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The Best 4K Projector

By Adrienne Maxwell
Updated
The Epson Home Cinema LS11000, our pick for best 4K projector, along with DVD's and a remote control.
Photo: Michael Murtaugh

If you have the space and budget to re-create a big-screen movie-theater experience at home, a high-performance 4K projector is a worthy investment that can keep you entertained for years to come. Epson’s Home Cinema LS11000 is our favorite 4K projector because its performance and versatility make it suitable for any type of room and content—movies, games, or everyday TV watching.

Everything we recommend

Our pick

This laser 4K projector delivers a big, bright, beautiful image and has almost all the features you need—except 3D support.

Also great

This 4K projector’s high light output, good-sounding speaker, and Android TV system make it a nice all-in-one option for a brighter room. But its image isn’t as refined or accurate as that of our top pick.

What you need to know


  • Who this is for

    This guide covers high-performance 4K projectors designed to deliver the most cinematic, big-screen viewing experience at home.

  • Other options

    We cover cheaper HD projectors in our guides to the best budget projector for a home theater and the best portable mini projector.

  • Flexible setup

    Projectors can be tricky to set up, so we look for models that offer zoom, lens shifting, and other features to help you position the image.

  • Objective testing

    We measure each projector’s performance using professional calibration equipment, and we do side-by-side comparison testing.

Our pick

This laser 4K projector delivers a big, bright, beautiful image and has almost all the features you need—except 3D support.

The Epson Home Cinema LS11000 offers a combination of high-end performance and features that you won’t see in any other 4K projector priced lower than $5,000. These days it’s not hard to find a bright 4K projector for gaming or sports, but it’s much more difficult to find a great 4K movie projector that doesn’t cost a fortune (many land in the five-figure range). It’s even more difficult to find one projector that excels in both regards.

At $4,000 the LS11000 certainly isn’t cheap, but it delivers a theater-worthy image with great contrast, detail, and color—while also being bright enough for more casual, everyday TV watching. Plus, its laser light source should last through the next decade or longer, with no need for you to pay for replacement bulbs. It’s easy to set up, too, thanks to its motorized focus, zoom, and lens adjustments.

The LS11000 is also a great 4K gaming projector. It produces low input lag and is one of only a few 120-hertz projectors that have high-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 inputs to work with the most advanced 4K gaming consoles and any future 8K sources that might emerge.

The only thing missing is support for 3D video, which is likely to disappoint fans who have amassed large 3D collections.

Also great

This 4K projector’s high light output, good-sounding speaker, and Android TV system make it a nice all-in-one option for a brighter room. But its image isn’t as refined or accurate as that of our top pick.

If you’re looking for a more affordable 4K projector for use in a brighter living room or family room, we recommend BenQ’s TK860i. This projector’s high brightness, rich color, razor-sharp image, and solid HDR performance are well suited for everyday TV and movie watching, though it lacks the higher contrast and precise color accuracy that make the Epson LS11000 such a good choice for a home theater environment.

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. All of that adds up to a convenient, all-in-one projection system—just set it on a coffee table and go.

On the downside, this BenQ projector uses a bulb rather than a laser light source, so you will have to replace it over time. And it has less zoom and lens-shifting capabilities than the Epson model, so precisely positioning the image on your screen may take more effort.

I have more than a decade of experience reviewing TVs, projectors, and other video devices. I was formerly the video editor and primary projector tester for HomeTheaterReview, and I previously contributed display coverage to Home Theater Magazine, Electronic House, and other publications. I am an Imaging Science Foundation Level III–certified video calibrator, and I have the full complement of objective testing gear to measure and evaluate the performance of these projectors.

A 4K projector is designed for the person who has the desire, space, and budget to re-create the big-screen movie-theater experience in their home. These projectors have the necessary detail and brightness to cast a sharp, rich-looking image at a large size (120 inches or more), and they are meant to be paired with a high-quality projection screen.

If you’re willing to sacrifice the 4K resolution to save money, check out our guide to the best budget projector for a home theater, where you can find bright, color-accurate, high-contrast 1080p options for $1,000 or less.

