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The Best Projectors

By Adrienne Maxwell

Adrienne Maxwell is an editor covering AV gear. Her specialty is video projectors, so she spends a lot of time alone in dark rooms.

Different projectors are designed for different uses, and they can range in price from a couple hundred dollars to well into the five-figure range. Choosing the right model for your needs can be a daunting task, and we’re here to help.

Below is an overview of the top picks from our various projector guides. We have recommendations for premium 4K movie projectors , bright living-room projectors , budget home theater projectors , and more.

What you need to know

When shopping for projectors, don’t rely on the specs—especially the claimed brightness, which is often exaggerated.

If you want a big screen, you need a bright projector. Tiny projectors are not bright enough to deliver a big-screen, cinema-like experience.

Projectors, like TVs, are rarely set up to look their best right out of the box. Look for a picture mode called Cinema, Movie, or Natural.

We have projector recommendations for home theaters, living rooms, small spaces, outdoors, and portable use.

If you’re not sure where to begin your projector search, we recommend reading about how to pick the right projector for your viewing needs . In summary, you have three important questions to ask at the start: What do you plan to use the projector for? What type of room will you use it in? How big of a screen do you want?

There’s a huge difference in price and performance between a 4K projector designed for a big-screen home theater and a portable mini projector designed to be an everyday TV replacement. Some projectors excel with movies in a completely dark room, while others are better for sports or gaming in a room with some ambient light.

Generally, the bigger the screen you want, the brighter your projector must be to produce a satisfyingly rich image. Once you have a general idea of the projector’s intended use, it’s easier to zero in on a specific choice.

The research

Best 4k projector for a home theater, best budget projector for a home theater, best living-room projector, best portable mini projector, best short-throw projector (for small spaces), best outdoor projector, why we don’t recommend ultra-short-throw projectors for most people, what you’ll need to complete your projector setup, frequently asked questions.

Epson Home Cinema LS11000

The best 4k projector under $5,000.

The LS11000 is a great 4K laser projector that can deliver a big, bright, beautiful image, and it has almost all the features you need—except 3D support.

Buying Options

If you want to set up a high-performance home theater in a basement or spare room and need a 4K projector that can handle high dynamic range video and wide-color-gamut material, choose the Epson Home Cinema LS11000 . This LCD laser projector offers a combination of performance and features that you won’t find in any other projector priced lower than $5,000. It’s an excellent 4K movie projector, but it also looks great with games, sports, and HDTV when some room lights are on.

Why we like it

• The LS11000 has great detail, is bright enough to produce satisfying high dynamic range (HDR) video, and has wonderfully accurate color in the Natural picture mode.
• This LCD projector uses a laser light source that should see you through the next decade (or longer), with no need to pay for replacement bulbs.
• It's one of only a few 120-hertz projectors right now that has high-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 inputs to work with the most advanced 4K gaming consoles and any future 8K sources that might emerge.
• A motorized lens with generous zoom and lens-shifting capabilities makes this projector easier to set up than many others.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• The LS11000 doesn’t support 3D video playback, so people who have a large collection of 3D discs may want to look elsewhere.
• Projectors aren’t bright enough to show HDR video at its full brightness, so they have to adjust the HDR signal to show it in the brightness range they’re capable of. The LS11000 does not do this automatically; you have to manually adjust the HDR brightness setting.

Read more about the Epson LS11000 in our guide to the best 4K projector .

BenQ HT2060

The best budget projector around $1,000.

This projector produces a bright, rich-looking image with more accurate color than most competitors can offer. It’s easy to set up and quiet in operation, but it lacks features like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

If you want to create a big-screen movie experience at home on a modest budget, the BenQ HT2060 is the best performer in the $1,000-and-under price range.

• It offers great image contrast and color accuracy.
• It’s bright enough to pair with a large screen for a more immersive home theater experience.
• Out of the box this projector can produce a good image with very little adjustment, which means it’s good for people new to projectors.
• It’s easy to set up and quiet in operation.

• The HT2060 produced some digital noise in mid to dark grays during our tests.
• It lacks features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and built-in streaming apps—but you can easily add those features by connecting a media streamer .
• Because it uses DLP projection technology, some people might see the rainbow effect .

Read more about this pick and others in our guide to the best budget projector for a home theater .

BenQ TK860i

The best 4k projector for a living room.

This 4K projector’s high light output, good-sounding speaker, and Android TV system make it a nice option for a living room.

