Anker Nebula X1 vs Hisense PX3-Pro: Long-Throw or Laser TV?

On the numbers this is not a close fight, and we should say so plainly before explaining why you might still buy the projector that loses it.

The Anker Nebula X1 measures brighter (3,074 to 3,491 ANSI against the PX3-Pro's 2,700 to 3,400), matches or beats it on native contrast (up to 6,432:1 against up to 6,350:1, which is close enough to call even), runs the same Google TV, and sells for around $2,199 against $3,499. The PX3-Pro also wants a matched ambient-light-rejecting screen to look its best, which adds several hundred dollars more. Spec for spec and dollar for dollar, the X1 wins.

And yet the PX3-Pro is the right projector for a lot of people, because it answers a question the X1 cannot answer at all: where does this thing go?

An ultra-short-throw laser TV sits on a console, inches from the wall, and throws an 80 to 150-inch image. No ceiling mount. No HDMI cable running the length of the room. No one walking through the beam on their way to the kitchen. It is furniture. It replaces the television, and it looks like it belongs where the television was. The X1 is a long-throw projector: it needs to be roughly nine feet back, on a table or a shelf or a mount, with power and signal reaching it, and someone standing up will cast a shadow.

That is the entire decision, and it has almost nothing to do with picture quality.

Where the PX3-Pro does win on merit is HDR coverage and gaming. It supports every format including HDR10+ (the X1 skips it), it measures near-full BT.2020 with ΔE around 0.9, and it is the first 'Designed for Xbox' UST with a 240Hz low-latency mode. The X1 is locked to 60Hz. If you game, that is a real gap.