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This Outdoor Projector Falls to All-Time Low, Built to Handle Backyard Brightness After Sunset

It's high time you had a backyard movie night, and this projector can help.
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Roku TV comes built into the Aurzen D1R smart portable outdoor projector, so you don’t have to plug a streaming stick into the back of it or keep track of a second remote. The projector puts out a native 1080p image at 280 ANSI lumens, adjustable across three levels. The projected picture goes from 40 inches up to 150 inches. Two 5W speakers with Dolby Audio are built in, and Bluetooth 5.2 sends the sound to a separate speaker or headphones.

Head over to Amazon to get the Aurzen Roku TV D1R Smart Portable Outdoor Projector for just $130, down from its usual price of $200. That’s a discount of $70 and 35% off.

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A projector to show off your favorite movies and shows in your backyard

Streaming on most budget projectors involves plugging in a separate stick, because whatever software came preinstalled is too slow to bother with. The D1R has the actual Roku TV operating system on it, the same software you would find on a Roku player or a Roku television. Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, YouTube, Apple TV, and the Roku Channel are all on the home screen. Roku also gives you more than 500 free live channels with news, weather, and sports, none of which require a subscription. You will need a Roku account first, but making one is free.

The brightness rating is 280 ANSI lumens, with three levels you select based on where you plan to use it. Low is intended for a very dark room such as a basement. Medium works well in a bedroom. High is the setting for a living room with a lamp on, or a backyard after sunset. ANSI lumens get measured under an industry standard, unlike the LED lumen numbers cheap projectors advertise, so the figure is one you can compare against other projectors.

Setting it up takes very little effort, since the auto-focus and keystone correction do that work for you. You place the unit on a table, point it at a wall, and the image sharpens and squares itself even when the projector sits at an angle. A zoom function shrinks the picture without you moving the projector, which helps when your wall is smaller than the throw distance requires. Aurzen suggests keeping the screen around 80 inches for everyday watching, since the same light stretched over a bigger picture looks dimmer.

The two 5W speakers put out enough volume for a bedroom or a smaller living room. If you want something louder, Bluetooth 5.2 connects the projector to an outdoor speaker or a soundbar, and to headphones for watching late at night. On the back, you get HDMI and USB ports for a console, a laptop, or a flash drive, plus a 3.5mm jack.

At $130, down from $200, the Aurzen Roku TV D1R Smart Portable Outdoor Projector costs about what a streaming stick and an entry-level projector would cost separately. Keep in mind that it needs a wall outlet and Wi-Fi, so a backyard setup involves an extension cord.

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