The BenQ TK860i’s high brightness, rich color, razor-sharp image, and solid HDR performance are well suited for everyday TV and movie watching in a brighter viewing environment. It can’t compete with the best 4K home theater projector in contrast and accuracy, but its high brightness makes it a better choice for use in a living room or family room where you can’t block out all the light. If you'd prefer an LCD projector for a living room, the Epson Home Cinema 3800 is a great option, but it does not have a full 4K resolution.

• The BenQ TK860i is quite bright, so the image will pop even in a room with a good amount of light.
• The TK860i comes with an Android TV dongle that hides in a recessed chamber, and it gives you three additional HDMI 2.0 inputs to connect other video sources.
• The built-in speakers sound fuller and more balanced than those of many competitors, and the fan noise is not excessively loud.

• It uses a bulb instead of a laser, so it lacks instant on/off capability, and you’ll have to replace the bulb down the line.
• Precise image positioning requires more effort because of this model’s 1.3x zoom, manual controls, and 10% vertical lens shifting.

You can read more about this projector in our full guide to 4K projectors .

Nebula Mars 3 Air

This compact, 1080p projector offers good image brightness and contrast, above-average sound, easy setup, and a built-in battery. But mounting it on a tripod may prove tricky.

If you need a small, compact projector that you can easily move around your home, the Nebula Mars 3 Air offers almost everything we could ask for in this type of projector. The Mars 3 Air is an LED projector that has a 1080p resolution and supports HDR video in the HDR10 format (though it isn’t bright enough to show off what HDR can do). It also includes a built-in battery, built-in Google TV and speakers, automatic focus and image shaping, and support for Bluetooth audio.

• The Nebula Mars 3 Air offers good brightness and contrast, rich color, and a 1080p resolution.
• Its internal speaker system delivers good sound. You can also connect an external speaker via Bluetooth.
• The projector automatically focuses and shapes the image so that it’s always optimized for your desired throw distance and angle, no matter where you place it.
• Its Google TV operating system gives you direct access to streaming apps such as those for Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix.

• The Mars 3 Air’s shallow tripod socket and ridged underside make it incompatible with some mounts and tripods.
• This model doesn’t have a USB-C port, so you might need an HDMI adapter cable to connect a mobile device.
• The black level, brightness, and color accuracy are lacking in comparison with a traditional home theater projector, so it isn’t an ideal choice for big-screen movie watching or gaming.

You can read more about this projector and others in our full guide to portable mini projectors .

Best 4K short-throw projector for smaller spaces

This 4K projector casts a larger image from a shorter distance, so it’s good for smaller spaces. As long as the room has light control, this projector’s excellent contrast, color, and detail make it good for all content types.

BenQ HT2150ST

Best hd short-throw projector for smaller spaces.

This 1080p projector can produce a 100-inch image from less than 5 feet away. But the picture quality isn’t quite as good as that of the X500i.

In order to create a large image, most projectors need to be positioned far from the screen. This distance is called the throw distance, and it can be anywhere from 8 to 15 feet, depending on the projector and desired image size. Short-throw projectors are convenient for small rooms or other situations where space is limited. Both the 4K BenQ X500i and the 1080p BenQ HT2150ST can sit much closer to the screen than standard projectors.

Why we like them

• Both work in spaces other projectors can’t. The X500i can produce a 4K, 100-inch image from a distance of 5 feet, and the HT2150ST can produce a 1080p, 100-inch image 36 to 43 inches from the screen.
• The X500i is targeted at gamers, with gaming-specific picture modes, a higher refresh rate, and lower input lag. However, its image contrast and bright colors make it suitable for any genre.
• The HT2150ST’s integrated speaker and small size make it easy to store it’s when not being used, and its bright image can work in a room that gets some ambient light.

• The short-throw lens of the HT2150ST can cause some fringing artifacts that you might notice.
• The X500i’s lens adjustments are limited. The amount of zoom is just 1.2x, and this model has no vertical or horizontal lens shifting.
• The older HT2150ST has only a 1080p resolution and uses a bulb instead of an LED light source.
• The X500i doesn’t have a powered USB-A port, so if you want to use a different streaming stick than the supplied Android TV dongle, you have to plug it into a power outlet.

You can read more about the BenQ X500i in our 4K projector guide and the BenQ HT2150ST in our guide to the best budget projector for a home theater .

Nebula Mars 3

This portable 1080p projector offers the good brightness, long battery life, and convenient features we want in an outdoor projector, but it’s bulkier than we’d prefer.

