Best projectors in 2026 for at home movie nights

Want to buy the best projector? You’re not alone. More of us are looking for a dedicated projector for the ultimate home cinema experience to either complement a 4K TV or replace it – especially as major releases continue to make their debut on streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, and more.

A good projector can turn your living room into a cinema, your garden into a summer screening spot, or your spare wall into a gaming arena. But finding the right one isn’t as simple as picking the brightest or biggest model you can afford. Projectors vary wildly in image quality, brightness, resolution, throw distance and smart features – not to mention noise levels and lamp life. Some are built for blockbuster movie nights, others for presentations or console gaming, and a few can handle a bit of everything.

In this guide, we’ve tested and compared the best projectors for different needs and budgets, from compact portables you can sling in a bag to 4K home theatre beasts that demand their own dedicated space. Whether you’re after pin-sharp detail, giant-screen thrills, or just great value, we’ll help you choose the perfect projector for your setup.

Why you can trust Stuff: Our team of experts rigorously test each product and provide honest, unbiased reviews to help you make informed decisions. For more details, read how we test and rate products.

Quick list: what’s the best projector?

The best projectors you can buy today:

1. Nebula X1

Anker may be best known for its phone chargers and power banks, but the company also does a solid line in home cinema projectors. The triple-laser X1 is the highest spec model it currently offers under its Nebula sub-brand – and it’s hugely impressive.

I could comfortably chew through my entire wordcount yapping about the optical arrangement and how it’s reflected in picture performance, but I’ll skip to the key info: it’s very, very bright and very, very contrast-rich, with beautifully vivid colours, crispy detail and well implemented HDR.

In a darkened room, playing The Last of Us Part I on PS5, I found the low evening sun in the Boston scenes searingly bright, while the gloom of the ruined city’s subway system retained heaps of detail in the darkest, inkiest spots. Even in brighter ambient light, the X1’s blazing lamp keeps the picture punchy.

My only black mark against it is the occasional instance of the DLP ‘rainbow effect’ during motion, visible only in the brightest areas of the picture. It’s hardly a deal-breaker, though, and some viewers likely won’t notice it at all.

I should also caution that, despite its 4K billing, the X1’s 0.47in DMD chip has a physical resolution of 1920 x 1080 (aka Full HD) and uses XPR tech to simulate a 3840 x 2160 4K output. It’s not simple upscaling at work here, but an advanced physical system that rapidly shifts pixels to deliver a resolution that the human eye perceives as actual 4K. It accepts 4K signals too, up to 60Hz, so it’s as near as dammit to a ‘true’ 4K signal as you’ll get without spending big on a native 4K projector.

Praise must also go to Anker for the X1’s automated screen setup, which will conjure up a focused, resized, height-adjusted and keystone-corrected image in a matter of seconds; shift the projector and it’ll correct the picture automatically. It even features an unusual motorised gimbal to adapt to higher walls. And if you’ve got a proper projector screen, the X1 will automatically detect it and arrange the image to fit perfectly on its surface too.

The integrated audio doesn’t feel like an afterthought, either. Not only does the projector itself feature two built-in 15W speakers, it comes with two battery-powered 5W wireless satellites that can be arranged behind the viewer to create a larger, more dynamic soundstage. It’ll go loud too, with enough muscle to fill bigger rooms and even outdoor spaces. If you’d like to hook up external speakers, there’s an optical output alongside two HDMI 2.1 inputs, USB-A and USB-C.

Like lots of smart projectors, the X1 runs on the Google TV platform, which means you’ve got access to over 10,000 apps, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, ITVX and Apple TV+. There’s no iPlayer app, but I was able to use Google Cast and my phone to get BBC shows playing smoothly.

The X1 is designed for both indoor and outdoor use and comes with a pop-out handle to make lugging it into your garden less effort. Unfortunately, there’s no room for an internal battery, so you’ll still need to run out a power cable to keep it ticking.

2. Xgimi Mogo 4

Barely bigger than a pint glass and powered by a built-in battery, the Mogo 4 is a genuinely portable 1080p projector. Hauling it to a mate’s house is as simple as slotting it in your backpack’s bottle holder, and the battery provides enough power for about 150 minutes of video playback in Eco mode: time enough to watch a football match or most movies without having to reach for the mains cable or a power bank.

