Recommended Ultra-Short Throw Projectors

For primarily dark room viewing, I’m going to declare a tie between the NexiGo Aurora Pro MKII and the Hisense PT1. Both are absolutely exceptional, with the NexiGo coming out slightly on top in terms of black floor and the PT1 slightly in the lead in terms of color accuracy after calibration and color space coverage. The PT1 has better input lag, but only if you’re planning on using 240 Hz, and the NexiGo has the advantage of being able to crank out about 400 extra lumens after calibration. If you’re trying to decide between the two, I’d say the main differences are that the NexiGo has a higher tendency to show dynamic artifacts as a result of its mechanical iris. So, if those types of things will bother you, then the PT1 is probably a better pick. But the PT1’s pure RGB laser light source is more prone to laser speckle and color deficient metamerism, so if you’re planning on using a Fresnel ALR screen or you have any form of color blindness, the NexiGo should be the clear choice.

For primarily dark room viewing, I’m going to declare a tie between the NexiGo Aurora Pro MKII and the Hisense PT1. Both are absolutely exceptional, with the NexiGo coming out slightly on top in terms of black floor and the PT1 slightly in the lead in terms of color accuracy after calibration and color space coverage. The PT1 has better input lag, but only if you’re planning on using 240 Hz, and the NexiGo has the advantage of being able to crank out about 400 extra lumens after calibration. If you’re trying to decide between the two, I’d say the main differences are that the NexiGo has a higher tendency to show dynamic artifacts as a result of its mechanical iris. So, if those types of things will bother you, then the PT1 is probably a better pick. But the PT1’s pure RGB laser light source is more prone to laser speckle and color deficient metamerism, so if you’re planning on using a Fresnel ALR screen or you have any form of color blindness, the NexiGo should be the clear choice.

For a mixed-use projector, for watching football during the day with the lights on and movies at night in a dark room, the Hisense PX3-Pro is extremely well rounded with 3000 usable lumens, high native contrast, and effective laser dimming. It won’t have the same black floor as the Aurora Pro MKII or the Hisense PT1, but it’s generally just good at everything. However, like the PT1, its RGB light source is prone to laser speckle, so you should choose a lenticular ALR screen over a Fresnel. If you or anyone else in your family has color blindness there will unfortunately be white balance issues.

For a bright room projector for watching sports the two top performers were the $5000 Epson QL100B and the $6000 Hisense L9Q. In their current state, at their current price you shouldn’t buy either of them. The QL100B measured 6200 lumens on dynamic mode which is about 1000 more than the Epson LS650 which is currently selling for $1500 and includes built-in Android TV and integrated speakers, and both projectors have virtually the same picture quality with ½ 4K resolution. There is nothing about the QL100B that justifies a 330% increase in price over the LS650.

In a completely new category that I never expected this year, the JMGO O2S Ultra is the first viable portable ultra short throw that I’ve ever seen. It’s small, has a super short throw ratio, and mind-blowingly cool automatic setup features that make it possible to project onto a non-tensioned screen or white wall. The O2S Ultra was also the 3rd brightest projector after calibration with respectable native contrast and low input lag, and I’m guessing the frame packed 3D compatibility is just a bug that can be fixed easily in a firmware update.

Last, the Wemax Nova Pro, which for $1799 actually performed pretty well, finishing 4th for dark room viewing with a single laser light source that’s not likely to produce laser speckle or metamerism, and a nice small compact form factor. But there’s one big problem, and that’s that the Wemax Nova Pro and Formovie Cinema Edge that I selected last year as my overall budget option, are the same projector, except the Formovie Edge got a firmware update last December that fixed its 3D compatibility and the Formovie Edge and Wemax Nova Pro are currently the same price. I’ll update the pinned comment if Wemax is able to push that same firmware fix to the Nova Pro, in which case you should just get whichever projector is less expensive, but for now the software on the Formovie Edge makes it the clear pick over the Wemax Nova Pro.