I just tested this amazing tri-fold portable projector to watch TV and play PS5 — and now I’m never going anywhere without it

I love watching TV shows and playing video games, but sometimes, my 43-inch TV just isn’t enough. The solution? Grabbing one of the best projectors, like the Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector. This projector takes things to the next level by letting you cast wirelessly, and it’s so small that you can carry it practically anywhere without it taking up space in your bag (or your pocket, even).

I can’t help but describe the ZIP Tri-Fold as revolutionary. It’s the perfect projector to take while traveling, camping, or even watching TV while lying down as its Z-shape lets you effortlessly project onto a ceiling.

The Auren ZIP Tri-Fold isn’t without its flaws, though, as resolution is limited to 720p and its battery life is on the shorter side. But is it still worth buying? Yes. Read my full Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector review to find out more.

Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The world’s first tri-fold portable projector compatible with a plethora of devices
• Who is it for? Anyone who wants to be able to stream on the big screen without a TV
• How much does it cost? The Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold is available for $399 / £399
• What do we like? Easy setup, fantastic build, portable design, bright display, and multi-platform compatibility
• What don’t we like? Resolution is limited to 720p and the battery life is short

Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector review: Specs

Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector review: Price & availability

Announced at MWC 2025, the Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector has a retail price of $399 at Amazon U.S. / £399 at Aurzen U.K. At the time of writing, while there are portable projectors, none of them are foldable, so the ZIP Tri-Fold is a class apart.

Portable projectors don’t come cheap either. Not only is the ZIP Tri-Fold’s design unique, but it’s also not as expensive as others we have tested at Tom’s Guide. The LG CineBeam Q costs $999 while the Xgimi Horizon Pro is available for $1,179 — and there are some really expensive ones too, like the $2,999 Hisense C2 Ultra.

Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector review: Design

As its name suggests, the Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector is two things: it can fold like a foldable smartphone, and it’s portable. Its Z-shape works well upright for films or on its side for portrait TikToks or YouTube Shorts.

The projector is highly portable when it’s folded down, measuring just 3.3 x 3.1 x 1 inches. I was able to easily slip it into my pocket and when I was done bingeing Agatha All Along for the seventh time.

I placed the ZIP Tri-Fold projector on my bedside table without it taking up too much space. It weighs just 9.88 ounces too, which is very lightweight and makes for easy transportation.

Its build quality is superb too. The ZIP Trid-Fold is made entirely of machined aluminum, which gives it a premium edge. It’s nice and cool to touch. This projectorcomes in two colors, Titanium Gold and Dark Gray. I tested the former, which looks lovely.

An air outlet is located next to the lens, and another air vent is located on the back. The fans aren’t so loud that they drown out the ZIP Tri-Fold’s speakers. The lens is located on the front and a camera sits next to it to aid the projector’s autofocus capabilities.

HDMI dongle

Because the ZIP Tri-Fold is so compact, there isn’t enough space on its body to house multiple ports as on other projectors. You get a USB-C port for charging and that’s about it. There’s no HDMI port for direct connectivity so if you want to use the projector with a gaming console, you’ll need to purchase the CastPlay HDMI dongle ($65).

At the time of writing, Aurzen’s website states the dongle is “coming soon” so I will update this review when it’s available to buy. Aurzen sent us a pre-production unit for review purposes, and I thoroughly enjoyed testing it. The dongle itself is no bigger than the ZIP Tri-Fold. It sports a matching Titanium Gold (or Dark Gray) design. It’s light so, again, it’s easy to carry around.

There are a few LED status lamps on the dongle’s surface that indicate its connection status to the device it’s plugged into and the projector. They’re straightforward to read and understand.

Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector review: Controls

There isn’t a lot going on in terms of the Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector’s controls. On its left edge, you’ll find power and volume buttons — like on a smartphone. Both give good tactile feedback when pressed.

To turn on the projector, you need to keep the power button pressed for a few seconds. There’s a brightness adjustment rocker switch located on the projector’s right-hand edge.

