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I’ve Wanted a Projector for a Long Time — My Core Need Is Simple: A Big Screen for Movies.Back in October, when projector brands were rolling out new models ahead of Double 11, I finally decided to get the one I’d been eyeing for months. As someone with high myopia, I’ll share my thought process and hands-on experience. Winter is here—who can resist curling up in bed before sleep and watching movies on a big screen?

Purchase

Where I currently live, it’s not easy to go to the cinema. I do have a 24-inch monitor, which works fine for streaming shows, but when it comes to movies, the experience is just average. If you’re going to spend time watching, a large screen with high resolution and sufficient brightness brings a far stronger sense of immersion and lets you notice more details—making movie-watching both more enjoyable and more efficient. That alone makes a projector worth it.

Since I just started working, my budget isn’t big, and my room isn’t spacious either. So my core requirements were: image quality first, compact and portable, and fully functional. Even though TV prices have come down, I had to give up on that option. Having used monitors of various resolutions, I know the gap between 1080p and 4K is huge. The logic is the same for display devices—nowadays, you can get a 4K projector for around 3,000 RMB, and with so many 4K movies and remastered classics available, a 4K projector makes more sense.

I’ve also used classroom-style lamp projectors and some smart single-laser models—both were mediocre. Traditional brands like Epson and BenQ mostly make lamp-based projectors, while major domestic manufacturers focus on triple-laser systems. Initially, I was drawn to triple-laser models for their portability.

After watching a ton of reviews and comparison videos, though, I discovered an issue: people who wear glasses often notice color fringing or text ghosting on triple-laser projectors. As someone with high myopia and slight astigmatism, eye comfort matters a lot to me, so I decided to reconsider lamp-based options as well.

In the end, with the help of a government subsidy, I ended up buying within my means:

• Xming V1 Ultra (1,861 RMB) — a native 4K lamp projector under Xiaomi
• A triple-laser projector — native 1080p with pixel-shifting to 4K
• Vidda M2 Pro (3,660 RMB) — 0.47″ chip, highly rated and great value over the past year
• Dangbei X7 Pro (3,481 RMB) — 0.39″ chip, newly launched in October 2025 with promising specs

The Dangbei X7 Pro has a close rival in terms of specs—the XGIMI Z9X, which is cheaper (around 2,900 RMB with launch discount + subsidy). I initially bought the Dangbei for its looks, but halfway through writing this, I noticed many reviewers strongly recommended the Z9X—so I gave in and ordered one too (3,182 RMB) to see how it performs.

Unboxing

As a lamp-based projector, the Xming is quite heavy—5.5 kg bare, about the weight of a full bag of rice. It took some effort to lift it out of the box, and I nearly strained my back doing it. The casing is made of thick plastic, possibly with some metal parts.

The Vidda comes next in weight at 3.4 kg. Its stand is metal, and the body uses a textured plastic that feels great to the touch—sleek and premium-looking. It’s easy to move around, and the official packaging even includes a carrying case with a handle, which makes it convenient for travel.

The Dangbei’s casing appears to be entirely plastic and weighs about 1.9 kg, making it much lighter and more portable. However, the gray-white plastic gives off a slightly cheap vibe.

The XGIMI Z9X is shaped like a sugar cube—a compact square block. The camera can retract into the frame, which is a neat design detail. It weighs only 1.5 kg, the lightest of the bunch, and the body is plastic as well, finished in a brownish coffee tone with a metallic texture.

Viewing

Environment: A small 9㎡ room with poor natural lighting. I usually keep the lights on when I’m inside. The curtains block out most of the light—when drawn, a sunny day looks like dusk, a cloudy day feels like night, and at night it’s pitch dark. The wall is white, and I don’t use a screen. The projector’s placement is limited—it sits 1–2 meters from the wall, positioned toward the left side. When watching, I can only sit in front of or beside the projector.

Video sources: USB drive, laptop via HDMI, and Baidu Netdisk TV version.
Test videos: I don’t have many 4K movies on hand, so I loaded three 4K animated films onto the USB drive—two versions of I Am What I Am 2 (MKV and MP4). I’ve seen this one nine times in theaters, both in Dolby Vision and on IMAX, so I can pick up subtle visual differences. I also included I Am What I Am 1 (MP4), which I’ve watched several times on my computer. On Baidu Netdisk, I streamed Interstellar (2K MKV) to test live-action performance, and compared the USB and Netdisk versions of I Am What I Am 2 (4K MKV vs. MP4) to check playback quality differences.

