Projectors Tests Reviews

Wanbo X5 Pro: test/review

Published on: 07-11-2025 / Modified: 07-11-2025

I test projectors in all price categories to get a good overview of what's available and also to be able to provide advice in all price ranges. I have, however, taken my foot off the pedal a little on entry-level LCD projectors, because these are all built with the same type of material and so the results are almost always the same too. This Wanbo X5 Pro falls into this category of entry-level projectors using LCD technology, but I decided to test it for several reasons. The first is that I haven't tested a Wanbo projector in quite some time, so I'm curious to see how they've evolved. Secondly, I can think of a few factors which, in theory, could tip the balance in favor of this projector over another of its kind. Let's find out in this new test

Where to buy?

Wanbo X5 Pro / Wanbo.cn

Price Wanbo X5 Pro

Not yet available / tested

Timeline

07/11/2025: receipt of the Wanbo X5 Pro from the official website. I think the test should be complete by November 23, 2025. I will publish my results progressively.

Why this projector?

I haven't tested a Wanbo projector for at least 2 years. Back then, these projectors were rather dim and noisy, but fortunately things have changed. LCD projectors of this type are all designed in more or less the same way, and it's mainly their outward appearance that sets them apart. Some brands, however, manage to stand out by offering projectors with an official version of Android TV and native Netflix compatibility, for example

I'm not really expecting any big surprises from a technical point of view with this projector, but a few things in the specifications intrigued me. Wanbo claims a native contrast of 3000:1, which is huge, curious to see if this will be the case. Brightness doesn't look too bad either. The announced operating noise is also very low. I also see the mention of extended gamut. I wonder how an LCD projector of this type could achieve a gamut higher than REC709, but maybe I'll be surprised.

Unpacking

If you look for projectors of this type on Aliexpress or similar sites, you'll find something to suit every taste and color. Wanbo, however, manages to distinguish itself right from the packaging with a neat, high-quality approach. The box contains the projector, a remote control and a power cable - the bare minimum.

Operating system

When I started up this projector, I found myself in an interface provided by Wanbo with a choice of language and country, only to find myself on a Google TV interface where I again had to choose my language and country. It's an unusual mix, as if the Google TV interface were loaded inside another interface. The initial configuration follows that of Google TV, so I imagine it's an official version like the others, because I didn't notice any problems afterwards.

Being able to use Google TV is an advantage because many projectors of this type run on an exotic version of Android and will therefore be limited by the number of compatible applications and could quite quickly stop receiving updates.

Finish

Not yet available / tested

Projection room

My projection room is rectangular, 4.6m by 2.9m (height 2.2m). I have two projection walls, one white wall 2.9m wide with just white paint with a possible 4m setback. I then have a 133 inch ALR screen on another wall with a possible setback of 2.8m. I mainly use the ALR screen except when the layout or type of projector is not suitable for this situation.

Battery autonomy

Not yet available / tested

Power consumption

I measured power consumption at around 120 watts with a white screen lit to maximum. Although this 120 watt figure cannot be considered high, it is a little too high for the brightness level (in lumens) of this projector. With other technologies, like laser for example, I can get an image 2 to 3 times brighter with half the consumption

The projector also rejects a fair amount of heat at the rear. This isn't too much of a problem if the projector is behind you, but if it's in front of you, you'll need a little extra heating.

Operating noise

I measured an operating noise of just over 40 decibels close to the projector, and the operating noise is still very audible at 1 meter from the projector. It's clearly not the loudest projector in its class, but its operating noise is very noticeable

Image quality

The image produced by the Wanbo X5 Pro is not of excellent quality, but that doesn't mean it's not watchable. With a few adjustments, you can improve color fidelity and obtain something quite watchable. If I had to use an analogy to explain my feelings about image quality, I'd compare this projector to an analog TV of the past, compared with an Oled TV of today. This projector isn't designed to deliver a faithful cinematic experience, it's designed to deliver a great picture with watchable image quality. For those of us old enough to watch TV in the 90s, it was a bit like that, and no one complained. It won't change the story told by your movies and TV series, the image will just be a little bland and deviate on certain colors.

Colorimetry

More explanations on colorimetry

Measuring color fidelity (colorimetry) is not a subjective question, it is something completely measurable. This measurement is carried out with a device (colorimeter, spectrometer, ...) which measures the difference between the real color and the displayed color. This difference is expressed in delta E (abbreviation: dE). A dE greater than 3 indicates a deviation perceptible to the human eye.

The dE must therefore be as low as possible but projectors rarely have a dE lower than 3 out of the box. They are often between 5 and 10, only a calibration can correctly adjust the colors.

For a perfect calibration, you must call a professional. I give you my parameters which correspond to my situation. These settings might work for your situation but it is not a guarantee, so take them as an indication of the direction to follow.

