For fans of cinema and television series at a time a TV. That’s why we thought of this guide to the best budget projectors under 300 euros. We will explain how to choose the product that best suits your needs: with a minimum investment you can obtain an effect comparable to that of a cinema!
The category of cheap projectors is very interesting because you offer devices to enjoy multimedia content in an unconventional way spending even less than a traditional low-end TV. You can therefore enjoy huge and immersive screens like in the cinema, with a much lower investment than that of a TV. Cheap projectors cannot replace a TV for everyday use, but they are highly recommended to keep for example in the living room to use them in the evening to watch a good movie or a TV series like at the cinema. That’s why we thought about this guide to best best cheap projectors under 300 euros.
How to choose: some tips
Projectors are usually very expensive devices, in fact in the high-end you can easily reach prices with three zeros. However, technology is advancing rapidly and the features that we found in very expensive products a few years ago are now available at much more affordable prices. This guide to the best budget projectors under € 300 points precisely to this range of products: by making some compromises you can get spectacular results. First of all though some advice on how to choose a cheap projector – which also represent our evaluation metrics.
Let’s start immediately with one of the most important aspects: the brightness. In fact, the projector produces a beam of light that is reflected from the screen and returns towards us. The stronger the light beam, the better the projection quality will be. A high brightness is essential especially if you want to use the projector even in environments that are not completely dark. As a guideline for quality we can recommend 1000 ANSI lumens for a darkened room and at least 2500 for an illuminated room. Second step projection technology, there are two main types, both with strengths and weaknesses: LCD which guarantees excellent saturation, but very often limited contrast and DLP which guarantees high contrast, but often has chromatic aberrations (especially in the range of economic projectors). The resolution it is very important because if we project a low quality image on a very large screen the result will be very bad. Be careful not to confuse the supported resolution (i.e. the resolution that the projector accepts at input) with the actual projection resolution (i.e. the one that is projected on the screen): we recommend starting at least from a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels.
Also the contrast it is a fundamental parameter for image quality and is correlated with brightness and projection technology: in essence, a low contrast image is washed out and has little impact. An optimal value would be at least 5000: 1, but even values around 2000: 1 can be fine if you are not too demanding. To make the most of your device also check the presence of HDMI and audio sector, as well as possibly Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for smarter management. Finally, other parameters to be taken into account with the noise, size and draft (it is therefore important to think carefully about where and how you want to install your projector before purchasing it) and the lamp life. Attention also to the adjustment of focus and keystone distortion (useful when the projector is not perfectly perpendicular to the screen). If these controls are not efficient, you risk not being able to visualize the image properly.
Vankyo 720p | Best budget projectors under 300 euros
- Brightness: 5000 lumens
- Projection technology: LCD
- Effective resolution: 1280 x 720p
- Contrast: 5000: 1
- Declared lamp life: 60,000 hours
This little projector has very good specs and manages to project up to 250 inches (although better not go that far due to the resolution and brightness, up to 100 inches is great). Connectivity is good with two HDMI, VGA, USB, SD and integrated audio satisfactory even if with an external system you will go much better. There is also the possibility to connect smartphones and tablets with special adapters. The +/- 15 ° keystone correction is also more than sufficient in most cases. The online assistance is also good.
Vamvo L4200 | Best budget projectors under 300 euros
- Brightness: 4000 lumens
- Projection technology: LCD
- Effective resolution: 1280 x 720p
- Contrast: 2000: 1
- Declared lamp life: 50,000 hours
A simple and inexpensive projector that can come to cover 200 inch screens (although better not to go that far due to the resolution and brightness). Connectivity is complete with HDMI, VGA, USB, AV. The audio is not very powerful, but there is the jack out to connect it to external speakers. The keystone correction works vertically, but without claiming miracles. Ultimately it is a satisfying product that can give good results if set up correctly.
Elephas Mini | Best budget projectors under 300 euros
- Brightness: 4000 lumens
- Projection technology: LCD
- Effective resolution: 800 × 480
- Contrast: 2000: 1
- Declared lamp life: 50,000 hours
This little one deserved a spot on the list of the best budget projectors just for the value for money: with less than 100 euros you will have a very good product! Of course you will have to use them in dark rooms and the contrast is not optimal. About 3 meters away it projects an image of about 100 inches. But it’s all in proportion to the price. We find HDMI, USB e jack audio. Construction and cooling are a bit coarse, especially recommended for those who want to spend time in company and not for cinema purists. Distortion correction and not excellent audio.
