Cheap projectors love to quote "LED lumens" three to five times brighter than reality. This ranks every popular model by cost per ANSI lumen, the honest, standardised brightness number, so you can see true value and spot the dim-but-pricey units in a glance. Filter by resolution and light source to compare like with like.
Prices and ANSI figures reviewed 31 July 2026 . Brightness is ANSI lumens only; ignore inflated marketing numbers on the box.
| Projector | Res | Light | Brightness | Type | Price | $/lumen | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ViewSonic PX703HDBest value | 1080p | Lamp | 3,500 ANSI | Home Theater | $500 | $0.14 | Check price |
| Optoma HD146X | 1080p | Lamp | 3,600 ANSI | Home Theater | $550 | $0.15 | Check price |
| BenQ TH585P | 1080p | Lamp | 3,500 ANSI | Home Theater | $600 | $0.17 | Check price |
| Optoma GT1080HDR | 1080p | Lamp | 3,800 ANSI | Home Theater | $700 | $0.18 | Check price |
| ViewSonic PX748-4K | 4K | Lamp | 4,000 ANSI | Home Theater | $1,000 | $0.25 | Check price |
| Epson Home Cinema 2350 | 1080p | Lamp | 2,800 ANSI | Home Theater | $800 | $0.29 | Check price |
| BenQ HT2060 | 1080p | LED | 2,300 ANSI | Home Theater | $900 | $0.39 | Check price |
| BenQ TK700 | 4K | Lamp | 3,000 ANSI | Home Theater | $1,300 | $0.43 | Check price |
| Optoma UHD55 | 4K | Lamp | 3,600 ANSI | Home Theater | $1,600 | $0.44 | Check price |
| Epson Home Cinema 3800 | 4K | Lamp | 3,000 ANSI | Home Theater | $1,400 | $0.47 | Check price |
| BenQ TK860i | 4K | Lamp | 3,300 ANSI | Home Theater | $1,700 | $0.52 | Check price |
| Anker Nebula Mars 3 | 1080p | LED | 1,000 ANSI | Portable | $550 | $0.55 | Check price |
| Anker Nebula Cosmos 4K SE | 4K | LED | 1,800 ANSI | Smart | $1,000 | $0.56 | Check price |
| Dangbei Atom | 1080p | Laser | 1,200 ANSI | Portable | $700 | $0.58 | Check price |
| Dangbei DBOX02 X5 | 4K | Laser | 3,200 ANSI | Smart | $2,200 | $0.69 | Check price |
| Hisense C2 Pro | 4K | Laser | 2,600 ANSI | Smart | $1,800 | $0.69 | Check price |
| Hisense C2 Ultra | 4K | Laser | 3,000 ANSI | Smart | $2,200 | $0.73 | Check price |
| XGIMI Horizon Ultra | 4K | Laser | 2,300 ANSI | Smart | $1,700 | $0.74 | Check price |
| BenQ HT4550i | 4K | LED | 3,200 ANSI | Home Theater | $2,500 | $0.78 | Check price |
| XGIMI Halo+ | 1080p | LED | 700 ANSI | Portable | $600 | $0.86 | Check price |
| soundcore Nebula X1 Pro | 4K | Laser | 3,500 ANSI | Smart | $3,000 | $0.86 | Check price |
| Epson LS800 | 4K | Laser | 4,000 ANSI | UST | $3,500 | $0.88 | Check price |
| Samsung The Premiere 7 | 4K | Laser | 2,200 ANSI | Smart | $2,000 | $0.91 | Check price |
| Optoma UHZ50 | 4K | Laser | 3,000 ANSI | Home Theater | $2,800 | $0.93 | Check price |
| XGIMI Horizon 20 Max | 4K | Laser | 3,000 ANSI | Smart | $2,999 | $1 | Check price |
| Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air | 1080p | LED | 400 ANSI | Portable | $400 | $1 | Check price |
| XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro | 1080p | LED | 450 ANSI | Portable | $450 | $1 | Check price |
| XGIMI Horizon Pro | 4K | LED | 1,500 ANSI | Smart | $1,500 | $1 | Check price |
| Formovie Theater | 4K | Laser | 2,800 ANSI | UST | $3,000 | $1.07 | Check price |
| Formovie Cinema Edge | 4K | Laser | 1,600 ANSI | UST | $1,800 | $1.12 | Check price |
| Hisense PX3-Pro | 4K | Laser | 3,000 ANSI | UST | $3,500 | $1.17 | Check price |
| XGIMI Titan | 4K | Laser | 3,200 ANSI | Smart | $3,999 | $1.25 | Check price |
| Epson Home Cinema LS11000 | 4K | Laser | 2,500 ANSI | Home Theater | $3,500 | $1.4 | Check price |
| Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 | 4K | Laser | 2,700 ANSI | Home Theater | $5,000 | $1.85 | Check price |
| BenQ W5800 | 4K | Laser | 2,600 ANSI | Home Theater | $5,000 | $1.92 | Check price |
| Samsung The Premiere 9 | 4K | Laser | 2,800 ANSI | UST | $5,500 | $1.96 | Check price |
| Anker Nebula Capsule Air | 720p | LED | 150 ANSI | Portable | $300 | $2 | Check price |
| Anker Nebula Capsule 3 Laser | 1080p | Laser | 300 ANSI | Portable | $600 | $2 | Check price |
| BenQ GV31 | 1080p | LED | 300 ANSI | Portable | $600 | $2 | Check price |
| Samsung The Freestyle Gen 2 | 1080p | LED | 230 ANSI | Portable | $500 | $2.17 | Check price |
| JVC DLA-NZ500 | 4K | Laser | 2,000 ANSI | Home Theater | $6,000 | $3 | Check price |
| Sony VPL-XW5000ES | 4K | Laser | 2,000 ANSI | Home Theater | $6,000 | $3 | Check price |
The standardised, honest brightness measure. Cheap projectors quote "LED lumens" three to five times higher than the real ANSI figure. We use ANSI only, so cost per ANSI lumen is the true brightness value.
Dark room: 1500-2000 ANSI. Living room with some light: 2500-3500. Outdoors or bright rooms: 3000-plus. Always check the ANSI number, not the box marketing.
Laser and LED last 20,000-30,000 hours with no fade and instant on; lamps are cheaper up front but need replacing every few thousand hours. Lamp often wins cost per lumen, laser wins running cost.
Not for brightness value, budget and mid-range models give more lumens per dollar. Premium native-4K units cost more per lumen but buy contrast and black levels. Sort by cost per lumen to separate the two.