A touch panel graces the projector’s top, located next to the Aurzen branding, and it consists of five buttons: OK, Down, Up, Back, and Focus. The touch panel goes to sleep when the projector is in use or has been left idle for a few seconds to conserve battery, but tapping any button promptly brings it back to life.

I found the touch controls easy to use and highly responsive. There were no latency issues either — I’d press a button and I’d see it happen on the projected screen. The ZIP Tri-Fold is extremely easy to use and doesn’t make controlling it seem complicated — and this applies to the setup too.

Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector review: Setup

Setting up the Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector is a walk in the park. I turned it on by keeping the power button pressed for a few seconds. I then unfolded the projector (but remember not to extend it beyond its capabilities) and pointed it at my bedroom wall.

Its auto keystone digitally skewed the image to compensate for the angle at which the projector was positioned. And its autofocus worked well to project a clear image. I even moved the projector several times to see if it would display the image accurately and it did — very impressive for a tiny projector.

The projector’s tri-folding design means you can angle it to point directly at your ceiling too. Want to watch a movie while lying down? Easy. You can adjust the ZIP Tri-Fold’s focus manually too, by navigating to the Settings menu.

You can connect the projector to macOS, Windows, iOS and Android devices via screen mirroring. I used the built-in Cast feature on my Google Pixel 7 Pro to connect it to the projector — and in less than a minute, I was seeing my phone’s screen on my wall. This worked just as well with my MacBook Air M2 and MacBook Pro M1 too.

As I mentioned up top, I also tested the CastPlay HDMI dongle. I plugged it into my PS5 Slim’s HDMI port and held down the button on its side. This initiated pairing and within seconds, I was seeing my PS5’s login screen on my wall. It worked with my Nintendo Switch, too. I took bed-rotting to the next level by playing video games from bed without physically moving the consoles. Gamechanger.

An important thing to note is that the CastPlay dongle needs to be plugged into a power socket (via the USB-C port) if you’re using it with a power-hungry console like the PS5. In case a power boost is needed, the CastPlay dongle will notify you via the Faults indicator glowing red.

You’ll also need the CastPlay dongle if you want to stream Netflix, Disney+ or any of the other best streaming services. Due to DRM restrictions, you can’t mirror these platforms, but the CastPlay dongle bypasses this issue.

Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector review: Performance

I have been thoroughly impressed by the Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector’s performance. It’s small but mighty. Its brightness is rated at 100 ANSI lumens. which isn’t a lot.

So, ideally, you should use the projector in a pitch-black room. But even with the sunlight creeping in through the blinds in my bedroom, I was able to see the picture clearly. In comparison, the Xgimi Horizon Pro is rated at 2,000 lumens while the LG CineBeam Q is rated at 500.

The ZIP Tri-Fold’s resolution clocks in at only 720p, which isn’t a lot considering most TVs and laptops today boast either 1080p or 4K. But again, it’s important to remember that this isn’t a very expensive projector, and it’s primarily designed with compactness in mind. If you want 4K resolution, you’ll need to spend more on the likes of the LG CineBeam Q, and you’ll be sacrificing portability.

I tested the ZIP Tri-Fold by playing PS5 games, watching a few episodes of two TV shows, and a 90-minute movie — all of which I’m familiar with, so I had a good reference point as I knew what these looked like when watching on my TV. I had a great time testing the projector, and it was bright enough for my bedroom.

Movies/TV

I first watched a few episodes of Schitt’s Creek on Netflix, with the CastPlay dongle plugged into my MacBook. The show itself has a lot of bright scenes that take place outdoors or with lots of lighting indoors, and the ZIP Tri-Fold did a great job of projecting enough brightness with decent contrast.

There’s no HDR setting, unfortunately, but even with its basic resolution, I was impressed. I love how faithfully the colors in Schitt’s Creek were reproduced. Greens were bright while dark shades were muted.