BOMAKER GC355 | Best budget projectors under 300 euros
- Brightness: 5000 lumens
- Projection technology: LCD
- Effective resolution: 1280 x 720p
- Contrast: 2000: 1
- Declared lamp life: 50,000 hours
A very good projector in terms of value for money, with a nice gem of connectivity. As wired connections we find HDMI, USB, VGA and audio out jack ports, also useful because the integrated audio 2 x 3W not great, but acceptable. They can be projected up to 300 inches (at 6 meters), but it is better to keep to 2 meters to get a screen of about 100 inches. Keystone distortion is also good, although not perfect. But the interesting thing is that this projector allows you to connect a device via Wi-Fi, without the need for wired connections!
YABER Y60 | Best budget projectors under 300 euros
- Brightness: 4200 lumens
- Projection technology: LCD
- Effective resolution: 1280 x 720p
- Contrast: 4000: 1
- Declared lamp life: 55,000 hours
Here, too, we have a rather inexpensive product, but probably a little better taken care of. 2 HDMI port, 2 USB port, VGA port and audio out jack (even the built-in speakers aren’t too bad) the main connections. At about 3m we will have a 100 inch projection. Yaber also offers good assistance and in general its products are above average. The noise and the quality of the optics are also good, but the distortion adjustment is not very advanced. If mounted perpendicular to the screen in any case the quality will not disappoint you!
YABER Y21 | Best budget projectors under 300 euros
- Brightness: 5500 lumens
- Projection technology: LCD
- Effective resolution: 1920 x 1080p
- Contrast: 7000: 1
- Declared lamp life: 78,000 hours
We go up in the range and resolution with always with Yaber. All specs get a nice boost and you can project in native FHD up to 300 inches (a 12o-inch image is projected at 3.5 meters) with a good stereo sound system. The connection ports are HDMI, USB, VGA, AV and 3.5mm jack. The projection quality in this case is much higher than the previous ones in the list. It features manual keystone correction and focus, but don’t expect miracles. In this case, if installed correctly, you will have a great result.
ELEPHAS Q9 | Best budget projectors under 300 euros
- Brightness: 6800 lumens
- Projection technology: LCD
- Effective resolution: 1920 x 1080p
- Contrast: 6000: 1
- Declared lamp life: 50,000 hours
Another great projector is this model from Elephas. can he project in FHD up to 300 inches with excellent contrast and many connection ports including 2x HDMI, USB, VGA, SD and 3.5mm audio out. But the most interesting part that sets it apart from the others is the system audio stereo da 5 W con subwoofer. In short, by purchasing this product you will have a complete and ready-to-use system at your disposal. Also in this case we have a manual focus and distortion correction and not particularly advanced.
YABER Y31 | Best budget projectors under 300 euros
- Brightness: 5500 lumens
- Projection technology: LCD
- Effective resolution: 1920 x 1080p
- Contrast: 8000: 1
- Declared lamp life: 78,000 hours
It is produced with a very high quality compared to the others: good brightness and a high enough contrast for projections up to 300 inches of excellent quality, although we recommend staying below this threshold. We find among the connection ports 2x HDMI, 2x USB, VGA e audio out. The audio performance is also of a good standard, but if you want to make the most of it, you should use an external system. It uses three small fans for cooling that they can spin quite fast with the production of noise: not unbearable, but sometimes it feels. In this case the keystone correction is of a higher quality than the other models, but still not on par with more expensive models.
BOMAKER Parrot I | Best budget projectors under 300 euros
- Brightness: 6500 lumens
- Projection technology: LCD
- Effective resolution: 1920 x 1080p
- Contrast: 9000: 1
- Declared lamp life: 50,000 hours
Undoubtedly one of the best on this list with a very good brightness and the highest contrast among the products listed. We find tons of ports for connectivity including 2x HDMI, 2x USB, VGA, SD e audio out. The audio is of good quality, but unfortunately always an integrated system; to make the most of this product it is better to buy an external soundbar (perhaps a BOMAKER). You pay a little bit of brightness in terms of noise, but nothing excessive. Excellent the keystone correction horizontally and vertically up to 50 °. Truly a product with superior visual quality.
Vankyo Performance V630 | Best budget projectors under 300 euros
- Brightness: 6500 lumens
- Projection technology: LCD
- Effective resolution: 1920 x 1080p
- Contrast: 7000: 1
- Declared lamp life: 78,000 hours