This review analyzes 25 projectors under $100 purchased from Amazon in late 2025, revealing widespread misleading advertising and identifying the best options for budget-conscious consumers seeking decent image quality and functionality.
Mind Map
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It is November of 2025 and to wrap up
projector review season, I am performing
my yearly service of using my own money
to buy every projector on Amazon under
$100 to figure out if any of them are
actually decent. Because after 5 years
of making this video, most cheap
projector Amazon listings are still
filled with misleading pictures and
outright lies. And they're still selling
thousands of projectors every single
month. So, for this video, I've got 25
projectors ranging from $25 to $99. And
I'm going to test their actual
brightness and contrast. Then, I will
put them side by side to figure out
which ones have the best overall image
quality. And after that, I will pull out
the top five to do some more in-depth
testing of focus, input lag, throw
distance, fan noise, speaker quality,
and smart operating system features
before making my final recommendations.
And as always, there are no sponsored
reviews on this channel. Starting with
brightness testing, I use the ANIE
standard for measuring where you take
nine individual brightness readings,
average them together, and then multiply
by the screen size in square meters to
determine the ANI lumens. And in this
group, the brightest projector was the
$99 Fidoni GC888A
at 274 ANI lumens. But if you consider
the price, the $26 Umbolite HY 320 Mini
comes out way ahead with 171 tested ani
lumens, which is 6.45 45 lumens per
dollar compared to 2.74 lumens per
dollar on the Fidoni. And while I'm at
it, just to do a little bit of public
shaming, here are the advertised lumens
from each projector's Amazon listing
compared to their actual lumens, where
none of the projectors were able to
match their advertised brightness, and
only seven of the 25 projectors had 50%
or more of advertised, which makes me
kind of appreciate the six projectors
that didn't even bother to list their
brightness on their Amazon page. I also
measured their brightness uniformity,
which is where you divide the dimmest of
the nine Nancy measurements by the
brightest one. And the $76 Haprun H1
came out on top at 69%. But the Fedoni
and Umbolite that I mentioned before
also performed well with 65 and 62%
uniformity. I also measured their
contrast by comparing the centerpoint
brightness of a full white screen with
the centerpoint brightness of a full
black screen with a 50% moving gray box.
And the highest contrast came from the
$54 Takakei at 2767
to1, but the Fedoni showed up in second
place at 2,183 to1. And the $26 Umbolite
was still hanging in there in fifth
place. Moving on to the sideby-side
testing, I set up two 100in white
screens in my light controlled garage.
And I put the projectors head-to-head
from the least expensive to the most,
which made round one the $25 Antnap on
the left and the $26 Umbolite HY320 Mini
on the right. and the Ant-Maps 50 lumens
were completely insufficient for it to
compete with the Umbbleite's 171 lumens.
Not to mention the AntMap's motion was
bad, the aspect ratio was wrong, and the
shadows were completely crushed. So, the
Umbolite moved on. Round two brings in
the Bezes Q5 Mate on the left and the
Umbilite HY 320 Mini on the right. And
at 41 lmmens, the Bezes is even dimmer
than the Ant Map from last round, but it
still looked slightly better since it
isn't crushing shadows as badly. But it
still didn't stand a chance against the
umbilite. So, in round three, the XBJ R8
is on the left, and the Umbolite HY320
Mini is on the right. And the XBJ was
brighter than the previous two
Challengers, but it was also too yellow.