With an integrated rotating stand and automatic keystone correction, getting a nice square picture takes a matter of seconds, and the internal LED lamp is bright enough to provide watchable images in a reasonably well-lit room or garden. Things are much better in the dark, of course: while there’s still a hint of greyness to shadows, the vibrancy of colour is outstanding by portable projector standards. There’s a real subtlety to skin tones, too, so it’s not all cranked up for impact. Fast motion is handled with aplomb, and the DLP rainbow effect is kept within acceptable levels.

Audio from the two 6W drivers can’t quite match the picture show for power or precision, but there’s only so much you can expect from a pint-sized tube; it’s certainly acceptable for something in this class, and you can hook up a Bluetooth soundbar if you need more grunt.

There’s no physical audio output, somewhat disappointingly, but connectivity otherwise is solid: the full-size HDMI supports ARC, and there are two USB ports: one USB-C for PD 3.0 charging and one USB-A allowing you to play content from a thumb drive. Most content will probably be streamed via Mogo’s Google TV apps, I suspect, thanks to support for Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube and more. As is often the case, there’s no Channel 4 or BBC iPlayer here, but you can Google Cast either from your phone.

3. Yaber L2 Plus

Budget projectors seem to be getting cheaper; at the rate that things are going, a Big Mac Meal will soon set you back more than an entry-level light-thrower. And shelling out for Yaber’s L2 Plus won’t leave a nasty taste in your mouth either, because this cutesy cut-price choice is surprisingly stuffed when it comes to features.

The L2 Plus is curved, tastefully pastel-coloured, and comes with a built-in stand that tilts to make shelf or tabletop placement easier: you don’t need to find a surface dead level with your screen or wall, in other words. It can be detached if needed, though (if you wanted to ceiling or tripod mount the L2 Plus, for instance).

You get some impressive picture setup features too: automatic keystone correction, alignment, focus and obstacle avoidance. Sadly, I found them unreliable. Maybe there was something about my wall that it didn’t like, but the keystone and alignment needed a lot of manual help.

Even so, setup only took about ten minutes in total, including getting the thing connected to my home Wi-Fi and logging into Netflix, YouTube and Prime Video. These streaming apps (and many others) come courtesy of the integrated smart TV platform and work well – but you can of course hook up your own external source via HDMI.

Image quality is unexpectedly punchy when viewing in a darkened room, with bags of contrast, sharp detail and smooth motion. Things don’t hit as hard when there’s lots of ambient light, but what do you expect when the price is this low? The biggest issue I had with the L2 Plus’s performance was the fan noise, which became a tad intrusive. It made me crank up the two 8W speakers to a point where they became slightly harsh, but when kept lowish, the audio can convey a surprising measure of subtlety.

4. Epson Lifestudio Flex EF-72

I’ve been using the Epson Lifestudio Flex EF-72 for a few months now, and it’s become my go-to projector for watching films and TV. This isn’t a projector you hide away in a cupboard or on a shelf, it’s designed to live on your coffee table, and I think it genuinely looks good there.

The headline is Epson’s RGB LED 3LCD system, driven by its ‘Triple Core Engine’. In real terms, that means bright, consistent images with excellent colour accuracy and none of the washed-out look that plagues many portable projectors. It’ll throw an image up to 150in, and thanks to automatic focus, keystone correction and obstacle avoidance, setup is refreshingly hands-off. Just place it down, swivel the stand, and it sorts itself out.

Sound is another strong point. The built-in Sound by Bose speakers deliver clear dialogue and audio, easily good enough for casual movie nights or streaming box sets without an external speaker. We found the built-in speaker does lack a little punch, however, so for a proper cinema experience you’ll want external speakers. For that, there’s Bluetooth and Dolby Audio support.

Google TV is built in, so all your streaming apps are ready to go (except for BBC iPlayer, which is annoying for UK users), complete with Google Cast and voice control via Google Assistant. It gives you a proper smart TV experience, which makes daily use far less fiddly.

Finally, there’s the ambient LED lighting. It’s touch-controlled, adjustable in brightness and colour, and adds a soft glow is perfect for living room mood lighting. It might sound like a novelty, but it’s a small feature that makes the EF-72 feel so at home as a lifestyle product.