While nearly any projector can work for the occasional backyard movie night, a more rugged and portable model is advisable if you plan to use it outdoors a lot. The Nebula Mars 3 is the brightest portable projector we’ve tested, and while its 1080p resolution doesn’t measure up to a 4K projector (currently there are no battery-powered 4K options) it still provides good contrast and decent accuracy. Its built-in speakers performed admirably, and outdoor-friendly features like weatherproofing make it an ideal option for the perfect backyard movie night.

• The Nebula Mars 3 is built for the outdoors because of its IPX3 weatherproof rating , drop resistance, and built-in LED lantern.
• This projector had the longest battery life out of any other we tested, lasting around 2 hours on 100% brightness and 4 hours and 45 minutes on eco mode (20% brightness).
• The Mars 3’s image contrast and color accuracy are pretty solid, and it supports 3D playback and has MEMC motion smoothing.
• What makes this outdoor projector stand out is its built-in sound system, which produces a full and balanced sound that can fill a large space.

• This projector measures 6.3 by 10.2 by 9.8 inches and weighs 9.9 pounds, so it’s bulkier than most. If you want to mount it, you’ll need a sturdy tripod like the Vanguard Alto Pro 2+ .
• The Mars 3 lacks USB video ports, so you’ll want an HDMI adapter cable like this Insignia model .

You can read more about this projector in our guide to the best outdoor projector .

Ultra-short-throw (UST) projectors are often marketed as TV replacements because they can deliver a massive image from a very short distance and have a footprint smaller than any TV. But the truth is, these are still projectors, and expensive ones at that.

We tested four UST projectors at varying prices and performance levels and concluded that the vast majority of people are better off getting either a large TV or a traditional projector. You’ll either get better performance or spend less—oftentimes both. You can read more about this in our piece Is an Ultra-Short-Throw Projector a Good Substitute for a Big-Screen TV?

A great screen

Silver Ticket STR Series (White Material, 100-Inch)

Our favorite projector screen.

This inexpensive screen offers performance comparable to that of others costing much more, plus it’s easy to install.

Most modern projectors are bright enough to throw a decent image on just about any close-enough-to-white surface, but you won’t get accurate colors without a proper screen. A screen has less texture than a wall, plus it will add pop to the image, because paint almost always has less gain (that is, it reflects less light) than a screen, meaning the image will appear dimmer than is ideal.

The Silver Ticket STR Series performs as well as screens costing thousands of dollars. You can read about screen materials and our testing methods in our guide to the best projector screen .

Elite Screens Yard Master Plus

The best outdoor screen.

This outdoor screen’s rigid frame, highly reflective screen, and adjustable height make it the best choice for creating a movie-like outdoor-theater experience. But it carries a high price.

Elite Screens Yard Master 2

If you don’t need an adjustable-height frame or an extra-large screen size, this rigid frame uses the same material as the pricier Yard Master Plus.

While projecting an image against an outdoor wall or garage door is an option, a dedicated projector screen like the Elite Screens Yard Master Plus or the Elite Screens Yard Master 2 provides better video quality. Both screens are made from the same ISF-certified material, which did a great job of preserving image brightness and color accuracy in our testing. Assembly for their respective frames is straightforward, using button snaps to attach the screen to the frame.

The Yard Master 2 comes in sizes from 58 to 135 inches diagonally (in a 16:9 shape), while the Yard Master Plus comes in sizes from 100 to 200 inches. In addition, the Plus features an adjustable-height frame.

If you’re interested in an inflatable screen or something even more economical, check out our guide on outdoor projector screens .

A projector mount

Peerless-AV PRGS-UNV Projector Mount

A good projector mount.

This is the closest thing to the perfect projector mount we’ve used.

If you want to get your projector up and out of the way, you need a mount. The Peerless-AV PRGS-UNV Projector Mount is one of our favorites due to its flexibility and how easy it is to set up correctly. The mounting arms are highly adjustable and removable, so it can handle anything from a tiny DLP projector to the gigantic JVC D-ILA projectors that most mounts cannot fit. The dials let you easily make small adjustments to the projector to get it level with the screen and produce the best-quality image without much work. After years of using this mount and going through dozens of tested projectors, we have yet to find one that the Peerless-AV cannot handle.

Other AV gear

You’ll probably need some speakers, AV sources, and other accessories. Check out our recommendations in “ The Best Gear for a Home Theater System .”

