Customer Ratings & Reviews

I am quite impressed by this Epson projector. The design is typical of any projector, perhaps a bit on the bigger side. However, it fits very nicely on the 11X15 inch tray of my tripod stand. That makes it quite portable -at least from place to place. Setting up is a breeze. The included quick setup sheet shows what’s important clearly. I appreciate the sliding lens cover as I have lost covers in the past. The controls on top are clearly labeled and can handle all basic functions. The included remote has a robust (maybe a bit unnecessary) number of buttons that can handle all the advanced features. The projector provides limited connectivity options. It does not have an OS and no Bluetooth. You will need a content player device such as a smart stick (least expensive way to go), console, or disc player. It is a good thing that there are two HDMI inputs. I liked that the smart stick can be powered with the projector’s USB port. For sound, an audio system or stand-alone speakers can be connected via a 3.5mm jack. I successfully used a cheap Bluetooth wireless adapter to connect to a soundbar. The projector has pretty loud speakers, but unfortunately, they are super basic with little to no bass. What really sells this projector is the picture quality. Boy, straight out of the box I was amazed as to how bright, vibrant, and clear the picture is –even if it is 1080p. At the default setting, I was able to see the picture in the middle of the day in my well-lit office. While understandably opaque, the colors do not become washed out. It’s truly quite watchable at any time. In a dark environment, the picture becomes almost too bright. Thankfully, the ECO setting not only brings down the brightness and saturation, but also makes the fan run very quietly. There are several video presets that work well for different content, and a manual color option for those who like to tinker. I threw the picture in my office at 75”. I have a 100” screen which I sadly damaged during setup, so I ended up using my studio wall. That was for the best because I was able to enjoy a full 142” screen. Both projection sizes looked amazing and cinematic. The Built-in Picture Skew Sensor worked very well at closer range, but I found that manually adjusting the keystone through the app works best on large projections. On top of that, there are a manual focus and skew wheel for the best projection. I have several 1080p projectors, and while the Cinema 980 is not the smallest nor the cheapest, I can confidently say that it is by far the best one I’ve tested so far –regardless of its few shortcomings. Therefore, I highly recommend checking it out!

After trying and using a handful of smaller form factor projectors over the last year or two, this one is certainly the nicest in terms of picture quality and brightness. But that's sadly about it. This projector is just missing features that I've come to just expect as standard on all home entertainment screen equipment or things that I've experienced and enjoyed on extremely cheap projectors in the past. Setup was just OK. Plug it in and you're off to the races initially. But then you need to find that good spot on your wall or screen and do all the adjustments and the menu for this projector is.. old. Like I've seen more sophisticated and organized menu systems on 25 year old digital cameras. Finding all the settings and figuring out what they mean (included instructions are fairly lacking) and how to use them wasn't a fast process. I eventually got to a point where I was comfortable enough mounting it upside down and trying to nail down all the dimensions. The hardware zoom/focus/skew settings are fine. Again, I've used much cheaper projectors that had really good autofocus and autokeystone features, but that's all clunky and manual here. I figure, with mine mounted on the ceiling, we shouldn't need to adjust things like focus and keystone all that often, though, so that's fine. Since the projector is so bright, when setting up the keystone, you can see some "black" projections of the full projection screen around your actual image which can be distracting if you focus on it. I'd love to tell you about connecting this to wifi, but I can't. Because there's no way to enter a wifi password greater than 32 characters and I'm not about changing my password and reconnecting every device in my house just because of this one terrible design decision. The network settings menu is also very crude. You have to enter your SSID (there's a button for scanning but I couldn't figure out how to select it). I'll harp on this again, everything about the software for this projector feels like it was designed 30 years ago and never updated. Then there's the audio. It does not sound great on it's own. And it doesn't support BlueTooth (like every crazy cheap projector I've ever used does). Another thing I've had on every other crazy cheap projector but not this one is some kind of interface with some of the major "apps" built in. Now this wouldn't have mattered to me anyways because I can't even get it on wifi, and I still use a FireStick or AppleTV over the built in systems but it's usually nice to have at least. And lastly, while on the topic of FireSticks and AppleTVs, a feature I just assumed was standard across any display technology in this day and age, is somehow a lack of HDMI-CEC support. There's one option in the menus that sounds like it's supposed to do something like HDMI-CEC but I couldn't get it to work with my FireStick. I was really baffled by this one. But the picture quality. It does take a minute to "warm up" to it's full brightness, but when it does, it's bright. Without even using a screen and projecting on a greyish-white wall, the picture was incredibly bright and very crisp. All the shortcomings listed above, I won't knock it's image quality and brightness one bit. Depending on the room you're projecting in, you can tinker with the Eco settings. I normally throw all eco settings out the window in home entertainment products but I turned them all on with this projector and the picture did get noticeably (but not a lot) less bright. More importantly though, the crazy jet engine fan that was blowing non-stop while the eco mode settings were off, turned down to imperceptible levels. So if you're using the projector in a smaller room where you might hear the fan noise, consider the eco settings to cut down on the noise without losing much in the way of brightness. All said and done, I know this is a "Home Cinema" product but I think the software leans way too far into the "cinema" side of that and not nearly enough into the "home" side. The biggest complaint I have is the incredibly ancient looking and functioning software. The picture is fantastic but without some of the bells and whistles I've grown accustomed to (bluetooth and HDMI-CEC especially), I have to recommend looking around in this price point for something a little more feature rich if you can find it.

