AuKing Mini Projector Key Details

The Auking is a 1080p Mini Projector with built-in speakers that is compatible with  Smartphones and laptops.* (Notice the asterisk) The ports are HDMI, USB, VGA, AV, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s $99.99, but you can usually catch it on sale for cheaper.

This projector is pretty popular online. There are tons of glowing reviews for it on Amazon, but I’m assuming if you’re reading this, you care about what I think. And what I think is that this projector is kinda bad.

Also, keep in mind I believe that this projector is being sold on amazon with different branding and shells, but essentially, they’re all the same projector.

These are just some I’ve found.

ALVAR 8000 Lumens Mini Portable Projector

TMY Projector 7500

Projector with WiFi, 2022 Upgrade 8500L

Mini Projector, Aokang 7500 Lumens HD Portable Projector

These all pretty much the same projector with different housing and branding

It is most certainly not for everyone, and it’s not for everyone who loves projectors. The projector has some issues with only a few positives.

Android smartphones are compatible, but only certain Androids, which they don’t tell you before purchasing.

List of Phones compatible with the projector

I’m guessing it’s “compatible” with all iPhones, but oddly enough, they don’t mention it. But I think it’s a safe bet to say that it is. Because saying the Aukling is compatible with smart devices and mac books is technically true, and it’s somewhat misleading.

It has no built-in features to make it compatible with other devices, just an HDMI input. This, combined with poor image and audio quality, means you’d be better off saving your money and buying something a little more expensive.

AuKing Mini Projector Full Break Down

The Auking has an HDMI port, which means it’s compatible with any device that can output through HDMI. But unfortunately, it doesn’t have any ports or software that would intrinsically allow smartphones to project video.

To get your iPhone or Android phone to connect to the projector, you have to do it through HDMI. So, you’ll need a USB-C to HDMI adapter for android and Mac Book or a lightning port to HDMI if you’re using an iPhone. The instructions also recommend a wireless dongle so you can connect your laptop or smart device via BlueTooth (more on that later)

Now here’s the thing, the projector only comes with a regular HDMI cord, so you would have to buy the other cords separately. They don’t mention that before you buy it, so it feels very misleading. Regarding the wireless adapter they recommend, you must connect to it via Bluetooth. Unfortunately, most streaming services have copyright features that won’t allow you to stream content via BlueTooth.

You could connect a chrome cast, Apple TV, or a Roku and mirror or cast your phone to that, but if you don’t have those devices on hand, you’re out of luck.

This means the easiest way to use this device would be with your windows laptop unless you have one of the cords they recommend.

But how does it perform once you get it set up and running? It’s ok.

We have to set our expectations for this price range. The project shows saturated color palettes well but struggles with darker colors.

Darker scenes come out looking grainy and blurry.

While brighter colors look ok.

But all things considered, the video quality will be worse than whatever you have connected to the HDMI. To its credit, however, the projector is bright enough to watch it outside with minimal light pollution.

The audio can be pretty loud, but loud doesn’t necessarily mean good. It does sound like it comes from out of a tin can, but it’s clear enough to hear what’s going on in a movie, so you don’t have to only rely on headphones.

Despite its small size, the Auking’s fans can be pretty loud when it’s on. (Imagine starting up your first-gen PS4 and trying to play Cyberpunk).

This projector isn’t for everyone. I wouldn’t recommend it to most people. However, if you’re a person who wants a bigger screen, you can buy a cheap 22′ monitor and connect you your phone or laptop to it, and the image quality would be better.

Verdict

In most cases, I suggest you save money and get something more expensive, like the ANKER Nebula capsule.

If you find yourself in a situation where you need a projector immediately, this will be ok. For instance, a backyard BBQ where it’s more about the people you’re around than what you’re watching or a party where you want to keep the kids distracted while the adults use the TV (shame on you).

Other than that, it’s worth saving your money.

FAQ

How do I connect my phone to my mini AuKing projector?

Through USB-C to HDMI cord or lighting to HDMI cord

Does AuKing projector support Bluetooth?

I want to make money; it’s a relatable statement. But how we go about making that money is a bit murky. We all (Hopefully) want to make money ethically and without exploiting anyone. There seems to be more ways to monetize our passions than ever. If you’re an artist, you can start a Patreon, use the Youtube Partner Program or create an NFT project.

Depending on who you ask, there are issues with all those options. Making money from your passion isn’t easy, and that goes for me here at The Icon. So how do I ethically monetize this site?

Websites like Bloomberg and Forbes charge you a subscription to read their articles. Which I think is fair. They’re often detailing breaking news stories that took time and years of collecting sources to produce.

But the problem with that is it puts news out of reach of people who don’t have money. Not that a subscription to Forbes is expensive, but if you can barely afford dinner, then subbing to a news site isn’t a priority. But no matter your financial situation, we all need to stay informed.

Additionally, it’s tough to get people to read news articles. Half the time, you’re lucky if people read past the article’s title on social media. Most of the time, at least with my site, people read the title and immediately comment or just read what other people are commenting. The problem with this is that it can aid find misinformation spreading on the internet. Still, when you lock information behind a paywall, that limits the number of people getting that information.

It’s a struggle to get people to click on the article, and getting people to pay to read it is much more challenging. This means people turn to people in the comments and other secondhand accounts to get the information.

On a related note, have you ever played the game ” Telephone?” You get a group of friends and whisper a phrase to one of them, and they’re supposed to whisper it to other people, and once it gets to the last person, you see how much the phrase has changed. Usually, the phrase has changed somewhat. That’s because most people can’t recall exactly what was told in the time it takes to hear the phrase and then repeat it. So the more people the information goes through, the more human error is filtered in.

