PJ40 Pro Smart Projector with Google TV

I’ve been massively impressed with my PJ40 over the past couple of years, the only criticism is the amount of dust that has now made it onto the LCD, to the point it essentially needs replaced. I would like to see them address this and fan noise in future iterations but would absolutely buy the Pro and recommend Nexigo.

A £250 Nexigo PJ40 is more than usable, the fan is a pain in the ass though

I’ve been massively impressed with my PJ40 over the past couple of years, the only criticism is the amount of dust that has now made it onto the LCD, to the point it essentially needs replaced. I would like to see them address this and fan noise in future iterations but would absolutely buy the Pro and recommend Nexigo.

What's your actual budget? This sub is full of gatekeepers spending thousands, if that's not you look at rankings of projectors by budget on youtube and rtings (sub for a month, its worth it) and do the math on throw distance. I am very happy with a Nexigo PJ40 Pro ($250) and a 100" fixed frame screen from amazon ($150). It's not perfect but if I wanted perfect for my budget I would have bought a TV. I wanted a projector and that's what I have in my 10' apartment room throwing about an 85" image on that huge screen. I'm incredibly happy even though folks here will tell you I wasted my money.

Ouch, some pretty severe downvotes out the gate. I didn't downvote you, but I get why it happened. Your expectations for how much half-decent projection costs and how it preforms are pretty far off from the real situation. That's alright, but it would help to come back to reality. First, "smart" projectors in this price range are almost all crap. The **Nexigo PJ40** is the best amongst these, but that still doesn't mean it is good: https://www.amazon.com/NexiGo-PJ40-Pro-Projector-Enhancement/dp/B0FFP3RG53/ Feel free to buy it from Amazon, try it out, and return it when you realize it's not for you. I'm not saying this to make fun of you. It's a dead serious suggestion. There's a ton of people who are exactly like you: You want a compact, cheap, all-in-one solution. They see a ton of them on Amazon. Certainly, one of them must be decent, right? All the nerds on Reddit making blanket statements that they are all terrible are just being elitist, right? It helps to see for yourself and actually understand. As I said, just because the Nexigo PJ40 is the best of these doesn't mean it's actually good enough. You might end up deciding differently, and if that's the case, then great. I'm happy for you. As far as what my actual recommendation is, it would be to just continue borrowing that projector from the library for the rare occasions when you actually use it. Realistically, in a living room environment with a lot of light, you're going to use a projector way less than you think. But if you did want to buy a projector for a few hundred dollars, then my other actual recommendation would be to buy a used one. Ideally, something like an **old Epson 5020UB or 5030UB** for $300-500. And then count on spending another $100 on a new bulb for it. And these are not "smart" projectors (which is a good thing in my book), so count on spending another ~$30 on basic streaming box like the [Oon 4K Plus](https://www.walmart.com/ip/ONN-4K-PLUS/15557424949). So all in, it will cost about double of what you wanted to spend. But that really is the entry level for getting a good 1080p SDR home theater experience with projection.

I tried the PJ40 Pro for a week and honestly, it was decent for $251 all in (had a discount at the time) and the fan is quiet as long as you keep the brightness on a lower setting (still plenty bright in a dark room). I’d recommend it to anyone wanting to get into the game to try something new/cheap with a warranty. I believe that video near the end has some calibration for the PJ40 that makes a huge difference as well. I valued portability, so I went with a Mars 3 Air which I find satisfactory for our use case at the moment. Once the kiddos outgrow the basement (recently finished and set up with their gymnastics equipment) then it’s go time to get a permanent/legit setup.

You have the major points covered. This video is a must watch, but the 'clear winner' was the Nexigo PJ40 which basically has been the best 'cheap' projector for several years now. That's not good. That means that the cheap projector market isn't changing for the better. [https://youtu.be/SKW2IIaLp\_4?si=RMtuDBNeo\_2-MKkM](https://youtu.be/SKW2IIaLp_4?si=RMtuDBNeo_2-MKkM) I'd look used. I would scour the used market and find something that actually was a brand name model of decent quality within my budget. I bought a HT2050a for under $200, with a lamp that is aging and some dust inside. Need to clean it up still, and the aging lamp is still working fine. With a replacement lamp, it would be just over $200 total. It may take a bit to find a home theater designed BenQ, Optoma, or Epson projector within budget, but the quality jump makes it the best way to go IMO.

Magcubic is a cheap no-name Chinese company that sells extremely low end product. They are bought a lot, but also have a ton of issues. They are very dim, and not appropriate for any serious home theater. You REALLY want to check the videos over at [www.youtube.com/thehookup](http://www.youtube.com/thehookup) as he just put out a sub-$500 projector shootout. The Nexigo PJ40 was ranked best, with some other options in there. He also has done a similar shootout for sub-$100 projectors. Here's the deal: At this price point you are getting mostly no-name models which use single LCD panel technology that is prone to failure. Understand you aren't buying long term quality, and that's half the battle. Then you don't get brightness, or sharpness, or quiet operation. Whatever issues you have will rarely get any support from the manufacturer. The single LCD often doesn't get proper cooling and it (literally) burns up, or the from polarizer burns up. This appears as a brown spot in the image. I personally bought the Happrun H1 for about $70 on Amazon. It was inexpensive, and it is okay, at best. I hooked up a Amazon Fire TV Stick to it, and it showed an image. Yay. It filled my 110" diagonal screen with what was a usable, but dim image. The noise was significantly more than my branded higher end projector (JVC) and my used BenQ models (HT2050a, W1070) but the Happrun only put out about 1/10th the light output. Audio should generally be considered an afterthought on most projectors. Not all of them, but in general, audio isn't that good. A decent Bluetooth speaker is often a significant step up in audio quality.

NexiGo PJ40. It's $250 (usd). Have one myself and it's great for the price. Haven't gamed on it but it does claim 16 ms low latency gaming mode.

I agree 100% about this sub and I also have a PJ40. I pledged on Kickstarter almost a year ago for the Valerion Max and my (lamp based) BENQ HT3550 developed multiple issues so I got the PJ40 just to get me through and I have to say for the price the image quality is impressive, it is brighter than my BenQ was (even with a new lamp) it starts up within a few seconds vs about a minute and the color is good, not great but if you had nothing to compare it to you wouldn’t really have anything to complain about. The main issue with this and other lower priced PJs is how long it will last. Once the LCD gets burned out it’s pretty much e waste at that point and Reddit is littered with people saying how theirs didn’t last very long. That said if you aren’t planning on using it everyday for years and years it’s awesome gaming or watching movies on a huge screen. If you’re not ready to repair it in the next year or possibly two I’d go with a TV.