For the last week, I've been testing the new Epson Home Cinema 980 3LCD 1080p Projector. Overall, this is an excellent projector that performed much better than I thought it would. I have tested many projectors over the years, and Epson continuously proves it's a leader in the projector space. The Epson Home Cinema 980 is Epson's entry-level home cinema projector, so my initial performance expectations were low, especially since it displays at 1080p resolution. However, after setup, I quickly learned that entry-level doesn't mean low quality. The 4000-lumen lamp performs fantastically. When paired with my Chromecast, this projector gave me a 120-inch screen at 10 feet and easily produced a super bright, clear, and colorful picture that rivals my significantly more expensive 4k laser projector and blows away competing travel projectors. The brightness was so good that I could keep my lights on while watching movies. This projector also has great features like two HDMI ports, a remote control, keystone correction, a quiet fan, and an acceptable two-watt speaker. The only real drawback is that the wired sound outputs are limited to HDMI and 3.5mm audio. However, it's not a big deal because nowadays, home theater systems are wireless and connect to a streaming stick via Bluetooth. With all that said, this is a fantastic projector for someone entering the large-screen projector space.

The Epson Home Cinema 980 is a solid medium range + high lumen full HD projector. Very usable brightness even in a bright room in daylight, does get a bit washed out, but plenty for a toddler to watch Bluey. Playing basic games look great too, but anything competitive is a bit slow. (felt some input lag playing rocket league) The menus/options do require some digging, but I knew this going in. (I’ve worked in IT with Epson projectors for years) This projector is in an odd location in the myriad of projector options out there these days. It’s a “dumb” projector without any built in apps or anything, just has a couple HDMI ports. At this value, it’s a bit off for me. Good HD picture, obviously "only" HD, solid brightness, Epson's solid, if not utilitarian, overall feel. The problem for me is there is nothing that really stands out with this model. I feel like you can get more value even within Epsons own product stack. If you can find this Home Cinema 980 on sale, it may be a great option, but otherwise make sure this fits your needs!

This projector was a pleasant surprise and was better than I expected for the cost. I am using a 100" screen inside a pavilion with 5.1 surround sound and I'd recommend this projector for any size room for a theater like experience.

Good projector. Fan is a bit louder than I expected however ECO mode makes it imperceptable. It is ceiling mountable however it skews the vertical if mounted at the ceiling. It needs to be more in line wirh the projector which wasn't as noticeable with my last projector. Good lumens. My room is not fully dark but there is no bleeding of light and the picture remains strong. All in all, a good projector that is not 4K.

This is second Epson projector our family has had. It is so fun to gather and project movies on the wall in our family room. Everyone has so much fun. The focus is perfect.

Great product, bought it for outside and even with some light we are able to see.

Fan is a little loud but overall the picture is great.

Good picture quality, old interface and menu, HDMI ports do not support ARC or eARC so you will have to buy another device if you want to use a sound bar with Dolby Atmos. Would return if I could.