Same with information on the internet; when we get information secondhand, the person’s biases and interpretation get filtered in, and god forbid, they’re an idiot. If you’re blocked access to the sources of information, you’re denied the ability to scrutinize the data for yourself and to form your own opinion.

*Obama voice* Let me be clear. I don’t think anything is wrong with Forbes and Bloomberg charging money. Still, I believe it puts up a wall that could potentially facilitate spreading of fake news by limiting access to information from people.

For instance, recently, there was a dispute between Platinum Games and the former voice actress for Bayonetta, Hellena Taylor. Hellena claimed Platinum Games only offered to pay her $4000 to voice the title character in Bayonetta 3. However, Paul Schreier of Bloomberg discovered that that wasn’t exactly true through documents and various sources.

He tweeted his article and said Hellena Taylor’s claims were misleading, which some people in the comments said he needed to provide proof. He did. The evidence was in his article, but it seemed most of the comment section hadn’t read it. There were a few who did who tried to explain what was happening. The problem with this is that it’s that person’s interpretation. The others who didn’t read the article were losing out on the ability to scrutinize the information for themselves.

Again Bloomberg is great, and their prices are more than reasonable. But writing something and putting it on social media is 50% hoping people read past the title, 45% defending yourself against people who didn’t read past the title and begging them to do so, and 5% wondering why you even bothered.

And as much as we hate tactics like clickbait, if it didn’t work, sites wouldn’t do it. We’ve all done it, given in curiosity, and clicked on a clickbait article. However, I think clickbait is a toxic practice and breaks the trust you’re trying to build with your readers.

With all this said, I wanted to devise a way to monetize  The Icon while avoiding some of the pitfalls mentioned above. And remember, we’re not as big as Forbes or Bloomberg ( yet), so our founding needs aren’t as vast.

We will try to avoid pay walling content and instead offer optional ways to help fund us.

We’ll have to build trust with our audience, and that means giving them the information they need without clickbait and without adding a bunch of padding to the article. This means some articles might be short, or some information doesn’t need to be articles at all and will instead be a Twitter post. Posts will have critical information immediately at the beginning of the article. We want to keep you all moving forward, so we don’t want you scrolling for necessary information. We want you to get the information you need and decide if you want to keep going.

We’ll employ ads, but we’ll keep them from being intrusive, and additional funding options will be optional for those who enjoy our content and want to support us.

It’s easy to say all of this now. But creating something and making money from it has a slew of struggles, some I’ve spoken about and some I’m unaware of. So, we’ll see.

There’s still a bit of stigma about meeting people online. I remember people speaking in hushed voices as they said, “We met online,” when asked how they met their spouse. Not me, though. I don’t care what people think. #rebel.

But I have felt the awkward looks and questions when I’ve told them I met my fiancee on an online dating site. We’ve been together for seven years but yes, Karen, raise your eyebrow in surprise as I tell you we met online.

But those things were never the most challenging part about meeting people online. The hardest part was the distance. Sometimes we have online friends across the country; heck, some of us have friends across the world. So I thought distance and realizing someone you played with hadn’t logged in years was the worst part. But as I’ve gotten older, I realized something that’s even harder. And that losing a friend.

Recently a friend of mine passed away. We played Destiny 2 together. He and a group of us have saved the universe from the Cabal, raided for hours, suffered in Crucible, and he came to the rescue when I was stuck on that damn elevator in the corrupted strike.

But what’s more, we talked, shared life stories, and checked up on each other, and now he’s gone. His wife called us to let us know that he had passed because he spoke about us, and she knew he would want us to know. We impacted his life enough that his wife, whom we had never spoken to, knew who we were and reached out. That would make me feel special if  I wasn’t so despondent about it.

But the problem with meeting people online is that you can’t just walk into the funeral when your friend has caught a bad case of death. Even if you do have the money, a lot of families aren’t going to think to invite Jason’s friend “NoobPWNr69.”  Not many people are lucky enough to find out their friend has passed away. Many of us have to see they haven’t logged on in years and wonder what they’re up to. We imagine that life probably just got too busy. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. And sometimes you don’t find out until long after the person has passed.

But where does that leave us? The people they leave behind. As if it wasn’t bad enough that they had o go up and die, they leave us to deal with it. As if my therapist didn’t have enough to deal with.

I hate funerals; they’re kind of depressing; however, I think they’re essential in helping us get closure. So when online friends pass, we must find our own way to honor them.

Apparently, Online funerals are a thing. There’s an entire article on What’s your grief that details how to deal with the loss of a friend. In addition, they have some great suggestions that I plan on implementing.

One website suggests having an online memorial. Maybe a web page you and the rest of his online friends can leave comments on. I liked this idea because it gives you something to go back to and look at.

A New York Times article talks about how grief isn’t a problem to be solved but rather something to be lived through. The article even talks about ways to gently and appropriately reach out to your friend’s family.

But the main thing you should know when dealing with grief is that it’s okay. It’s okay that you missed them, and it’s okay to hurt. Friendships formed online are just as real and as special as the bounds you form in “real life,” and anyone who tells you any different probably never lost a friend they stayed up with until 3 am saving the galaxy.

One thing this ordeal has taught me is that losing an online friend has all sorts of difficulties, but I also discovered that there are all sorts of resources online to help. I’ve even linked some below.

If you take away one thing from this article other than I’m a snarky bitch that deals with his grief with humor, I hope it’s that it’s okay that you’re hurting and you don’t have to do it alone.

With that said, we at The Icon give losing a friend – infinity out of 5. Don’t recommend

Grieving an Online Friend: 8 things you should know

New York Times:  How to Grieve for Online Friends You Had Never Met in Person

This is a post by the CDC about dealing with grief during COVID. I feel many steps would be suitable for losing an online friend.

Send me a message. I can relate.