AAXA P700 LED Pico HD Projector

The AAXA P700 is very bright for a very small projector. It's about 3x as large as a pico projector but at 650 lumens, it's significantly brighter. I purchased this to use for business presentations in small rooms or for off-site training in medium sized rooms. The brightness was surprisingly good, allowing me to view a Powerpoint in a medium sized room with afternoon sunlight and the curtains drawn. The room was still quite bright but I could see the image just fine. (I was projecting this on a blank wall about 8' from where the projector sat.) The construction of the unit feels solid enough, but the buttons seem very cheap when pushed. The image from the HDMI out was stretched vertically somewhat and I could not determine through the controls or manual how to adjust it. The AAXA folks do include a support number for questions, however I did not call. I found two items particularly lacking which is why I returned my unit. First, the image was somewhat pixelated, regardless of the settings I chose. The second is the fan noise. Although not horribly loud, this unit is definitely not quiet. And on the brighter settings the fan ramps up to an annoyingly loud level. The fan noise might not be a problem if you had the projector sitting a short distance away from where you were seated, however, using in small spaces, or at a business meeting, it would definitely be noticeable. I did not have any trouble focusing as other reviewers have mentioned. The focus wheel does have very stiff resistance, which makes it challenging, but it worked fine for me. The small tripod that comes with it is inexpensive, but did the job just fine. I didn't worry that the projector was going to fall over and the tripod actually helps in getting the image nice on the wall, although keystone adjustments are available. The software is ok, if not a bit clunky, but it does work. A few other features that I didn't find particularly helpful: - It has three bright blue LED lights on the top, behind the buttons (see image). The lights themselves are not actual buttons so I'm not sure what the point of having them is? If it's a style intent, then, I'd prefer not to have bright stylistic features distracting from my table top presentation. In a darkened room, the LEDs are quite bright. - It has a 70 minute (manufacturers claim - I didn't test) battery included. This may be useful to some, although to me it's not quite long enough that I would feel comfortable using it in a business situation. I would want to have the power adaptor ready in the event I received a battery warning during the presentation. In which case, if I'm going to have the adapter ready, I may as well just plug it in. Also, if you are using this for a party or movie night, 70 minutes is not likely to get you through your movie. Others may find the battery a good supplement, however, to me it is only useful if it could last a minimum of 120 minutes, preferably 180. - The design doesn't feel polished. It's not that the plastic isn't sufficiently rigid, but it just 'feels' like plastic -- like cheap-kid-toy kind of plastic. In addition, when pushing on the buttons, the feedback and plastic click sound just seems low quality. This doesn't mean it won't work fine, but I felt it worth noting. - Also, in looking at where the lens rests within the cutout, I noticed that the lens was not centered. This didn't seem to impact the quality of the image as I didn't notice any shadowing or distortion, but, it just lends to the overall fell that this product is not quite what I would call professional grade. My overall impression is that this is a decent projector for the price ($450 range), however, I have found other options at a similar cost, that meet the need for a small-room business projector much better. One such projector is the Vivitek Qumi Q5 500 Lumen model. It's not as bright, but still bright enough and the construction quality is very, very good. Although, I will say that I think the Vivitek is most competitive only if you can get it near the $400-$450 price range. Summary: The AAXA P700 is a good enough small projector (one of the brightest you can get) for the price, but there are higher quality options available.