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.
We costed 42 projectors on price per ANSI lumen, the honest way to compare brightness across price brackets. It reorders the list almost completely against sticker price: only 2 of 42 hold the same position in both. The cheapest is the PX703HD at $0.14 a lumen and the dearest the VPL-XW5000ES at $3.00. Lamp models look far cheaper on this measure, a median $0.27 a lumen against $1.07 for laser, but that is the purchase price only. A lamp is a consumable: replacements run roughly $50 to $150 and this page does not track lamp life, so the point where a laser catches up is real and is not calculated here.
Method: street price divided by rated ANSI lumens, then the median of each light source (Lamp 10, LED 11, Laser 21). Purchase price only: lamp replacement is not included, and this is why a lamp model looks cheapest here. Brightness ratings are the manufacturer's. Cite this: "usefulHQ Projector Value Study 2026", usefulhq.com/projector-prices/.
Prices and ANSI figures reviewed 28 August 2026 . Brightness is ANSI lumens only; ignore inflated marketing numbers on the box.
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| 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 | $1.13 | 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.