And overall, just extremely blurry
compared to the Umbolite, which is still
over twice as bright, making this
another easy win for the Umbite. In
round four, the Sunfun SK1 is on the
left and the Umbolite HY320 Mini is on
the right. And finally, the umbilite has
some real competition, and the Sunfun
looks pretty decent. But compared to the
Umbolite, it just isn't as sharp. It's
got noticeable light pollution in dark
areas, and it also crushes shadow detail
while having a higher black floor. So,
the Umbolite moves on again. And that
makes round five, the HomePow Mini on
the left, and the Umbolite HY 320 Mini
on the right. And overall, I was
surprised by the quality of the HomePow,
given that it looks and feels like a
toy. But while the picture quality was
mostly fine, it wasn't anywhere near as
good as the Umbolite, which easily won
this round also. So in round six, the
ScreenMax C7 is on the left and the
Umblite HY320 Mini is on the right. And
unlike the HomePow from the previous
round, the Screen Max actually feels
pretty sturdy and well-b built. But even
though the Screen Max's overall
brightness was almost identical to the
Umblite, the actual picture looked
washed out and undersaturated in bright
scenes and muddy and gray in dark
scenes, meaning the Umbite moved on. In
round seven, the Transject T800 is on
the left and the Umbolite HY320 Mini is
on the right. And unlike the previous
rounds where I thought the Umbilite was
slightly undersaturated, the Transerject
had so little color that it made the
Umbite look oversaturated in comparison.
And in moderately lit scenes, the lower
contrast on the Transerject made it look
both under saturated and washed out. So
the Umbite won this round, too. Next in
round eight, the LSL HAO4 is on the left
and the Umbilite HY320 Mini is on the
right. And in addition to an incorrect
squashed aspect ratio, the LSL HA0A4 was
also noticeably blurry compared to the
Umblite and it's got less than half the
overall brightness and ultimately it
didn't stand a chance and the Umblite
moved on again. In round 9, the Sebest
W13 is on the left and the Umbolite
HY320 Mini is on the right. And the
Sebast is an absolute garbage tier
projector that combines terrible
brightness and contrast with even worse
image processing and settings to make a
basically unwatchable image, making this
another quick win for the Umbelite. In
round 10, the Sanor Q100 is on the left
and the Umbolite HY320 is still on the
right. And the Sanor saw how terrible
the performance of the Sebest was and it
was not going to be outdone. And coming
in at just 39 lumens for $39, this
projector is an absolute joke. And it's
definitely the worst performance that
we've seen since the Ant Map in round
one. So, the Umbilite moved on again.
And that means that round 11 is the
Enusuma HY300 Pro on the left and the
Umbolite HY320 Mini on the right. And
the short throw of both of these
projectors makes them difficult to film
at the same time since they both kind of
get in the way. But this was a decently
close round with the HY300 Pro having
enough brightness to compete and very
similar color and saturation to the
HY320 Mini. But the focus on the 320
Mini was noticeably better. And even
though the image was slightly
oversharpened, the processing on the
Umblite made for a much more clear and
detailed image, so it easily moved on
again. So in round 12, another short
throw projector, the Fear Wiki P2 is on
the left and the Umblite HY320 Mini is
on the right. And overall, the P2 was
just fine. It had decent brightness,
good color, and even okay focus, though
it wasn't nearly as sharp as the HY320
Mini. And in bright scenes, they were
not too far off. But in the darkest
scenes, I thought the HY320 Mini was
significantly better, earning it another
win. Round 13 has the Nisso Z1 on the
left and the Umbolite HY320 Mini on the
right. And the Nisso is the first
projector so far to have more brightness
than the HY320 Mini. And overall, I
thought the picture quality was pretty
good, if not a little bit too blue. But
there were two main reasons that I
didn't pick it to win this round. First,
it had an absolutely atrocious
out-of-the-box contrast ratio of 245
to1, which I was able to slightly
improved by lowering the brightness in
its picture settings. But second, it was
trying to sabotage the HY320 Mini by
casting all kinds of stray light onto
the left side of the Umbleite screen,
which was much more distracting in
person than you can see on video. But
ultimately, that means that the Umbite
moves on again. Round 14 is the Takakei
X3 on the left and the Umbilite HY320
Mini on the right. And like the last
round, I thought that both of the
projectors looked pretty good in bright
scenes. And I was fully expecting this
to be the HY320 minis last round because
the Takake had the highest measured
contrast of all the projectors. But in
actual content, the shadow details were
just totally crushed. And while neither
of these projectors are excellent in
dark scenes, the HY320 Mini was
definitely better. So it moved on again.
