Boxlight Bumblebee Portable LED Projector: Summary, Pros and Cons

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Art Feierman

Boxlight Bumblebee Pros:

Tiny, extremely portable
Lightweight - one pound
A quality, sharp image
Works very well with PC's and Macs, SD cards, digital cameras, supports a wide range of other devices, such as video iPods
Handles SVGA beautifully, and does a very good job on XGA resolution sources (compressed), and even higher resolution
Better than average color accuracy for a DLP projector
Long life lamp system (10,000 hours)
Solid build quality
Good warranty
Very functional remote control
Optional rechargable battery, mounts to bottom of the projector
Low cost, extremely low cost of ownership (thanks to the 10,000 hour lamps).

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BumbleBee Projector - Cons:

Very low brightness - less than 50 lumens
No zoom lens (not really an issue for a product of this type)
No tripod mount
As expensive as larger, traditional business projectors that can be 20 times as bright
More expensive than the slightly less bright Mitsubishi PK20

Boxlight Projector - Typical Capabilities

Documentation is respectable, however brief. The small square user manual documents menus, inputs and more.
Audible noise levels

Boxlight Bumblebee LED Portable Projector - Summary

Click to enlarge. SO close

The Bumblebee is another "early" LED lit portable projector. The efficiency of LED lights make this type of projector the first to be practical not just for its small size, but more importantly, for its ability to run on batteries, for an extended period of time (over 2 hours).

It's not suprising that these LED projectors are selling moderately well (well, at least according to the manufacturers). There are plenty of folks who are simply "early adopters" and just can't live without something new. Truth is, though, that the Bumblebee is functional. It can do a nice presentation of 50 or so inches diagonal in a fairly dark room. That makes it suitable for small personal presentations to 2 or 3 people. In addition, gamers and users of other portable devices will find the Bumblebee practical for a variety of non-traditional applications.

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If the Mitsubishi PK20 for $499 is a viable product, then the Boxlight Bumblebee is simply more of the same - brighter, longer warranty, and a higher price to match. While I can't rationalize one of these little LED portable DLP projectors for my own use, I have no doubt that many will find a suitable purpose for owning one.

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