4 Best Ultra Short Throw Projectors Under $1000

4 Best Ultra Short Throw Projectors Under $1000 (2022)

Today we are looking at the 4 best ultra short throw projectors under $1000. We have looked at many awesome projectors (those under $700, for home movies and portable projectors under $150) and put them through their paces here on the site and today we are looking at short throw projectors. These are great if you want something that is a little more high-end and you are not too scared about spending a lot more money. I know that some people can spend one hundred bucks on a projector and be cool with it and that is awesome. However, those looking for something a little closer to the movie experience will want to look at these projectors under $1000.

What Is An Ultra Short Projector?

Let’s start with the basics here. The throw distance of a projector is how far away from the wall it is. Long throw projectors tend to be installed on the ceiling of the family room, home theatre, or whatever and they are designed with “throwing” the image quite far towards the screen. A short throw projector on the other hand is designed with being around 3 to 8 feet away from the screen. An ultra short throw projector goes a step further and can be 0 to 4 feet away from your screen.

Do I Need An Expensive Projector Screen?

There are some people who will tell you that you need to spend upwards of 100 bucks on your projector screen, but I respectfully disagree with that. As of writing in our home theatre, we have this rather basic projector screen and it is awesome. I would always recommend using a dedicated screen over a sheet or a wall as there is a massive difference in video quality when you do. It is worth noting that if you need a projector screen that can be moved, folded, or even one that can be retracted up, you are probably looking at spending more money then.

Should I Buy A Soundbar/Speakers?

As you can tell from the soundbar and home theatre sound system articles that we have done, sound is something that I take very seriously. This is especially true for movies! Projectors do tend to have speakers built into them, but I personally find they are usually a bit on the lacking side. However, I do know some people that use the built-in speakers and are fine with it.

The 4 Best Ultra Short Throw Projector Under $1000 Reviews

I have used one of these personally myself, but I also handpicked a few other models that I feel look pretty solid.

  1. ViewSonic 1080p Short Throw Projector
  2. Portable Ultra-Short-Throw Smart Projector
  3. ASUS S1 Portable Mini Projector
  4. BenQ MW632ST WXGA Short Throw Projector

ViewSonic 1080p Short Throw Projector

ViewSonic 1080p Short Throw Projector

First up we are checking out this epic ViewSonic 1080p Short Throw Projector which I was lucky enough to get the chance to put through its paces. Currently, this is priced at $749.99 which is considerably less than our 1000 bucks price limit. When I took this out of the box I was impressed with the number of hookups this thing offered. You actually have two HDMI ports, so you could have a Fire Stick and a PlayStation 5 for example connected at the same time without having to mess around with a splitter. This is a ultra short throw projector so you only need it a few feet away from your screen.

The image quality here is great and the main reason I put this at the start of our quest to find the best ultra short throw projector under $1000. This can output at full HD and it looks amazing thanks to the high contrast ratio, you really do get the finer details of what you are watching. I also played some Mario Kart 8 with my son on this and for gaming (also check out our budget 4k projectors for gaming), it is amazing too. The speaker is only 10 watts and at this price range and at this picture quality, I do feel you will want to add a soundbar or speakers.

What Other People Are Saying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBwoYP9jbQU

Be sure to have a look at this video showcase of this projector. Here you can see just what you are getting as the reviewer makes it a point to show a bit of a movie and a video game in action and you can see that it looks great. As of writing, there are 156 customer reviews over at Amazon and 90 percent of these are for four and five star reviews!

I think that this ViewSonic 1080p Short Throw Projector simply must be in consideration for the best ultra short throw projector under $1000. I could actually have this in my home theatre and be more than happy with it. The image quality is just amazing and I think that as long as you have a proper sound setup to go along with it, you will have the cinema at home experience you are looking for.

Pros:

  • It produces a bright and colorful image
  • Plenty of options for hooking up devices
  • Low latency makes it great for video games
  • The asking price is fantastic

Cons:

  • The speakers are probably the lowest quality aspect of this projector
  • The remote is a tad on the cheap side

Portable Ultra-Short-Throw Smart Projector

If I did not put this Portable Ultra-Short-Throw Smart Projector from Puppy Cube on here I think my brother-in-law would never speak to me again. He purchased this a few months back and we had an awesome time messing around with this! This is a portable short throw smart projector and it is probably the stand out device on our best ultra short throw projector under $1000 list. It costs around 850 bucks so it is no small chunk of change, but it is amazing. You can have it only 20 inches away from your screen and it can display a 100 inch image! This also has an amazing feature where it turns any surface into a touch screen which you can then use to select your apps, inputs, settings, and so on! My brother-in-law and I were blown away by this.

After we hooked this up and played around with it, we kicked back and watched Ready Player One. A movie I have probably seen 10 times by this point and it looked amazing blown up to 150 inches with this. Seriously, the colors were bright, vivid and I can hand on heart say I have no complaints at all. The image is great and the sound is not too bad at all for built in speakers, but you still may want to consider adding a soundbar (with subwoofer) to your home theatre. Since he bought this I have watched quite a few NBA games on here and still I am impressed with how good stuff on here looks.

What Other People Are Saying

I found a video showing off some of the features that this has, but to be honest with you this is the kind of thing you need to see in person to appreciate. There are currently under 50 reviews for this on Amazon and only around 70 percent of these are for four and five stars. Most of the complaints tend to come from people finding this rather awkward to use and to be honest with you I can see that.

