Dangbei, a Chinese manufacturer of compact home entertainment projectors, launched the MP1 Max in June 2025. Rated for 3,100 ISO lumens, it is bright enough to perform well in rooms with ambient light. The high lumen output is an attractive element, as many portable projectors don't even hit 1,000 lumens—though these options often cost considerably less.

At $1,999.99, MP1 Max positions itself in the premium lifestyle/home entertainment category, its higher price point justified by its exceptional brightness, built-in Google TV, native 4K resolution, 110% BT.2020 coverage, HDR/HLG support, 360-degree gimbal stand, and AI-assisted setup.

Dangbei backs the projector with a one-year warranty and a 30-day money-back guarantee. And, although the projector's official price is as noted above, they are usually available with around 20% discount on Amazon and during frequent promotions on the Dangbei website.

Features

The Dangbei MP1 Max is a 3,100 ISO21118 lumen smart projector that balances portability with power, measuring 9.71 x 11.65 x 9.05 (WHD) inches and weighing 12.34 pounds. Powered by its triple laser + LED hybrid light engine that employes NICHIA's QuaLas lasers breakthrough, this portable projector features the Texas Instruments 0.47-inch DMD DLP chip to achieve 4K UHD resolution. The MP1 Max is rated to reach 110% of the expanded BT.2020 color gamut with professional level ?E<1 (virtually indistinguishable from the source). Its HDR, HDR10, and HLG compatibility further enhance the image.

The sturdy chassis has a matte, dark gray finish, and features a gimbal stand capable of rotating 360 degrees horizontally and tilting 135 degrees vertically. Image sizes range from 40 to 300 inches, though Dangbei recommends an 80- to 150-inch screen for best performance. Between the gimbal, its 1.20:1 throw ratio, and AI setup tools, the projector offers broad installation flexibility. The InstaPro AI system simplifies setup with auto-focus, auto-keystone, screen fit, obstacle avoidance, real-time adjustments, eye protection, and adaptive brightness. For precise placement, use ProjectorCentral's Throw Distance Calculator.

Audio comes from dual 12-watt speakers in an acoustic chamber with a bass-reflex design, capable of reaching 45 Hz. Dolby Audio and DTS Virtual:X enhance immersion. Multiple sound modes—Standard, Movie, Music, Sports, and Custom—are available. Each has a toggle for surround sound, and there is a dialogue enhancement setting in the sound menu. Expert settings also include eARC and auto volume control. For external systems, the MP1 Max includes one HDMI port with eARC, a 3.5mm audio jack, and Bluetooth for pairing with soundbars or speakers.

Dangbei boldly claims the onboard speakers can "transform your living room into a grand concert hall." In practice, they do impress. Listening to a symphonic performance of the Game of Thrones theme featuring Hauser, the sound was expansive and detailed, capturing the resonance of strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion without any of the frequencies becoming muddied. The same went for the live performance of the "He's a Pirate" composition from the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack. Film and TV playback was similarly strong, with loud, clear, and immersive sound, though not all modes stood on equal footing.

The backlit Bluetooth remote is slim, matte-finished, and intuitive. Its layout includes power and Google Assistant buttons at the top, navigation keys in the center, and quick-access buttons for Netflix, Prime Video, and YouTube. Volume control sits at the bottom. Pairing with the Google Home app also enables smartphone control, offering navigation, Google Assistant activation, and volume adjustment.

Dangbei boasts low input lag with support for 240Hz high refresh rate on 1080p content for the MP1 Max. In our tests, the projector measured 35ms in both 1080p and 4K/60Hz, making it best suited to casual gamers who favor single player RPGs, platformers, puzzle games, party-style games, or even online multiplayers like Sea of Thieves or Minecraft. Serious gamers who play first-person shooters online may prefer a projector with a lower input lag.

The projector is powered by Google TV with official Netflix licensing. This is a robust smart OS that gives access to all the major streaming apps like Prime Video, Max, Hulu, Apple TV, Starz, YouTube, YouTube TV, Spotify, and more. Setup is straightforward with either the Google Home app or the remote. One caveat: navigating menus during playback can sometimes cause stutter until you back out and restart the video.

Casting is supported via Google Cast for both Mac and PC. Streaming from Chrome worked seamlessly with no syncing issues for both types of computers. Full desktop mirroring of third-party apps for Mac, however, remain lackluster. None preserved the projector's resolution effectively in my testing.

