The Anker Nebula Capsule 3 is one of the finest contributions to portable tech. People often associate portable projectors with compromises in brightness and picture quality, but the Anker Nebula defies that with great video quality even during the day while being compact and even battery powered. As icing on the cake, Anker generously priced this at $749 USD / $999 CAD which is noteworthy considering you are getting a laser projector and not an LED one. Then one day, the NoMVDIC L500 appears and comes out swinging with a triple-laser configuration. Has the portable projector game changed? We compare the two products here.
Design
The NoMVDIC L500 identifies itself as the “world’s smallest triple laser projector” and that could be true, but the single-laser Anker Nebula Capsule is slightly smaller and weighs about a half-pound less. However, both products took vastly different design approaches. The Anker Nebula sports the classic cylindrical look allowing the Capsule to stand tall without taking too much surface area. The NoMVDIC L500 takes the shape of a small VR headset (that you obviously cannot wear) with a cool, blue-toned chrome look on the front.
Connectivity
The Anker Nebula Capsule comes with HDMI, USB-C, and aux-out ports. The L500 trades the aux-out port with a USB-A port giving NoMVDIC’s new offering a slight upper hand as it provides convenience to all those folks who still use traditional USB flash drivers regularly. Of course, this depends on how important an aux out port is to you. Both devices can connect to 2.4 and 5 GHz wireless networks just fine but unfortunately, both do not support Wi-Fi 6.
Capabilities
The NoMVDIC L500 scores a crucial win in performance with superior brightness at 650 ANSI lumens versus the Anker Nebula’s 300 ANSI lumens. These figures make the NoMVDIC L500’s lead look distant in brightness but it is the L500’s use of an RGB triple laser system that really pushes the overall image quality. Color accuracy on the L500 looks far better than the Nebula with full BT.2020 color gamut support. Both portable projectors support MEMC technology to reduce image blurring while supporting a maximum resolution of 1080p.
One of the unique strengths the Anker Nebula enjoys is the fact that it can serve as a standalone ARM computer with a quad-core chip, 2GB worth of RAM, and 16 GB storage capacity. Running on Android 11, you can install and run all sorts of apps without using up that HDMI port. You may also have the Nebula run as a standalone Bluetooth speaker if you wish. However, if you are looking for audio features, the NoMVDIC L500 fights back with a built-in 7-watt speaker crafted by audio veteran Harman Kardon.
Brand Ecosystem
While the NoMVDIC L500 scored some big technology points, the Anker Nebula brand has a bigger presence in the US and Canada. For starters, you can find a wide range of authorized resellers across the US and CA from Amazon to Newegg to Walmart and numerous others. The 30-day money-back guarantee also adds some confidence to refund concerns. Regarding the L500, you can only order it from the company’s official Kickstarter page or official website at the time of writing. If you want to do a warranty claim, you can only do it via the official site’s form.
The brand recognition benefits the Anker Nebula enjoys also help when it comes to third-party accessories. If you want to find a compatible case for the Anker Nebula, a simple search on Amazon returns several results including Nebula’s official All-in-One travel case. While you should be able to put the compact NoMVDIC L500 in a small bag, it remains to be seen if the company will make an official case or if third-party manufacturers will follow suit.
Price
NoMVDIC is pinning the MSRP of the L500 at $1,099 USD which may sound a lot but given the triple-laser configuration and small size, I would argue that as a competitive price. However, judging from the $699 “launch day” price, NoMVDIC has made its intentions to dethrone the Anker Nebula clear and it also gives a solid hint to how low the company will go in terms of future discounts. That low price is right in line with the Nebula Capsule’s sale price of $699 which is $100 less than its launch price. Consumers rejoice!
Our verdict
Basically, you are choosing between a cutting-edge projector with outstanding image and audio quality and a modern, polished projector with an established reputation. That makes it difficult to crown a winner here, but I totally welcome a triple-laser projector at an affordable price as it makes those bigger and bulkier home projectors feel more outdated and more difficult to recommend. I’m excited to see how Anker will respond as this could be the start of the portable RGB triple-laser projector wars.
The NOMVADIC L500 is now available on Amazon.
Shop the Anker Nebula Capsule projector on Amazon.
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