We use the following criteria to decide which projectors to test:

  • Price: We limit our search to projectors priced under $5,000 and sold directly through retail channels, as opposed to specialty dealers.
  • Resolution: The projector must show a full 4K resolution on screen. Some high-end projectors have a native 4K resolution, which means the image-creating chip has either a 4096×2160 or 3840×2160 resolution—but those projectors cost more than $5,000. The projectors we consider all use pixel-shifting to show a 4K resolution on screen: The image-creating chip or panels have a 1080p resolution, but by rapidly shifting the pixels four times to show the image, they produce the full 4K resolution on screen. Some videophiles contend that only native 4K projectors should be called 4K projectors, but our testing has shown that the level of detail possible with pixel-shifting is 4K, and we’ve concluded that the results are good enough for most people.
  • Light output: A good 4K projector needs to be bright enough for you to use the projector with a large screen (over 120 inches) and still enjoy a vibrant, well-saturated image, especially with HDR video. The larger the screen, the more brightness you need. For a light-controlled home theater room, a good rule of thumb is to look for a projector that claims brightness of at least 1,500 ANSI lumens. For a living room, look for a rating of 3,000 ANSI lumens or more. Real-world results are almost always lower.
  • High dynamic range (HDR) support: Most 4K projectors now support the standard HDR10 format; some support HDR10+, but only a few support Dolby Vision. Projectors are not bright enough to handle HDR as precisely as the best TVs do, so they have to process HDR content far more to show it properly.
  • Support for wide color gamut: Standard SDR content uses a smaller color gamut called Rec. 709, while Ultra HD 4K content can include a significantly wider gamut of colors, called DCI-P3, or the even larger Rec. 2020 gamut.
  • 18 Gbps HDMI 2.0 inputs or better: This feature allows the projector to accept a 4K HDR signal at 60 Hz. Support for the newer HDMI 2.1 standard, which allows the projector to accept a great-for-gaming 4K HDR signal at 120 Hz, is nice but rare.
  • Helpful image-placement tools: Many high-performance projectors are larger and heavier than their lower-priced counterparts, and they need to be mounted in a permanent, out-of-the-way location. A projector with a good amount of lens zoom and horizontal and vertical lens shifting makes it easier to precisely size and place the image on your screen. Motorized focus, zoom, and lens-shifting controls are ideal because they make setup even faster. Projectors that offer only digital image adjustments (such as digital zoom or keystone adjustment) are less desirable because those functions affect image clarity.

To evaluate each projector’s performance, we conduct both objective and subjective tests. For objective tests, we use Portrait Displays’s Calman software and C6 HDR2000 colorimeter, along with a Murideo Six-G test-pattern generator, to measure each projector’s contrast ratio, light output, and color and color-temperature accuracy. We measure all the available picture modes and brightness settings to find the best combination of performance attributes. We test all the projectors on a 100-inch Silver Ticket STR Series screen.

Since measurements don’t reveal the whole picture, we also do subjective comparison testing by placing projectors next to each other and sending them the same signal using an HDMI splitter. This arrangement makes it easy for us to see differences in black level, contrast, and color.

For our sources, we use an Oppo Ultra HD Blu-ray player, a Microsoft Xbox One X gaming console, and a Chromecast with Google TV 4K media streamer, and we watch a variety of Ultra HD and Blu-ray movies, streamed 4K movies, and HDTV content in both darker and brighter room conditions.

In our comparisons, we consider four attributes that make up a great-looking image:

Contrast ratio: This is the difference between the darkest part of the image and the brightest, and it’s the most important factor in picture quality. Images from a projector with a low contrast ratio appear flat, washed out, and boring.

The key to great image contrast is a display that can natively combine a deep, dark black level with good overall brightness. Some projectors try to improve their native contrast by adding an automatic (or dynamic) iris that adjusts the brightness and black level on the fly to suit the content being displayed.

Many new projectors support high dynamic range (HDR), a feature designed to show a greater range between the brightest and darkest parts of the image. To watch HDR video, you need both specially formatted content and a projector that can properly play that content.

