The Dangbei Mars Pro is a 4K UHD laser projector with smart features at a highly competitive price. You'll love for casual gaming and entertainment. In our tests, it struggled with auto keystone and autofocus, but with a few adjustments, the over image quality was more than satisfying. You'll appreciate its quiet operation, strong out-of-the-box sound, powered by two 10W speakers, and excellent brightness.

Specifications
  • Brand : Dangbei
  • Color: 4K, HDR 10, HLG
  • Wattage: 135w
  • Brightness Rating : 3200 ANSI Lumens
  • Mounting Type: Tripod (1/4-inch thread), table top
  • Built-in Speaker: Dual 10W speakers, Dolby Audio compatibility, DTS-HD Sound
  • Native Resolution: True 4K (3840 x 2160P) Ultra HD
  • Max Screen Size : 300 inches wide (762cm)
  • Projection Technology: Advanced ALPD Laser Technology
  • Throw Ratio: 1.27:1
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or Bluetooth 5.0 (speaker)
  • Ports: 2 x HDMI (1 x eARC), Audio (3.5mm), 2x USB 2.0, DC IN, Audio, LAN, S/PDIF
  • Size: 9.68 x 8.22 x 6.81 inches (24.7 x 20.87 x 17.3 cm)
  • Weight: 10lbs (4.6kg)
  • OS: Android 9 with Dangbei's custom Emotn UI
  • RAM: 4GB
  • Storage: 128GB
Pros
  • Whisper quiet operation
  • Great brightness at 3,200 ANSI lumens
  • Great image quality with deep blacks and bright colors
  • Powerful 10W speakers and virtual surround sound
  • Intelligent obstacle detection and eye protection
  • Self-cleaning
  • Excellent value
  • 20ms latency in gaming mode
Cons
  • Unreliable auto keystone that yields warped images
  • Poor auto focus that requires frequent resetting
  • Lamp light leak when using extreme keystone (normal)
  • Weight makes it unsuitable for use with a tripod
Buy This Product

If you've been holding off on getting a projector because you think they're loud, expensive, and produce poor image quality, you need to reconsider. Many new projectors deliver stunning image quality, built-in speakers that sound great, and advanced features for easy operation. One of them is the Dangbei Mars Pro, a 4K UHD projector that's whisper-quiet and offers premium features on a budget.

We'll help you determine whether it's the right fit for your home entertainment setup.

Who Is Dangbei?

Dangbei is a relatively new brand and not well-known in the west, which might make you question its legitimacy. Between its founding in 2013 and its venture into projector design in 2018, the company morphed from being a TV network platform into developing large-screen operating systems for clients such as Sony and LG. Today, Dangbei has an 80% market share in large-screen applications and is among the top three projector brands in China. In 2021, the Dangbei Smart TV Box Z1 Pro won multiple international prizes, including the Reddot Design Award and the IAI Global Design Award.

What's in the Box?

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Unboxed

The Dangbei Mars Pro 4K laser projector comes with a remote control, a power brick and cable, a microfiber lens cleaning cloth, an instruction manual, and a sticky washer that you should paste to the projector's mounting hole before using the bracket.

Dangbei Mars Pro Design

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Top and Front View

The projector itself is a compact cube with an aluminum chassis and smooth 2.5D glass covering its top. Unless your projector is level, don't accidentally place the remote control on top, or it will inevitably slide off the slippery surface.

You'll find one 10W speaker featuring Dolby Digital Plus and DTS Studio Sound technology on each side, input/output ports on the back, a PTZ socket and four non-slip feet at the bottom, a touch-sensitive on/off button and an ambient light sensor on top, and a laser light source capable of 3,200 ANSI lumens facing forward.

Although it has a standard 1/4-inch thread for mounting on a tripod, we wouldn't recommend this setup. At 10 pounds (4.6kg), it's quite heavy, requiring a heavy-duty tripod. Even a sturdy tripod, however, might not buffer small amounts of movements, which will trigger the slightly over-sensitive auto keystone mode.

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Bottom With Anti Slip Feet

When used on a flat surface, the projector sits on four height-adjustable feet. When you take out the feet entirely, you'll have a total of four screw sockets, one of them being the threaded hole, for mounting it on a shelf or the ceiling.

Input and Output Ports

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Backside Ports

The Dangbei Mars Pro features two HDMI ports, one of which supports the HDMI 2.1 standard and eARC. Two USB-A ports let you connect external devices like a game console or streaming stick, you can connect your speakers or sound system using the S/PDIF optical audio port, or simply plug in a pair of headphones using the 3.5 mm audio jack, though you could also pair them via Bluetooth. The LAN port ensures your projector has a stable internet connection, but note that it only supports 100 Mbps, while Wi-Fi supports 1 Gbps.

Throw Ratio and Projection Size

The Mars Pro has a throw ratio of 1.27:1, which makes it a long-throw, rather than a short or ultra short throw projector. The throw ratio tells you the image width you can expect, depending on how far you place the projector the screen. In this case, at a 1.27m (4.2 feet) distance from the screen, the Mars Pro will give you an image width of 1m (50 inches). The Mars Pro supports projection screen sizes from 30 to 300 inches (76.2cm to 7.62m). Dangbei recommends a projection distance of 11.15 feet (3.4m).