I then switched to a show which has mostly dark scenes: Agatha All Along. As I have the episodes saved on my laptop’s hard drive, I mirrored my MacBook’s screen to watch the show. There were no latency issues and audio-to-video synchronization was accurate too.

As with most projectors, darker scenes appear a little washed out when using the ZIP Tri-Fold, but this can be fixed by watching in a really dark room — blackout blinds come in handy here.

Watching during the day proved to be a slight issue as I was unable to see the characters properly projected on my wall. But Agatha All Along appears quite dark even when watching on a laptop — think House-of-the-Dragon-dark but slightly less.

Gaming

After I was done watching TV, I played Baldur’s Gate 3 and Assassin’s Creed Shadows with the CastPlay HDMI dongle plugged into my PS5. The ZIP Tri-Fold isn’t anything crazy for gaming but it still does a respectable job.

The projector doesn’t have a dedicated game mode, so the CastPlay’s latency is measured at 50-60ms. That’s decent for casual gaming, and the projector has a 60Hz refresh rate.

I didn’t experience any lag or latency issues in either game. In both games, my attacks landed just as I executed them with my controller. However, I encountered an issue when playing Assassin’s Creed Shadows during in-game nighttime — everything was too dark so the projector couldn’t show details in the environment. But this is an issue I face even when playing the game on my TV.

In Cyberpunk 2077, though, Night City’s neon lights shone bright and I could even see the residual sparks as bullets left my gun.

Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector review: Audio

The Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector has two 1W speakers built into its hardware. These aren’t powerful enough to fill a large room but they’re good enough for a small bedroom — even at 50% volume.

Most video games I played and TV shows I watched sounded good enough through the ZIP Tri-Fold’s speakers. I was able to accurately hear enemy chatter and the wind buffeting in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and idle chatter in Baldur’s Gate 3 sounded clear. Loud action sounds, however, sounded tinny, especially at volumes higher than 75%.

In Agatha All Along, voices didn’t sound as warm as they usually do. Background music and tracks, though, sounded great. High notes in ‘The Ballad of the Witches' Road’ didn’t sound piercing, and overall, I was satisfied with the speakers’ performance.

It’s important to remember that the ZIP Tri-Fold is very small, so it can’t pack in as much hardware as, say, the (very expensive) Hisense C2 Ultra.

If you want louder volumes or more powerful sound, the ZIP Tri-Fold can be connected to the best Bluetooth speakers. It worked extremely well when I paired it with EarFun UBoom L ($79).

Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector review: Battery life

The Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector is fitted with a rechargeable 5,000mAh battery, which can be charged via any USB-C cable. Aurzen states that a single charge should last you 90 minutes, but this will depend on the usage conditions.

I used the CastPlay HDMI dongle for the battery test, and it took 110 minutes for the ZIP Tri-Fold to warn me that its battery was low. This isn’t bad but it isn’t fantastic either.

If you’re taking the projector on, say, a camping trip, you’ll need to carry one of the best power banks to keep you going. The good news is that you can at least use the projector plugged in.

Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector review: Verdict

If you travel a lot or just want to watch your favorite movies in bed without buying another TV, then the Aurzen ZIP Tri-Fold Portable Projector should be right up your alley. It’s highly portable so you can carry it anywhere — camping trips, road trips, on flights and trains — and it looks lovely and premium too.

While 100 lumens doesn’t sound very bright, the ZIP Tri-Fold is bright enough to light up a wall in a dark room, and color reproduction is faithful, too. It works extremely well when content is played wirelessly and via the CastPlay HDMI dongle — which you’ll need if you want to stream DRM-protected content from Netflix, Disney+ or Amazon Prime.

But the ZIP Tri-Fold isn’t perfect. Although it’s portable, its battery life is rated at just 90 minutes. That means you’ll need a power bank to power it if you’re traveling. Also, its resolution is limited to 720p — but you’re looking at a bigger expenditure if you want 4K quality.

Overall, the ZIP Tri-Fold is fantastic. I can’t wait to travel with it and watch my favorite shows on a much bigger screenthan my smartphone. It’s the little projector that could.