The projector comes packaged in a shockproof, recyclable EPP carrying case and has a branded cloth bag to enclose the projector within, with a power cord, remote control, two AAA batteries, and user manual.

Performance

Color Modes. The MP1 Max offers five preset color modes, plus a customizable User mode. You can select from Standard, Natural, Vivid, Movie, Game, and Custom and will likely favor two or three different modes depending on the type of content being viewed. There are four power modes that affect brightness: Standard, ECO, Custom, and High Performance. The projector has an extensive color management system with adjustable settings for hue, saturation, brightness, offset, and gain, along with an 11-point white balance correction for gain, red, green, and blue gain.

In High Performance, the MP1 Max measured 3,084 in SDR's Game mode and 3,050 in HDR's Custom mode. Like all brightest settings, High Performance mode casts a noticeable green tint across the screen, making the Standard power mode the more practical choice with its good balance of brightness and color. As such, the measurements included in this section reflect the lumens of the Standard power mode. I evaluate with a 12-color wheel featuring eight gradations per color, from the darkest outer edge to the lightest center.

Standard mode measured 2,007 lumens in SDR and 1,949 in HDR It renders colors more intensely than the source material and leans toward a cooler blue tone, particularly in greens, blues, purples, and magentas.

Natural mode came in at 1,992 lumens in SDR and 1,936 in HDR. Like Standard, it pushes colors slightly beyond the source, still tilting cool but with improved accuracy. Forest greens and teals show the most visible improvement here.

Vivid mode measured 2,113 lumens in SDR and 2,096 in HDR. As the name suggests, it delivers the most saturated image, with a yellowish cast across most hues. Exceptions include forest greens, teals, light and dark blues, purples, and magentas, which retain a distinct bluish bias.

Movie mode came in at 1,720 lumens in SDR and 1,679 in HDR. This mode is closer to reference, with a warmer overall tone. Teals still skew slightly blue, but the MP1 Max handles them more faithfully here than in other presets.

Game mode hit 2,751 lumens in SDR and 2,379 in HDR. It carries a heavy blue emphasis throughout, typical of gaming presets, which enhances the look of video games. While most colors deviate from accuracy, the yellow range showed the most potential issues.

Custom mode measured 2,014 lumens in SDR and 1,956 in HDR. By default, it mirrors Standard, but it offers extensive adjustments for brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness, hue, color temperature, and gamma, allowing you to fine-tune the image to personal preference.

For testing, I used the integrated Google TV and a Sony UBP-X700 4K UHD Blu-ray player for video content, along with a PlayStation 4 for gaming.

SDR Streaming. The first thing I watched was Game of Thrones on Max. Standard and Custom offered the most balanced presentation, with skin tones looking the most natural in both. I didn't care for Movie mode here, as it flattened the image. Game mode was useful only when maximum brightness was needed, given its stronger blue cast is better suited to gaming content.

During one of the darker battle scenes, I turned the lights on. I could still follow the action, but the picture became noticeably washed out. My recommendation would be to pair the MP1 Max with an ambient light rejecting screen and avoid direct light on the projection surface for darker content.

Later, I turned on a small light behind the projector for an ambient glow, and this setup worked well without affecting visibility whether emitting a warm white light or colored light such as purple or green. Contrast was still a bit lacking out of the box, but with some fine-tuning, black levels and shadow detail improved. By the end, I was very satisfied with the overall image quality in Custom.

Watching The Last of Us on Max, Natural mode provided lifelike skin tones, though greens appeared slightly skewed. For example, in season 1, episode 4, when Joel and Ellie drive through a field into a forest, the greenery looked too cool, leaning toward blue. The blue-and-white Chevy truck looked acceptable, though the whites appeared a touch off.

Movie mode handled skin tones well but lost ground in shadow detail compared to Standard or Custom. In the end, Standard mode struck the best balance across color reproduction, skin tones, black levels, and fine shadow detail of the out-of-the-box modes. The image was also clean and sharp.

4K HDR Streaming. I started with Iron Man on Disney+. Standard (HDR) and Movie (HDR) mode looked best, both having the most natural looking skin tones, though I ultimately settled on Standard (HDR). In addition to reproducing skin tones well, it delivered good black level performance and preserved shadow detail.

