The first hybrid Galaxy Beam i8530 with a built-in DLP projector was introduced by Samsung in October 2011 at the Mobile World Congress. Unfortunately, the projector’s low brightness radically limited its popularity. Only eight years later, the idea of a pocket TV was realized in the brighter Blackview MAX 1.
The concept was enthusiastically accepted by the consumer market and within a year the range expanded with Moviphone, Qantum V and Movi phone-projectors.
Rugged phone-projectors
Unfortunately, these hybrids also turned out to be uncompetitive due to the price and high power consumption in projector mode. The built-in projector increased the phone price by $ 300-$ 400, significantly more expensive than ultra-compact low-brightness LED pico projectors. By comparison, today’s projectors add only ~ $150 to the phone price. Furthermore, watching a movie significantly drained the 3,000-4,000 mAh battery. As a result, phone-projectors disappeared from the market for several years.
But the concept was triumphantly revived by Chinese Unihertz in 2023, which presented a rugged Tank 2 with a built-in projector.
This experiment was very successful. As known, the camping rugged models are usually equipped with batteries of huge capacity. For example, Oukitel WP100 Tinan (2025) uses a monstrous 33,000 mAh battery. Accordingly, the problem of its discharge in viewing mode is automatically eliminated.
As a result, today several companies are actively working in this segment, annually expanding the lines of their phone-projectors. The list of competitors for summer 2025 already includes Unihertz 8849 Tank 4 Pro, Oukitel WP100 Titan, Ulefone Armor 34 Pro, Uniwa Pj001 and Doogee V Max Play.
In the fall, a pioneer in this field, the Chinese company Blackview, which has been competing quite successfully in the market since 2013, joined the list. It introduced the Xplore 2 and its version with a built-in projector called Xplore 2 Projector.
Blackview Xplore 2 vs Xplore 2 Projector
The list of differences is very short:
– price – $ 455 / € 390 vs $ 611 / € 521;
– weight – 670 vs 710 grams;
– built-in projector – no vs DLP projector.
Other specs are identical:
– 6,73″ AMOLED (QHD+ or Quad HD+ resolution 1,440 x 3,200), 521 ppi, 120Hz, 2600 nits, Corning Gorilla Glass 5, no rear display;
– Mediatek Dimensity 8300 (4nm), up to 3.35 GHz Octa-Core, GPU Mali-G615 MP6, Android 15 DokeOS 4.2, RAM – 12GB/16GB LPDDR5x, Virtual RAM 32GB, ROM – 256GB/1TB UFS 4.0;
– 50MP, f/1.8 (Wide), 20MP, f/2.0 (Night vision), LED flash, HDR, panorama;
– 20,000mAh, 120W fast charging, no wireless charging;
– microSDXC card slot;
– 186 mm x 87.80 mm x 29 mm;
– IP68/IP69K resistant;
– 5G, NFS, Bluetooth 5.4, WiFi 6e, side-mounted fingerprinr scaner, stereo speakers, no 3.5mm jack.
Main specs (Blackview Xplore 2 Projector):
– $ $ 611, MediaTek Dimensity 8300, 20,000mAh battery, 710g, projector resolution and brightness – FWVGA (854 x 480) and 150 lumens.
Main competitors:
– Unihertz 8849 Tank 4 Pro – $ 650, MediaTek Dimensity 8300, 11,600mAh battery, 530g, HD (1,280 x 720) and 100 lumens;
– Ulefone Armor 34 Pro – $ 700, MediaTek Dimensity 7300, 25,500mAh battery, 825g, FWVGA (854 x 480) and 150 lumens;
– Oukitel WP100 Titan – $ 740, MediaTek Dimensity 7300, 33,000mAh battery, 875g, FWVGA (854 x 480) and 100 lumens;
– Doogee V Max Play – $ 740, MediaTek Dimensity 7300, 20,500mAh battery, 683g, FWVGA (854 x 480) and 100 lumens.
Like the 8849 Tank 4 Pro, Blackview uses a high-performance MediaTek Dimensity 8300 and is slightly cheaper than its competitors. Battery capacity, projector specs, and weight are average.
Conclusion
Over the past few years, Chinese companies have successfully filled the phone-projector niche, using rugged smartphones with extremely powerful batteries as bases. Their capacity reaches tens of thousands of mAh, and the record belongs to Oukitel WP100 Titan with a fantastic 33,000mAh battery. Of course, this solution has eliminated the problem of power consumption in projector mode, and today camping enthusiasts can enjoy a pleasant evening with a ‘pocket TV’. However, a smartphone with a projector can also be very convenient at home, for example, in the kitchen.
But to avoid disappointment, it is advisable for the user to realistically evaluate the capabilities of the built-in projector. As known, ambient light makes the colors of the image dull and faded. Brightness compensates for this effect. For example, acceptable color saturation when viewing in diffuse daylight requires 1,000 ANSI lumens or higher. Built-in DLP projectors typically have a brightness of ~100 lumens. Currently, only the Ulefone Armor 34 Pro projector provides 150 lumens. Therefore, using them requires darkening the room. However, this problem disappears in the evening.
Furthermore, the light flux is evenly distributed across the screen, so the image illumination depends on its area. Therefore, low brightness also limits screen size. Companies usually specify a maximum diagonal size of 100 inches. But in reality, a projector with 100 lumens brightness will provide acceptable color saturation on a 60-80″ screen and in a dark. However, this is quite enough for a ‘pocket TV’.
This video introduces the new Blackview Xplore 2 rugged phone-projector.