Note: All photos below were shot with a Xiaomi 15, unedited, most from side angles. The projected image appears roughly straight in reality.

Xming V1 Ultra

The Xming V1 Ultra uses a three-prong power cable, with the socket positioned on the base—similar to the cord on a small electric kettle, but longer and sturdier. When powered on, the machine emits a faint crackling sound (somewhere between an old kettle heating up and a windy Tom and Jerry sound effect). It makes the same noise when shutting down. Once the system interface appears, the sound changes to a steady low hum—quite loud and distracting.

Placed about two meters from the wall, I assumed the projection was aligned straight, but the image turned out slightly skewed. The system automatically focuses and adjusts keystone correction; as a result, the darker “base layer” of the screen (like a gray backdrop) appears tilted, while the brighter “top layer” looks mostly rectangular, with the bottom edge still a little off.

A Misunderstanding About the Xming Remote .For the first half hour after powering it on, I kept trying to pair the Bluetooth remote—with no success. Turns out, the remote that came with the Xming was still sitting quietly in the box. I’d been holding the Dangbei X7 Pro’s remote the whole time, trying to connect it instead. The instruction manual even had a diagram that looked almost identical to Dangbei’s, so naturally, I started to suspect the remote was broken! It was already close to 1 a.m. on Saturday night when I realized something was off. I searched on Xiaohongshu and found someone mentioning that you could use a mouse to control it, then connect to Wi-Fi and set it up through the Mi Home app.

That trick worked. Once the pairing was done, the system prompted me to choose between Movie Mode and Daily Mode—with Movie Mode offering more vivid colors. I selected it, and right after that, the projector decided to… start a system update. Well, fair enough—it is a model from last year.

When the System Finally Finished Updating. By the time the update was done, it was 1:08 a.m. The noise level had dropped a bit—but it was still quite noticeable. Speaking of heat: the projector had been running for over an hour at that point. Before turning it on, the room felt a little chilly, and the thermometer two meters away showed 21.5°C. An hour later, it read 23.5°C. The Xming’s air vents are on the left side, and—lucky me—that’s exactly where I had to sit. During video tests, it was both hot and loud.

Xming’s interface is co-branded with iQIYI, so the main page is the Kiwi TV system. Connecting to Wi-Fi and linking it to Mi Home under Settings → Network was pretty straightforward, and the phone control worked smoothly. There’s no optical zoom, but from just over two meters away, the projected image was already quite large—visually about 100 inches. After inserting a USB drive to play downloaded 4K movies, I noticed the projector only has 2GB of RAM, with the system itself using about 55%. It took a while to recognize the USB. MKV files with DTS audio weren’t supported, but several MP4 videos played just fine.

From some test shots, the Xming’s image looked fairly sharp across all four corners. The first two photos were taken in a dark room during the day; the last one, with the lights on.

Once Playback Began. There was a bit of stuttering and ghosting at the start. With glasses on, I could clearly see a fair amount of noise in the image—fine from a distance, but quite noticeable within one or two meters. It didn’t really affect the viewing experience, though. In a dark room, the color and brightness were both quite good. The native 4K resolution looked delicate and easy on the eyes. However, shadow details were lacking—most dark areas were simply black blobs. With a brightness of 700 lumens, the picture was almost unreadable once the lights were on. Using it during the day on Sunday, I had to pull the curtains completely closed; otherwise, it looked pretty much the same as watching with the lights on.

The images on the left (top and bottom) show dark scenes from I Am What I Am 1, and the ones on the right are from Interstellar. The upper and lower frames show the effect before and after turning on the lights. The lower-right shot was captured a second or two late, but all are from dark scenes.

