Astronaut Galaxy Projector Star Projector, Galaxy Lampwith Remote Control Space Homie, Galaxy Light 360° Space Projector, Space Buddy With Nebula Galaxy Projector Light For Bedroom (White Star)

Product Information

We test using a wide range of content from 4K Blu-rays, to streaming services, video games and standard definition DVDs to make sure all kinds of content are put through these projectors. This helps us find the strengths and weaknesses of each projector. The LS800 has claimed a place for anyone who wants a simple, powerful projector that lets them beam a huge image they can view at any time of day they want. That said, if you're looking for a big picture then the price differences start to disappear. 4K TVs become very expensive at their largest sizes, and projectors effortlessly deliver bigger images than even the biggest mainstream TVs. It certainly doesn’t have the bells, whistles or crispness of other, more expensive projectors on this list, but the Yaber V7 Pro is a good budget option. The free carry bag is a nice bonus too. Bear in mind that it’s not the quietest model around, though, and produces a noticeable fan whirr.

Thanks largely to pixel shifting, 4K resolution is affordable enough today to be the preferred choice for home theater, TV replacements, and gaming, while 1080p is the budget choice. Lower resolution costs still less, but even a 720p image will be noticeably soft-focus compared with 1080p at the image sizes you'll likely be using for these applications. The V700W also offers more-than-acceptable image quality, including better shadow detail than most projectors in its price range. Earning it even more points is the impressive onboard audio—for an inexpensive projector at least—built around dual 5-watt speakers as well as Dolby Digital Plus. And the input lag—measured at 26 milliseconds for 1080p/60Hz input—is easily short enough for casual gaming. Who It's For Many new 4K projectors these days come with ultra short throw technology, which vastly reduces the distance needed between the projector and the wall or screen surface it's projecting onto. First, resolution. If you’re looking for a projector to watch movies, then make sure the model you buy is Full HD (with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080). You will come across plenty of cheaper office or portable projectors, but they’ll have limited resolutions of 800 x 600, 800 x 480, 1,280 x 720 or 1,024 x 768. As such, they might be fine for showing PowerPoint slides or streaming Netflix in the garden, but for sports, games and home cinema use, you really need to be able to watch 1080p content at the native resolution. Make Full HD your minimum spec. The 4050 is a strong contender for anyone who wants a projector for a traditional home theater with controlled lighting. However, its 2,400-lumen rating also makes it bright enough to be an equally good choice for more casual viewing in a family room with ambient light. In either setting, its three-LCD-chip design means it can't show the rainbow artifacts that any single-chip DLP model can show, which makes it attractive to those who tend to see these red/green/blue flashes and find them annoying.In addition to being of obvious interest as a 4K projector you can carry from room to room, the GP500 should also be on your short list as a family room projector. In addition to its high-quality image and audio, it offers suitable brightness, at a rated 1,500 ANSI lumens, and features that include support for full HD 3D and both HDR10 and HLG HDR. And for those concerned about the rainbow artifacts that single-chip DLP projectors can show, note that we saw very few. If you need a projector and an eminently usable sound system in a single, compact unit, the GP500 is a compelling choice. Yes, with some important caveats. The biggest one is that projectors are not usually as bright as TVs, and as a result most really struggle in brightly lit rooms: the more light there is, the less vivid your projected images will be. Projectors are best suited to home theater setups rather than sun-drenched living rooms, though some ultra short throw projectors like the Epson EpiQVision Ultra LS800 included in our list provides an exception to that rule. However, if you’re a gamer and you want to play on the biggest screen possible, there aren’t many better ways to do it than on this potent projector.

The W1800 sits squarely in BenQ’s CineHome section, where its focus on serving up a cinematic experience on a budget serves it extremely well. Gaming is obviously a form of home entertainment, but not all home entertainment projectors are good choices for gaming—and you shouldn't assume one is just because it includes a Game mode in its menu (an option that even many business projectors offer). On the other hand, some are perfectly good choices for gaming. And some models labeled as gaming projectors, most notably from BenQ and Optoma, are just as useful for other home entertainment applications. Children like to discover things by themselves — the tactile nature of this device, including the intuitive manual focus, chunky projection slide wheels and simple operation, allows them to be in charge of their own experience. The laser light module used for this creates crisp images, though it does ramp up the price from a non-laser long-throw model, or even regular 'short throw' which sits somewhere between the two. It’s easy to get lost in the specs when delving into projector display technologies, but the key thing to note is that lasers are more durable, responsive and longer-lasting than traditional projector bulbs, making these options a worthwhile investment.