Highlight handling was excellent. There was no clipping in the opening desert sequence, nor on Stark's white private jet, and even the collar of Stark's white dress shirt retained detail in the bright sunlight during his weapons demo for the military. Overall, the image remained consistently impressive throughout the film.

Next, I watched Brave on Disney+. Standard (HDR) mode again produced the most convincing results, especially with Merida's vibrant red hair, striking blue eyes, with natural skin tones and lush foliage. Other modes were passable for character rendering but less accurate with greens in grass and trees. This stood out most during the sequence where Merida leaves the castle riding her horse as she fires arrows, then climbs the Crones Tooth rockface and drinks from the waterfall. Textures were also exceptionally well-defined, particularly on stone surfaces and clothing. Different fabrics—silk, cotton, wool—were distinctly rendered.

Brave also demonstrated the projector's daylight usability. Even with direct ambient light hitting the screen, the film remained perfectly watchable. Naturally, it looked better in a dark room, but bright, colorful Pixar titles like this hold up extremely well even during daytime viewing.

SDR Blu-ray Viewing. I started off with Big Hero 6 in Standard picture mode. Immediately, I was struck by how punchy and saturated the colors appeared, especially the bright red bridge of San Fransokyo. During the opening flyover sequence leading into the bot-fighting arena, I noticed slight stutter and frame skipping, even with MEMC set to Medium. Switching to High smoothed things out completely.

If you encounter any motion issues, adjusting the MEMC setting typically resolves it. I ran into this occasionally with streaming as well, and a quick change of MEMC or reloading the content usually fixed it. It's not ideal, but as there's a fix, this will not be a dealbreaker for most people.

Hiro's red shirt looked rich and dynamic, while the bots' textures were rendered with impressive clarity. Aunt Cass' hair also appeared natural and well-defined. Skin tones looked good, though slightly pink in Standard. Switching to Natural or Movie corrected this. I found myself preferring Movie mode for this film. Highlights were well managed across multiple picture presets, with minimal clipping.

Baymax's all-white design avoided highlight clipping until the sequence where he leaves Hiro's house to follow the "tiny robot" trail to a warehouse. Black levels and shadow detail remained solid overall. I viewed the film both in a fully darkened room and with bright lights on, including one shining directly at the screen.

Next, I watched the 4K disc of Uncharted, and here the projector's highlight handling showed its limits. The opening scene, in particular, pushed the projector hard, and there were moments where highlights on Nate's shirt and skin clipped slightly, though never enough to be distracting.

I began in Natural mode, then switched to Movie, which produced deeper, richer color. Skin tones were excellent, and fabric detail—such as Nate and Sam's jackets or the nun's habit at their orphanage—looked convincingly textured. Movie mode also offered stronger black levels and shadow definition.

In the auction scene, men's white collars clipped a bit more noticeably than they did in its HDR counterpart, and a few shots showed clipped highlights on skin. Still, these moments were relatively minor. I tested in both a completely dark room and with a light shining directly on the screen. In the ambient light scenario, some detail was lost, but the film remained watchable.

4K Blu-ray Viewing. Projecting Big Hero 6 in 4K delivered richer color depth and greater detail than it did in SDR. The red bridge of San Fransokyo revealed far more texture and nuance when viewed in Movie (HDR) and Standard (HDR) modes. Clothing and robot textures in the bot-fight sequence were sharply defined, down to the scuffs on the arena floor and the wear on the first two bots. Reds and blues were outstanding, with Tadashi's motorcycle showing a convincing metallic sheen.

Aunt Cass' hair looked even more lifelike in HDR, with its multiple shades distinctly separated. Her green eyes also stood out, appearing vivid and multi-toned. Highlights did clip slightly when Baymax went out into the street, but not more than in SDR. A few moments showed clipped highlights, most often on Hiro's face or Baymax's white body, though never to a distracting degree. Black levels and shadow detail were consistently solid throughout.

I began Uncharted in Movie (HDR) mode, which handled the notoriously challenging opening sequence well. Nate's shirt, which frequently pushes projectors into clipping, showed no significant highlight loss here. There were a few instances where the highlights on his face clipped, but well within acceptable limits.

The following nighttime museum scene revealed weaker black levels and less shadow definition in Movie (HDR), so I switched to Natural (HDR), which improved both noticeably. Skin tones looked convincing in both modes. The MP1 Max produced an impressively sharp image, as seen on Sam's denim jacket in that same scene, offering excellent texture rendering and depth in its dark blue fabric.