Round 15 has the JY360 on the left and
the umbilite HY320 on the right. And the
JY360's picture quality is just about as
bad as its brand name with oversaturated
green colors and extremely crushed
shadow details. So, the Umblite easily
moved on again. So, round 16 has the
Hackill HAO3 on the left and the
Umbilite HY320 Mini on the right. And I
thought both of these projectors looked
pretty good with the Hackill shifted
towards a cooler white balance, but it
did maintain similar contrast and focus
to the Umbelite. And on paper, the
Hackill's contrast was higher, but in
actual content, it really could have
used a higher gamma setting because
shadow details were slightly crushed
compared to the Umbolite. And this round
was close, but in the end, the Umbolite
came out on top. In round 17, the third
place finisher from last year, the Vanvo
VF320 is on the left, and the Umbite
HY320 is on the right. And if you're
wondering why last year's third place
finisher is in this year's video, it's
because the first and second place
projectors are now over $100, so they
don't qualify for this video. But
putting the Vanvo side by side with the
Umblite that swept the previous 16
rounds, just puts into perspective how
unimpressive most of the other
projectors in this video are. And
basically everything about the Vanvo,
including its brightness, sharpness,
gamma, and contrast, were all way better
than the Umbelite. And so the Vambo
easily won this round. So, in round 18,
the Vanvo VF320 is on the left, up
against the fourth place finisher from
last year, the Haprun H1, which has been
one of my overall recommendations for
the last 3 years. And the Haprun is just
a solid performer with a slightly cooler
color temperature, but good brightness
and overall clarity. But just like last
year, it was no match for the Vanvo
VF320, which just has a more appropriate
gamma curve for these lower brightness
inexpensive projectors. And while the
Haprun is a solid performer, the Vanvo
easily won this round. Round 19 then has
the Vanvo VF320 on the left and the
Zentilit A10 Plus on the right. And the
A10 Plus probably would have done fine
in previous rounds and it might have
even stood a chance to the HY320 Mini,
but compared to the Vanvos's lower gamma
setting, there's just so much missing
detail in the shadowy areas. And on much
higher-end projectors, a high gamma
setting with darker midtones and shadows
is seen as the correct way to set up a
home theater projector. but under 200
lumens and in the environment where most
people are going to be watching a sub
$100 projector, the Vanvo's image
processing just makes much more sense.
So, the Vanvo is going to move on. So,
in round 20, the Vanvo VF320 is on the
left and the Weimus P61 is on the right.
And this was a joke and the Wimiest
looked truly terrible in just about
every scene. So, the Vanvo moved on
again. Round 21 then has the Vanvo VF320
on the left and the SLore AMX 100 on the
right. And while it certainly wasn't as
bad as the Weimius, the AMX100 was
extremely flat and washed out compared
to the Vanvo in bright scenes. And in
dark scenes, it had dim highlights and
low shadow detail. So, the Vanvo moved
on again. And that makes round 22 the
Vanvo VF320 on the left and the Fifi
Hy 260 Pro on the right. And in the time
that it took me to pronounce that name,
you've probably already figured out that
it didn't stand a chance against the
Vanvo, which easily won this round, too.
Round 23 then put the Vanvo VF320 on the
left and the Vanvo VF211 on the right.
