If you want to create a real home cinema in your living room, then sometimes a TV just won't cut it. Luckily, the best projectors will help anyone make an immersive, cinematic experience right at home, and they tend to be much more affordable than an 85-inch television.
Projectors can give you a much bigger image, too, going up to 100-200-inches that can be projected onto the wall or a dedicated projector screen. That's ideal for everything from cozy movie nights and gaming sessions to entertaining the kids and watching the big match.
To help you choose the perfect projector for your needs, we've scoured the web for the best and most popular choices at various price points. And if you want to go down a more traditional route, look at our guide to the best 75 inch TVs.
Keep reading to see what we thought.
The best projectors in 2024
Why you can trust Real Homes Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
As with many entries on this list, you'll need to plan to find the best place for the Epson EH-TW7000, but once you do, it's capable of projecting images up to 500-inches in clear native 4K resolution. The only drawback is the lack of in-built speakers, so you'll need your sound solution.
This exclusive no-doubt keeps the price point a little lower, with the EH-TW7000 very much sitting in the mid-range. For this, the projector is 3D-ready, has an impressive brightness and contrast ratio, and boasts HDR support. In addition, manual controls for lens shift, zoom, and keystone correction allow you to get the perfect image.
The Optoma UHD65 is one of the older models in this guide, so, compared with the newer projectors, it is a tad on the expensive side.
However, it offers impressive 4K digital cinema quality images compatible with High Dynamic Range (HDR) AND has PureMotion frame-interpolation processing. What does this mean? It means you'll be watching all your fave movies in incredible detail, color, and contrast, with any motion blurring eliminated (even if you're into high-speed action thrillers).
Installation is mega easy with vertical lens shift, which will enable a broader range of screen size options and give you flexibility on the positioning.
The BenQ TK850 boasts an excellent 4K resolution, boosted audio, an intense brightness, and focus on sports broadcasts, which helps it to stand out from the crowded projector market.
This projector is for live sports enthusiasts and those who appreciate an awe-inspiring picture. So you can replicate the football games in your living room or garden to create the ultimate stadium experience. The HDR-PRO technology works with the 4K HDR to enhance the viewing experience, offering a wider field of contrast to bring out every detail of the scenes as they unfold.
Beyond the vision is the sound. Featuring a powerful 10-watt chambered speaker, this projector will enhance the sound of your games, movies, and favorite shows, whether in or outside the house. And you don't need to worry about where you position this projector, either. When you must place the projector off-center, such as placing it on a table on uneven ground, the vertical keystone function will adjust the image to be ideally aligned for viewing.
Optoma's recently released CinemaX P2 projector has found its place on our list due to its gorgeous design, ultra-short-throw suitable for smaller spaces, and fantastic contrast ratio. It's an upgrade on the Optoma UHZ65UST, though not by much, and will set you back a few quid.
Using the short-throw projection, you can place the CinemaX P2 almost against the wall, saving space and doing away with the need to mount the device to the ceiling to enjoy big-screen viewing. This opens up many more possibilities for those living in small spaces or converting their spare room into a home theatre.
The projector has Bluetooth for streaming music directly from your phone, and there's in-built Alexa and Google Home, so it functions as a smart home hub in its own right. Framed's digital art platform also allows you to display something aesthetically pleasing when not actively using your projector.
Audio is a highlight, too, with an integrated 40W soundbar that delivers sound close to what you'd expect from a standalone speaker hooked up to your telly.
Designed to be taken on the go, the XGIMI Halo projector is an excellent option that, while not measuring up to others on this list in terms of specs, is seriously impressive for a wireless projector that you can use pretty much everywhere. Of course, this includes the garden, and for more options, read our guide to the best outdoor projectors.
Sound quality is also good, considering the size of the projector, and you can attribute that to XGIMI's partnership with Harman Kardon for its built-in speakers. You'll need to keep the remote control handy for adjusting settings and focus, but with Android TV built-in, you can stream directly without any additional gear.
How to choose the best projector for your home
Projectors come with their own set of downsides, which are worth running through before you rush out in search of ever-gigantic screen sizes. The first is that while projectors make large screen sizes cheaper than ever, getting them at high resolutions still commands a price premium much higher than equivalent TVs.
While you can now have 4K TVs for budget prices, their projector equivalents tend to cost more than a grand, and that's for a budget 4K experience.
The second is that if you're investing in a projector, you will almost certainly need to buy a set of external speakers. While most projectors include a set of speakers in their housing, we've generally found these to be equivalent to those you might find in a laptop. As a result, they sound cheap, tinny, and don't sound like something you want to enjoy the latest Hollywood blockbusters with.
Finally, there are noise and heat concerns with projectors that don't exist with TVs. Projectors get hot while they run, so you'll need to leave them in a well-ventilated position and, more importantly, be prepared to deal with a certain amount of fan noise.
- You've reached the end of the page. Jump back to the top ^