Excellent image. Bright lighting. We used this for a PowerPoint presentation and it was perfect. Plug and Play simplicity as well. We’re very happy with our choice/

The Epson Home Cinema 980 is a fantastic home theater projector. Epson has got just the right feature set and image quality to justify the 980's price, without some of the extra features that I often find to be more trouble than they are worth. While I'm not a projector expert by any means, I have used a projector at home for a few years now, and I really love what Epson has brought to the table with this new model. #Unboxing and first impressions# The Epson 980 comes in a standard blue and white Epson box - I'm pretty sure Epson has been using the same packaging design for their projectors and printers for at least a decade, and that's fine with me. The projector arrived well packed with cardboard packing materials. Getting it out of the box and set up was super easy. The two rear feet can be slightly adjusted to level the projector out, while the front "kickstand" foot is super easy to extend or retract thanks to tha lever that releases tension so it glides down. The 980 has 2x HDMI ports, a USB-A port, and a USB B port, and forgoes any analog video inputs. Personally I'm fine with that as it's about time to retire VGA and composite video. If you need to hook up an older game console, there are several cheap dongles available for sale plus many AV receivers have the ability to convert from analog video to HDMI. #Using the Home Cinema 980# I was really impressed with the auto-keystone vertical adjustment that the projector did immediately out of the box. Basically, the 980 assumes you are projecting to a perpendicular vertical surface and uses the angle of the feet to make a pretty significant adjustment to the vertical keystone settings automatically. In my experience, it gets really close to perfect (as long as it's projecting to a surface that's 90 degrees perpendicular to itself. Besides the automatic adjustment, you can manually adjust both vertical and horizontal keystone via buttons on the top of the projector. You also get 1.2x optical zoom and focus that can be adjusted on the lens itself.The action of these rings is very smooth and easy to adjust. Picture quality on the Home Cinema 980 is great. Choosing 3LCD or DLP is a game of tradeoffs - for me DLP is unwatchable due to rainbow effect, so a 3LCD projector like this Epson is the way to go. Fortunately I don't ever need to sit close enough to the screen that the screen door effect might come into play. I found the image of the Home Cinema 980 to be very bright and vivid, even in the Eco mode that brings the fan noise down to a whisper. #Final thoughts# The Epson Home Cinema 980 is a great project to dip your toes into high quality projection without breaking the bank. While it lacks 4K resolution or HDR compatibility, it looks fantastic in SDR mode for gaming or watching movies and TV on a very big screen. It was very easy to set up thanks to the combination of manual and automatic controls. It's so quiet while maintaining decent brightness in Eco mode that it can be used in even the smallest of my home's rooms, which I think is really saying something. I look forward to getting a lot of use out of this projector over the next few years and recommend it wholeheartedly.

Excellent value for money and very fast delivery.

This projector will replace my older one for my outdoor movie night setup. Unboxing and getting it going was a breeze and took less than 5 min. My setup is an outdoor inflatable screen that I do a rear projection on so that we don’t have anyone walking in between the projector and the screen and blocking the image. The menu isn’t as intuitive as some other projectors I’ve used, but I found the right settings eventually to be able to get the rear projection to work. Part of the issue is that this is actually a really versatile unit that you can have hang upside down for in home ceiling mounting as well as do both front and rear projection. So while it took me a min. to get the settings right, the more complex menu is for a good reason. My older projector was a cheaper 720 one so this the image was a decent upgrade. The lamp is also pretty bright. For outdoor movies you need to wait until its dark enough and so we usually start just around sundown. When I tested this projector while getting it set up, I realized I could see it pretty well even about an hour before sundown. This is great since then we can start our movies even if its fairly light out so the kids can go to bed earlier. Actually using the monitor worked well. The zoom and focus dials both worked perfectly and didn’t feel overly sensitive or finicky so it was easy to get it set up just right without having to move the whole table around to get the projector the right distance away. This also has two hdmi inputs which may be more important in a home theater setup with more input sources, but for me it wasn’t necessary. Overall I really like this unit and am very happy with the upgrade.