How many lumens is good for a projector?

For a home theater projector that you will use mostly in a dark room, we recommend at least 1,000 ANSI lumens for a 100-inch screen. If you plan to use the projector in a room with more ambient light, you’ll want to go brighter: at least 1,500 ANSI lumens (ideally 2,000 or more). The larger the screen size you want, the brighter the projector needs to be to produce a satisfying image. Manufacturers’ claimed brightness specifications are usually exaggerated, so it’s best to rely on actual measured results from trusted reviewers. Some manufacturers use LEDs instead of traditional bulbs as the light source in their projectors, and they list the brightness rating in “LED lumens” instead of ANSI lumens to give a higher number.

How far away should you sit from a projection screen?

This depends on how much you want the projected image to fill your field of view. Some people like to sit closer in the movie theater so it feels more immersive, while others prefer to sit farther back. It’s the same at home. Experts generally recommend a viewing distance that fills between 30 and 36 degrees of your field of view, and you can use this calculator to help find a good seating distance for your screen size.

Is a 4K projector worth it?

If you watch a lot of 4K content and want the most detailed image you can get, a 4K projector is the way to go. The step up in resolution from 1080p to 4K can be more obvious on a projector than it is on most TVs, due to the larger screen size. However, native 4K projectors are very expensive and usually reserved for the most ardent home theater fans. Most affordable “4K” projectors use some type of pixel-shifting technology to reproduce a 4K image, which can be very effective and really is good enough for most people. Also, once you get past a certain seating distance, your eyes may not be able to see the difference between 4K and 1080p. Most 4K projectors also support high dynamic range video, but we think this feature is less important on projectors, since none of them are bright enough to do HDR properly.

Meet your guide

Adrienne Maxwell

I oversee all of Wirecutter’s coverage of AV gear, including headphones, TVs, speakers, and more. I also write all of Wirecutter’s projector guides, and I test peripheral AV equipment such as screens, remotes, and HDMI transmitters.

Further reading

From Power Banks to Portable Projectors: 40(ish) Gadgets From Anker That We Recommend

by Gabriella DePinho

You might not know Anker by name, but many of its products have become longtime Wirecutter favorites.

The Best Outdoor Projector

by Adrienne Maxwell

If you’re looking for a more rugged, portable projector to take outdoors, the easy-to-use Nebula Mars 3 offers good brightness and a long battery life.

The Best Portable Mini Projector

A portable mini projector doesn’t perform as well as a good TV or home-theater projector, but the Nebula Mars 3 Air ably blends performance and convenience.

The Best 4K Projector

The Epson LS11000 4K laser projector delivers a big, beautiful image, works well in a variety of lighting conditions, and has most of the features you need.

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The Best Projectors

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Best Projector for Most People Optoma UHD55 Read more

Also Great BenQ TK860i Read more

Easiest Setup Hisense PX2-Pro Read more

A Serious Portable Projector BenQ GV31 Read more

There's nothing like watching your favorite films in a dark room on a massive screen. For that authentic movie theater experience at home, you’ll need a projector (and a popcorn maker ).

You used to have to shell out more than $10,000 to get an excellent projected experience, but you can now get a massive, beautiful picture for less than the cost of a flagship TV . Projectors are also much more portable and easier to set up than ever. And if you have space, there are excellent pocket-sized and short-throw models that make lawn-side movie nights as easy as finding an extension cord and a level chair to set them on. Below are our favorite models and a couple of screens to pair with them.

Working on a total home-theater overhaul and need some help? We've got an entire guide to How to Set Up a Projector . Also, be sure to check out our buying guides to the Best Soundbars and Best 4K Streaming Devices .

Updated August 2024: We added the BenQ GV31 and TK700STI, Hisense PX2-Pro, and Optoma UHZ66.

Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off) . This includes unlimited access to WIRED. com and our print magazine (if you'd like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.

Best Projector for Most People

The previous Optoma model, the UHD50X ( 9/10, WIRED Recommends ), offered one of the best pictures you'll find at a reasonable price, and the newer UHD55 keeps with that tradition. At 3,600 lumens, this projector is now bright enough for even lit rooms, and the image quality and ease of setup are directly comparable to the BenQ model that follows it on this list.

Plug in a gaming computer with a good enough video card and it will offer a 240-Hz refresh rate and low enough response time that you can play most online games. The high refresh rate also makes the UHD55 great for sports, which often look weird on projectors. I also like that this model supports Alexa, so you can literally ask your phone to turn the projector on.