The colorimetry of this type of projector is never good, and Wanbo doesn't do any better or worse than the others. All these entry-level LCD projectors use the same hardware, so they have the same restrictions. So, inevitably, there's significant color deviation and limited color coverage. The Wanbo website claims a wide gamut, but I wonder what this claim is based on, because we're clearly in a narrow gamut with 63% coverage of the REC709 space. This means that of all the colors normally available for TV content, the Wanbo (and others of its type) is only capable of rendering 63% of these colors

What does this mean for you as a user? There are three visible consequences:

- a significant deviation on certain colors

- duller colors

- bands of solid colors that will appear where an LED or laser projector can display a gradation of color

Is this serious? For this price range no, it's all the same. There are better projectors on the market, but they're more expensive.

If I take the standard configuration, for example, I get this for color measurement:

R corresponds to the reference color

M corresponds to the measured color

delta E measures the difference between these two measurements, and delta E should ideally be less than 3.

White tends towards blue. Red, green, magenta and blue are bland. Yellow is greenish. I'm getting an average delta of over 10 here

If I look at the greys, it's much the same:

The greys deviate sharply and turn blue at just about every level

Again, I repeat, Wanbo is no better or worse than most other LCDs

I played around with the settings a bit to see if I could salvage the sauce, but the possibilities are pretty limited. I managed to improve the situation but not enough to make up for all the deviations

Here's the result for colors:

White is perfect, that's something. Red deteriorates a little but most other colors improve, I no longer have a delta E above 10 and I get an average delta E of around 6

For grays, it's still complicated:

There's also an improvement, there's no longer a blue tint as before calibration, but the gap is still quite large

To obtain the same result, I share my settings in the image settings section. Please note that these settings are valid for my screen, so the result may be a little different for you

What about HDR? This type of projector is not designed for optimal HDR rendering, as the color space used is too small. At 63% REC709, HDR won't be properly exploited and colors will be bland.

Image Settings
To obtain a white that's closer to the norm, and therefore a more accurate colorimetry, you need to choose the "custom" mode in the image parameters and then make the following choices:

- sharply reduce the blue in the color temperature (up to +/- 30 depending on your screen)

- increase the red a little (up to +/- 60 depending on your screen)

- slightly reduce the green by two or three notches maximum

Then increase the brightness to 62 and reduce the contrast to 43

With this setting, I obtained a white delta E of less than 1. If the white seems a little too warm, you can turn up the blue a little, but perfect white is often perceived as a little yellow by the eye, so it's not a big problem in itself if the effect is too visible.

Brightness

More explanations on brightness

The brightness for a projector is absolutely crucial. The brightness is measured in ANSI lumens and the values provided by the manufacturer are very often higher than reality.

I measure the brightness with a lux meter and I convert my measurements into ANSI lumens in relation to the projection surface. You thus obtain a real value.

A video projector, even if it is bright, cannot compete with a television. The contribution of light (natural or artificial) will have the effect of drastically reducing the contrast of your image. With a brightness lower than 1000 ANSI lumens, the projector must be used in total darkness.

The Wanbo X5 Pro has a theoretical brightness of 1000 ANSI luemns, and as is often the case, the reality is very different. I measured brightness ranging from 221 lumens in soft mode to 514 lumens in bright mode. This is far from the advertised value, and this projector can only be used in total darkness. The image will of course still be visible in daylight, but this will be at the expense of a very significant loss of contrast

Beyond the lumens measurement, I also note that brightness is not uniform and there are two main reasons for this:

- peripheral brightness is lower, which is almost always the case with this type of projector

- brightness variations are not uniform, as you can see in the following image. Dark areas are not present in a circular fashion from the center of the image

This phenomenon is also frequently present on this type of projector, as the optical block is not surgically precise in this price zone. This variation in brightness will only be visible when the image stops on an identical color. In principle, this is hardly the case for film, but you may notice the differences in certain static scenes.

Sharpness

I evaluate image sharpness with several test images. If I start with the one displaying text, I can see that some areas are less sharp, and this corresponds to my observation on brightness uniformity. This kind of projector often has a degradation of sharpness at the periphery, but here this degradation is not progressive

If I now look at my other image with horizontal and vertical bars separated by one pixel, I see the same thing. I notice irregularities within certain zones, which again confirms that the optical block is not quite uniform. For a moving image, it's not really noticeable, but it's especially for text that it could have a greater impact

Contrast

More explanations on contrast

Contrast (on/off) is used to measure the difference between white and black. This measurement gives an indication of the ability of a projector to produce a good rendering in dark scenes.

A contrast lower than 500:1 should be considered as a very low contrast and the consequence will be especially visible in dark scenes where you will lose details. This is less of a problem for sports, bright films or even cartoons.

A low contrast ratio does not mean that a projector is not usable, you just have to be aware that for films like Aliens, dark scenes will no longer allow you to distinguish details.

The Wanbo X5 Pro has a theoretical contrast of 3000:1, but the reality is quite different here too. I measured a native contrast of between 640:1 in soft mode and 1480:1 in bright and standard mode. With a contrast of 1480:1, we have here something that holds up well and it's a value quite similar to what I've obtained with other projectors of this type. With the Batman image, it's clear that the image is quite watchable in dark areas. This Wanbo X5 Pro will therefore enable you to watch dark films or series in perfectly acceptable conditions. It's obviously a long way from the 3000:1 contrasts found on top-of-the-range triple-laser displays, but the price is also 10x lower, so that's to be expected

Motion compensation

Image size and projection distance

More explanations on the projection distance

The projection distance determines the size of the image and the size of the image is determined by the projector's throw ratio. If a projector has a throw ratio of 1.2, it will have an image width of 83 cm with possibly a gray border.

