Can You Really Tell The Difference Between Expensive And Cheap Projectors?

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If you type in the word "projector" on Amazon and then hit enter, more than 50,000 results will appear. Luckily, you can filter these results down based on rating, price, and even brand name. The problem, though, is there are so many different brands out there that it might be confusing trying to figure out which ones are actually worth it. And while some brands are drastically more expensive — projectors range from under $100 to several 10s of thousands of dollars in price — many of them promise the same thing. Which begs the question: Can you actually tell the difference between those cheap projectors and the more expensive ones? Yes. You absolutely can.

Knowing how to tell the difference between the cheap knockoffs masquerading as something good and the truly premium options has become a lot more difficult, especially as we see more and more of the cheaper options touting the same features as the more expensive ones. So, how do you stop yourself from being cheated?

While searching for projectors on Amazon might display a lot of results, the best way to determine whether or not you're getting a cheap or premium projector is to look at the brand name and where else you can purchase it from. Additionally, there are several reputable brands that you'll want to keep an eye on for the most part (and several projector brands you should avoid). Many recommend brands like Epson and BenQ, among others. Sticking with one of these brands can be a good way to help avoid buying into a cheap knock-off, especially if trying to move from a smart TV to a smart projector.

The biggest difference that you're likely going to see between the cheap and the more expensive projectors is in their actual supported lumens — how bright they are — and their resolution support. Many of the cheaper projectors on Amazon are also marketed as offering 4K ultra HD support, but usually that's just for decoding. That basically means they can accept 4K resolution input, but they will only output it at the resolution that the project actually supports — usually 720P to 1080P, depending on how cheap you go.

Additionally, several cheaper projectors market themselves on features that can go from gimmicky to actually useful, such as keystone correction, which basically helps correct angles and other picture-related details, as well as auto focus features. One easy way to tell if a company is hyping up the marketing of its projector is to look at the differences between the marketing images and the title of the Amazon page, and then look at how the features are broken down. For instance, one projector we found during our research clearly shows "native 1080P" in the title of the projector. However, further down the page, in the actual specs area, you can see it is only a native resolution of 720P.

Further, some warn that super cheap projectors with proclaimed high lumen ratings and contrast ratios are usually exaggerating the brightness that the projector offers, as even some of the more expensive projectors, like the Epson Home Cinema 5050UB, only offer up to 2600 lumens, depending on the exact model. Even when looking at the evidence, though, many are happy with the cheaper projectors even though they have some caveats, and you may find that a cheaper projector like Roku's smart projector is all you need.