HAVIT Smart Projector PJ209 Pro 1080P
design
The HAVIT PJ209 Pro arrives in packaging that does the job without any unnecessary theatrics. At just under 1.5kg and measuring 246x203x96mm, it’s compact enough to shift between rooms without much fuss—though you’ll do well to conceal it when it’s sitting on a coffee table. You can get it fully out of the way if you want; the PJ209 Pro is happy to be ceiling mounted with software settings to flip the picture. Projection size ranges from 43 to 220 inches with a throw distance of 1.5 to 6.9 metres, and manual keystone correction offers ±15° vertical adjustment, which is all fairly standard for this tier of projector.
The overall aesthetic is minimalist and inoffensive—it does the job but it’s unlikely to win any design awards. Build quality is… adequate? Smoothly textured plastic dominates, and whilst it doesn’t exactly feel premium, it doesn’t feel worryingly cheap either. It’s functional, occasionally slightly awkward, but ultimately gets the job done. In the box you’ll find the projector itself, a power cord, the lesser-spotted AV cable, an HDMI cable, and a remote control. Batteries for the remote aren’t included, naturally, because that would be much too convenient and generous apparently.
On the flip side, connectivity is actually decent for the money: dual HDMI ports, two USB slots, AV input, and a 3.5mm audio jack give you plenty of options. It’s got WiFi built in alongside Bluetooth 4.2, the latter being quite a nice touch for a budget projector and unlocking the ability to sync wireless controllers for cloud gaming.
performance
If you’re reasonably new to the world of projectors like I am, we need to address the glowing elephant in the room first: brightness. It’s make or break for projectors and it’s important to get the numbers right. HAVIT claims “8500 lumens” in some parts of its marketing material—that sounds like a retina-burning amount, great! That’s a slightly cheeky measure though, because the actual ANSI number is just 350 lumens, which puts the HAVIT PJ209 Pro firmly on the dimmer end of the spectrum.
What does 350 ANSI lumens actually mean day to day? Well, you’ll realistically need a properly dark room to really enjoy what the PJ209 Pro can spit out. Not overcast-day levels of dark—I’m talking lights off, curtains shut, mainly at night kinds of dark. Any ambient light and the image starts washing out, losing punch and watchability in equal measure. For reference, ideally you’d be wanting somewhere north of 1,000 ANSI lumens for top-level performance in a dark room, and probably pushing beyond 2,000 for daytime viewing. When you stack the HAVIT PJ209 Pro up against those benchmarks, you start to see the gulf appearing between this budget option and premium projectors.
The native 1920×1080 resolution is genuine, mind you, which is something of a rarity in this price range and should be commended. Many budget projectors claim 1080p “support” but run native resolutions far lower. The HAVIT PJ209 Pro does the opposite, delivering actual Full HD with support for 4K content. With a 1500:1 contrast ratio, images are reasonably crisp and detailed—provided you’ve got that room darkness sorted. In testing I was happy enough with the picture; it’s not as eye-catching as something like the Philips GamePix 900, but for a quarter of the price I wouldn’t expect it to be either.
Where things did get frustrating is the auto keystone and screen alignment. In my testing, these features were inconsistent and annoying a lot of the time. While it’s nice to see automatic features in a budget projector, the system felt prone to buggy behaviour, occasionally producing bizarre results or refusing to calibrate altogether. The auto focus, however, worked fine and was both quick and effective at getting things sharp.
The built-in Android TV 9 system is both a blessing and a curse. On the plus side, having streaming apps baked in means you can access Netflix, YouTube, and other services without plugging in a separate streaming stick. That’s a nice value add and something I missed badly with the GamePix 900. The downside? Android TV 9 launched in 2018, making it decidedly long in the tooth. The projector’s 1GB of RAM also struggles a little with modern apps, leading to occasional sluggishness that I can only see getting worse over time.
The dual 5W speakers are functional but nothing to write home about and will likely want supplementing in some way. They’re adequate for casual viewing in a quiet room, but if you’re after that “cinema experience” HAVIT references, you’ll want external speakers or headphones. The projector does operate quietly though—the claimed ≤30dB noise level seems accurate, and fan noise wasn’t intrusive during testing.
summed up
The HAVIT PJ209 Pro occupies an awkward middle ground in the budget projector market. At around £200, it’s more expensive than absolute bare-bones options but significantly cheaper than anything approaching “good.” What you get for that money is native 1080p resolution, built-in Android TV (albeit an outdated version), and enough connectivity options to keep most setups happy.
What you don’t get is sufficient brightness for anything other than a properly darkened room, reliable auto-correction features, or particularly smooth software performance. The 350 ANSI lumens will severely limit when and where you can use this projector, and the buggy keystone correction undermines what should be a convenience feature.
For someone seeking an occasional-use projector for dedicated movie nights in a controlled environment, the HAVIT PJ209 Pro might suffice. The built-in streaming apps are handy, and the native 1080p resolution means you’re at least getting proper Full HD when conditions are right. Make no mistake: this isn’t a bad projector, but it’s not a particularly impressive one either. It’s perfectly adequate—though generally, if you’re looking for a wall filled with movies and gaming, you’d be hoping for more than that.