The distance also plays a role in the brightness because the brightness decreases with the square of the distance. A projector placed at 4 meters will therefore lose 4 times more brightness than a projector placed at 2 meters.

Keystone image correction does not modify the projection cone, it resizes the image inside the projection cone. This means that in the event of a significant correction, you will see a large gray border appear around your image.

This projector has a projection ratio of 1.25, which means you'll get an image 80 cm wide for every meter of distance from your screen. At 2 meters, you'll get an image 160 cm wide. With this level of brightness (I'm basing it on 500 lumens to make the calculation easier), you can get a maximum screen size of 95 inches without considering HDR. I'm not taking HDR into account because, in any case, this projector doesn't have a wide enough color space to properly reproduce HDR.

Screen choice

Given the price level of this projector, I don't specifically recommend a screen, but if you don't have a sufficiently white or uniform projection surface, I can only recommend a white screen. You can find very decent screens for around a hundred euros. I regularly use a Vevor screen, for example, and although it has a slight colorimetric drift, it reproduces the image quite well.

Audio quality

More explanations on audio quality

I use several types of music tracks to illustrate the sound quality of the projector but the rendering will always be limited by the recording device. Since I always use the same device, you will be able to compare the difference on the same basis.

I regularly use well-known songs protected by copyright to illustrate the sound quality of a video projector. It therefore sometimes happens that YouTube decides to block my videos for these reasons. In this case, you can listen to the soundtracks directly on YouTube and hope that YouTube has not completely blocked my channel.

I wasn't expecting much in the way of audio, because projectors of this type are rarely good on the sound front. I was positively surprised, the sound is really good for a projector of this price. Obviously, the quality isn't as good as Harman Kardon speakers on an XGIMI, but the speakers deliver good bass frequencies and the highs aren't too saturated. I've included a 3-minute soundtrack in the video, which I'll publish a little later with this article.

Video games

Encoutered bugs

Not yet available / tested

ALR/CLR Projection screen

Are you looking for a good ALR/CLR screen for your projector? I may have what you need:
ALR/CLR NothingProjector Screen

Test / Review conclusion

The Wanbo X5 Pro belongs to the entry-level LCD category, and within this category there are many, many projectors. The vast majority are built in the same way, so they have the same qualities and the same shortcomings. The main reason to buy this type of projector is price, because they won't stand out for image quality. Other factors such as brightness, optical block uniformity, sound quality or operating system should therefore help you make a choice. How will this Wanbo X5 Pro stand out from the crowd? Here are a few hints

If I take up the arguments put forward by Wanbo, I have to say that most of them are incorrect, as is unfortunately often the case with this type of projector. That's not to say that everything is bad, it's just that you have to be aware of certain limitations. Most tests of projectors of this type are limited to subjective experience, so they don't pick up on these discrepancies, and this gives no real indication of what you can expect from a projector of this type. At the risk of sounding like a wet blanket, I'll go the other way

Claimed brightness 1100 lumens, measured brightness max 514 lumens

Claimed contrast 3000:1, measured contrast 1480:1

✅ Google TV: effectively present with native Netflix compatibility

26 db operating noise, 42 db measured at close range, still more than 35 at 1 meter

✅ 1080p ok

HDR10, yes the projector is able to read this format but unable to render full colors

✅ Auto focus, auto keystone, yes and it works quite well

✅ Supports 4k, yes can read 4k files but renders 1080p

So you need to be aware of these elements when buying a projector of this type. My conclusion is almost always the same when I test an LCD projector. This projector is often available for less than 300€, which is probably the strongest argument in favor of this projector. You won't find an LED (better picture) projector in this price category with this kind of brightness and contrast. The closest you'll find is XGIMI's Mogo range, but these projectors are less bright and have lower contrast. You have to go up to around €400 to start finding credible alternatives in the world of LED projectors.

This result is entirely in line with what you'd expect from a projector in this price range, and it's the price that will justify its purchase. The technology used doesn't allow you to do much better anyway. This is an entry-level projector for those who want a great picture without breaking the bank. It will involve some sacrifices in image quality, but for a non-demanding audience, the big-picture advantage will take over.

Strengths

Brightness for 95-inch images

Contrast

Input lag

Sound power for projector size

Google TV with Netflix compatibility

Price

Finish

Auto keystone correction and sharpness

Sound quality

Weaknesses

Colorimetry

Limited color space

Operating noise

Power consumption a little too high

Image uniformity

LAURENT WILLEN
Head of myself on this blog

I share my passions on my blog in my free time since 2006, I prefer that to watching nonsense on TV or on social networks. I work alone, I am undoubtedly one of the last survivors of the world of blogs and personal sites.

My speciality? Digital in all its forms. I have spent the last 25 years working for multinationals where I managed digital teams and generated revenues of over €500 million per year. I have expertise in telecoms, media, aviation, travel and tourism.