The 4 Best Projectors Under $500 of 2024

The BenQ TH671ST is slightly more than $500, but when it's on sale, it's easily the best projector under $500. It's well-rounded, although its brightness is only mediocre; good enough for dimmer rooms, but it looks washed out in well-lit rooms. The unit's decent contrast and wide color gamut emphasize its satisfactory dim room performance, giving off a punchy image in the right viewing conditions. Furthermore, its pre-calibration accuracy is great out-of-the-box, so you can start watching your favorite content without being worried about whether your projector is respecting the content creator's intent. Finally, it's a short-throw projector, so it can project a 60-inch image from about three feet away and up to a 180-inch image from roughly nine feet, making it ideal for smaller spaces or for placing the projector closer to the screen or wall.

However, it does lack some important features, like built-in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or a smart OS, although it does have a USB Type-A port for power delivery; this lets you easily connect a streaming dongle to the unit. Regarding connectivity, it offers two 1080p @ 60Hz HDMI ports and a VGA port. The second HDMI port supports MHL, allowing you to connect your phone or tablet directly for streaming, which is handy given the absence of a USB data port. Overall, this projector is a well-rounded option for its price, even if it's typically sold for above $500.

If you know that you'll mostly be using your projector in a dark room, or if you're just looking for something cheaper than the BenQ TH671ST, then consider the NexiGo PJ40 (Gen 3). It's noticeably dimmer than the BenQ, but it makes up for it with its excellent contrast. This makes it a better pick for light-controlled rooms, as its brightness is good enough to provide a pleasant experience when the lights are off, and the resulting image is punchy. It's too bad that its colors are muted, but at this price point, it delivers surprisingly good image quality. Just make sure to calibrate it if you care about image accuracy, as it's quite inaccurate right out of the box.

Another thing it has over the BenQ is a more complete set of features: Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi, and full casting support with Miracast and Apple AirPlay. It technically comes with built-in Android TV, but it's barebones, so you'll need to use a streaming dongle if you really care about using streaming apps. It has two HDMI ports, one with ARC support, which is useful if you want to plug a soundbar directly into the unit. It also comes with a 20W speaker system, in case you just want to hear sound from the projector itself. To round it out, the projector comes with a dedicated Game Mode and HDR10 support. It might not be bright enough to impress in brighter rooms, but it sure offers a lot at its price point.

Hoping to get a cheap projector to use in a brighter room? Look no further than the Epson EpiqVision Flex CO-W01. Unlike the NexiGo PJ40 (Gen 3), it projects an extremely bright 1280 x 800 resolution image that is perfect for well-lit rooms, like a bright office. Unfortunately, the projector's contrast is poor, so it's not an ideal choice for a dark home theater room; instead, stick to rooms with a few lights, and you won't notice the unit's raised blacks. Or you could also just buy the NexiGo above if you're mostly looking to use your projector in light-controlled rooms. Thankfully, its color accuracy is decent out of the box and is certainly good enough for most people.

Like the BenQ TH671ST, it lacks any smart OS and doesn't have Wi-Fi, so an external streaming dongle is a must. It has a USB-B port through which you can project some audio and video files directly from a PC, and you can also project a few file formats through the unit's USB-A port. It only has one HDMI port, so you can't connect multiple HDMI devices to the projector unless you're using a dock. Ultimately, the EpiqVision Flex CO-W01 is one of the best value projectors you can get, especially for brighter rooms. 

If you're looking for a cheap projector that you can easily carry around, check out the XGIMI MoGo 2. The MoGo 2 is a very small projector and weighs only 2.4 pounds, so you can easily throw it into a backpack. While it doesn't have an internal battery like some other more expensive portable projectors, it does support external charging via power banks through its USB-C port. It has many image correction features, like full auto keystone, autofocus, intelligent screen alignment, and obstacle avoidance. To round up the package, it has the Android TV 11 smart interface, Chromecast and AirScreen support, and Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 capabilities.

Unfortunately, the projector is very dim. You need to turn off all the lights to get a pleasant image, and even then, it's not exactly the most vibrant viewing experience possible. Its contrast is mediocre but good enough to provide a passable dark room viewing experience. It also has a wide color gamut and HDR support but isn't bright enough to take advantage of them. Ultimately, if portability is what you're looking for and you don't care so much about image quality, then the MoGo 2 is the best option at this price point.