If you want a stylish, great-sounding, genuinely usable portable projector, the EF-72 is the best coffee table option I’ve tested.

5. JVC NZ500

Weighing as much as a well-fed toddler and requiring a fair expanse of space in your living room, the DLA-NZ500 is by far the porkiest projector in this round-up. It might surprise you, then, to learn that it’s the world’s smallest native 4K model, utilising JVC’s own D-ILA technology to squeeze a boatload of pixels onto a chip just 0.69in in size.

The projector beams out a 4096 x 2160 image with a staggering amount of contrast and depth. I’ve rarely seen The Last of Us Part 1 or the 4K Blu-ray version of Blade Runner 2049 look so engaging – at least not on an image so large. Motion is silky smooth, there’s no sign of unwanted artefacts, colours look natural, and that resolution delivers detail to spare.

It isn’t the brightest projector around, though, and you’ll want to banish as much light from the room as possible before breaking out the popcorn. And that shouldn’t be a problem, because if you can shell out this much for a projector, you should be able to afford a heavy set of curtains or some blackout blinds.

It’s the same with sound and sources. Unlike the other models in this round-up, there’s no built-in speaker or smart TV system here; you’ll need to hook up at least a soundbar and streaming stick, or your movie night is going to go down like a lead balloon. But again, if you’re investing this much in a projector, a bit more on a surround sound setup and Blu-ray player shouldn’t be an issue.

This is a cinema-grade pick for demanding movie buffs with plenty of space and money to burn. It isn’t a cheap model you’ll whip out of the cupboard for a bit of Mario Party, but the centrepiece to a truly formidable home entertainment setup.

6. Optoma Photon Go

The Photon Go is a king of convenience. Not only is it ultra-short throw (meaning you can sit it right up against your wall and still get a huge image), it’s also wonderfully portable: compact, lightweight and equipped with two 10W speakers and an internal battery, allowing it to operate completely cable-free. But not for long. The 90-minute battery life means any plans to watch The Godfather sans a mains socket will require you to pack a beefy power bank.

The projector has access to thousands of apps via its Google TV platform, including all the leading streaming services (except BBC iPlayer, annoyingly), plus Google Assistant for voice commands. Just log in to your Google account after hooking up to Wi-Fi, and you’ll be able to access your favourite apps, services and any content you’ve previously purchased from the Play Store.

The image comes courtesy of a triple-laser DLP setup that delivers rich colours and decent detail – albeit limited to 1080p rather than pushing things to 4K. The brightness tops off at 650 lumens, too, and you’ll really notice its lack of oomph when trying to watch something during the daytime.

The Photon Go is a projector that needs to be in a very dark room if you want to get a vivid, clear image out of it, so you may need to invest in some blackout blinds. The short-throw lens arrangement is impressive, though, enabling a 100in image with the projector sitting only 25cm from the wall.

Add to this the automatic keystone and autofocus, which adjust themselves every time you move or switch on the projector, and you’ve got a very accommodating and fuss-free big-screen beamer for the price. It’s just a pity it can’t muster a little more vibrancy in its image.

What to consider when buying a projector

When buying a projector, the first thing to consider is where and how you’ll use it. A home cinema setup has different needs from a portable projector for outdoor movies or a bright, sharp model for business presentations.

Brightness is key. Measured in lumens, it determines how well the image holds up in daylight. For dark, controlled rooms, 1,500–2,500 lumens is fine; for brighter spaces, aim for 3,000+ lumens.

Resolution affects clarity. Full HD (1080p) is the sweet spot for most, but 4K projectors deliver stunning detail for films and gaming. If you only plan to show slides or basic video, lower resolutions may suffice.

Check the throw distance – the space needed between the projector and the screen. Short-throw and ultra-short-throw models can create big images from close range, ideal for small rooms.

Contrast ratio influences image depth, with higher ratios producing richer blacks. Colour accuracy and HDR support are worth seeking for cinematic quality.

Think about lamp type and lifespan. Traditional lamps are bright but need replacing, while LED and laser projectors last longer and often start up faster.

Lastly, look at connectivity. HDMI is a must, but Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB-C, and streaming app support can make life much easier.

Projector spec comparison