5 Cheap Projector Brands You Should Avoid (For A Good Reason)

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Smart TVs are cheap, and you can get one no matter how tight your budget is — even for less than $100 if you time your purchase well. But if you're working on a shoestring budget, one of the many compromises you should be willing to stomach is screen size. Most of the entry-level budget-focused smart TVs have come a long way in terms of reliability, but they typically come in small screen sizes. So, if you want larger screen real estate, such as 60 or more inches, the only option is to get a projector instead. And if you've looked around the market, you'll notice there's a flood of cheap projectors from different brands, some of which are from smaller companies that you've probably never heard of before. 

And as the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. One of the reasons why certain projectors are low-priced (while reputable brands like LG seem to sell its products at a premium) is that cheap brands usually sacrifice quality. You might see a projector from LG selling for almost $1,000 or even more, like the $1,299 LG CineBeam S, and you might think it's overpriced because there's a cheap model from a lesser-known brand that looks well-specced on paper and is enough for your needs. 

But before you're tempted to buy a low-cost projector just because of the savings, you should particularly stay away from these cheap projector brands. To be clear, this isn't to say that these projector brands are bad per se. It's because they've been found guilty of false marketing claims in the past, so it's safe to avoid them for the foreseeable future.

If you search for projectors on Amazon, you may see several models from AuKing, as it's one of the best-selling projector brands on the e-commerce site. For example, the $87.99 AuKing M8-F has over 14,000 reviews on the site, and as of this writing, Amazon says over 500 people have grabbed a unit in the last month. But while such a unit can attract you because of the low price, you should certainly avoid AuKing, as it has been found to exaggerate its brightness claims in one of its projector models in the past.

Epson, a major projector maker, filed a lawsuit against AuKing for its false advertising claims after finding out that one of its models failed to deliver the promised white brightness levels (measured in lumens). A 2024 press release by Epson revealed that one of the company's projectors claimed to produce 9,500 lumens, when in reality it put out less than 1% of that in testing. 

AuKing was found guilty of unfair competition by "using false, deceptive, or misleading statements" and was fined over $500,000 as a result. The company was also ordered to stop using false claims and to stop selling its projectors until it corrected its false advertising claims.

XGIMI is a go-to brand for some buyers when shopping for a projector. That's why we have recommended some of the brand's products as the best portable projectors on the market. But before you buy your next projector from XGIMI, you should know that the brand has been found guilty of false advertising claims in the past. 

In 2023, the brand reached an agreement with Epson after the latter sued the company over "deceptive advertising practices." Like AuKing, the brand was found guilty of overstating brightness levels across a selection of its products. For example, its XGIMI Horizon (XK03K) and Horizon Pro (XK03H) projector models had a claimed brightness of 2,200 lumens when they could only manage 1,500 lumens.

Other models that had exaggerated brightness claims are the XGIMI Halo (WK03A) and Elfin (XL03A), both of which promised 800 lumens but produced 200 lumens less. As part of the settlement, XGIMI agreed to correct the misstated lumen figures to the accurate figures that each of the mentioned models produced.

With a portfolio of projectors at different price points, you could also bump into a cheap model from Wemax that you'd like to buy. And if you want a high-end ultra-short throw (UST) model that rivals LG's LG CineBeam S, the company has the Nova Pro 4K UST projector that can produce a 150-inch image. However, the company has an ugly past, like AuKing and XGIMI, when it comes to advertising claims.

The company was also sued by projector maker Epson over false advertising claims. Epson and Wemax reached a settlement in 2023, with the latter agreeing to change the brightness claims of its high-end projector, the Wemax Nova. The company had claimed the Wemax Nova projector produces 2,100 lumens when in reality, it could only do 1,300 lumens. That was about 60% higher than the reality.

However, Wemax's case wasn't as bad as XGIMI, as only one projector was found to have false brightness claims. At the time, the company also conducted tests on its entire projector portfolio and came to the conclusion that only the Nova's brightness numbers were to be revised.

Founded in 2015, Vava is yet another company that you should avoid when it comes to projectors. Like the other brands discussed, the company was found guilty of misstating brightness claims as part of Epson's efforts to ensure that players in the consumer projector industry use "internationally recognized and accepted brightness standards" to help buyers make better decisions. 

The lawsuit was filed by Epson in 2021 over "deceptive advertising practices for the Vava 4K Ultra Short Throw Laser TV," and the two reached a settlement in February 2022. Epson found that the company had varying brightness claims across different online and retail outlets. Some places claimed that the projector, popularly sold as Vava 4K Laser TV, was said to produce either 6,000 or 2,500 lumens — yes, the company had claimed different brightness figures on one projector. 

However, neither of those two figures was actually true since Epson found out that, in reality, the projector could only produce 1,800 lumens. Like the other brands, one of the agreements in the settlement was for Vava to correct the lumen figures.

Anker is a household name when it comes to accessories, such as chargers, power banks, and USB hubs, and its Soundcore brand is one of the major headphone makers. But what you might not know about the company is that it has a line of projectors that are marketed under the Soundcore brand. However, the brand hasn't been completely honest in the past, and that landed it in hot water with Epson, which filed a lawsuit against it on the same grounds as the other brands we've discussed: "deceptive advertising practices." 

While Epson didn't share the full details about the settlement, one of the key requirements was for Anker to correct its misstated lumens and use the correct figures. The company agreed to correct the lumen specification of three projectors under the Nebula brand, including the Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K (D2350), Nebula Cosmos Laser (D2341), and Nebula Cosmos (D2140). 

The Cosmos Laser and 4K version had previously been stated to produce 2,400 lumens, and the company agreed to reduce the figure to 1,840. Furthermore, the brand had to reduce the D2140's brightness rating from 900 to 810 lumens.

The brands we've discussed were all found guilty of deceptive advertising by Epson, which filed a slew of lawsuits against different competitors in the projector market in an effort to ensure all players use internationally recognized brightness standards. The projector maker filed a lawsuit against all five, and, under the settlement, they all agreed to correct the brightness claims of at least one of their projector models. 

As mentioned previously, this is not to say that these brands are bad or are still misstating their brightness figures. We've only highlighted them because they've been found guilty in the past. And while we've only discussed five options, Epson went after more projector makers, including Philips, Vankyo, WiMiUS, GooDee, and Bomaker.