I Went Eyes-On With the Aurzen Zip Pro Foldable, Portable Projector. It’s Ready to Shine Your Entertainment Anywhere

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET

A few months ago, I reviewed the Zip Cyber, a cyberpunk-themed pocket projector from Aurzen. It wasn’t very bright, but the trifold design made it extremely pocketable, and the overall appearance was great. 

At IFA, Aurzen debuted the Zip Pro, an updated and upgraded projector with 1080p resolution and twice the brightness. The exterior design is similar, keeping some aspects of the cyberpunk aesthetic (wise, in my opinion) and adding a small touchscreen on the top to aid setup. 

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET

While still sporting what Aurzen calls “trifold” (there are two hinges), the Zip Pro is actually slightly larger than the Zip and Zip Cyber at 4.5 by 3.8 by 1.7 inches versus 3.3 by 3.1 by 1 inches. So, it’s nearly three times the total volume and about twice the weight. This is still a remarkably small projector, just less pocketable than the original. It would get swallowed by any backpack. 

Inside, there’s the aforementioned bump up to 1080p, as well as a slightly larger battery. Aurzen says it has 2.5 hours of playtime compared to the Zip’s 1.5 hours. Since it recharges via USB-C, though, you can extend playtime with any decent portable battery pack. So, with the improved performance, the larger size seems a reasonable trade-off. 

I got a quick look at the Zip Pro at IFA, and it did seem brighter, as evidenced by far larger image sizes to demo the projector compared to how I’ve seen it demo the Zip. The 200-lumen range makes the Pro far more usable in a wider variety of situations. It competes specs-wise,with the Anker Capsule 3, which was pricey but good. The Zip Pro is more expensive, but most tech is now compared to when the Capsule 3 was launched.

Connectivity

The biggest issue with the Zip Cyber was that it was a challenge to get anything onto it to watch. There’s still no HDMI, but it does have AirLink, Miracast, AirPlay P2P, DLNA and, especially notable since it was missing in the original Zip, Google Cast. You can also connect via USB-C to watch content from your phone.

You can preorder the Zip Pro now, and the MSRP is $630. I’ll be testing out the Zip Pro in my lab soon.

Geoffrey Morrison

Contributor

Geoffrey Morrison is a writer/photographer about tech and travel for CNET, The New York Times, and other web and print publications. He’s also the Editor-at-Large for Wirecutter. He is the author of Budget Travel for Dummies as well as the bestselling sci-fi novels Undersea, and Undersea Atrophia. He’s NIST and ISF trained, and has a degree in Audio Production from Ithaca College. He spends most of the year as a digital nomad, living and working while traveling around the world. You can follow his travels at BaldNomad.com and on his Instagram and YouTube channel.

See full bio