Projectors Under $1,000

Under a thousand dollars the market splits three ways: bright lamp projectors with short light-source lives, dim laser and LED boxes with streaming built in, and budget LCD units whose marketing numbers need checking against a standard. The order here puts standardized brightness first and pushes anything unlabelled to the bottom rather than mixing them.

How this list is ordered: Ordered by published brightness; figures not on the ISO/ANSI scale are listed last. 18 of the catalog’s projectors qualify. 1 of them is under a manufacturer safety recall — BenQ GV31 — and is marked in the list rather than removed from it, because the specification that put it here is still true.

1Optoma
~$999
Optoma UHD35x
The cheapest way to get 4.2 ms of input lag and 3,600 ANSI lumens into a room.
Brightness
3,600lumensANSI
Screen at 10 ft
83–92 in
Input lag
8 ms
Light source
Lamp
2Dangbei
~$949
Dangbei DBOX02
Sold as the Mars Pro 2 in most markets: a 4K ALPD laser projector with licensed Google TV, 24 W of audio and a 30,000-hour light source, for under a thousand dollars.
Brightness
2,450lumensISO 21118
Screen at 10 ft
108 in
Light source
Laser-phosphor
3XGIMI
~$949
XGIMI Horizon S Pro
The Horizon S Max with the light engine turned down and the price cut by a third.
Brightness
1,800lumensISO 21118
Screen at 10 ft
115 in
Light source
Hybrid
4Anker Nebula
~$950
Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K SE
The cheapest 4K Dolby Vision projector with licensed Google TV in this catalog.
Brightness
1,800lumensANSI
Screen at 10 ft
115 in
Light source
Hybrid
5Dangbei
~$549
Dangbei Atom
A 2.8 lb slab barely thicker than a paperback, with a laser engine putting out 1,200 ISO lumens — nearly three times what the LED portables of the same weight manage.
Brightness
1,200lumensISO 21118
Screen at 10 ft
115 in
Light source
Laser-phosphor
6Epson
~$999
Epson EpiqVision Mini EF22
A 1080p laser 3LCD cube on a rotating stand that swivels 150 degrees, so it can throw at a wall or straight up at the ceiling.
Brightness
1,000lumensISO 21118
Screen at 10 ft
134 in
Light source
Laser-phosphor
7Yaber
~$400
Yaber K3
A budget LCD projector with 30 W of JBL-tuned audio and a Google TV dongle, and the clearest example in this catalog of why the brightness standard on the box matters.
Brightness
990lumensISO 21118
Screen at 10 ft
115 in
Light source
LED
8Optoma
~$899
Optoma ML1080
A 2.2 lb RGB tri-laser projector the size of a hardback book, covering 100% of the DCI-P3 gamut — colour coverage normally found in projectors ten times the size.
Brightness
550lumensANSI
Screen at 10 ft
115 in
Light source
Tri-laser
9BenQ
~$799
BenQ GV50
A 4.6 lb laser portable on a tilting cradle that swings through 135 degrees, with Google TV and a 2.1 speaker system with its own bass driver.
Brightness
500lumensANSI
Screen at 10 ft
115 in
Light source
Laser-phosphor
10XGIMI
~$319
XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro
A 2.4 lb cylinder with an integrated tilting stand, Google TV and Harman Kardon speakers, at a price where most rivals ship an unlicensed launcher.
Brightness
450lumensISO 21118
Screen at 10 ft
115 in
Light source
LED
11Dangbei
~$319
Dangbei Freedo
Dangbei's first battery projector with licensed Google TV: 3.1 lb, two hours of runtime, a rotating handle stand, and 24 dB operation that makes it the quietest battery projector in this catalog..
Brightness
450lumensISO 21118
Screen at 10 ft
115 in
Light source
LED
12XGIMI
~$399
XGIMI Elfin Flip
A flat slab with a hinged lens housing that flips up to aim at a wall or a ceiling, then folds shut to travel.
Brightness
400lumensISO 21118
Screen at 10 ft
115 in
Light source
LED
13Anker Nebula
~$420
Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air
A battery projector with a proper carry handle and 16 W of stereo audio, aimed squarely at back yards and camping.
Brightness
400lumensANSI
Screen at 10 ft
115 in
Light source
LED
14BenQ
~$599
BenQ GV31Safety recall
A battery projector built around its speaker: a 2.1 system with an 8 W woofer in a 3.7 lb cylinder that runs three hours off the internal cell.
Brightness
300lumensANSI
Screen at 10 ft
115 in
Light source
LED
15Anker Nebula
~$570
Anker Nebula Capsule 3 Laser
The laser version of Anker's can-shaped projector: 1080p, 300 ANSI lumens, two hours of battery and licensed Google TV.
Brightness
300lumensANSI
Screen at 10 ft
115 in
Light source
Laser-phosphor
16Yaber
~$300
Yaber T2 Plus
A budget LCD projector with a carry handle, JBL-tuned speakers and Wi-Fi 6, sold largely on its automatic setup features.
Brightness
290lumensISO 21118
Screen at 10 ft
110 in
Light source
LED
17Samsung
~$498
Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen
A 1.8 lb cylinder on a cradle that rotates through 180 degrees, running the same Tizen platform as Samsung's televisions including the Gaming Hub.
Brightness
230lumensANSI
Screen at 10 ft
115 in
Light source
LED
18Anker Nebula
~$250
Anker Nebula Capsule Air
A soda-can projector that runs two hours off its own battery and weighs 1.4 lb.
Brightness
150lumensANSI
Screen at 10 ft
115 in
Light source
LED

Projectors Under $1,000

BenQ GV31Safety recall

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