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#1 Epson Home Cinema 5050UB
The Epson Home Cinema 5050UB is the best all-around home projector we’ve reviewed. Take an excellent contrast ratio, paired with impressive brightness and accurate color, all with better detail than what’s possible with a 1080p native resolution projector, and you’ve got all the pieces for a fantastic image. This home entertainment projector is not cheap, but it offers a significant step up in image quality over other projectors on this list (aside from the Sony, which is nearly double the price). It comes with HDMI 2.0 which allows you to do 4k60p. Extensive lens shift and a motorized zoom are the icing on the cake.
#2 BenQ HT2050A
We wouldn’t put this in the “cheap projector” bucket, but the BenQ HT2050A is definitely the best video projector you can get for the money. This modern projector produces a bright picture with great contrast and lifelike color accuracy. It’s also one of the only comparable models with vertical lens shift, which makes setup a little easier. It supports most media players, gaming consoles, PCs, Macs, and mobile devices with input options such as HDMI, USB, and more. Plus, the projector offers a low input lag of 16ms for immersive gaming.
#3 Optoma UHD35
The Optoma UHD35 is a modern projector that packs a lot into its tiny case and low price. This budget projector can throw a ton of light, its color wheel produces accurate colors and has great detail. The contrast ratio isn’t great, but it’s pretty average among 4K resolution projectors in this price range. And that price really is the UHD35’s biggest selling point. This 4K UHD projector offers great picture quality for only a few hundred dollars over the best 1080p projectors. It doesn’t offer lens shift or much in the way of a zoom, but if it fits in your room it’s a great way to get a 4K projector on a budget.
#4 Anker Nebula Mars II Pro
It’s smaller than a six-pack of Coke and equipped with Wi-Fi streaming, a surprisingly loud Bluetooth speaker and even a handle. It offers auto vertical and manual horizontal keystone correction. This portable mini projector powerhouse also has one thing many compact projectors lack: a built-in battery. This budget projector is an all-in-one entertainment machine that’s darn cute, too
#5 BenQ TH685
The BenQ HT2050A above is a superior-all around performer, but if you’re a gamer looking for a specialized tool for the job, the TH685 gaming projector is worth a look. If you don’t mind sacrificing color accuracy, it can get a lot brighter than the HT2050A, the ideal ambient light of brighter rooms, and gaming input lag is comparable
#6 Epson EF-12
The EF-12 is a small, highly portable projector that looks a lot like the Anker Nebula Pro and the BenQ GS50, but it fits a slightly different niche. It’s easy to tote and doubles as a Bluetooth speaker, but unlike those two it can’t run off of a battery — it requires AC power. The EF-12’s light is created by Epson’s “MicroLaser Array Projection Technology.” Yep, laser beams, which deliver a brighter picture than LED-based models like the Nebula and GS50.