Brightness: This determines how large of a screen you can have, what type of screen you can have, and, of course, how bright the image is. HDR video can be much brighter than standard dynamic range (SDR) video and is best displayed on TVs, which can get much brighter than any projector.

Color accuracy: This refers to how well a projector can display the colors on screen to be true to the original content, and how accurate the color temperature (or color of white) is. Certain standards specify the correct color temperature and color gamut for movies and TV shows, and projectors and TVs should meet those standards. Lots of budget projectors serve up exaggerated, oversaturated color that may pop off the screen but is not an accurate reflection of the filmmaker’s intent.

Detail: We look for projectors that can produce crisp, detailed images without relying on processing tricks that may make the picture look sharp but potentially add a lot of noise and unnatural-looking digital artifacts in the process. The larger the screen size, the more fine details you can see—which is why a true 4K resolution can be more beneficial in a projector than in a smaller TV.

The Epson Home Cinema LS11000, our pick for best 4K projector.
Photo: Michael Murtaugh

Our pick

This laser 4K projector delivers a big, bright, beautiful image and has almost all the features you need—except 3D support.

Important specs
Projection techLCDZoom2.1x (motorized)
Light sourcelaserLens shift96.3% vertical, 47% horizontal
Refresh rate120 HzSmart-TV platformnone
HDMI inputstwo HDMI 2.13D supportno
HDR formatsHDR10, HDR10+, HLGSize and weight20.5 by 7.6 by 17.6 inches, 28 pounds

The Epson Home Cinema LS11000 is the most versatile 4K projector we’ve tested. Most projectors are optimized either for bright-room use or dark-room use, for gaming and sports or for movies. But the LS11000 can excel in any environment, with any type of content, and should last for years.

This projector has better image contrast than any 4K projector we’ve tested. It accomplishes that by combining high brightness with a good black level natively, and its dynamic iris works effectively to further fine-tune the contrast to suit the image being displayed.

This model gives you an 11-step brightness control to more precisely tailor the light output to your environment. In the LS11000’s best-looking picture mode, Natural, we measured output between 1,005 and 1,867 lumens, the latter of which is ample for a large screen.

We measured output as high as 2,497 lumens in the LS11000’s Dynamic picture mode, but that mode isn’t especially color-accurate, with an overly green color temperature and oversaturated color. It’ll do for the occasional daytime sports watching or gaming, though.

The higher light output allows for solid HDR performance, too. No projector is bright enough to really do HDR justice, but bright highlights in movies on Ultra HD disc such as Dune, Pan, and Justice League had decent pop on the LS11000, even when I set the projector at about half its maximum brightness for dark-room viewing.

On the flip side, the LS11000 delivers deeper, darker black levels than almost every 4K projector we’ve tested under $5,000, so it allows darker movie scenes to look more saturated and three-dimensional in a dark room. The only 4K projectors we’ve tested that produced deeper black levels were also notably dimmer overall.

This model, however, doesn’t use Epson’s UltraBlack technology, which allows for the deepest, darkest black levels. To get that, you either have to move up to the $5,000 Pro Cinema LS12000 (sold only through specialty channels) or move down to the Home Cinema 5050UB, which doesn’t offer true 4K resolution.

The color accuracy is superb. Epson projectors use LCD technology, as opposed to the single-chip DLP technology employed by most competitors in this price range. Those DLP projectors often make you choose between high brightness and good color accuracy, whereas a good LCD projector can deliver both at the same time.

The LS11000’s Natural picture mode is wonderfully accurate in color temperature, gamma, and color points, requiring no advanced adjustment or fine-tuning. Just set it to the necessary brightness level, and you’re good to go.

During our tests with HDR video, we did need to slightly adjust the projector’s HDR brightness control for accurate tracking, but that was it. And our measurements showed that the LS11000 can handle 88.9% of the larger P3 color gamut used for Ultra HD content, about the same as the competition.

The 4K image is clear and detailed. The LS11000 uses Epson’s most advanced pixel-shifting technology to show a 4K resolution on the screen (our test patterns confirmed this), and with movies on Ultra HD discs such as Dune and Justice League and Netflix shows like Our Planet, the image on our 100-inch screen looked crisp and detailed.

