Cinemood is a $300 ultra-portable, lithium-ion-powered projector in a lightweight (8oz) form factor roughly the size of a Rubik’s Cube. It’s an Android device with no video input that projects from factory pre-loaded videos or onboard streaming apps like Netflix or YouTube at 640×360—and it’s not a short-throw projector, either. In our testing, Cinemood needed a 12-foot throw distance to display a rather washed-out image about the size of a 65-inch TV set.

In order to avoid burying the lede, you might as well know up front, we do not recommend this device at this price—but we do have some good alternatives for you at the end of the review if you’re in the market for a relatively cheap and portable projector.

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  This is not a large device. My 14-inch laptop, pictured, absolutely dwarfs the Cinemood box, let alone Cinemood itself. [credit:
  Jim Salter ]

A tale of two projectors

Before we get into the real review, let’s talk a little inside baseball. A couple of months ago, a vendor I’d never heard of pitched me on reviewing Vava—a high-end, 4K resolution, ultra-short-throw home theater projector with a $2,500 price tag. This projector claimed to provide a 150-inch display from only a few inches’ distance, a Harmon-Kardon sound system, and more. I said sure, sounds fun.