Standard (HDR) mode was also usable, though its cooler tone introduced more highlight clipping than the others. In the auction scene, which often exposes projectors' limits with white dress shirts, the MP1 Max performed respectably, with only minor clipping.

Overall, the HDR presentation was sharp, vibrant, and highly enjoyable.

Gaming. Input lag was measured using a Leo Bodnar 4K Lag Tester with Game Mode enabled. At 60Hz, both 1080p and 4K measured 35 ms. This is adequate for casual gaming, perfect for single-player RPGs, 3D platformers, local multiplayer titles like Mario Kart or Mario Party, or more relaxed online gaming experiences like Minecraft or Roblox. Competitive players will likely want something faster. The Philips Gamepix 900, for example, offers a 16.9 ms input lag in both 1080p and 4K at 60Hz, but lacks the brightness and smart features of the MP1 Max.

The first game I tested was Kingdom Hearts. I still remember the day I discovered the original at Fry's Electronics, wandering into the massive game section while my dad ran his errand. Playing the remastered version here, I was struck by how convincingly accurate the colors looked in Game mode. If there were deviations, they were subtle enough to go unnoticed. The MP1 Max produced lush, cinematic visuals that made completing the Wonderland world quite fun. Lag was never an issue.

Next, I loaded up Hogwarts Legacy, which also looked excellent in Game mode. Menu screens and HUD elements in this game often reveal color inaccuracies, particularly in yellows or greens, but here everything appeared spot on. That accuracy carried over into the broader world: natural-looking skin tones, vibrant landscapes, and convincing environments. Flying across the wizarding world felt immersive, and even in darker quest areas like the witch's tomb, shadow detail remained strong. Again, no lag concerns surfaced.

The last game I tested was the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, also in Game picture mode. Spyro's purple scales popped with vibrancy and texture, while his yellow horns stayed crisp without highlight clipping.

The Peace Keepers desert world can trip up some projectors, often losing highlight detail in its sandy textures. The MP1 Max preserved every nuance, from the terrain to the richly rendered teal and red uniforms of the enemy soldiers. In the level called Doctor Shemp, set against a sunset, the pinkish-orange lighting gave the scene an extra layer of vibrancy, though it teetered on the edge of "too much." Stone textures were especially well reproduced. Across all of these sessions, the MP1 Max showed no issues with lag or highlight clipping.

Audio Quality. The MP1 Max includes a surround sound option in the Sound menu, which can either enhance or hinder the listening experience, depending on the mode selected. For example, when watching films or TV shows, Movie mode sounded excellent with surround off, but became somewhat muddy with it engaged, especially during deeper male dialogue. While it did boost bass, it wasn't the most balanced choice overall.

Sport mode disables surround sound by default and performed well both on and off. Standard mode with surround enabled also delivered solid audio performance.

Music mode is the most versatile, providing the widest, most immersive soundstage whether you're listening to music, watching films or shows, or gaming. Between Music, Standard, and Sport modes, you have plenty of ready-to-use options, while the Custom mode allows further adjustment of balance, treble, and bass to suit your preferences. The Music and Standard modes were my personal preferences.

Conclusion

The Dangbei MP1 Max delivers a compelling mix of brightness, color accuracy, and features in a portable home entertainment projector. Though its brightest modes with accurate color are less than 3,000 lumens, what they do provide allows it to perform well even in rooms with some ambient light. With several good out-of-the-box color modes to choose from and customizable options to enhance the image, users have plenty of flexibility to suit different content types. From films and streaming shows to gaming and Blu-ray playback, the MP1 Max offers good color from the first, and its HDR and 4K support provide a sharp, vibrant image.

Gaming performance is solid for casual and cooperative play, with low input lag and excellent color reproduction, though competitive gamers may prefer lower latency options. The built-in Google TV ecosystem is robust, giving access to a wide range of streaming apps like Netflix, Max, Hulu, Disney+, and Prime Video. Casting support works seamlessly for most devices, though you'll need some workarounds if you are a Mac user.

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Audio is strong for a projector of this size, with dual 12-watt speakers delivering immersive sound and multiple modes to fine-tune your listening experience. Build quality is sturdy, and the 360-degree gimbal stand, AI-assisted setup, and carrying case add convenience for both stationary and portable use.