If you want an upgrade, check out the UHZ50 ($2,800) , which uses laser projection, which makes it faster to turn on and off, and quieter for smaller rooms.

The latest bright-room projector from BenQ is another solid option for most people. With 3,300 lumens, the TK860i is more than bright enough for lit rooms, and it makes the thing positively gleam in the dark. This projector also comes with Android TV, which makes it easy to stream your favorite shows and movies instantly, no other streaming device is required.

It's light and easy to position. The projector can be placed between 9.9 and 12.8 feet from the wall, with up to 120-inch screen size. The Optoma above gets a bit brighter, but this has a bit better color and is still an excellent projector for most people. My advice? Go with whichever is cheaper at the moment.

If you need shorter throw distance, consider the TK700STI ($1,599) , which has similar specs but offers a 100-inch screen at just 5 feet of distance, which makes it perfect for smaller spaces.

Easiest Setup

Most traditional projectors require a significant distance between the device and the screen you want your image on, but not this laser projector. This second-generation all-in-one device (the first-generation version got an 8/10, WIRED Recommends ) sits right on a traditional TV stand and projects an image upward onto an up-to-130-inch screen. It comes with a Dolby Atmos soundbar built in, which means you don’t even need to splurge for better sound until you really want to. Best of all, the setup couldn’t be easier, with a built-in Android TV interface and laser projection system that will be projecting your favorite shows and movies in no time.

At a peak of 2,400 lumens, this projector is bright enough that you can watch the game in a room with windows (though we always recommend you turn out the lights and close the blinds when possible). I like how Hisense has iterated on this design a few times, really perfecting the performance of this elegant home theater in a box.

The Hisense 100L9G-Cine100a ($2,008) is a similar all-in-one option that I have yet to test but that other outlets seem to like. It gets about 500 lumens brighter but can only deliver up to a 100-inch screen size, which isn't as cinematic as the PX2-Pro. It's worth noting that a newer PX3-Pro has recently become available, and we look forward to testing that soon. The model claims an up-to-150-inch screen size, which should fill the walls even in larger rooms.

A Serious Portable Projector

The BenQ GV31 is a cute little round 1080p projector that comes with large speakers on each side and a clever holder on the bottom that easily allows you to adjust the angle. The sound is bold and brash enough for outdoor movie nights, karaoke, or a presentation, and built-in autofocus and keystone correction (plus Android TV) make it super easy to stream anything anywhere. It also has a battery life of up to 180 minutes if you're streaming outside, which makes this great for parties, but we always recommend plugging in for best performance.

I thought this little cheese wheel might be a bit underwhelming in testing, so it sat at the bottom of the testing pile for a while, but once I broke it out I was very impressed with its performance. At 300 lumens, it gets bright enough even for early evening viewing outside (or for rooms with a few windows indoors), and I especially like how easily accessible they make the ports on the side of the projector, which made plugging in my beloved Roku streaming stick a breeze.

Best Projector for Gaming

With just four milliseconds of input lag at 1080p, this 240-Hz gaming projector is more than capable of keeping up with all but the most competitive online gamers. In addition, the laser projector offers up to 4,000 peak lumens, which means you can watch it in rooms that aren't completely dark. It can project a 4K image up to 120 inches at about 12 feet away, which makes it a good choice for medium-large rooms where you want to get your game on. I also recommend it as a golf simulator projector, since it can be mounted so far from your swing. You'll get about 10,000 more hours out of the laser than you will out of a normal bulb, for up to 30,000 hours of viewing time before you'll need to upgrade.

Best for Phones

The CineBeam PH30N is a blast. It has two hours of battery life, so you can watch a short movie anywhere (plug it in for longer sessions), and you can even stream things straight from your cell phone—no cables required. With 720p resolution and up to a 100-inch image size all from a projector that fits easily in a purse, you'll be watching Netflix in the woods in no time. Just wait until it's dark, because portable projectors aren't nearly as bright as their beefier, cabled counterparts.

High-End Pick

Epson's flagship 4K projectors have always been some of the best that money can buy. It feels like every generation builds in more value. It's hard to perceive value when it comes to a $5,000 projector, but this thing looks like a $20,000 (or more!) projector would have 10 years ago.

This three-chip laser projector is capable of 2,700 peak lumens for a bright picture in even moderately lit rooms, and it's so precise with color that it can do full 10-bit high dynamic range. It's also decent for gaming and watching sports, thanks to a 120-Hz refresh rate. If you have a theater room and need a new projector, this is a solid option.