And despite a $29 increase in price, the
more expensive Vamvo VF210 had half the
brightness, less contrast, and was
missing the excellent image processing
of the VF320 and is easily the worst
value of any of the projectors in this
video. So then in the final round, we've
got the Vanvo VF320 on the left and the
Fedoni GC888A
on the right. And throughout all these
side bysides, everything has been graded
on a sliding scale relative to other sub
$100 projectors. But the Fidoni actually
looks pretty decent, even relative to
projectors that cost two and three times
as much. And it doesn't have the 700
plus lumens of something like the LFAS
W1K. But for under $100, this is a
really solid performance in both bright
and dark scenes. And in the last round,
the Fedoni GC888A is going to steal away
the first place spot from the Vanvo
VF320 in picture quality rankings. And
here's how I ranked the top 10. And the
plan was then to do some additional
testing just on the top five.
Unfortunately though, while I was
writing the script, I realized that the
Vanvo VF320 from last year's video that
finished in second place is no longer
available, and it's been replaced with
an upgraded version that looks almost
identical, but it's got a 1080p native
display. So, I bought that, too. But
unfortunately, it performed terribly
compared to the old 720p native version.
And it not only lacked the sharp focus
of the 720p version, but it also didn't
have any of the same image processing
and gamma improvements that helped the
old VF320 finish second. And to add
insult to injury, the new VF320 also
lost the main feature that made me
recommend it in 2024, which was its low
input lag. And if you're not familiar,
when you're playing video games, the
input lag represents the time in between
when you press a button on the
controller and when you see that action
on the screen. And in general, input lag
numbers under 20 milliseconds are
excellent for all gaming. Between 20 and
50 milliseconds is good for casual
gaming. 50 to 100 milliseconds can feel
a little bit strange. And input lag
numbers over 100 milliseconds should not
be used for gaming. And I tested all
these projectors at 1080p 60 Hz using
the industry standard Leobotter lag
tester. And I found that the old VMO
VF320 still had the best input lag at
26.6 milliseconds. The Haprun H1 hovered
around 30 milliseconds. The Fedoni GC888A
GC888A
was just under that 50 millisecond mark
for casual gaming. And as I mentioned
before, the new Vanvo VF320, which I
wouldn't recommend anyways based on its
image quality, now has between 70 and 80
milliseconds of input lag. And then all
the projectors with Android builtin were
well over 100 milliseconds, meaning they
can't be used for gaming. Next, I
evaluated their focus and clarity, and
there are two main things that affect
the overall clarity of the image. The
first being the native resolution. And
of the remaining top five projectors,
they all claim to be 1080p native. But
counting the pixels used on each letter
in my focus pattern tells me that only
the Haprron H1 and Fedoni GC888A
are actually 1080p native, while the
Hackill, Zentilli, and Umbbleite are all
using 720p native resolution panels. And
the second thing that affects image
clarity is the quality of the lens. And
I thought that the Hackill had the
sharpest lens, and the A10 Plus was by
far the worst. And combining their
native resolution and their lens
quality, the Fedoni ranked first overall
in focus, followed by the Hackill, then
the Haprun, then the HY320 Mini, and the
Zentili was in a distant last place.
Also worth noting in this section is
that the Fedoni, Hackdil, and Xanderi
all have motorized focus that is
controllable on the remote, so it's
easier to get up next to the screen and
dial in the image perfectly, while the
Haprron and the HY320 Mini both have
manual focus dials only. The next big
difference in these five projectors is
their throw distance. And to project a
100in screen, the Haprun H1 needs the
largest distance from the projector to
the screen at 127 in, which is a 1.46:1
throw ratio, while the HY320 Mini needs
just 81 in, which is a throw ratio of 0.93:1.
0.93:1.
And just because I measured them all,
here are the throw distances of the rest
of the projectors in this video as well.
If you can't put your projector in the
exact correct position to fit it on the
screen, it's also useful to have a
digital keystone function. And of these
top five projectors, the only one that
doesn't include digital keystone is the
Hapron H1. And the Hackdil, Zenoly, and
Umbolite all have fourpoint corner
keystone, while the Fedoni has a
slightly more difficult to use angular
keystone function. And of these five
projectors, the Hackil, Zenoly, and
Umbbleite all have built-in aiming
stands, while the Fedoni and Haprron
just have an adjustable front foot to
tilt the projector up. And if you want
to ceiling mount them, all the top five
projectors except for the Hackill have
a/420 tripod mount on the bottom. Next,
looking at their smart operating
systems, the Umblite HY320 Mini runs
Android 11, and the Hackill and
Zenolitty have Android 13, but none of
those are the kind of Android that's
meant to be used on a TV or projector.