Installing Third-Party Apps. You can install third-party apps through Settings → Sofa Manager. As a proud Baidu Netdisk VIP member, I was genuinely shocked to find that the TV version of the app wasn’t available for download here. That said, you can still manually install it by placing the APK file on a USB drive—troublesome, yes, but at least it works. When streaming movies from Netdisk, all MP4 files played without issue. One MKV movie that worked fine from the USB drive, however, refused to play directly online.

Built-in Voice Assistant. When I tried to use the built-in voice assistant to open another app by voice command, it simply replied, “Sorry, I’m still learning.” In addition, the device doesn’t have eye-protection detection, so it’s best not to adjust the projector in the dark—direct exposure to the light is genuinely harsh on the eyes.

The left photo shows the lens—after gently wiping it with a finger, you can see the layer of dust on it. The right photo captures what I call “colorful black,” the uneven hues that appear in the dark parts of the image.

Vidda M2 Pro

The Vidda’s power cable feels premium—it even comes with a built-in strap for easy storage. It uses a two-prong rectangular plug for the outlet and a round connector for the projector. The Dangbei D7X Pro and XGIMI Z9X chargers share a similar design, though their cables are noticeably thinner.

When booting up the M2 Pro for the first time, the remote works immediately. The setup starts by asking for the projection mode—front or rear, desktop or ceiling mount. Once selected, the projector begins auto-adjusting the image. On future startups, it briefly shows the Vidda logo, then automatically fine-tunes the display once the main interface loads.

The entire process is smooth and quick. The auto-calibration results are impressive—the image is large, crisp, and nearly perfectly aligned. If you’re being picky, the bottom edge tilts ever so slightly upward to the right. Moving the projector causes it to re-adjust automatically, which works well most of the time. A few times, though, after shifting it too far, the focus stayed blurry and required manual fine-tuning.

The M2 Pro features optical zoom, and from the same distance, it projects a much larger image. In actual viewing, the details are sharp and precise—the pixel grid is almost imperceptible.

Vidda M2 Pro Noise and System Experience. The Vidda M2 Pro is noticeably quieter than the Xiaomi model. I’m quite sensitive to noise, and in a silent room, the faint hum beside me can get irritating after a while. However, during movie playback, the film’s audio easily drowns it out, so it doesn’t really interfere with the experience. The projector vents heat from the back. During my first two-hour test, the unit only became mildly warm—just enough to warm your hands a little.

Most reviews of Hisense’s system are full of praise, and after using it myself, I have to agree—the company’s years of making TVs really show; it’s almost unfair how refined the system feels. On the home screen, pressing the up button reveals a quick-access row. The “heart +” button on the remote lets you easily adjust image position, focus, picture mode, brightness, and more. Using the voice assistant also works smoothly—commands are executed accurately and promptly.

App Installation and Playback. Installing third-party apps is also very convenient. Just say the app name through voice command, and it downloads in no time. When I asked it to open the USB drive, it immediately displayed the contents—neatly categorized into videos, images, and files. Video playback worked flawlessly—whether from a USB drive or Baidu Netdisk, everything opened smoothly and played without stutter. P.S.: I later realized I forgot to test whether MKV videos in Baidu Netdisk could play properly when the resolution was set to 4K.

The M2 Pro’s remote has a velvety texture on the buttons, and though the casing is plastic, it feels great in the hand—I actually enjoy fidgeting with it.

Hisense’s brightness really holds up. With the lights on at night or the curtains open during the day, the image remains visible, though the colors fade slightly. When projecting side by side with the Dangbei D7X Pro under standard brightness, the M2 Pro is clearly brighter. Watching the M2 Pro feels more relaxing on the eyes, while the D7X Pro requires more effort to focus—I suspect that’s due to the brightness difference. Once the lights are on, the D7X Pro dims further, making it even harder to watch comfortably.

I resized both the Vidda and Dangbei projections to roughly the same size for comparison. The D7X Pro still looks dimmer than the M2 Pro. The left side shows the Dangbei image, and the right side shows the Vidda—see for yourself.

At first, I couldn’t find the eye-protection feature on the Vidda. Unlike the Dangbei D7X Pro, the M2 Pro doesn’t have auto-start protection—you need to enable it manually. Once it’s on, the detection is impressively sensitive. Even the slightest obstruction triggers the screen to turn off and a voice alert says, “Please step back.” The image automatically resumes after about ten seconds.

