Saving money on consumer technology is a great feeling, and it’s even more exciting when it comes to major hardware like a TV or projector. As for the latter, a quick search on Amazon will reveal that there is no shortage of economic spotlights. Many of these devices cost less than $100 and are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. We’re also willing to bet the automaker loves talking about the in-car audio system, even if it’s just a single five-watt speaker.
When you buy a cheap projector, there are bound to be compromises. Whether it’s poor image quality or a dull picture, you definitely won’t get the best experience. Our goal is not to dissuade our readers from purchasing the audiovisual equipment they really want. But when it comes to rounding up great deals, we know what it’s like to think you’re getting the best deal in the world, only to be slapped with buyer’s remorse. To help you avoid such a fate, we’ve put together this roundup of the top five downsides of buying cheap projectors.
Brightness and color accuracy take a big hit
Budget projectors are an attractive choice for summer movie nights. Invite your friends, turn on the fireplace, then quickly turn it off once you realize that the ambient glow is dominating the image your projector is trying to project. Unfortunately, in most cases, cheap projectors struggle to produce the kind of brightness outdoor movies require. The worst part is that many manufacturers are not transparent about this.
If the company brags about the “10,000 lux power” of a projector, that really doesn’t mean anything. Instead, look for an “ANSI Lumens” or “ISO Lumens” number to get a better idea of how bright a projector can get. The first is a standard developed by the American National Standards Institute, a nonprofit organization, and the second is a more recent measure created by the International Organization for Standardization. Fortunately, these two standards overlap a lot, so their numbers are normally within about 5% of each other when measuring the same outcome. For spaces with uncontrollable lighting, your best bet is a projector that provides at least 1,000 ANSI or ISO lumens – ideally even more – and that’s not a spec that many ultra-cheap projectors meet.
You’ll also need to pay attention to the size of the image you’re working with, as the larger the projection, the darker the final image will be. Even though the manufacturer claims you’ll get enough picture to fill a 130-inch screen, it won’t matter much if you can barely tell what you’re looking at. Follow the official ANSI or ISO lumen values and treat all other brightness specifications with extreme caution.
Dull colors and contrast
Technically, this section goes hand in hand with brightness, but it’s important enough to have its own discussion. In order to produce rich, accurate colors, a projector needs to put out a decent amount of light. Unfortunately, this simply isn’t the case with many cheap models, and this lack of lumens can have a direct impact on color saturation. So don’t be surprised if movies and TV shows start looking washed out.
Projectors and TVs both support HDR, but mainstream formats like Dolby Vision and HDR10+ aren’t as represented in the cheap projector space, not to mention many units won’t be bright enough for HDR to look any different from SDR content anyway. And as you might guess, a drop in color also comes with a drop in overall contrast. It’s hard enough to achieve inky black levels with a high-end home theater projector, so chances are a $30 product won’t do contrast miracles.
Unless you can control the ambient lighting in the space where your projector is operating, it’s really a toss-up as to what kind of colors, contrast, and overall brightness you can expect. Do you want our advice? Moderate your expectations and save your receipts.
I/O will likely be missing
You shouldn’t necessarily expect a projector to have many HDMI ports and other physical connections. There’s less chassis space to work with than most TVs and AV receivers, so even a handful of premium and high-end projectors lack inputs and outputs (I/O). At the budgetary level, the situation can be even more disastrous. Instead of two or three HDMI ports, it’s not uncommon for a cheap projector to only include a single HDMI and perhaps a USB-A for connecting an external flash drive.
Cheap projectors can also be lacking when it comes to audio outputs and Ethernet connectivity. It’s also worth mentioning that if you’re planning to connect a streaming device or gaming console, many cheap projectors only support HDMI 2.0 or lower, so your devices will be limited to 4K/60Hz. Speaking of which, you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for misleading resolution information, as manufacturers love to say things like “It supports 4K UHD” when they actually mean the projector accepts a 4K signal, but then reduces the media to a lower resolution.
Although many inexpensive projectors have built-in streaming interfaces, they often leave a lot to be desired. And even if you manage to ignore clunky software, bargain bundling might end up leading you to support older, less reliable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth standards.
Poor in-car audio offerings
We alluded to this projector drawback in the introduction to this article, and it’s certainly worth revisiting. It’s bad enough that most modern TVs struggle to deliver decent sound quality, and the world of projectors isn’t much better. You could spend thousands of dollars on a high-end lens and still be disappointed with the manufacturer’s audio choices; it’s just the nature of the beast when it comes to consumer tech with cramped chassis.
This is not to say that all economic spotlights will sound terrible. On Amazon, people were pretty good about a Hompow HD projector, with one user reporting that even the fan noise (more on that in the last section) wasn’t a big issue. There are also a handful of inexpensive projectors that use speakers from respected audio brands like Harman Kardon. But remember: the problem lies in chassis space, which even the best speakers can struggle to overcome.
Most projector setups are best complemented by an external audio system, whether it’s a simple Bluetooth speaker or a soundbar wired through digital optics. Fortunately, many of these add-on devices are relatively inexpensive and can greatly enhance the audible portions of your movie night. Another alternative: Pair a pair of noise-cancelling headphones to eliminate distractions.
Overheating and constant fan noise
Similar to a laptop, many projectors include a built-in fan to keep everything running efficiently. All projectors generate heat, but cheaper units may sacrifice a robust cooling system in favor of something less powerful (and cheaper). This often results in an abundance of fan noise, as the onboard cooling technology does its best to keep the internal components from frying. And if your cheap projector doesn’t have adequate ventilation, it will only make things worse.
The harder you push your projector, especially in terms of image size and brightness, the more likely you are to experience fan noise. Poor thermal management can also lead to a reduction in the lifespan of your projector, as heat is the biggest enemy of our electronic devices. Too much heat could even lead to early component failures, and replacing dead LEDs isn’t something most people will want to do when you’re spending $100 or less on hardware.
High-end projectors aren’t really better when it comes to fan noise, but a larger chassis, additional ventilation, and a larger heatsink will go a long way in improving the noise level and heat generated.