And as a result, they have pretty poor
compatibility with most apps and clunky
interfaces that require you to use the
remote as a mouse to get even basic
functionality. That said, I was able to
get YouTube working on all three of
them. Netflix worked on the Hackill, but
not on the others, and Disney Plus
technically worked on the Zenoly, but it
didn't play any sound. And in all cases,
I think that you're probably better off
just getting a cheap streamer like a
Fire TV Stick to use with these
projectors. And while we're on the
subject of sound, none of the speakers
on these projectors are particularly
good, but the Zentalitty was the loudest
and the most balanced.
>> The Fedoni was almost as loud, but it
was focused more on the mid-range.
The hackill was slightly quieter with a
huge spike around 400 hertz, which is in
the high mid-range above where most
vocals take place.
>> The hap run was just under 70 dB
average, but had a fairly flat frequency response.
response.
And the umbilite HY320 Mini was the
quietest at 67.5 dB with a large spike
around 600 Hz.
>> And last, fan noise is always a concern
with these cheap projectors. So, here
they are from the quietest to the
loudest. This is what the room sounds
So, it's conclusion time. Should you buy
any of these projectors? Unfortunately,
the answer to that is pretty
complicated. If your budget is $100, the
Fidoni is the clear winner. It's the
brightest. It's got the best picture
quality, acceptable input lag for casual
gamings. It's got motorized focus, a
1080p native display, decent speakers,
digital keystone, and HDMI CC support
for controlling your streaming stick
with the Fedoni remote. And overall, the
Fidoni was the only projector that
didn't disappoint me in some way.
However, I was fully ready to give my
recommendation to the Umbolite HY320
Mini that finished third in overall
picture quality, has a nice small form
factor, a mildly usable smart operating
system, and puts out almost 200 lumens
for just $2649,
which is almost unbelievably cheap. But
as of writing the script, it is already
unavailable just 10 days after I bought
it. Now, the good news is that Umbolite
is just a reseller and the HY320 Mini is
actually made by Magic Cubic, so it
should have some other sellers. And I
will try to keep the link in the
description updated with one that's
actually available, but I don't think
that you should ever pay more than
around $40 for it. Similarly, the Haprun
H1 did well enough to earn my
recommendation again in 2025, but I
don't think it's worth the $76 that it's
currently selling for, and I think it's
more fairly priced in the $50 to $60
range. But as you can see in my price
tracker, it's only been under $70 one
time since July 2025, which is pretty
disappointing. The Hackill and Zenoly
both have Android 13. But the big
difference is that the Zenoly makes all
of Android 13's picture options
available to let you adjust things like
gamma and white balance. And it's also
got better speakers and a fairly quiet
fan. But it does have relatively poor
focus, a 720p native display, and some
pretty annoying bugs, like the fact that
it doesn't play any sound through its
speakers unless you go into the Fire TV
settings and set the sound to PCM output
instead of auto. But ultimately, I still
think it's a decent value at around $70
to $80 if you want to try to mess around
with its built-in Android operating
system. As always, there are no
sponsored reviews on this channel, but I
do have links down in the description
for all the projectors in this video.
And as always, I appreciate when you use
those links since as an Amazon
affiliate, I do earn a small commission
on the sale at no cost to you. I'd also
like to thank all of my awesome patrons
over at Patreon for their continued
support of my channel. And if you're
interested in supporting my unsponsored
reviews, please check out the links down
in the description. If you enjoyed this
video, please consider subscribing. And
as always, thanks for watching the Hookup.
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