The LS11000’s use of an all-glass lens also helps with image clarity, and Epson’s Image Enhancement tool in the picture settings allows you to precisely tweak the picture clarity and sharpness to your liking.

The Home Cinema LS11000’s connection panel includes two high-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 inputs, a powered USB port, and RS-232 and LAN ports for integration into an advanced control system. Photo: Michael Murtaugh

It uses a laser light source. This brings several benefits, the most important of which is the long lifespan of 20,000 hours. In lamp-based projectors, the bulbs dim over time, and you need to replace them roughly every 4,000 to 6,000 hours (if you run them at maximum brightness), which adds to the total cost of ownership.

The use of a laser light source also lets this projector turn on and off much more quickly. It produces rich color, too, and it allows for nearly silent lens adjustments when the projector is employing its dynamic iris.

The 120 Hz refresh rate improves motion clarity for sports and gaming. You can also turn on motion smoothing, if you’re into that kind of thing, though we don’t recommend doing so with movies because it changes the look of film motion (creating the soap opera effect).

This Epson projector’s higher refresh rate and lower input lag (under 20 milliseconds), mated with its two HDMI 2.1 inputs, which accept a 4K 120 Hz signal, make it a good match for the newest Xbox and PlayStation gaming consoles. The inclusion of HDMI 2.1 is quite rare on projectors.

Epson is more generous with its setup tools than other projector manufacturers. The LS11000’s 2.1x zoom, 96.3% vertical lens shift, and 47.1% horizontal lens shift made it easy for us to precisely place the image on our screen. And all the lens controls are motorized, so you can use them via the remote and set up different lens memories for different video aspect ratios, such as 16:9 for HDTV or 21:9 for some movies.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The LS11000 uses manual HDR tone mapping. Projectors must adjust the HDR signal to show the content in the brightness range they’re capable of. Some high-end projectors have advanced automatic tone mapping that intelligently adjusts the signal so that it does not cut off or incorrectly display bright highlights. The LS11000 does not—on this model, you have to manually adjust the HDR brightness using a 16-step slider control, and you may wish to change that per movie, depending on the brightness level at which the film was mastered. The better option is to mate this projector with our favorite Ultra HD Blu-ray player, the Panasonic DP-UB420, which handles the automatic tone mapping on its end.

3D video playback is not supported. Though 3D is dead in the world of TVs, it still has a fan base in the projector world. Epson is not the only manufacturer of higher-end 4K projectors that abandoned 3D support (Sony did, too), and new 3D content is rare. But if you have a large collection of 3D discs and still want to watch them, this omission could be a dealbreaker.

A BenQ TK860i projector.
Photo: Michael Hession

Also great

This 4K projector’s high light output, good-sounding speaker, and Android TV system make it a nice all-in-one option for a brighter room. But its image isn’t as refined or accurate as that of our top pick.

Important specs
Projection techDLPZoom1.3x (manual)
Light sourcebulbLens shift10% vertical, 0% horizontal
Refresh rate120 HzSmart-TV platformAndroid TV
HDMI inputsthree HDMI 2.03D supportyes
HDR formatsHDR10, HDR10+, HLGSize and weight14.96 by 4.99 by 10.35 inches, 9.25 pounds

If you mostly watch movies and TV shows with some room lights on, you may not need all the higher-end performance benefits that the Epson LS11000 has to offer. The BenQ TK860i delivers a bright, sharp, colorful image, and its smaller form, smart-TV capabilities, and dynamic speakers make it easy to use in a casual, everyday space such as a family room.

It offers more light output than our top pick. The TK860i is designed for use in a room with more ambient light, within reason (you should still limit window and lamp lighting near the screen). We measured between 1,750 and 3,100 lumens of maximum light output, depending on the picture mode.

As with the LS11000, the TK860i’s brightest picture mode, Bright, has an overly green color temperature, but it’s not too exaggerated and will suffice for the occasional daytime sporting event or gaming session. The Cinema and Game modes were our preferred choices, as they combined excellent brightness with a much more neutral, natural-looking color temperature.

