TH575

Just got the Benq 575. It is light years ahead of any of the Chinese projectors under 500 dollars

benq th575i, the best projector under $500

My tips: 1) If you can, buy well known name brands from BestBuy or other reputable place, that will honor their returns and warranties. 2) If you find something used on FB marketplace, make it a local thing, so that you chat with the seller, and if your gut tells you this is a bad deal, then walk away. 3) DON'T send anyone a nickel in advance for anything. Lots of scammers out there willing to sell you world for cheap, making you feel like you got a deal, then ghost you. --- Imagine 7 years ago when I posted online that I was looking for a puppy, and boy, the scum that came out of the woodwork looking for advanced payments was unreal. Back to projectors. I got a new BenQ TH575 from BestBuy 3 years ago, and it's been beautiful. Then 2 years ago I got lucky and bought a used Epson Home Cinema 1060. It's been a beast. I use both projectors at two different spaces. For the Epson, I like that I can find the bulbs through AliExpress for $12. Mind you, not the highest of quality, but they do the trick. Other people will hate that, but I need to save money when I can. I think for $1,000, you can find something good from BestBuy. Not their marketplace. But from the store itself. 1080p. Not sure if you'll find 4K. Good luck.

It's good. Many of us have been down your road, till we understand that there's always better projectors that can fit a budget. I had a 720, moved up to be BenQ 1080p, and an Epson 1080p. I'm thrilled with these two and one day, when I get some cash, I'll try a 4K. But you're doing good. And they won't be as loud.

Take a bit of time and look at the JMGO website. The N1 is only $500 and is a fair bit brighter than the listed XGimi. XGimi often also struggles with contrast on their portable models of this nature. JMGO also has their lower end 4K models which are decently reviewed and another step up in brightness. The BenQ TH575 is a more traditional projector. This means setup isn't super easy. You have to position it fairly exactly and it requires manual keystone correction. It is brighter, but may not be ideal for casual bedroom use like you are after. Especially since the lens MUST be on center as it has no horizontal keystone correction. 4-corner correction is pretty normal on the newest portable/lifestyle models which are on the market and helps make setup easier. You may want to search for 'bedroom' within this group as this question is asked several times a week.

Your big issue with be that most projectors just aren't bright enough to give you much performance prior to complete darkness. That's just a reality of front projection. I have a demo of this using a 5,000 lumen projector on my channel (not much else on it)... [https://www.youtube.com/@paulvail7926](https://www.youtube.com/@paulvail7926) You can also see how poor the black levels are in the 30' wide image demo. Similar projector. A Panasonic 3 LCD model with 5,000 rated ANSI lumens. So, I'd go with DLP. Maybe the XGimi Horizon 20. If you want to save some money, then the 1080p Optoma HD146x is an excellent purchase. It gives you plenty of leftover budget for a streaming device (which you will need), a outdoor screen of some kind (if you need it), and audio (which you absolutely will need). I would hit up Facebook Marketplace and look for used screens. People move and sell their screens all the time. You can get $300+ screens for $100 or less all the time. Great way to save some cash. For streaming, the Amazon Fire TV Stick is a decent solution. I like it for the built in Bluetooth audio. It allows connecting a speaker to be easier. Bluetooth isn't the best audio, but it is convenient. Finally, for audio, you can use any Bluetooth speaker and connect it to the Firestick using Bluetooth. Make sure it is a speaker with enough ooomph to sound good outside. I use one of those 15" tall black box Bluetooth speakers with a battery inside of it that you often see at Costco/Sam's Club for around $100-$150. It works well for my needs. Not high fidelity, but clear and loud enough for the needs I've had for it. If you can provide a plug and don't want/need a battery inside, then there are likely more cost effective options. This whole setup, will run you under $1,000 with the Optoma projector. The Horizon 20 from XGimi is about $1,500 by itself. If you want something in that 'lifestyle 4k' category for a projector, then the Nexigo Trivision Ultra is well reviewed and is about $1,100 as a refurb, $1,300 new. [https://www.amazon.com/NexiGo-TriVision-Tri-LED-Laser-Portable-Projector/dp/B0F6MKD9PN/ref=sr\_1\_3](https://www.amazon.com/NexiGo-TriVision-Tri-LED-Laser-Portable-Projector/dp/B0F6MKD9PN/ref=sr_1_3) I like the Horizon 20 more overall, but the Nexigo is a solid product and saves some cash which can give you some breathing room for other things you may need for your setup.

