If you’re in the market for the best projector under $500, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve done extensive research on how to choose the best projectors, and we’re going to share everything we learned with you in this buyer’s guide. From resolution and brightness to screen size and connectivity, we’ll cover all the important details of what makes a great projector so that you can make an informed purchase decision when buying your own projector under $500.
How do you choose the best projector? This question can be confusing, and difficult to answer, because there are so many different projectors that fall into this price range. To make it simpler, I’ve created a list of the top 5 best projectors available on the market today based on price, performance, ease of use, and other criteria. Check out my list below to find the one you want!
Creating the perfect home theater experience can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re working with a limited budget, you can still get an amazing projector that will bring your favorite movies and TV shows to life on the big screen—as long as you know what to look for when shopping around.
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Following Best Projector Under $500
How can you watch movies and play video games on your TV, but in high definition? It’s simple; you need to invest in the best projector. This guide will walk you through what to look for when buying one and give you some of the best options that are currently available on the market today. Keep reading to learn more!
ViewSonic PA503S | |
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 ViewSonic 3800 Lumens SVGA High Brightness Projector for Home and Office with HDMI Vertical Keystone (PA503S) White/gray
An affordable and easy-to-use option, ViewSonic’s PA503S offers up to 3200 lumens of brightness and a 20,000:1 contrast ratio. With two HDMI ports and a built-in media player, it’s perfect for home entertainment systems. Plus, you can control it via smartphone app. The ViewSonic PA503S is a versatile projector that can be used to give presentations, watch movies, or even stream your favorite TV shows and sports events. The device has several ports, including an HDMI input and output, so you can easily connect it to your other devices. It also supports 4K video at 60 Hz and 2K video at 120 Hz, meaning you’ll get smooth visuals with ultra-crisp details. If you’re looking for an awesome projector that won’t break your budget, look no further than ViewSonic’s PA503S. With a price of less than $400, it offers all the basic features you could want from a home theater projector, including 3D capabilities and a 1.3x zoom lens. And it produces 2200 lumens of brightness—making it one of brightest projectors in its class. | |
Optoma HD146X High Performance | |
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Sale  Optoma GT1080HDR Short Throw Gaming Projector | Enhanced Gaming Mode for 1080P 120Hz Gaming at 8.4ms | 4K UHD Support | Play HDR for 4K and 1080P | High 3800 lumens for Day & Night Gaming, White
The Optoma HD146X is our pick for best projector. It produces a rich, vivid picture from high-quality sources, and it has a high contrast ratio of 3500:1—one of the highest among projectors in its price range. The HD146X also supports both Full 3D (DLP Link) and frame-sequential 4K resolution at 60Hz (HDR10). The Optoma HD146X is a high-performance 3D 1080p home theater projector with 3,200 lumens of color brightness and 2,200 lumens of white brightness. It comes equipped with six different video input modes, a 16:9 aspect ratio and an adjustable vertical lens shift which makes it perfect for a wide variety of applications. The Optoma HD146X is one of your best options for a projector under $500. It’s a Full HD projector with 1080p resolution that can project an image up to 300 inches in size. It also has 2500 lumens of brightness and 5,000:1 contrast ratio, which means it can project in almost any lighting condition while still being very bright and easy to see on a big screen or wall. | |
XGIMI MoGo Pro Portable | |
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 XGIMI MoGo Pro Portable Projector with Carry Case and 3D Glasses
When it comes to projectors, there are two ways to go: You can get a tiny little thing and hook it up to your phone or tablet, or you can buy a giant behemoth that consumes 200 square feet of space. The XGIMI MoGo Pro is one of the best in-between devices on our list: It’s got a high brightness rating (1,200 lumens) with a short throw ratio that lets you do away with projector screens. If you’re looking for a smart projector that doesn’t cost too much, then it’s hard to find a better option than XGIMI MoGo Pro Portable. This tiny little device will beam images onto your wall or other surface up to 100-inches wide and is compatible with Android and iOS phones via its HDMI input. The XGIMI MOGO Pro is one of my favorite portable projectors because it has a very bright lamp, yet it’s not too heavy (1.4 pounds). The image quality is also good, with a contrast ratio of 1000:1 and an 8-millisecond response time. Lastly, in terms of color accuracy, I found that there was little to no distortion when showing images with color gradients and color checker patterns. | |
BenQ GV30 Portable Smart Projector | |
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Sale  BenQ GV30 LED Portable Ceiling Projector with 135˚ Rotating Angle Projection | Extra Bass Bluetooth Speaker | Android TV 10 |Auto Focus & Vertical Keystone | WiFi |Chromecast & AirPlay | HDMI | USB-C
The Acer K138ST, Optoma’s H67, Panasonic’s TW-58, InFocus’ Pro8100 and ViewSonic’s Pro7827 are all good buys if you’re looking for a projector under $500. Each model has varying strengths—and weaknesses—but they’re all suitable options if you need to keep your costs down. Looking for a projector that can seamlessly blend into any event, for less than $500? The BenQ W1070 is a portable and capable mini projector that also delivers amazing picture quality. It’s bright enough to function even in daylight and its 20,000:1 contrast ratio means you’ll be getting deeper blacks and more brilliant colors. The BenQ HT2050 is an ultra-short throw (UST) projector that features both a high brightness and large screen size at a low price. While it lacks a few advanced features, like vertical lens shift and motorized zoom, we found that its picture quality was still better than what you get with many more expensive projectors. We especially liked its bright light output and crisp 1080p picture quality, which makes it one of our favorite entry-level projectors under $500. | |
WiMiUS Upgrade Q1 Mini Android | |
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Sale  Projector with WiFi and Bluetooth, 13000L Outdoor Movie Projector Native 1080P 5G WiFi 4K Supported, YABER V6 Portable Home Theater Projector, 300" Display 4P Keystone 50% Zoom Compatible with Phone
If you’re looking for a small, relatively inexpensive projector, then it’s hard to go wrong with WiMiUS’s Q1 Mini Android. With 2000 lumens of brightness, and USB-C/HDMI inputs, this is easily one of your best options if you want to play content directly from your phone or other device (especially given its low price). And it doesn’t hurt that it supports Chromecast and Airplay, too. The WiMiUS Upgrade Q1 Mini Android projector is one of Amazon’s best-selling projectors. It’s budget-friendly, and its built-in speakers help deliver an immersive viewing experience—it even supports Android apps like Netflix and YouTube. This mini projector is powerful enough to project an image up to 100 inches in size and it supports a full 1080p resolution. What’s more, it comes with a built-in speaker, so you don’t have to worry about purchasing one separately. In fact, WiMiUS has thought of everything: they included a remote control, as well as audio and video cables. | |
Conclusion
When you're researching projectors, one of the first things you'll notice is the different terminology used to describe them. If you're like most people, you probably have no idea what any of it means! That's why we've made this article - to give you a quick overview of the different projector types so that you can pick the one that is right for you.
