Portable projectors are a fun idea, but more often than not, they're cumbersome and require additional peripherals or speakers to be useful. Asus is hoping to challenge that with ZenBeam Latte L1, a capsule projector it debuted at this year's virtual-only CES.

This is Asus's newest portable projector, but it's impressive because it packs quite a few features at a relatively decent price. It costs $399 and fires out a 720p image with 300 lumens of LED light, making it brighter than other portable projectors, including Anker's popular Nebula, which can be found on Amazon for about $300. It also has an integrated 10W Harman Kardon-tuned speaker system.

Asus is really hyping up that the Latte doubles as a Bluetooth speaker. It said you can stream tunes for about 12 hours before needing a charge.

Asus is also promoting the projector with this whole coffee cup angle, even going as far as to say it looks like one, which is odd. Asus also claimed it is “the first projector to offer a fabric exterior". But what about Xiaomi's already-available $499 Mi Smart Compact Projector?

Anyway, Asus’ Latte wirelessly projects whatever is on your phone or an HDMI device. You can get three hours of juice from its 6,000mAh battery, which should last you an entire movie. It can produce a 40-inch picture diagonally when one meter from the wall, 80 inches at two meters, and a maximum of 120 inches at three meters. But it won't be extremely bright from too far away.

Latte supports iOS, Android, and Windows 10. ASUS has also included support for Aptoide TV, so you can access your favourite streaming apps.

Asus said its projector will arrive in the US in the second quarter of the year, likely in May. There’s no word on pricing or availability for the UK.

For more CES 2021 announcements, see Pocket-lint's roundup.