You need to figure out your screen size. But, after dark, even cheap $100 projectors tend to look good. Those models are horrendously unreliable though so not worth anyone's time of day. But, I'd say anything that advertises 2,000+ lumens would be more than enough for a screen up to about 135" diagonal. At really large sizes, you do want more lumens, and those will cost you $$. The black levels (real contrast) on DLP projectors is significantly better than that of LCD projectors at similar price points. Business class LCD projectors, like the one I used in my demo above, really can't deliver great contrast no matter what their marketing claims. I will see if I can add a video of my DLP business projector to my channel so people get a better idea of what they might expect between DLP and LCD on the used market. New is pretty similar. At your budget though, adding in movie viewing at times, I'd get the Nexigo Trivision Ultra and I'd expect to be very happy with things. Definitely watch some videos over at [www.youtube.com/thehookup](http://www.youtube.com/thehookup) though. His stuff is very informative.

The BenQ TH575 is in the same category as the Optoma HD146x. Very similar overall. Small, not big differences between them. I do prefer BenQ over Optoma, but I believe the Optoma is a bit less money. Getting 16' diagonal out of these models will work only after complete darkness. I'm not sure I have any example that would be exactly like them, but my W1070 may be close enough. The math needs to math though. A 192" diagonal is only 60% more than a 120" diagonal, but it is over twice the square footage. That means a projector which is typically fine, in a dark room, at 120" diagonal, will struggle at that size. This ignores any ambient lighting which may be in play. That's why I linked a model which should perform well at that size and look perfectly fine. Note that there is nothing about the Vivitek I linked which is really significantly worse than the BenQ or Optoma. It should be able to deliver the same image, but with more light output, and is a very reasonable price.

At a budget, the TH575 is a solid product. It is very similar to the Optoma HD146x. Keep in mind, it is a 1080p projector and it uses a lamp light source rather than a LED or laser light source. The DBOX02 Pro is a good recommendation. I think the Nexigo Trivision Ultra (refurb) is a good value as well. Getting as much brightness as the BenQ can give you is tough on a budget though without it needing a traditional lamp. It is about $700 and rated at 3,800 ANSI (ISO) lumens. In 'best' mode, that's likely to be well under 2,000 lumens, but it is still plenty bright. JMGO has a number of solid products as well, but you are spending more than that BenQ for sure on them. Their least expensive that makes sense would probably be their N1S 4K ($750), but that's only rated at 1,100 ANSI lumens. So, a lot less than the BenQ. Their N1S Ultra is $1,150 and is rated at 2,800 lumens. That would be a solid overall upgrade on the BenQ. But, it should be at over 50% more money. I will say that if you are keeping the room completely dark, then the JMGO N1 is a solid product as well. It's not really bright, but has a solid state light source, very low lag time, and at $500 is a very good value. It's what I would call the 'college dorm' projector. Small, convenient, lightweight, not a ton of money, high quality.

That TCL should be about $150 since it is a single panel LCD projector like the HY300 is or the Happrun H1 is. Do NOT overspend on single panel LCD projectors - EVER! You can always add a Chromecast, Google TV, Roku Stick, Fire TV Stick, or a ton of other streaming devices to any projector on the planet. At a budget though, the TH575 is a great option as is the Optoma HD146x. Both models use a traditional lamp and a 2x color wheel. BenQ tends to be slightly better looking over competing Optoma models, but both would deliver solid performance for a really good price. Don't get shit quality designer garbage. There are tons of modern projectors out there, but many of the DLP models are 4K and they do carry a more significant price tag. Compared to the TCL A1s, the JMGO N1 is in a different class. The JMGO is MUCH better overall than the TCL in terms of long term quality and reliability. That's DLP vs. single panel LCD. High end DLP is used in IMAX movie theaters. High End LCD is used in your Samsung phone. They just aren't playing at the same level, and your Samsung phone screen can't endure the light required for front projection. At least not for very long.

The 575 is amazing. Super bright.