The high brightness is helpful for HDR video playback, and the TK860i’s HDR brightness is more accurate than that of other, similarly priced projectors—though you do have to manually adjust the HDR brightness control here, just as you do with the Epson model.

The contrast ratio is good for a DLP projector but nowhere near that of our top pick. The TK860i uses single-chip DLP projection technology, which excels at producing razor-sharp, detailed images but generally can’t rival LCD projection tech like that of the LS11000 in overall contrast. In our tests, the TK860i looked exceptionally sharp, but its native contrast measured roughly half that of the LS11000, and its dynamic (automatic) iris caused too many noticeable brightness fluctuations for us to recommend using that feature.

The TK860i’s lower contrast and higher black level result in an image that doesn’t look as rich and three-dimensional as what you can get from the LS11000 in a dim room or (especially) a dark room. In our tests, darker scenes from Dune, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, and Stranger Things looked flatter and more washed out on this projector.

The TK860i’s connection panel includes three HDMI 2.0 inputs, two USB ports, analog and digital audio outputs, an RS-232 control port, and a 12-volt trigger. Photo: Michael Hession

The color accuracy could be better. Another common characteristic of single-chip DLP technology is that it often compromises on color accuracy to produce the best overall image brightness. The TK860i covers 100% of the HD color gamut and a high 91.57% of the UHD P3 gamut, and its colors look rich and lush. But those colors are not accurate, mostly because they’re a lot darker by default than they should be. You can get more color brightness by turning down the BrilliantColor control in the picture settings menu, but doing so also cuts the overall image brightness—so you have to experiment to find a happy medium.

Inaccurate color is harder to see on its own, when you aren’t comparing it against an accurate reference (unless it’s really screwed up). Not everyone will notice the TK860i’s darker colors or find them bothersome, and generally the effect is less obvious when you’re watching movies and TV shows. But if you enjoy a lot of brightly colored animation and video games, you may want to stick with the Epson LS11000 or consider the Optoma UHZ50, which outperforms a lot of DLP projectors in color brightness.

It uses a bulb rather than a laser. As a result, it lacks instant on/off capability, and you’ll have to replace the bulb down the line. BenQ estimates a lifespan between 4,000 and 15,000 hours per bulb, based on the brightness mode you use.

The TK860i also has a zoom of just 1.3x and 10% vertical lens shifting, and the controls are manual rather than motorized, so precisely positioning the image on your screen is likely to require more effort.

The design is more living-room friendly. The TK860i isn’t small, per se, but it is smaller than the Epson LS11000 and other high-performance home theater projectors. You can easily move it around and set it on a coffee table or TV tray.

It comes with a 4K, HDR-capable Android TV dongle that hides in a recessed chamber on the projector’s top, which you inconveniently have to unscrew to access (though you have to do it only once). The package includes two remotes: a small, Bluetooth-based Android TV remote and BenQ’s own IR remote, which we preferred using since it is backlit and controls both the Android TV dongle and the projector itself.

The built-in speakers sound fuller and more balanced than those of many competitors, so you don’t have to connect an external speaker, though the TK860i has analog, digital, and HDMI-ARC ports if you wish to. We used this projector for several outdoor movie nights and did not feel the need to connect another speaker.

The fan is very quiet in the Eco lamp mode; it’s somewhat louder in the Standard lamp mode but still easily masked by the built-in speakers.

It’s good for 3D and more casual gaming. Unlike the Epson LS11000, the BenQ TK860i still supports 3D video playback, though you have to buy active 3D glasses separately, and BenQ no longer sells its own branded pair. As for gaming performance, we measured the input lag at a fairly low 18.1 milliseconds for a 1080p 60 Hz signal (in the Game picture mode), and BenQ claims 17.9 ms for 4K 60 Hz and 8.7 ms for 1080p 240 Hz. The HDMI inputs are 2.0, however, so they don’t have the bandwidth to accept a 4K 120 Hz signal.

