Top 5 Best 4K Projectors Under $2000 (2023)

Whether you want to upgrade from your current projector to 4K or buy it as your first ever projector, you’ve come to the right place. I think you’ll agree that these projectors do deliver memorable experiences.

Now, $2000 is a lot of money and the costs can quickly add up if I decided to buy and test lots of them. As I didn’t want to be wasteful, I asked all the 4K projector owners I know which models they prefer and why.

On top of that, I read through hundreds of online reviews to come up with the best 4K projectors under $2000. We’ll go over each one in this article and take a look at the factors you should consider before getting yourself one.

The Best 4K Projectors Under $2000

After hours of research and consultation with experienced projector owners, these are the top five best projectors you can buy on a budget of $2000:

Epson 3800 – Best Overall

If you’re looking for an all-rounded projector that won’t disappoint you, the Epson 3800 is your best bet. This projector has won many awards since it was first released to market in 2019.

It offers vertical and horizontal keystone correction, 1.62x manual zoom, manual focus and vertical and horizontal lens shift, all of which are essential for a hassle-free setup. Lens shift, in particular, is rare to find in projectors nowadays but this one has it.

If you wish to move it from one room to the other or the outdoors, you won’t have a problem as it’s light and reasonably sized. Speaking of outdoors, this projector has sufficient brightness to withstand lots of ambient light (3000 ANSI lumens). You can use it in daytime and nighttime without worrying about washout. This is true for indoor use as well.

The Epson 3800 is also excellent for gaming, It has an input lag of 20.6ms for 4K displays at 60Hz and 28ms for HD displays at the same refresh rate.

I like the fact that it comes with dual 10W speakers that produce deep room-filling sound, at least according to online reviews.

When it comes to connectivity, you’ll get HDMI, USB and audio out ports for wired connections as well as Bluetooth and WI-FI.

Something else I admire about this projector is that it features a 3-chip LCD display. That means that you won’t have to worry about rainbow artifacts because all the primary colors are projected at the same time.

Pros

• Easy to set up
• Range of connectivity options
• No rainbow artifacts
• Supports 3D content
• Low input lag, which makes it great for gaming

Cons

• The fans are a bit noisy

Optoma UHD55 – Best for Gaming

There’s no better choice for gaming than the Optoma UHD55 on a budget of $2000. It offers excellent image quality and is very responsive. It utilizes a wide color range (95% CI-P3), supports HDR10 and HLG and has an impressive dynamic contrast ratio of 1,200,000:1.

The input lag is only 16.9ms for 4K displays at a refresh rate of 60Hz and 4ms for 1080p displays at a refresh rate of 24Hz.

You’ll have the flexibility to use it in dark and well-lit rooms as it has high brightness with a measured value of 3600 ANSI lumens. Plus, it offers a multitude of connectivity options including wireless, HDMI, VGA, Network RJ-45 and audio out.

Better still, its installation will be a piece of cake, thanks to its low weight, small size, horizontal and vertical keystone correction, 1.3x zoom, manual focus, warping and vertical lens shift.

Best of all, it’s voice activated, so you can issue commands through Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.

Pros

• Supports 3D content
• True 4K resolution
• High brightness, sufficient for all kinds of environments
• Long lamp life (up to 15,000 hours)
• Low input lag

Cons

• The remote is crappy
• Gets hot occasionally

Anker Nebula Cosmos Max – Best Portable

Anker Nebula Cosmos Max is one of the most gorgeous projectors you’ll ever come across. Not only does it have an odd shape (oval) but also has a star display on the top surface.

It’s superlight and small enough for anyone to travel with anywhere without it feeling like luggage. You can mount it on a tripod, table or ceiling but it only offers vertical and horizontal keystone correction for image alignment.

It has a brightness value of 1500 ANSI lumens, which is sufficient for moderately lit environments. It also supports HLG and HDR.

The audio quality is incredible mainly because the projector has four built-in 10W speakers with Dolby Digital Plus and sound dimension.

Connectivity-wise, it offers HDMI, USB, VGA, audio out and wireless options.

Let’s not forget that this projector is voice-activated and can be controlled with Google Assistant.

Pros

• Great sound from built-in speakers
• Android TV 9.0
• Good-looking
• Supports Dolby sound
• Long lamp life (20,000 hours)

Cons

• No built-in battery

BenQ TK800M – Best for Watching Sports

If you’re a sports fan and love watching on a big screen, this is the projector you should buy. It has dedicated modes for sports to ensure the very best audio-visual experience. This projector has 96% Rec. 709 coverage for color accuracy.

Setup-wise, you’ll get 1.1x zoom, manual focus and vertical keystone correction for aligning the images to your liking. From only 10.9 feet from the screen, you’ll get an image size of 100 inches.

It boasts a brightness value of 3000 ANSI lumens, which is good enough for both well-lit and dark places.

The BenQ TK800M doesn’t support wireless connectivity but you’ll get all the necessary ports for wired connections: HDMI, USB, VGA and audio mini jack.

It has one 5W internal speaker but the sound quality is decent at best.

Pros

• Supports 3D content
• Dedicated modes for sports
• 3-year warranty
• High brightness
• True 4K

Cons

• Sound is not great

DangBei Mars Pro – Also Great

The DangBei Mars Pro projector is a laser projector unlike all others on my list. This means that it can last longer and requires little to no maintenance.

You can mount it on a tripod, ceiling or table. It only offers keystone correction for image alignment.

It has a lumen rating of 3,200 lumens, which is great for daylight and nighttime viewing. You won’t have to worry about decrease in image quality as a consequence of ambient light.

The input lag is also impressive measuring only 20ms. This response rate is great for casual gaming but for competitive gaming, you’ll need a slightly faster projector.

You only get wired connectivity with this projector, which is a bummer for its price.

However, the sound quality is amazing, thanks to dual 10W speakers are built-in. You’ll also like the fact that they support Dolby sound.

Pros

• Relatively Quiet
• Supports HDR and HLG
• Great sound from the dual internal speakers
• Laser light source that lasts the life of the projector
• Supports 3D sources

Cons

• Setup guide is a bit challenging to understand

What to consider before buying the best 4K projector under $2000

These are the factors you should consider when deciding which projector to buy on a budget of $2000.

4K-supported, True 4K or 4K with pixel shifting

You’ll find these projectors in the marketplace but they’re not all the same. 4K supported, in most cases, means 1080p or lower but you can still project 4K content. True 4K and 4K with pixel shifting are actual 4K projectors but the method of display is different. True 4K displays 3840 by 2160 pixels while 4K with pixel shifting displays 1920 by 1080 pixels superimposed on another 1920 by 1080 pixels.

Unless you’re experienced, you won’t see a difference in display between True 4K and 4K with pixel shifting. So, it shouldn’t be a deal breaker.

Brightness

Most of the projectors we’ve reviewed have sufficient brightness for use in daylight and nighttime. You’ll notice that none has a value of lower than 1500 ANSI lumens, which is ideal. Anything below that will an effect on picture quality based on the lighting conditions.

Connectivity

In my experience, this should a top priority for anyone buying any kind of projector. You want to find a projector that supports wired and wireless connectivity, first and foremost. And if such can’t be found, look for wired alternatives with enough ports for all the devices you plan to hook up.

Sound

Nowadays, nearly all projectors have a built-in speaker. But that doesn’t mean that they all produce excellent sound. Some are great while others are decent or worse. Luckily, you don’t have to worry too much about that. All the choices in this article are good producers of sound.