I think that the Portable Ultra-Short-Throw Smart Projector from Puppy Cube 100 percent needs to be in consideration for being the best ultra short throw projector under $1000. I will admit that it is not exactly what I would call easy to figure out and it is more aimed at people who are a bit tech savvy. If that sounds like you, you are going to have a lot of fun with this projector I can assure you of that!

Pros:

  • It turns any surface into a touchscreen
  • The image quality is bright and vivid
  • It technically is portable
  • There is an android OS built in

Cons:

  • It may take a while to figure out
  • While technically portable, it is a bit heavy to be lugging around

ASUS S1 Portable Mini Projector

ASUS S1 Portable Mini Projector

I may not have used this ASUS S1 Portable Mini Projector, but I thought it was worth including here. This is priced at around 500 bucks so it is way under our limit so it could be just what you need if you are looking to save a few bucks. It is portable and can fit in the palm of your hand. This is a true ultra short throw projector as well so you can use this super close to your surface and still have a nice, large and clear image. It has an HDMI port so connect stuff like a Blu-Ray player or a game console like a Nintendo Switch is going to be nice and easy for you to do.

Reading the description of this is very interesting in that it does not give much away about the image quality. It does have a rather modest contrast ratio even though it has a bright lumens so while I am sure you will get a fantastic HD image with this, you will probably want to watch your movies, play your games, or whatever in a dark room to make sure the brightness is best it can be. This does have an internal speaker, but as this can fit in the palm of your hand I would wager that it is not going to be powerful enough to give you that full cinema experience you want when you have a projector.

What Other People Are Saying

I found a great video review that showcases this projector in a very positive light. Actually, after watching this myself I am of the opinion that this is one of the better portable projectors out there right now. There are just a hair over 300 customer reviews for this on Amazon right now and it is sitting at 80 percent four and five star reviews which I think is not too shabby at all.

I know we are looking for the best ultra short throw projector under $1000 right now, but if you want to be way and I mean way under that 1000 bucks limit this ASUS S1 Portable Mini Projector is well worth taking a look at. It is a fun portable projector and actually, it is pretty high-end for a portable projector.

Pros:

  • It fits in the palm of your hand
  • It can be close to your screen
  • Very easy to set up and use
  • The asking price makes this quite an affordable option

Cons:

  • This does not come with a remote!
  • The speaker must be tiny!

BenQ MW632ST WXGA Short Throw Projector

BenQ MW632ST WXGA Short Throw Projector

When it comes to projectors, I am a massive fan of BenQ and have used a few of their projectors over the years so having this BenQ MW632ST WXGA Short Throw Projector on our list looking for the best ultra short throw projector under $1000 was a no-brainer for me. This is priced at $649, but there is actually a normal throw model that is a full 20 bucks cheaper! What I love about this is how stacked it is with inputs. You have two HDMI ports, but there is also s-video, PC hookups, USB, and even composite! Many projectors these days will give you an HDMI port (two if you are lucky) a USB and call it a day so it is cool this one has so many. It is great if you have some older devices like retro game consoles.

I have not tested this myself, but in my research, I have seen some great 1080p quality images of this so I am sure you will not be disappointed with the image quality. It is a projector that is giving you a real bang for your buck and while I am sure it will look better in darker rooms (as most projectors do) I would wager this is going to be something that pretty much everyone who has it is happy with. The only negative from what I can see is a small single speaker which from my experience I am sure is going to have a real tiny sound when played at high volumes so you will certainly want some kind of surround sound setup or at least a subwoofer to get sound that is going to go great with fantastic picture quality you are getting.

What Other People Are Saying

Have a look at this video review if you want to see the projector in action and get a better idea of the various features that it has for you to play around with. If you look at the customer reviews that are on Amazon right now this has 261 (as of writing) and 89 percent of these are positive reviews which is a good sign. I feel that the fact BenQ market this as more of a “business” projector than one for movies and games is what has made it not one of their more popular models.

The BenQ MW632ST WXGA Short Throw Projector looks like it would be a fantastic projector. I personally would love to get my hands on this and test some of my older game consoles like the PS2, Dreamcast, and so on. The amount of hook up options is great and I feel this is the kind of projector that is great if you have a lot of things you want to hook up at once. The more I read and the more I wrote about this projector, the more I am trying to think of a way that I can weasel my way into getting one of these bad boys to try out!

Pros:

  • Plenty of inputs on the back of it
  • Very easy to use
  • Image quality is full HD
  • Does not need to be too close to the screen

Cons:

  • That remote is huge!
  • You probably will need to get some kind of soundbar

What Is The Best Ultra Short Throw Projector Under $1000

Hmm, this one is really tough to call. However, I do feel that I have to give it to the ViewSonic 1080p Short Throw Projector. This thing is awesome and it does all you need a projector to do, plus the image quality is truly stunning. The Portable Ultra-Short-Throw Smart Projector is what my heart is telling me to say, but my head is saying that I can see some people having a hard time using it, plus it is a lot closer to that 1000 bucks price tag. Still, either one of these would be great, just make sure you know that the Puppy Cube one is not really for people who are not too tech savvy. I also want to say that BenQ MW632ST WXGA Short Throw Projector is worthy of consideration for being the best ultra short throw projector under $1000 too even though I have not personally got my hands on it….yet!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *