The 5 Best Projectors for Home Theater of 2024

If you're looking for the best home theater projector, check out the Epson Home Cinema 3800. The projector has great image quality due to its excellent brightness and great contrast. Movies are vibrant, especially when watched in a dark room, and it's easily bright enough to handle a few lights. With its pixel-shifting technology, it also projects a sharp image, so you won't have any problems with movies looking fuzzy when projecting very large images. Even more impressive is its out-of-the-box accuracy; even color purists will be satisfied with this unit without calibrating it. It's also HDR10 and HLG compatible, but unfortunately, its color gamut isn't quite good enough for a truly engrossing HDR experience, as colors look a bit washed out. This projector projects an 80-inch image at a distance of approximately 93 inches (7.75 feet) and up to 200 inches at a distance of 233 inches (about 19 feet).

While the Home Cinema 3800 offers tremendous image quality, it's a bit dry on features. If you want to easily watch movies from streaming apps, this projector isn't for you, as it doesn't have an integrated smart OS or Wi-Fi, although it does have Bluetooth. It also doesn't have an ARC/eARC port, so for the best sound, you'll need to connect the projector to a receiver through HDMI. Otherwise, this unit has two HDMI ports to connect external devices. Overall, the Home Cinema 3800 provides the best possible image quality for enthusiasts wanting to build a cinema room without spending an arm and a leg.

For those looking for the best of the best with money to burn, consider the Epson Home Cinema 5050UB, the best movie projector we've tested. Like the Epson Home Cinema 3800, this model has no fancy features and is focused on only one thing: watching movies. It's a bit dimmer than the 3800, but it does have slightly better contrast, so it looks punchier when watching movies in a dark home theater setup. However, its most noticeable advantage over the cheaper Epson is its color gamut; it's very wide, and the projector is bright enough to project a vibrant, colorful HDR image. The 5050UB's pre-calibration accuracy is equally excellent, and for purists, you can improve it even more with the projector's vast array of calibration features. It projects an 80-inch image at a distance of approximately 94 inches or about eight feet, up to a massive 300 inches at 357 inches, almost 30 feet.

Just like the 3800, this unit has two HDMI ports to connect external devices and a 12V trigger-out port if you want to automate your projector screen. This unit doesn't have an ARC/eARC port, so you'll still need to connect the projector to a receiver through HDMI for the best sound. It's light on features as it doesn't come with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, nor does it have a smart OS. Overall, the Home Cinema 5050UB provides the best possible image quality, although it's not worth the extra cost over the top pick for most people.

If your chosen home theater room is on the smaller side, or if you just want to place your projector closer to the screen, consider the NexiGo Aurora Pro, the best short-throw projector for home theaters. It's very expensive, but it projects an 80-inch image at a distance of only four inches and up to 150 inches at a distance of 17.3 inches. Although it doesn't reach the same brightness levels as the two Epsons on our list, it offers slightly superior contrast to even the Epson Home Cinema 5050UB. The NexiGo also has an incredibly wide color gamut, making it noticeably more colorful than the cheaper Epson Home Cinema 3800 in SDR and HDR content. However, movie enthusiasts should note that the NexiGo's color accuracy is poor out of the box; you should invest in a calibrator to maximize this projector's potential.

The NexiGo has three HDMI ports, including one eARC port. It supports 4k @ 60Hz signals and has three USB data ports for direct playback from a USB drive. It also features a line-out jack and an optical out port. However, the unit comes with a barebones smart OS, although it does support Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Overall, the Epson Home Cinema 3800 is a better value, and the Epson Home Cinema 5050UB offers better overall performance for a similar price. But if you're tight on space — or just want to install your projector closer to the wall — and are willing to invest in a quality calibrator, the NexiGo is a very good alternative.

If you're in the market for a home theater projector but would rather not have to empty your piggy bank, the BenQ TH671ST is the best movie projector for those looking for a budget model. It isn't the brightest projector, but its contrast is decent, so it'll offer a pleasant viewing experience in darker home cinema rooms. Its sharp 1080p image is very accurate right out of the box, and purists can even calibrate it further to near perfection, which is great if you care about preserving the content creator's intent. It even has a wide color gamut, so overall, this product will please color enthusiasts, even if it's not quite bright enough to make those colors pop. It projects a 100-inch image at a distance of six feet up to a 180-inch image at around nine feet.

Like other products on this list, the projector is a bit light on features, as it lacks a smart OS or wireless capabilities and has two HDMI ports but no ARC port. The projector has 3.5 mm audio out and audio in ports, but for more complex setups, you'll need to use a receiver or purchase an HDMI audio extractor to compensate for the lack of ARC. There's also no USB data port, but the second HDMI port does support MHL, allowing you to plug your phone or tablet directly into the projector to stream content. Overall, while it certainly doesn't outperform any of the more expensive options above, it's a versatile product, and it lets you watch the latest hits on the cheap.

If you’re looking for the cheapest projector that still delivers acceptable performance, the NexiGo PJ40 (Gen 3) stands out as the best cheap projector you can buy. It’s priced even lower than our Budget Option, the BenQ TH671ST, while offering more features and better contrast, making it a strong contender for dark-room home theater setups. However, it is held back by its dim brightness and muted colors—though it’s still relatively bright for a projector at this price point. Unfortunately, it also has poor out-of-the-box color accuracy, so calibration is a must for anyone who prioritizes accurate colors. This model can project a 100-inch image from a distance of 10.5 feet.

The NexiGo PJ40 (Gen 3) supports Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi, and casting via Miracast or Apple AirPlay, providing flexibility for connecting devices. It also has two HDMI ports (one with ARC for soundbars) and a decent 20W built-in speaker system, offering convenience for those who don’t want to rely on external speakers. While it lacks the BenQ’s superior brightness, the NexiGo makes up for it with extras like HDR10 support and more robust connectivity options. Overall, if you’re on a tight budget and plan to use your projector in a darker space, the NexiGo PJ40 (Gen 3) is a fantastic pick.