BenQ GP520 vs Nebula Capsule 3: 2,600 Lumens or a Battery

These two get shortlisted together because they are the affordable projectors, but they are not really competing for the same job, and the brightness gap tells you why: the BenQ GP520 measures an honest 2,600 ANSI lumens. The Nebula Capsule 3 Laser measures about 340.

That is nearly eight times more light, and it changes what the projector is for. The GP520 will hold a sharp, pixel-shifted 4K image on a 100-inch wall with the curtains half open. The Capsule 3 needs darkness, or nightfall, and starts to wash out past about 100 inches even then. It is dimmer still on battery.

But the Capsule 3 has a battery, and that is the whole point of it. It is the size of a tall soda can, weighs about two pounds, runs roughly 2.5 hours of video on a charge, recharges from a USB-C power bank, and runs full Google TV with a real Netflix app. It goes in a backpack. It goes to a campsite, a hotel room, a dorm, a friend's backyard. Nothing else in our lineup travels like it, and no amount of lumens makes the GP520 fit in a bag: it is an eight-pound cube that needs a wall outlet.

On every axis that measures picture, the GP520 wins, and it wins comfortably. True 4K against 1080p. 2,600 lumens against 340. Better color, better sound (dual 12-watt speakers against a single 8-watt), and setup that squares itself up with autofocus, auto-keystone, obstacle avoidance, and wall-color correction. It is the brightest true-4K projector you can buy near $1,500, and it is our budget pick for exactly that reason.

What it is not is portable, and what the Capsule 3 is not is bright. Neither of those is a flaw. They are the design.