If you need a 3D-capable home theater projector: The BenQ HT4550i is a very good 4K projector for home theater use. It has no major performance flaws, and it adds the 3D playback that the Epson LS11000 lacks. You also get a long-lasting LED light source, an Android TV stick, a generous connection panel, and some physical lens controls to properly position the image.

Our main concern here is price. While this $3,000 projector is less expensive than our top pick, it doesn’t significantly outperform other DLP projectors we’ve tested that cost a lot less. The Filmmaker mode has wonderfully accurate color, but the projector’s measured contrast and brightness don’t stand out over our other DLP recommendations that cost less than $2,000. High brightness is only possible in a very inaccurate picture mode, and HDR brightness, in particular, is a good bit lower than that of our picks. But if you’re building a modest home theater with a screen size around 120 inches or less, the HT4550i is a worthy contender—especially if you find it on sale.

If you need a short-throw 4K projector for a smaller space: Most shorter-throw 4K projectors are of the ultra-short-throw variety, which we don’t recommend for most people. The ViewSonic X2-4K is a more traditional short-throw design that can produce a 100-inch image from about 5 feet away, so it’s good for apartment dwellers and smaller entertainment rooms.

The X2-4K uses an LED light source but isn’t as bright overall as our picks, so it’s best for use in a dimmer room. It has surprisingly high contrast for a DLP projector: In our tests, its native contrast actually bested the Epson LS11000 by a small margin, but it doesn’t have a good dynamic iris to further improve contrast like the Epson does. Colors are brighter and more accurate by default than those of the BenQ TK860i (though not as accurate as the HT4550i above).

The X2-4K has decently robust built-in speakers, Bluetooth support, and a few internal streaming apps—but none of the majors. This projector is targeted at gamers and carries the “Designed for Xbox” label—which means it accepts a 1440p 120 Hz signal (with 8 ms of input lag) and a 1080p 240 Hz signal (with 4.2 ms of lag). But the inputs are still HDMI 2.0, so it can’t receive 4K at 120 Hz. Our TV tester and resident gamer, Lee Neikirk, is currently doing some long-term testing specifically with the latest Xbox console, and we’ll report his findings soon.

If you want a Dolby Vision–capable smart projector: Of all the small, value-oriented, “lifestyle” 4K laser projectors we’ve tested, the Hisense C1 is definitely the best, and it’s one of only a few that supports Dolby Vision HDR. It’s not as bright overall as our picks, which limits the potential screen size and room lighting, but it does have above-average image contrast for a DLP projector.

Color accuracy is not great by default. The Standard, Sports, and Dynamic picture modes are all set up wrong for viewing SDR video properly. The Filmmaker and Cinema Day/Night modes are better, but still too green in color temperature. Thankfully, this model has all the controls needed to dial in a more accurate picture, if you’re so inclined.

The overall HDR performance is hindered by the C1’s lower light output, but Dolby Vision support does help the projector tone-map a Dolby Vision HDR signal more effectively to preserve fine image details.

The C1 includes decent-sounding speakers and the simple-to-navigate Vidaa smart-TV platform, which has most of the majors (including Netflix). It’s also one of the quietest projectors we’ve tested in terms of fan noise, but it only offers digital zoom/keystoning and relies on an unsightly external power supply.

If you don’t need full 4K resolution: Consider the older Epson Home Cinema 5050UB for a home theater or the Epson Home Cinema 3800 for a living room. Both offer a step up in picture quality over budget 1080p projectors, but these models use an older version of Epson’s pixel-shifting technology that technically produces half the resolution of 4K, so the image is not as detailed as what our picks deliver.

The 5050UB uses Epson’s UltraBlack technology to produce better black levels than even the LS11000 generates, and the 3800 is extremely bright for use in a living room. And both offer respectably accurate color. But these projectors use a bulb instead of a laser or LED light source, so you need to replace it over time.

Companies such as JVC and Sony make excellent native-4K home theater projectors, but even the lowest priced models of this type cost more than $5,000, so we chose not to test them. But if you’re willing to pay more than $5,000 to get the best black levels and contrast for a premium home theater setup, we recommend reading this Sound & Vision article, which details the results of a high-end projector shootout at Value Electronics in New York.