Higher-end long throw projectors are generally “dumb” displays, with no built-in smart TV interface or ability to stream video directly. That’s because they’re usually the main video component in an AV system that uses a receiver and separate speakers for audio, with the receiver sending video directly to the projector, and audio to the speakers. The LS12000 is a beefy (we’re talking 50 pounds) projector with a 3LCD system inside. It provides powerful color and white light output, strong contrast, and no artifacts we could detect during our testing. Its immaculate picture doesn’t struggle to overcome bright lighting conditions, but when we turn out all the ambient light, it steps up to simply blow us away. An ultra short throw model designed to project big images onto a wall or screen from inches away, the Hisense L9G combines high brightness with rich color and can stream directly via built-in smart TV apps. A 100- or 120-inch screen is included for the price. The BenQ TK860i is designed for rooms with ambient light. Its list of key features starts with 4K resolution on screen (using a DLP chip equipped with TI's fast-switch pixel shifting) plus a bright image that can stand up to ambient light. It also adds BenQ's new HDR-PRO technology, which ratchets up image quality from the already-highly watchable level of the previous generation model by a lot, delivering noticeably enhanced shadow detail, contrast, and sense of three-dimensionality both for SDR and for HDR10 and HLG HDR input. The projector also supports full HD 3D and comes with an Android TV 11 dongle to add smart TV streaming features. And for gaming, it delivers measured input lags only a little longer than the current state-of-the-art, and easily short enough for all but the most serious gamers. Who It's For

At the forefront of this UST revolution is Hisense, which has been developing ultra short-throw models for over six years now. The PL1 that we have before us today is the latest model in Hisense’s line of Ultra Short-Throw Laser Cinema Projectors, not to be confused with its separate line of Laser TVs, which act in a similar fashion but specifically come with a dedicated screen. This laser-based 3LCD model is a great all-around option for movie and TV watching, and it’s also reasonably priced for a projector offering good brightness and excellent contrast. Approachability is key for mainstream acceptance of any new product, and Samsung has nailed this aspect with The Freestyle. Simply put, any projector which is ready to go within minutes of being taken out of the box is a triumph of design and engineering, and should be celebrated.Hisense isn’t selling the L9G as a basic projector, but rather as a laser TV with an included ambient-light-rejecting projector screen that’s meant to be permanently installed on your wall. This 100- or 120-inch (varies depending on the model selected) screen will appeal to those who are fussy about image quality, as it will reduce the impact of ambient room lighting on the picture. It is designed to enable young budding astronomers to explore the wonders of space from their bedrooms, exploring NASA and Hubble Telescope images of spacecraft, planets and nebulas and transforming their rooms into the night sky thanks to the star projector function. The Deep Space home planetarium has been designed with multiple functions — it displays rotating constellations and stars, projects slides with images on, and can be used as a glowing nightlight.

Within the mix are also some ultra short throw projectors. These can project a big, clear image onto a wall from a very short distance away, making them ideal for space saving set ups or for those wanting to avoid wall- or ceiling-mounting their projector. The LS800's menus don't have the settings you need for a full calibration, and it doesn't support 3D, which will disappoint serious videophiles and anyone who considers 3D a must-have. For everyone else, it's a sterling choice as a TV replacement, thanks to its excellent image quality straight out of the box, its notably short input lag for gaming, and even more notable short throw. Optical zoom allows you to enlarge or reduce the screen without moving the projector, while lens shift lets you move it up, down, left and right without losing quality – or moving the projector physically. The cheaper the projector, the more limited these options will be. Projectors are pretty power-hungry, and in general, they usually consume more power than a telly. All of the ones on our list connect to mains power for movie night, but if you’re taking the show on the road you’ll want to know about projectors with built-in batteries.The Mars 3 is arguably the most practical portable projector ever made. Thanks to a chunky form factor that makes it look a little like an old-fashioned, high-powered torch, a massive 185Wh built-in battery and weatherproofing, it’s good for movie shows both indoors and outdoors. Smart auto-adjusted features can get you a sharp, well-focused image in just about any situation, and it even has integrated streaming and impressive, meaty sound. You can head off-grid and still watch movies for a little over five hours.