Best Indoor Screen

If you're gonna splurge on a projector, you should snag a screen to go with it. You'll get better colors, sharper highlights, and have a more cinematic experience overall. My favorite is this Silver Ticket model, which looks as good as screens that cost much more. It's also super easy to mount.

Best Outdoor Screen

Outdoor movie nights shouldn't rely on an old white sheet or the scruffed-up wall of your garage. Instead, grab the Yardmaster 2 from Elite Screens, which assembles in minutes and comes with a carrying case for storage between events. Don't want two screens in your life? Do what I did and just move it inside during the cooler months.

Tips and Tricks

Projectors offer larger screen sizes and a more cinematic viewing experience than their TV counterparts, but that doesn't mean they're easier to set up. That's why we have an entire guide to How to Buy a Projector to check out!

Unless you're going for a portable option, you'll want to make sure you have a projector mount ($20) and audio cables properly routed to the location of your projector. This is because setting up full-size projectors to fit your screen, be in focus, etc., can be a pain, so once you get everything dialed in, you'll want to leave it as-is.

Make sure you get enough lumens (how bright your projector will get at its peak, the higher the number the better). Over 2,000 lumens is a good starting space for any kind of lit viewing, but we recommend 3000 or above if you're viewing in a bright room.

Another thing to bear in mind before you get a projector is just how much space you'll need to properly set it up. In most cases, you'll need 10 to 15 feet between the screen and the projector (be sure to check the “throw distance” listed by the manufacturer in the manual) to achieve screen sizes over 100 inches.

Without a completely dark room, the image can look washed out and be hard to see. If you don't have a room without windows, consider getting blackout curtains. For more detailed information on how to set up a projector after it arrives, I highly recommend this video .

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Best projectors in 2024: the best long throw and laser projectors

Nothing dazzles quite like laser

The best projectors

Best for gaming, best mid-range, best for flexibility, other projectors tested.

• Benchmarks compared
• What to look for
• How we test

We've tested dozens of models over the years from both the established players like JVC, Optoma and BenQ as well as new upstarts like Dangbei and JMGO to put together a list of the very best projectors you can buy right now. 

Our current favorite projector is the JMGO N1 Ultra , a far-throw projector that sports all the right specs to make it stand out in the crowd. With 4,000 ANSI lumens and even one HDMI 2.1 port, the N1 Ultra proves quite the well-rounded display, one that comes in at the starting price of over $2,000 (about as much as an advanced OLED TV). 

But you don't always have to stick with the most expensive option as there are quite a slew of other projections on the market that make for ideal candidates to the right buyer. (See the $998 XGIMI Horizon 4K Pro for a good starting place.)  

We'll keep adding to this guide as new models hit the market, but what you'll find below are the best we've seen so far in 2024.

1. JMGO N1 Ultra

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

The JMGO N1 Ultra is a heavyweight among the best projectors. This compact short throw dishes out several surprises, most notable among them being its triple-laser light source. It uses separate red, green, and blue lasers to deliver exceptional brightness alongside a staggering color gamut as well. The projector can blast a stunning 4K picture wherever you want it, as it sits on an easily adjustable pedestal. 

For its size, the JMGO N1 Ultra even has surprisingly potent speakers, which will do the job quite well in a small room. For serious audiophiles, there’s an eARC port so you can hook up one of the best soundbars , but this will leaves you with only one HDMI port for other external sources. 

At 2143 ANSI lumens, the N1 is a pretty remarkable projector even in daytime. While you will still need to get some shades to blot out the sun, you do at least have exceptional color coverage at 96% of the DCI-P3 and 100% on the sRGB range. 

Read our full JGMO N1 Ultra review .

2. BenQ HT2060

BenQ has what gamers need when it comes to the best projectors: speed. And with the BenQ HT2060, it doesn’t slouch in other departments, either. In fact, the BenQ HT2060’s biggest shortcoming is that it’s only a 1080p projector, but the tradeoff is that it can run at 120Hz for even faster, smoother gameplay and nigh imperceptible input latency. Its brightness is enough for use in a lightly lit room, but it’s a stunner in a darker environments as well thanks to its exceptional contrast ratio of 3253:1. It even has a wide color gamut, which does a lot in bringing to life your favorite game worlds.