At $1,999.99, the MP1 Max sits firmly in the premium lifestyle/home entertainment projector segment, offering features and performance that justify the price for enthusiasts seeking a versatile all-in-one home entertainment solution. Its minor limitations, including slight highlight clipping in some scenes and the occasional stutter when the menu is opened during playback, do little to detract from the overall value.

The Dangbei MP1 Max is an excellent choice for users who want a bright, flexible, and feature-rich projector capable of handling movies, streaming, gaming, and Blu-ray with impressive color fidelity and solid audio.

Measurements

Brightness. The Dangbei MP1 Max is rated for 3,100 ISO lumens. Using our 9-sector average measurement for each picture mode and power modes, the brightest mode in SDR was Game mode measuring 3,084 ANSI lumens in the High Performance power mode, only 0.5% less than its claim. In HDR, the brightest mode, Custom, measured 3,050 ANSI lumens in the High Performance power mode. As this mode is far too green and noisy to be used unless in anything less than the most extreme of ambient light circumstances, you will most likely be using the Standard power mode during daytime hours, and possibly ECO at night if you find it to be too bright.

In the Standard power mode, the brightest modes for both SDR and HDR were their Game modes. SDR's Game mode yielded 2,751 ANSI lumens, while HDR's Game mode measured 2,379 ANSI lumens. It was the same in ECO, with both SDR and HDR's Game modes being 1,924 ANSI lumens.

If you have a very bright room, you might want to pair it with an ambient light rejecting or ceiling light projecting screen, depending on where the light is coming from. It's not totally necessary, but you might enjoy the results of the pairing.

Dangbei MP1 Max Lumens

SDR	Standard	ECO	Custom	High Performance
Standard	2,007	1,512	1,962	2,712
Natural	1,992	1,522	1,977	3,029
Vivid	2,113	1,654	2,113	3,053
Movie	1,720	1,335	1,716	2,415
Game	2,751	1,924	1,963	3,038
Custom	2,014	1,529	1,963	3,038
HDR	Standard	ECO	Custom	High Performance
Standard	1,949	1,535	2,003	3,003
Natural	1,936	1,519	1,939	3,047
Vivid	2,096	1,654	2,097	3,044
Movie	1,679	1,307	1,680	2,423
Game	2,379	1,924	2,383	2,985
Custom	1,956	1,511	1,984	2,050

Zoom Lens Light Loss. The Dangbei MP1 Max has a fixed focal length, so there is no light loss.

Brightness Uniformity. The brightness uniformity of the MP1 Max was quite good, whether projecting SDR or HDR content. In SDR, the brightness uniformity was 83%, while in HDR it was 82%. The brightest sector of the screen in SDR was the bottom center, and the dimmest was the bottom left. The brightest sector of the screen in HDR was the bottom center, and the dimmest was the top right. I saw no visually detectable hotspots or dimming.

Fan Noise. Dangbei claims 24 dBa for the MP1 Max's fan noise in a lab setting. My testing room's noise floor is 30.5 dBA, which is higher than the conditions you would get in a controlled lab environment. Measuring the MP1 Max at approximately three feet away from multiple locations the audible noise measured:

Standard
Left - 30.9 dBA
Right - 31.0 dBA
Front - 31.6 dBA
Rear - 31.5 dBA

ECO
Left - 30.7 dBA
Right - 31.0 dBA
Front - 31.5 dBA
Rear - 31.2 dBA

High Performance
Left - 48.1 dBA
Right - 46.7 dBA
Front - 47.9 dBA
Rear - 51.6 dBA

Input Lag. There is no official claim for the MP1 Max's latency. Input lag was measured using a Leo Bodnar 4K Lag Tester in Game picture mode with Game mode activated. At 35 ms, the projector is best suited to casual gamers playing single player RPGs, 3D platformers, party games, and online multiplayers. Call of Duty players most likely wouldn't enjoy the lag, but if you're playing games like Minecraft, Roblox, or Sea of Thieves, the projector is just fine for that.

Game Mode On
1080p @ 60Hz = 35 ms
4K @ 60Hz = 35 ms

Connections

• HDMI 2.1
• HDMI 2.1 (eARC)
• USB 2.0 Type-A
• 3.5mm Audio Jack
• DC-In (Power)

For more detailed specifications and connections, check out our Dangbei MP1 Max projector page.

To buy this projector, use Where to Buy online, or get a price quote by email direct from Projector Central authorized dealers using our E-Z Quote tool.

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