The Best Home Theater Projectors on Amazon, According to Hyperenthusiastic Reviewers

With close to 500 five-star reviews, this home projector from ViewSonic gets praised for striking the right balance between price and performance. “Overall, a complete upgrade for less than $500,” writes one purchaser. “I am blown away by the picture quality and the color depth it puts out,” says another. Some reviewers note that this model costs more than they hoped to spend on an entry-level projector, but as one puts it, “In short, you get what you pay for. I was trying to save a little with a cheap [sub $100] LED projector, but it was too dim and the focus gets blurry. Seriously, don’t waste your time. If you want something that will work well with ambient light, and is sharp and crystal clear, this is the move.” Happy purchasers also rave about the easy setup, brightness, and attractive price. One sums it up: “Great picture. Easy setup and operation. If you want a great indoor/outdoor projector without breaking the bank, this is the one to buy.”

This BenQ projector seems to satisfy home theatre buffs who want full 1080p HD resolution, because “1080p makes such a big difference,” as one purchaser writes. Multiple reviewers say the projector displays an image that’s “bright” and “crisp” enough to rival any TV, and according to at least one user, it maintains its resolution even when projecting on large walls “in the middle of the day.” “It’s like having a 110-inch TV,” one writes, while another adds, “I’m never going back to using a TV in my living room again.” Close to a dozen purchasers also praise the projector’s “quiet fan,” a small feature, but one they really appreciate. “It’s incredibly quiet. We don’t have it mounted on the ceiling yet, so we’re sitting right next to it and we can’t even hear the fan going at all.”

If you’re looking for a sharp 4K picture quality, this Yaber Y30 projector comes highly recommended. “It supports 4K and HD quality games movies and videos, and it has a really great picture with everything we use,” says one reviewer. “Even in the daytime with the sun shining in the picture is still great.” (The same reviewer noted that they went so far as to replace their 4K 70-inch smart TV with the Yaber.) Another impressed customer writes, “The brightness is perfect” and “colors are distinguishable. I was worried they’d be washed out, but this thing is legit.” And the Yaber is great for outdoor viewing, this person adds: “She really shines at night.” Although the accessible price point might make some skeptical about the quality, another reviewer noted that his brother owns a projector that cost “over 2k” and “we both agreed this one is far superior in sharpness and brightens. I have a huge 200 inch screen and it looks beautiful.”

Numerous reviewers say they bought the Epson projector to use outdoors. “We have been very pleased with its performance. We used a 15-by-12-foot white canvas drop cloth for a screen, and the images look great at that resolution. Very easy to use and can be hooked up to almost anything.” Another reviewer says they use the Epson outside to entertain their grandkids. They just plug in their MacBook Pro or Amazon Fire Stick and are able to get a crisp image that works in both low-light and brighter situations.

“I’ve played several hours of HALO 5 on here and there is a marked improvement over my last projector,” writes one reviewer, noting that the Optoma is “so much brighter and displays significantly more detail.” Another reviewer says they tested the projector by throwing some more visually demanding games at it and was happy to discover: “The image is bright” and “the focus is sharp” as well as “consistent/even from edge to edge.” Adds another purchaser who uses the Optoma for both viewing and gaming: “I can’t imagine going back to a traditional screen after this. This is the way to watch TV and it really changes the video game experience.”

[Editor’s note: The Optoma is currently out of stock, but should be in stock shortly.]

Purchasers recommend this Optoma model for anyone in need of a “short throw” projector that can cast out a wide image even when positioned close to the wall or screen. One reviewer say they did a lot of researching and comparing specs before deciding on the Optoma projector: “I am primarily using it outside, with a 220inch screen, and it sits about 9’ away from the wall. I live in a city, so there is a decent amount of ambient light, but the picture was clear and bright at 8:30 in July, before the sun had set completely.” As another customer writes, “I’m amazed at the size of the screen this projector is able to make from just over a couple of feet away.” One warns that it can take a little while to find the right positioning since the projector is so efficient at throwing out at image: “One to two inches is comparable to one to two feet with a non-short-throw projector,” they say, but after a little trial and error, you’ll be in great shape. In the case of this reviewer: “I have an eight-foot screen and the projector is about three feet away.”