The projector is fairly large, though, so you’ll want to find an adamant place to set it permanently. Thankfully, there’s a lot of flexibility in that department, as it uses a hardware zoom, focus, and vertical lens shift for simple adjustments. You’ll need your own video source for streaming and gaming, but you can get by on the decent built-in speakers if you don’t want to deal with too many cables coming from the projector. 

While all of that is good, it’s made better by this projector only costing $1,000, making it a steal against the best 75-inch TVs , which cost far more even at lower sizes. 

Read our full BenQ HT2060 review .

3. Xgimi Horizon Pro

If having the very best in every category isn’t vital to you, and you prefer to get something that’s good enough as long as it means saving some bucks, then the Xgimi Horizon Pro is the one to get thanks to its low price point. Originally at $1,699, but now down to $1,199 to make way for the Horizon Ultra, the Horizon Pro isn't the brightest, the most colorful, or the loudest projector on the block. But it’s not trailing at the rear of the pack among best projectors, either. 

The Xgimi Horizon Pro puts on a good show. It’s decently bright at 1296 lumens, though you’ll want to dim the lights and draw the curtains for anything but light cartoons. And it has respectable color performance, hitting just 90% of the DCI-P3 and 100% of the sRGB range. 

Its 4K picture provides sharp detail that’s not so easy to find at the price. And when you want to game, it provides surprisingly low input lag of 26ms — but you'll definitely find something better among the best gaming TVs . 

With a built-in Android TV platform, the projector is effectively an all-in-one solution for home entertainment, and its portable size means you can bring it just about anywhere you like to enjoy TV and movies on the big screen — and it can't get much bigger than a potential 200-inch. 

Read our full Xgimi Horizon Pro review .

4. Dangbei Mars Pro 4K

The Dangbei Mars Pro 4K can be a little more expensive than we’d like, but it often has discounts that bring to a much more palatable level. For the money, you get a capable 4K far throw projector that relies on a laser light source. It’s a laser phosphor system, which means it can get plenty bright at 1812 lumens but doesn’t have as much color as alternative options among the best projectors that use tri-color laser systems. Still, it makes for a reasonably attractive image, and its high brightness and contrast let you stretch it plenty large for home cinema use.

While the Dangbei Mars doesn’t have Android TV built-in like some of its competitors, it comes with a speedy streaming stick and works well without other external sources. Crucially, the built-in operating systems runs quickly and smoothly, making it easy to power up, select the source you want, and get watching. Where many projectors run a slow operating system that can make it tedious to start watching, Dangbei avoids this, providing a little extra convenience.

Read our full Dangbei Mars Pro 4K review .

5. LG CineBeam Q

The LG CineBeam Q will never quite replace your TV or home theater projector, but it takes the guts of a 4K, triple-laser projector and squeezes it into a 3.1 x 5.3 x 5.3 inches cube that’s easy to transport. For on the go viewing, it's fantastic.

In our lab tests, the CineBeam Q delivered a mere 263 ANSI lumens (almost 2,000 lumens less than our top pick), but it was able to deliver 98% of the DCI-P3 color space with a respectable 1048:1 contrast ratio. 

The downside to the CineBeam Q is its measly 3W audio system. It simply doesn't get very loud if you don't pair it with, say, a Bluetooth speaker. But thankfully it comes with LG's proprietary webOS smart platform that makes connecting other devices (and streaming from most major services) a breeze.

For under a grand, it's a good portable projector and one well-worth considering if you're planning on bringing a projector with you from place to place.

Read our full LG CineBeam Q (HU710PB) review .

• Optoma GT2100HDR : This little short-throw projector gets plenty bright and has a high contrast image, but it’s pretty lacking everywhere else. 
• Xgimi Horizon Ultra : Following up on the capable Horizon Pro, the Horizon Ultra was a bit of a disappointment. It’s bright and colorful, but lags behind JMGO in both departments, and its contrast was severely lacking no matter what we tried. As promising as it was, we just couldn’t get it to look as good as it should have at the price.
• Epson EpiqVision Ultra LS800 : As one of the brightest projectors on the block at 4000 lumens, the LS800 delivers where it counts — and then some. It might not have Dolby Vision or Dolby Atmos, but it does leverage a built-in speaker system designed by Yamaha and under 20ms of input lag, making it ideal for gaming. 
• Formovie Theater: There's a lot to love about the Formovie Theater, as it packs quite the punch with 2,800 lumens. It's built on Android TV 11, allotting you access to practically every app on the map (aside from Netflix, unfortunately). It also uses speakers designed by Bowers and Wilkins, which makes its Dolby Atmos support all the more fitting. 
• Epson Home Cinema 3800 : This projector may not be boasting the latest, fanciest features, but it's still a high-utility projector. It's high brightness is paired with a high contrast ratio of 2055:1, which keeps on-screen visuals looking superb. It’s a little lacking in color, due to a slightly low DCI-P3 gamut range of just 76%, but that doesn’t it looks awful in anyway.