Finally, let’s talk about the image modes—this part is highly subjective, but it’s also the main reason I decided to return it. The “Big Eye” image mode offers multiple brightness and color options, though adjustments take a moment to register. When using AI Image Mode, brightness can’t be manually changed.

The very first time I saw the M2 Pro’s home screen, my eyes felt uncomfortable. The dark red background was harsh—after a few glances, the text blurred and doubled. Actor faces were indistinct, features overlapping. Adjusting brightness and screen size didn’t help.

Switching to the “Supernova” mode made the colors greener, but my eyes immediately relaxed. However, during video playback, for better visual effect, I switched back to AI mode. That’s when I started noticing color fringing, especially during scene transitions, quick movements, or changes between light and dark. Characters’ eyes often appeared unusually bright—almost unnervingly artificial.

I genuinely liked the M2 Pro and didn’t want to give up on it. After a night’s rest, I tried again—but my eyes reacted instantly. Within minutes, the ghosting got worse, and after about twenty minutes, my eyes were sore. Before returning it, I gave it one last shot, but it was clear my eyes simply couldn’t adjust.

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Dangbei D7X Pro

Startup noise is about the same as the Vidda. Once the screen appears, it automatically adjusts within seconds. Moving the projector also triggers instant recalibration. The D7X Pro adds optical zoom (1–1.3× range), and horizontal shift adjustment is limited.

After zooming or shifting, you’ll need to manually trigger auto-keystone and auto-focus again. Once adjusted, both the gray base layer and colored projection appear properly aligned. The bottom edge tilts slightly downward—while the Vidda’s slightly tilts upward. Perhaps it’s just an optical illusion? As for dust, it’s practically unavoidable on Earth. Every projector I tested had some visible particles under strong light, though most can self-clean using internal fans.

In the comparison photos: the left image shows the Vidda, and the right shows the Dangbei. The Vidda unit, judging from its packaging, seemed like a refurbished one, though its lens was cleaner. The Dangbei, a first-release unit, had more visible dust—but nothing that affected performance.

At first, I mistook the Dangbei remote for the one that came with the Xiaomi projector. I spent quite a while searching before realizing I had mixed them up. The Dangbei remote is made entirely of white plastic, and the button feel is fairly average. On the right edge, there are two buttons—a red one for adjusting short focus and a white one for quick settings. The side buttons are quite small and a bit uncomfortable to press.

As for the voice assistant, Dangbei allows you to change both the voice and character appearance, which feels a bit like opening a mystery box—you never quite know what you’ll get. Sometimes it can open the USB drive or system settings; other times, it can’t. However, it always manages to open third-party apps. Overall, it feels like Dangbei still has plenty of room to improve its smart interaction experience.

Usage Modes in the D7X Pro

The D7X Pro offers four usage modes: Standard (for everyday projection), Kids, Elderly, and Camping. The Standard mode needs no explanation—it covers the basics well. The other three are both aesthetic and practical, clearly designed with specific user needs in mind.

In the default startup mode, the D7X Pro’s screen brightness is set to 10. Dangbei’s brightness can be pushed slightly beyond that—“10+.” The change in brightness itself is moderate, but to the naked eye, the overall tone becomes noticeably warmer, and the noise level increases as well. The image below shows how the projection looks at different brightness levels on a cloudy day, with the curtain opened about 15 cm.

Using AI for image adjustment—called “Picture Master” in Dangbei—produces slightly blurred text when viewing static content, but it’s not overly harsh on the eyes. When watching dynamic videos, my eyes can stay relatively relaxed. Of course, blinking or switching scenes still brings out color fringing, a common issue with triple-laser projectors, but after testing several models, I’ve come to accept it.

There’s also a special “Office” mode, which makes the screen easier on the eyes, but the fan noise becomes noticeably louder. The “Performance” mode doesn’t seem to change much in picture quality, yet it’s also quite noisy. A fun detail: whenever you switch image modes on the D7X Pro, the screen briefly turns black before displaying again—it’s a bit like the “palette-cleansing water break” in a cooking show.

