It’s been almost exactly a year since we tested out the Nebula Capsule 3 Laser from Anker’s entertainment sub-brand. March 2024 has brought a more budget friendly offering in the Nebula Capsule 3. That’s right, no lasers. We’ve been testing this model for a month and want to share with our readers just how much compromise was made to cut $250 in this release.
Design
Nebula has an established design language with the Capsule series. The new Capsule 3 continues this bringing back the tallboy soda can look. With the Capsule 3 also featuring internal 8W speakers featuring Dolby Audio, the entire shell has grill holes to allow for sound and heat dissipation.
Other internals are the power bank, capable of portable movie watching for up to 2.5 hours. This is powered by the Capsule 3’s 52Wh battery. Hardware isn’t lacking all around with a quad-core ARM chipset, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of eMMC storage.
The star of the design all lives on the front of the Nebula Capsule 3. Here you find the display tech and depth sensors. The lens is capable of throwing a full 1080p images ranging from 40 to 120 inches wide. Pushing this out at 200 ANSI Lumens means that the brightness is no issue at all.
Inputs and remote
Around the rear of the Capsule 3 cylinder an HDMI 2.0 port, USB-A, a 3.5mm auxiliary port, and a USB-C port. The USB-C can be used for charging or data inputs. There’s also a dedicated Bluetooth pairing button for when you simply want to use the Capsule as a portable speaker, or add external audio while watching films.
The last rear facing input you’ll find is an IR sensor. This is purposely there to feature the updated remote included in the box. While it wanders from the previous design, it’s still a very good hardware controller. You have dedicated button for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video (more on them later). Otherwise, if you’ve used a Google TV or Android TV remote in the last couple of years, this will be right at home.
Finally, if you don’t have the remote handy, the Nebula Capsule 3 has you covered. The top of the casing is embossed with a capacitive area that replaces many of the remote functions. You have dots that create a D-pad for general navigation. Flanking these are inputs for volume controls, a home button, and back button.
Software
The Nebula Capsule 3 is running Google’s latest OS for television, Google TV. It’s not a stark difference from the previous Android TV versions on Nebula devices, but I find the layout and design slight faster and more visually appealing. Otherwise, there’s not much to talk about here.
The one bullet point worth a mention, is this device is certified for the official Netflix app. This hasn’t always been true with previous generation of Nebula projectors. Netflix is very particular on streaming devices that get its blessings and many portable units like the Capsule series don’t get the validation. It’s another fantastic addition to see this certification finally arrive for Anker’s sub-brand.
Battery life
Anker projects that the Nebula Capsule 3 can last upwards of 2.5 hours per charge with general video playback. I’ve found this to be fairly accurate. You can easily make it through a few epsisodes of your favorite sitcom, but a full theatrical masterpiece of three hours plus isn’t going to happen.
I wish Anker would consider adding a few more cells into the Capsule series to lengthen this compromise. This is the 3rd generation of the Capsule and the battery life is in a rut. If the comapny can find a way to add another 45 minutes to an hour, it would easily cover a much larger percentage of movies per charge.
Thankfully, Anker includes PowerIQ and quick charge via USB-C with the Capsule 3 projector. This makes it easy to charge it in under a couple of hours. You can also do like I do, and add an external power bank to enjoy longer viewing sessions. I’ve found it very handy to hook up an Anker power bank either under the Capsule on a table or attached to a tripod to extend the battery life.
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Conclusion
The Nebula Capsule 3 projector is another fantastic entry to the market from Anker. It adds a bit of polish to the existing models as well as the update to Google TV. Add the addition of the Netflix certification and this marks a worthy upgrade from the previous generations.
You can snag the new Nebula Capsule 3 projector for $550 in the normal retail markets for Anker. This includes Amazon and the company’s direct Nebula website. Both links are below, and currently has this discounted $110 to help mark the launch of this great new option in portable streaming.
Purchase the Nebula Capsule 3 from Nebula.com
Purchase the Nebula Capsule 3 from Amazon.com
