It has been an exceptional year for projectors.
We have been inundated with new models over the last 12 months, with new brands and old hands alike producing projectors in increasingly varied shapes and styles.
Even those models that look like typical home cinema projectors are now frequently bringing with them hitherto unobtainable specs, particularly in terms of brightness, HDR support and gaming features – and they’re bringing them down to more affordable levels.
We considered over 30 new projectors for this year’s What Hi-Fi? Awards, and the standard was higher than ever before, which made it incredibly hard to pick our six winners.
It’s testament to the rate of progress that of these six, five are first-time winners.
Before we get to the winners, you might be wondering what happened to our Award for 'best portable projector'.
While we have tested some interesting portable projectors this year, we simply haven’t found one that we deem Awards-worthy.
We have, though, found a ‘coffee table’ projector that we deem to be very worthy indeed.
Convenience and quality combined
That coffee table projector is the Hisense M2 Pro, a compact block of sci-fi style that produces huge, bright and vibrant images.
Its lack of a battery means it’s not what we would call properly portable, but it is small and light enough to be easily moved between rooms and hidden away in a cupboard when it’s not needed, which is great for flexibility.
The comprehensive smart platform (a rarity among even so-called ‘smart’ projectors) and decent sound make it a really convenient home cinema in a box.
On its way to victory, the M2 Pro defeated several new rivals and three incumbent winners – the BenQ W1800 and X3100i, and the Epson EH-TW7100. Very impressive indeed.
Hisense vs Hisense in the battle of the USTs
There was less competition in the UST category this year, with Xgimi the only brand to mount a noteworthy challenge against Hisense – a challenge that was fairly easily shrugged off.
Ultimately, it came down to which Hisense model offered the best performance per pound.
After much comparative testing and deliberation, we decided that model is the entry-level PL2, which is simply brilliant value for money.
If it’s an ultra-short-throw model you’re after, the Hisense PL2 is absolutely the one to buy.
A winning hybrid
Before we abandon flexibility entirely in favour of hefty, super-serious home cinema models, take a look at our next winner, the BenQ W2720i.
While it doesn’t have the super-stylish design that we’re now coming to expect from coffee table projectors, it will work as such while also being perfectly suited to permanent placement if preferred.
This hybrid approach thankfully doesn’t compromise picture quality, unlike many of its rivals.
Instead, it makes for an awesome all-rounder that is unbeatable at its price – something that became clear when we compared it against rivals including the Hisense C2 Ultra (review coming soon) and BenQ’s own X3100i.
Serious cinematic quality hits a new price point
Now we get to those super-serious home cinema models.
Epson’s latest 4K laser projector range has gone three-for-three, with the EH-QB1000, EH-LS12000 and EH-LS9000 all having received five-star ratings in our reviews.
In the end, it’s the most affordable model, the EH-LS9000, that gets an Award. It offers the core picture quality of its more premium siblings at a much more accessible price, and that makes it a cut above everything else in its class.
The EH-QB1000 was also close to getting an Award, but in the end, it couldn’t quite trump the incumbent Sony VPL-XW5000ES.
That’s now four years on the bounce that the XW5000ES has been a What Hi-Fi? Awards winner.
It had to fend off the BenQ W5850 (review coming soon), and we compared it to its newer, more premium sibling, the Sony Bravia Projector 7 (another review that's coming soon). Ultimately, the veteran XW5000ES is still the best performance-per-pound option.
Another Sony takes the super-premium projector crown
Finally, at the very top of the Award-winning projector tree, we find another Sony model – the Bravia Projector 8.
It was the tightest of tight calls between this Sony model and JVC’s similarly-priced DLA-NZ800 but, after much deliberation, our team of expert reviewers gave the nod to the Bravia Projector 8 on account of its mesmerising contrast and detail.
So, those are our six Award-winning projectors. The question now is which one will also be crowned the Product of the Year at our glitzy Awards ceremony on 13th November. Stay tuned to find out.
MORE:
See every What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025 winner here
And here is the complete list of the best projectors you can buy right now