Projector Benchmarks Compared

What to look for when buying a projector.

Brightness: One of the key factors in determining whether you’re going to be able to enjoy your projector is brightness, generally measured in lumens (though there are a few different ways companies measure lumens, and the advertised brightness is not easy to trust). In a very dark room, you can get away with a projector that only offers a few hundred lumens of brightness, but if you want to do some daytime viewing or don’t want to turn all the lights out, you’ll pretty much want to ignore anything that’s not breaking 1,000 lumens. As long as you have decent blinds and can dim the lights, you’ll probably find 1,000-2,000 lumens is enough for home viewing. 

Color gamut: This is essentially how rich the colors will appear from the projector. It won’t matter how bright your projector is if all of the colors look faded as a result. For the home theater, you should expect good colors, which ideally means at least 90% coverage of the sRGB color space and all the better if you’re getting over 90% of the DCI-P3 color space. 

Contrast: Contrast goes hand in hand with brightness. If you have a high brightness but low contrast, dark colors and shadow details are going to be washed out, ultimately marring the cinematic image you’re looking for. 

Resolution (Native): As projectors offer a big image, the resolution can be a big factor. You’re stretching a lot of information out across your screen, so if there’s too little detail, it’s going to be that much more noticeable. In action, it can be a little harder to see the difference between 1080p and 4K, but if you’re looking at a lot of static content, the advantages of 4K will be more apparent. For a decent home theater, aim for 720p at a minimum and ideally 4K. There are plenty of 4K options out there, though 1080p or WUXGA are decent enough if you sit far back. It’s also important to look for “native” resolution on projectors, as many will prominently advertise a “supported” resolution. Long story short, “supported resolution” is just the signal the projector is capable of receiving, and “native resolution” is what it’s capable of displaying (e.g., a projector could receive a 4K signal but turn that into a 720p image if it has a native 720p resolution.

Light source: Not all light sources are created. Lamps are cheap and bright, but they’re hot, take some time to warm up and cool down, and they don’t offer as much longevity as others. LEDs can get fairly bright and provide good color while offering a long lifespan. Lasers have the brightness advantage and can outperform LEDs in color if they combine multiple lasers of different colors, but they’re more expensive.

Ports: How you’re able to use your projector is majorly impacted by its ports. If it doesn’t have some quality audio outputs, like eARC, you may have a hard time connecting it to a good sound system without also buying an AV receiver. Too few HDMI ports or lower bandwidth ports can also impact your ability to use the projector conveniently. 

Speakers: Many projectors include their own built-in speakers, but not all do. And many that have speakers don’t offer ones that can compare to the image they provide. It’s worth taking a note of how well the speakers performed and what wattage they offer to get a sense of whether you’ll need to factor the price of a separate sound system into your purchase.

How we test projectors

We test projectors in the real-world conditions a buyer would use a projector in. That said, we do have a degree of control, with heavy, light-blocking drapes and an ambient-light rejecting projector screen to test on. But since not everyone will use such a screen, we also view the projection against a bare wall. 

While some of our testing is subjective, observing the projectors’ capabilities as we watch movies and play games, we also take measurements that allow for comparison between projectors. Projector brightness is measured using each projector's brightest mode (and occasionally other modes if the brightest mode results in a worse overall image), using a light meter to measure the luminance of an all-white image at 9 points evenly spaced across the image and multiplying those by the projected area to derive an ANSI lumen measurement. Contrast is roughly estimated by comparing the average lux measurement of an all white image against a lux measurement of an all black image. 

Color coverage is measured using a SpyderX Elite colorimeter and DataColor’s calibration software. The colorimeter sits a foot away from a 1.1-gain projection screen, angled to avoid seeing its own shadow, and then measures the color gamut of the projectors light reflected off the screen. 

To measure input latency, we run a timecode displayed on a laptop and mirror the display to the projector over HDMI. We then take a high shutter-speed (over 1/1000th of a second) photo of the timecode on both the laptop display and projector to see how many milliseconds the projector is behind the laptop display.

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