Home projectors have come a long way. My experience has always been the picture is washed out and not crisp. It’s been a few years since I tried one so I was interested in this product. First, the size is compact and easy to hang. It went up with very little trouble. Ow for the picture. I don’t like watching TV im a completely dark room and this projector works best with some light in the room. The colors are bright but the little bit of light helps in the color quality. As far as watching sports or movies, both work just fine with no tearing. I did find that gaming was not the best. I would not say to get this for gaming. Oddly there is no HDR support but at this price point it may be common. The projector has wifi 5 which is fine but the current standard is WiFi 6 with WiFi 7 becoming available. Would be nice to have some future proofing. While I this is not a perfect projector, at this price point, it seems to be a strong option. Depending on the environment you want to use it in and what you want to watch, I would recommend this.

If you are looking for an entry priced projector that offers good picture quality and high brightness, and you do not require WiFi or smart TV functionality because you plan to hardwire your video source directly via HDMI, then the Epson Home Cinema 980 is a solid choice. I have used this projector with a 120 inch outdoor screen with great results. The picture was clearly visible during 'golden hour' and visibility got better as the evening progressed. For use indoors with our 100 inch screen, the picture is more than bright enough even with a few room lights on. Adjusting the focus, zoom and keystone on the Home Cinema 980 are easy enough to do that I find myself pulling it out to setup movies nights way more than I used to with our previous laser UST projector, despite that one being a higher end device. Epson does offer a wireless adapter that connects via the USB port, so that may be an option for connecting a computer wirelessly if you have the need, but I do not have any experience with that add on. I would not hesitate to recommend this projector as long as you are ok with it not having built in apps.

To briefly sum up my thoughts, I think this is quality projector. Overall, it does everything well, is easy to setup and use, is versatile, and provides a great picture, which honestly is most important to me. Build and style, on some level, are about what you would expect. White. A fair amount of plastic. Again, normal, standard projector stuff. That said, it is all put together well, feels solid, and is nicely compact. I don’t really see me moving it around much, but it will be easy, if need be, in the future. Setup, both physically and on the software side, is quite easy and quick. Common adjustment options are there and easy to implement. Both for screen setup and picture quality. There is also some built-in auto help that makes it even more pain free. The entire process of getting content running was faster than I was expecting, and I was impressed with connectivity. It has been some time since I used a projector, but having a USB for content and/or streaming and two HDMI ports is some nice versatility I was not necessarily expecting. I can have some dedicated slots filled and possibly another for an occasional laptop hookup. Additionally, while I am still getting my audio solution figured out, it is nice there is an internal speaker on the unit itself. It at least gives me something in the meantime. Once up and running, everything looked very good. Frankly, better than I was expecting. While I only quickly messed around with some games, they not only looked good but also performed better than I thought they would going in. That said, I was really impressed with how TV and movie content presented. The image was clear, crispy, and vibrant. Colors popped and were quite accurate and the several color modes each showed a nice level of variability. I think the aspects that most stuck out to me were the brightness and the richness of the image quality. All in all, I am very pleased with what I am seeing. Furthermore, in the end, I am pleased with this projector as a whole. Pretty much, full stop. It is built well, comes from a respected name in the space, is very simple to set up as well as use, has solid connectivity, and, again, most importantly to me, outputs great image quality. As always, check your use case, but it does well with all content, and I think for all that you get the value is there.

My previous experience with home projectors is with a very entry-level 480p model. This is Epson is mostly a vast improvement over that experience. I found both resolution and brightness to be excellent for my home. At a 13-foot distance, it's more than bright enough against a white wall, and I didn't feel the need to bother setting up my pop-up screen. Even during mid-morning sun entering through the blinds, the image was impressively bright, and this is true even when using the reduced brightness ECO mode. In a darkened room, as one should expect, this projector does a great job. At the lowest zoom setting from a 13-foot distance, it threw up a roughly 7-foot wide live area. Fan noise in ECO is low enough that it disappeared into the background. The lens is aimed upwards, and the feet don't offer much adjustability, so I found that positioning the projector at any height above five feet became unwieldy, requiring several inches of risers under the rear feet. I eventually plan to place the projector atop a bookshelf in a "ceiling mount" position, which requires setting the projector upside down. In that orientation, the lens will be aiming downward. My only minor complaint is in regards to the sound. There's no low end to speak of, and it's wholly inadequate for anything but presentations with spoken word. For movies or TV shows, it really needs to be paired with an audio system. (I used an audio receiver passing through a Google TV Streamer to the HDMI port.)