Best LED Projectors Below $1000

DLP_Projectors_information

There were a lot of talks surrounding LED projectors back in 2012-13, but over the years the excitement around these devices has faded. Although the LED projectors outperform the traditional DLP projectors on several fronts, the lower brightness of LED-powered lamps remains a major drawback. You should not expect an LED projector to work well under high ambient light or outdoors.

The USP of LED projectors is a very high lamp life, almost 3-4 times that of DLP projectors. You almost never have to change the projector lamp even if you are a heavy user. This means that you save at least a few hundred dollars on lamps. Thus if you intend to mainly use your projector indoors and behind closed Venetian blinds, then buying a LED projector makes a lot of sense. Keeping this in mind and a host of other factors, today we bring a compilation of the best-LED projectors under $1000:

Optoma ML1000PLG PB63U ViewSonic PLED-W800ASUS S1 LEDEUG X89 LED
Lamp Life20,000+ hours30,000 hours 30,000 hours 30,000-hourAbove 50,000 hours
Contrast Ratio15,000:115,000:1120,000:1 Contrast1,000:14000:1
Brightness1000 Lumens500 Lumens800 Lumens 200 lumens3000 Lumens
Resolution
WXGA (1280 x 800)1280x8001280x800854x4801024 x 768
3DYes
YesNoNoYes
MHL EnabledYesNoYesYesNo
HDMI PortYesYesYesYesYes
Amazon PriceClick Here
Click Here
Click Here
Click Here
Click Here

1. LG PF1500 (New 2015 Model):

Most consumers are conversant with LG products and probably have an LG device in their homes. LG’s high standing comes to the fore in the PF1500, an LED projector meant to keep your operating costs at a bare minimum. The PF1500 provides great value for money. You get a host of unique features to suit all your needs while the maintenance cost is non-existent due to the LED lamp. The only issue users generally have with non-DLP projectors is the lower brightness, but with 1400 lumens, the PF1500 takes care of that issue. As a new 2015 model, this projector is definitely worth some serious consideration.

2. Optoma ML1000P:

Looks go a long way in making us like a projector and the Optoma ML1000p scores heavily in this regard. You will be surprised to see how such a small 11-inch device can produce such bright images. Optoma as a brand mainly produces DLP projectors and as of July-2015, they are only 3 Optoma made LED projectors in the market with the ML1000p being the most expensive. The more affordable Optoma ML750 is also a great projector albeit a little lower on brightness. Overall you get an adequate bundle of features with the ML1000p, including 3D capabilities, HDMI inputs, 2x 3W speakers, and pretty respectable contrast (15,000:1) and aspect ratio (16:10 Native).

3. LG Electronics PB63U:

I’ve never thought of LG as a pioneering, research-centric company like Apple or Sony but for some reason, they keep producing some of the strangest projectors I’ve ever seen, presumably in an attempt to do something new. Let’s take for example the LG Hecto which comes with its own 100-inch projector screen and will only function on the provided screen. Having said that, the LG guys have entered our good books with this offering. With only 500 lumens of color brightness, you certainly cannot use the PB63U for an outdoor movies night. We like this projector mainly because of the reliability and lamp life (30000 hours) of the LED bulb. It can also project images on a 100-inch screen without the picture becoming grainy. It comes with an in-built TV tuner, so this projector can double as a TV when needed.

4. ViewSonic PLED-W800:

Released less than a year ago, the ViewSonic PLED-W800 has not seen many buyers, but it enjoys a good reputation among those who’ve bought this device. Although pegged at around 800 lumens, the low-ish brightness of the device will not be a problem because of the short-throw of the projector (which means that the projector can be kept only a few inches away from the screen, you can read more about it here). There is reason to believe that laser-powered ultra-short-throw projectors are the future of projection technology, but until they become available to the public, getting this LED projector short throw projector might be a wise decision.

5. ASUS S1 LED:

A small and inexpensive projector best suitable for travel and home usage. We won’t recommend using this projector for office or classroom because of a low brightness of 200 lumens. However, if you are looking for a cheap, sturdy projector to watch your movies on, give the ASUS S1 a try.

6. EUG X89 LED:

EUG is a relatively unknown brand with quite a few mid-to-low range projectors on sale. These projectors represent a good value for money in terms of features and enjoy considerable customer patronage. The EUG X89 is no different with 50000 hours of lamp life and 3000 lumens of brightness (needs to be verified). These features make it one of the best projectors with long lamp life. The built-in WiFi + Android is a unique combination that allows you to broadcast movies and pictures wirelessly from your phone or laptop using the home network. Other noteworthy features include a native 720p resolution, two 5W speakers built-in, and keystone correction among others. All this for a nifty $300 (approx). So before you purchase a more expensive alternative, please give the X89 some serious consideration.

Summing Up:

So there you have it, the best-led projectors available as of July 2015. We will update this list again in July-2016, until then this is a neat and well-researched article on the internet. Comments are welcome.

The thing with LED projectors, we have found, is that they are seldom produced by reputed brands like Epson, BenQ, Acer, etc. . There are however a lot of cheaper (possibly Chinese-made) projectors available on the internet. We are yet to get our hands on some but the reviews tell us that they provide a good value for money.

Andrew Wyatt

Andrew Wyatt

Andrew Wyatt has been a tech geek for as long as he can remember. Whether it's laptops, cameras, or projects, he's obsessed with it all. When he's not researching the latest tech products, he likes to go on long hikes with his dogs.

Share the story

Recent Posts