Comparing the Vidda M2 Pro and Dangbei D7X Pro, my main subjective impression is that Dangbei’s colors are less red and less striking than Hisense’s. While projecting with Dangbei, the characters’ eyes in the videos no longer glow excessively—they look more natural, closer to what you’d see on a regular monitor. I can also clearly read the subtitles without glowing edges. Perhaps Dangbei’s color tuning leans toward softness, avoiding overly high brightness or contrast.

Of course, with a 0.39-inch chip versus Vidda’s 0.47-inch, the pixel grid is still relatively larger. At a 1–2 meter viewing distance, the pixel structure is visible on static images, but during video playback—especially high-resolution ones—it’s barely noticeable.

Below are close-up shots of the pixel grid from Vidda, Dangbei, and XGIMI, all taken right against the wall for comparison.

After startup, the Dangbei’s noise level is just slightly higher than the Vidda’s—the difference is minimal. Once playback begins, you can only hear the video audio. The ventilation outlet is located on the back of the unit, featuring a large grille design. After about two hours of use, the plastic casing feels gently warm to the touch, and the air coming out the back is noticeably warm. Overall, the heat dissipation is quite good.

Dangbei recognizes USB drives quickly. Both the app store and USB drives allow easy installation of third-party software, and installation speed is fast. Videos played from the USB drive run smoothly with clear picture quality. When streaming from Baidu Netdisk, this time I remembered to adjust the resolution—only 4K MKV files failed to play properly, while all others worked fine. The poor network connection (I was using a mobile hotspot) made it possible to stream 1080p smoothly, but 2K and 4K were heavily lagging.

When connecting a computer via HDMI, the laptop’s resolution is likely 2.8K, while the projector is capped at 2160p. Using mobile casting to play videos from Baidu Netdisk maxes out at 1080p. Under the same network, both methods are quite smooth. Once the HDMI connection is active, adjustments can only be made on the connected device—so far, I haven’t figured out all the settings yet.

XGIMI Z9X

I’ve seen some comments claiming that the Dangbei D7X Pro is OEM-manufactured by XGIMI, though I can’t confirm it. However, the Z9X shares many similarities with the D7X Pro—once in hand, even the packaging design, startup process, automatic eye protection, image scaling, and lens shift all give me a strong sense of déjà vu—“as if the two are cut from the same cloth.”

The XGIMI Z9X emphasizes portability—its plastic body and cube-shaped design make it perfect for those who like to “grab and go.” Of course, there’s a trade-off: prioritizing portability means a smaller casing, and with a 0.39-inch chip, its brightness capacity is inherently limited. Higher brightness leads to higher heat output, so XGIMI must strike a balance between brightness, cooling, and the compact shell.At the default brightness setting, even though both the Z9X and the Dangbei D7X Pro are rated at 1300 lumens, I feel that the Z9X appears slightly dimmer in real use.

The remote control matches the projector’s creamy beige color and includes dedicated buttons for Aurora TV, Bilibili, Atmosphere Mode, and Resource Shortcut, along with a customizable button. Unlike other remotes with sliding battery covers, the Z9X’s cover must be popped open to insert the batteries.

The main interface of the XGIMI Z9X is a deep blue, and the moment I saw it, the only thing that came to mind was Monkey King’s famous line: “My eyes! Ah, my eyes!” Wearing glasses, I found the Z9X even more visually straining than the Vidda M2 Pro. The characters on screen looked as if their souls had left their bodies, surrounded by layers of ghosting, and the text was practically unreadable. If the M2 Pro leans toward red, then the Z9X feels overwhelmingly blue to me.

I tried changing the background color of the main screen and adjusting brightness, but nothing helped. There was no “Image Mode” option—only a “Style Filter” feature, which works like smartphone filters. Honestly, I couldn’t quite figure out the purpose of this design choice.

Feeling completely overwhelmed, I suddenly thought of taking a photo through my eyeglass lens to show my friends just how damaging laser projection can be for people who wear glasses. In the images, from left to right, the greater the lens tilt, the more pronounced the ghosting becomes. What I see with my own eyes is close to Image 2, but the longer I watch, the closer it feels to Image 3.

