Cheap Projectors: Epson, Optoma on offer with as much as $300 off

Four incredibly affordable projector deals are currently up on Best Buy and B&H Photo: The Optoma LH150, Epson Home Cinema 2100, Optoma UHL55, and Epson Home Cinema 3200. With prices as low as $579 and discounts that net you up to $330 in savings, there’s an option for every budget.

Epson Home Cinema 2100 — $550, was $850

If you want a home theater setup you can fit in your bag, then the Epson Home Cinema 2100 projector has everything you need. 4K TVs may have dedicated hardware for beautiful picture quality, but there’s one thing projectors have that 4K TVs never will: Size. While most 4K TVs don’t break the 100-inch mark, the Epson Home Cinema 2100 projector is capable of displaying all the way from 30- to 300-diagonal-inch images that easily triple — if not quintuple — the size of a layman’s television. 

It renders pictures and videos in Full HD 1080p resolution for clear visuals that don’t blur to an excess. In terms of brightness, the Epson pumps out upward of 2,500 lumens, putting the Epson on the higher end of projector quality with vivid colors and clearer details. The maximum range of 29 feet also makes it ideal for larger groups, especially if you’re trying to maintain a six-foot social distancing range. It’s also equipped with its own speakers, but depending on how far away you are from the projector, an external sound system may be necessary. 

If you’re worried about how long it will last before it burns out, you can rest easy knowing that the Epson Home Cinema 2100 has a maximum lifespan of 7,500 hours of consistent usage. Although we don’t recommend it, you can keep the projector running for just over 310 days non-stop. It only weighs 7.5 pounds, making it easy to carry around, and it even has distortion-correction technology so you don’t get choppy or broken images. Lastly, it comes with a remote control and two HDMI ports for the total package. If you think the Epson Home Cinema 2100 is the one for you, then you can check it out on Best Buy where it’s currently on sale for $550, $300 off its retail price.

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If the Epson Home Cinema 2100 didn’t catch your attention, then the Optoma LH150 is a great alternative for roughly the same price. A weak point it has against the Epson is its limited 150-diagonal-inch maximum picture size range, so it’s ideal for mid- to large-sized audiences during movie nights and conferences, especially with its Full HD 1080p resolution that ensures images and videos aren’t compromised by the greater size. 

The 8-bit color gamut isn’t anything to write home about, but color quality and accuracy shouldn’t be a problem for the most part. Additionally, unlike cheaper-made projectors, the Optoma LH150 is capable of producing bright images with its 1,300-lumen output capacity. It’s nothing compared to an authentic cinema’s maximum 60,000 lumens, but for a home theater, it definitely gets the job done. It even has its own stereo speakers if you don’t have a sound system ready, letting you take the whole audio-visual shebang with you wherever you go, weighing a petite 4.7 pounds. If you won’t be using it on the go, you can opt to mount the Optoma LH150 onto the ceiling with no problems and connect to it using the two provided HDMI ports and three USB inputs. 

And don’t worry about broken images because this projector, like the Epson before it, also has anti-distortion correction technology for consistently smooth images all throughout your viewing experience. For a relatively affordable projector, it isn’t bad at all. Plus, with a maximum 30,000-hour lifespan, you won’t need to upgrade for a long, long while. If you’re interested, you can check it out on B&H Photo where it’s currently on sale for $579 from its retail price of $803.

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If you want a projector with a little more eye-popping oomph than the previous options, and if you can manage the $220 price jump, then the Optoma UHL55 is a great bang for your buck. Despite the fact that it’s capable of delivering pictures in beautiful 4K, this projector is arguably one of the most affordable options on the market for what it offers. In fact, it functions so similarly to a 4K TV that it even has a resolution upscaler for non-4K content. This means you can enjoy all your regular 1080p and even 720p movies and TV shows in their fully optimized forms for the best viewing experience as 200-inch motion pictures. 

It also upgrades the LH150’s color gamut to 10-bit, so you get even more intense colors that bring any scene to life on-screen. Its 1,500 lumens still aren’t as bright as the Epson’s, but for a 4K projector, that is more than acceptable. However, there’s one thing that this projector has that all other offerings don’t — Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. With this, you can connect the projector to the internet and control it from a distance with your mobile device and its built-in virtual assistants for your ease of use. Its speakers are also the most powerful in terms of volume and sound quality on our roundup, making it a first-rate choice if you’re looking for a good 4K projector that offers both superb visual and sound quality. 

As the pièce de résistance, it even has an extremely long lamp lifespan of up to 30,000 hours, making it an investment worth making for the long run. Speaking of long-term usage, you can also mount it to the ceiling so you don’t have to worry about it getting damaged by any accidents. If the Optoma UHL55 ticks all your boxes, then you can check it out on B&H Photo where it’s currently discounted by $200, leaving it at a much more budget-friendly $799.

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Epson Home Cinema 3200 — $1,300, was $1,500

Now, if you want an exceptional home theater projector without burning holes through your wallet, then the Epson Home Cinema 3200 should definitely be at the top of your priority list if you’re only looking for visual impact. Like the earlier Epson projector, this one is also capable of projecting 300-inch images. The only difference — and it’s a big difference — is its native 4K resolution and HDR technology that transforms any regular home theater into a full-blown pseudo-cinema with finely detailed images, distinct contrasts, and vivid colors. 

With distortion resistance, you’re getting motion pictures that nearly resemble 4K TV output. The 2,900-lumen brightness isn’t anything to scoff at either. It’s one of the highest available light levels for a home theater projector, ensuring that dark rooms don’t ruin your movie nights. The biggest drawback when compared with the other projectors on our list is the lack of built-in speakers. This means that if you don’t want to spend movie nights watching silent films, you’re going to need an external soundbar or sound system to accompany the projector. If you’ll be mounting it to the ceiling, then you can use the provided remote control to use it just as you would a regular media player for total long-range convenience. 

Another downside is that it only lasts 3,500 hours, which, when compared to the Optoma projectors, is palpably short. This shouldn’t be any cause for concern though if you’ll only be using the Epson Home Cinema 3200 sparingly. In terms of connectivity, it has two HDMI ports and a single USB input. If you miss the cinema, then you can enjoy the magic of the big screen in the comfort of your own home with the Epson Home Cinema 3200 projector. If you’re interested, you can find it on Best Buy where it’s currently discounted at $1,300.

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Check out our curated deals page for more great deals to upgrade your home theater like soundbar deals and smart light deals.

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