it some apps like Plex need side loaded with a much older version to work.
The projector has a built-in auto keystone but that had its limitations. It also doesn’t have autofocus, but thankfully with the wheel for that right on the side of the Capsule that was easy to deal with. Its age also means that it uses Micro-USB not Type-C but I was most surprised that it doesn’t have a MicroSD slot to allow for expansion without having to use the included adapter with a USB drive. The battery life on the other hand was great, more than long enough to watch one movie, and as long as you aren’t watching the full-length Titanic you may be able to watch two or if you are using the Capsule as a Bluetooth speaker you can get up to 30 hours.
Nebula has fixed just about all of the issues that I ran into with other Capsule models. They have the Capsule MAX and the Capsule 2. The MAX has 720p, Android 8, autofocus, and twice the lumens. The Capsule 2 has all of that but with Android 9 and actually has the Play store from the start without jumping through hoops and has Type-C and Chromecast as well. But at that point, it comes down to pricing because the original Capsule has an MSRP of $299.99 and can sometimes be found for $221.99 on Amazon. The Capsule Max on the other hand is $469.99 and the 2 is $579.99. The Capsule’s price looks a lot better once you start comparing it with those two and I imagine if camping or around kids you would be a lot more worried about it being damaged at those higher prices. Overall I think there is room for a cheap 480p projector, but one running a newer OS and having native access to the Play Store would be nice to see.
Live Pricing: HERE