XGIMI Z9X Kids Mode:

Using voice control to download third-party apps or open videos only returned responses like “Sorry…” accompanied by a black doughnut-shaped icon. The voice itself sounded mechanical and stiff. The built-in app store does include major third-party apps, but downloading and installation are noticeably slow.

The XGIMI Z9X recognized the U disk quickly, but it couldn’t display Baidu Netdisk. For APK packages, according to other users’ reviews, file extensions may need to be modified before installation. Overall, manual installation of third-party software isn’t very convenient.

Testing several key video scenes from the U disk, my main impression was that XGIMI’s color tone felt dim, and everything looked slightly gray and hazy. Playing Baidu Netdisk videos, 4K MKV files still failed to run, and even at 2K and 4K resolutions, playback was quite choppy.

The left image shows the effect when photographing a completely black screen, while the right image is a screenshot from a movie — the drum in the scene should be a beautiful, glossy copper, yet here it appears dull and grayish.

I only used the XGIMI Z9X for about half an hour before turning it off. The machine noise wasn’t loud, but since the runtime was short, the heat dissipation data isn’t meaningful enough to draw conclusions.

Conclusion

These days, a 4K projector costs a bit over 3,000 RMB, about the same as a four-door refrigerator. As an experience-based purchase, it’s not exactly a small expense. I’m highly myopic, and since projection effects are greatly affected by lenses, I have to see them with my own eyes.

After testing four projectors at my own expense, I realized that online reviews focus too much on specs. In real-world use, beyond how your eyes perceive color and ears sense sound, there are other factors—system smoothness, third-party app compatibility, and how you’re actually watching: via external storage (U disk, hard drive, laptop), a self-built NAS, or purely online streaming (apps, screen casting, etc.). If any part of that chain fails, it can affect the viewing experience.

In the end, I kept the Dangbei D7X Pro — the only projector that didn’t make my eyes hurt and one that ran smoothly enough for daily use.

After days of tinkering, with each machine taking one to two hours just to test and tune, there was one night I finished watching and my eyes burned so badly I couldn’t open them, even tearing up uncontrollably. So, to avoid your projector becoming a dust collector, once you’ve decided on a product, it’s best to test it in person or buy online with a 7-day return policy. If you’re spending the money, make sure the experience is worth it.

General Recommendations (for reference only)

• Xiaoming V1 Ultra — Under 2,000 RMB for 4K; both price and specs are excellent. If you can ceiling-mount it and turn up the sound, the noise and side heat issues are much less noticeable. Lamp projectors are also more comfortable for nearsighted or light-sensitive users. If you’re on a tight budget but want a good viewing experience, get a 70–80″ TV for daytime use and a projector for 100″+ movies at night — Xiaoming is a solid choice.
• For triple-laser projectors, if you’re not nearsighted, the Vidda M2 Pro is the top pick — strong hardware, image quality, and system performance. If you are nearsighted, buy and test both the Vidda M2 Pro and the Dangbei D7X Pro, or any model you’re considering, and decide after real use. If you just want 4K on a budget, go for the XGIMI Z9X.

Some Reflections

The first three projectors arrived around the same time. I returned the Xiaoming first — there wasn’t enough space at home. I struggled between Vidda M2 Pro and Dangbei D7X Pro for a while before returning the Vidda. I really wanted to understand why I couldn’t watch the Vidda comfortably. My assumption was that the difference lay in brightness and color management — the Vidda appeared brighter and redder, and even the photos came out noticeably redder.

The Dangbei D7X Pro and XGIMI Z9X have very similar specs. While testing the Z9X, I noticed something odd — with my phone camera open, colorful light bands were spinning across the floor tiles, though they were invisible to the naked eye. So, I recorded the same video scene on both projectors to compare their light band behavior.

My impression was that Dangbei’s red, yellow, and blue light bands rotated slightly slower, and its bands were a bit wider. On static screens, the bands on Dangbei barely moved, or didn’t move at all. I suspect that the width and speed of these light bands may be key factors affecting visual comfort.

Fun Guessing Game

While organizing photos, I noticed only three devices captured the same scene. You can compare the results yourself.

Just a heads-up: due to factors like projectors, phone cameras, and different display devices, everyone’s perception may vary. To each their own—pick the one you like best.

Combination 1:

Combination 2:

Combination 3: