When I bought my first home with a garden, I immediately started having visions of summer movie nights outside, and Aldi has finally given me the means of making those dreams a reality with their £50 projector.
This month, Aldi has launched all the kit needed to make an outdoor cinema: a £50 projector and a £60 inflatable movie screen. The launch also comes just in time to get your friends round and watch the World Cup on the big screen without squeezing into an already rammed pub.
Both items are sold separately, but work as a dream team together if you have space for the large inflatable structure. Since I'm working with a small garden, it was the petite £50 projector that caught my eye, a fraction of the price of many other projectors, such as the Aurzen Roku TV Smart Projector, £200 on Amazon.
The small portable projector can fit a screen size from 40 to 130 inches and is powered by Android 11 OS to stream directly from your favourite apps. It has a built-in speaker to deliver sound and promises an easy setup.
It's a small stand that allows for easy adjustment to cast the image in the right place in your garden; however, you will need to manually adjust the focus. It's the compact style that won me over, as I can easily move it around my home, from the bedroom to the garden.
Of course, for £50, this projector is going to have some drawbacks compared to more expensive versions, such as the Aurzen Roku TV Smart Projector, £200 on Amazon. This projector isn't as dinky or neat as Aldi's, but it is well-reviewed for being simple and easy to use with access to streaming apps like iPlayer and Netflix. It also has auto focus and keystone adjustment, along with a higher resolution than the Aldi projector.
However, if you're dipping your toe into the world of projectors and plan to use it occasionally, Aldi's version is a good starting point before upgrading.
If you want to complete the experience, Aldi's inflatable movie screen has already drawn alot of fans. It has a built-in air pump for easy set-up and stands at 8ft tall when inflated. The white screen is attached with velcro to the black structure to create a massive 108-inch screen.
When not in use, the whole screen folds down into a bag not much bigger than a small tent or sleeping bag. Personally, this screen is too large for my garden, and I'd be much more content to use a plain white wall or a hung-up bed sheet. But if you have the space, the inflatable screen will be the centre-piece of any World Cup viewing party.
Alternatives
Unsurprisingly, the projector and outdoor screen are already proving a hit with shoppers. If you've not been able to track one down in store, here are three alternatives you can buy online with stellar reviews.
This neat mini projector has an average rating of 4.4 stars on Amazon from over 4,000 reviews. It has a rotatable stand and auto adjusts the image to a rectangle, and in additional to having access to apps including prime video, it can be connected to an ipad or laptop.
This smart projector has a perfect 5 star rating from over 100 reviews, and is currently reduced by 50% for a short time only. It supports smooth online streaming, one-click wireless screen mirroring for phones or tablets and has built in speaker.
This is certainly a little more faffier to set up than Aldi's outdoor screen, but it will take up less floor space and you wouldn't need to plug it in to set it up. The screen also has an impressive 4.4 star rating on Amazon from almost 2,000 reviewers.