Here are some of the more recent 4K projectors we’ve tested or dismissed from consideration:

Anker’s Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K is a smaller, more affordable 4K HDR laser projector that comes with an Android TV dongle. Though the picture quality was decent in our tests, it was not the caliber that we expect from a roughly $2,000 projector. The image brightness and detail were good, but the contrast and color accuracy were just average, and this model gives you none of the advanced picture adjustments or zoom and lens-shifting features that are common to projectors at this price. For a similar price, the Hisense C1 is a better choice.

BenQ’s TK700STi and Optoma’s UHD35STx are short-throw 4K projectors in the same general price range as the ViewSonic X2-4K, but we chose not to review them because they are slightly older models that use a bulb instead of an LED light source.

The Dangbei Mars Pro is another under-$2,000 4K laser projector with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support, speakers, and a supplied Android TV dongle. It’s a solid performer for the price: The image in our tests was sharp, bright, and clean, the fan noise was minimal, and the projector’s body is smaller than average. But like the Anker Nebula projector, this Dangbei model was merely mediocre in its contrast ratio, black level, and color accuracy. We saw light spill around the screen, and this projector offers no advanced picture adjustments—not even color-temperature presets. While the Mars Pro is highly affordable for a 4K laser projector, we’d still like to see more refinement for the price.

The Epson Home Cinema 2350 is the company’s newest and most affordable “4K” projector, but like the Home Cinema 3800 and 5050UB, it is actually a 2K projector. Also, other reviewers we trust have said that its contrast represents a big step down from the 3800, so we chose not to review this model.

LG’s HU710PW uses a hybrid laser and LED light source, but it is significantly dimmer than our picks and is best suited for use only in a fully light-controlled environment. It’s a full-featured smart projector, and its picture quality can be really good—but getting the best, most accurate image takes some work, so you may want to hire a professional calibrator. The black level is good, so movies can look rich in a dark room. But we saw some light spill coming off the lens, and the projector uses an external power supply housed in a large brick that could be challenging to accommodate, especially in a ceiling installation.

The LG HU810PW is a fairly quiet, bright DLP laser projector with great color. However, its contrast ratio is well below average, so with anything but fully bright scenes in our tests, its images looked washed out and flat.

The Optoma UHZ50 is similar in setup and technology to the BenQ TK860i, but it upgrades to a laser light source. The UHZ50’s image contrast and detail are similar to those of the TK860i, and it can produce a somewhat deeper black level in a dark room—but the TK860i is brighter, has a better smart-TV platform, and performs more accurately with HDR video. Where the UHZ50 is better is in its color brightness: Colors aren’t as accurate as they are on the Epson LS11000, but they’re not as dark as on the TK860i. In our tests, this difference was especially noticeable and beneficial on brightly colored video games and animated videos. Add in the UHZ50’s low input lag and 1080p 240 Hz support, and this model is another good choice for gamers who want a laser projector. But the UHZ50’s built-in speaker is dreadful, so you’ll definitely need to add an external sound system.

Xgimi’s Horizon Ultra is another under-$2,000 4K laser/LED hybrid projector that’s not quite up to the task. It’s loaded with features (including Dolby Vision support) and has an attractive, almost Apple-esque design, but the picture quality is lacking. The preset picture modes all prioritize brightness and are respectably bright, but they have very low measured contrast and poor color accuracy. If you know what you’re doing with the picture controls, you can dial in a solidly accurate, albeit much dimmer, image—but there’s only one custom mode to make those adjustments, so you can’t store separate SDR and HDR settings (which this projector desperately needs because the color space does not change automatically the way it should). And don’t get us started on the comically large external power supply.

This article was edited by Grant Clauser.

Meet your guide

Adrienne Maxwell

Adrienne Maxwell is the supervising editor of Wirecutter's audio/video team, covering everything from headphones to TVs. She has been a writer, editor, and reviewer in the consumer electronics industry for 20 years, and previously served as the executive editor of Home Theater Magazine and the managing editor of HomeTheaterReview.com.

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