Note that the above assumes that your projector is placed to project straight ahead. When you project at an angle and use keystone correction, your resulting image will be distorted, losing clarity and resolution. You'll also see a noticeable grey border around your image, which can be distracting during dark scenes.

Image Quality

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K vs XGIMI Horizone Pro Projectors Colors and Brightness

The Mars Pro is packed with technology to produce great image quality. Images are crisp and color reproduction is excellent, with deep blacks and bright colors. The ALPD (Advanced Laser Phosphor Display) technology can yield 3,200 ANSI lumens, which is suitable for daylight projection, as long as you don't have direct sun exposure.

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Color Reproduction

In terms of brightness, we compared the Mars Pro's with the XGIMI Horizon Pro, which advertises 2,200 ANSI lumens. In dark settings, the brightness seems about the same, but the Mars Pro shines in daylight settings. However, you have to keep in mind that ANSI lumens are somewhat subjective and notoriously unreliable in predicting actual brightness.

On the inside, the Mars Pro is powered by a 0.47" UHD DMD DLP chip which, according to Texas Instruments' spec sheet, yields a resolution of 4K UHD or 3,840 x 2,160 pixels (16:9). This specific chip actually doesn't output real 4K, but, paired with XPR technology, it's a good enough 4K approximation for the human eye. The major downside of 4K DLP projection is that the pixel-shifting XPR technology requires extreme precision, or it will produce blurry 4K images. We didn't notice blur with our review model, but your mileage may vary.

At its native 4K resolution, it runs at a 60Hz refresh rate. If you reduce the resolution to 1080p, however, you can run it at 120Hz. Unfortunately, we don't have gaming consoles on hand to explore this aspect of the projector. To test the projector's latency, we played Overcooked (a co-op game) on PC and didn't completely lose our minds. In Game Mode, the Mars Pro has a low latency of up to 20ms. Anything less than 50ms is sufficient for casual gaming; 20ms is well above average for a projector.

Sound Quality

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Left Side

The Mars Pro's two 10W speakers, one on each side, feature Dolby Digital Plus and DTS surround sound. The speakers are powerful enough for home use, and we didn't notice distortion at higher volumes. Of course, virtual surround sound can't compete with a proper sound system or even a basic soundbar. Fortunately, you can plug in external speakers to yield a more high-end audio experience.

What stands out is how quiet the projector itself is. Even with the cooling fans running, you can barely hear them. Note that the fans suck in air from the projector's right side and expel it on the left side.

Auto Focus and Auto Keystone

If you're going to mount the projector at an angle to its projection surface, auto keystone is essential. The Mars Pro does have this capability, but it didn't always work very well. We use the same projection angle we used for the XGIMI Horizon Pro, another projector with auto keystone, and the Mars Pro consistently struggles to find a good alignment.

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Auto Keystone Red Box

Even with the "red box pattern" firmly within the limits of our projection screen, it often settles on a tilted projection, which we have to correct manually.

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Manual Keystone

The same is true for its autofocus mode. We have a slightly uneven projection screen, so it's difficult to get an image that's completely in focus. This is something many projectors struggle with, though the XGIMI Horizon Pro magically managed to produce entirely sharp projections every time.

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Auto Focus

With the Mars Pro, we have to go into manual focus mode to achieve a sharp projection.

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Manual Focus

This would be a minor inconvenience if the projector remembered its setting between viewing sessions. However, the projector resets its focus mode every time it's turned off, and, while turned on, even the slightest movement prompts it to jump back into auto keystone and autofocus mode, meaning you have to re-adjust both since it rarely gets it right. That said, if you can mount the projector on the ceiling or place it on a sturdy shelf or table, rather than mounting it on a tripod, this shouldn't be an issue for you.

Remote Control

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Remote

In contrast to the premium build quality of the projector, the remote control is entirely made of plastic. While that does make it extra light, it also makes it feel a bit cheap. The remote takes two AAA batteries, which are not included.

A limited number of buttons mean that the controls are straightforward. We appreciated the mouse button, which activates mouse and scroll mode, though these features only work while using the projector's internal system.

Software and UI

The Dangbei Mars Pro runs on a custom version of Android 9. The interface is minimal and intuitive. Note that this projector is not officially licensed for Netflix, but you can find workarounds using a GMS (Google My Services) installer and Netflix unlock. We didn't use the projector's OS much and opted for hooking it up to a mini PC through HDMI. You could also plug in a TV stick.

The Mars Pro has a few neat built-in features, including eye protection and self-cleaning.

The inductive eye protection mode kicks in whenever the sensor detects an object or person entering the projection area. The light source immediately reduces brightness to prevent eye irritation. Projection in full brightness resumes as soon as the path is clear again.

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Inductive Eye Protection

Within the projector's menu, you can enter self-cleaning mode, which blows air through the ventilation outlet and inlet to clear it from dust.

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Dust Cleaning

This is a feature missing from many other projectors. Though you can manually remove the dust using canned air or a vacuum cleaner, it's more convenient to have it built into the projector.

Should You Buy the Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Laser Projector?

Dangbei Mars Pro 4K Front View

The Dangbei Mars Pro has a few things going for it: native 4K resolution, great image quality and brightness, beautiful design, and incredible value. It's fantastic for casual gaming and entertainment, and you'll struggle to find a projector with better specs at this price point.

On the downside, the finicky auto keystone means you should avoid it at all costs, and you might have to adjust the focus every time you turn the projector on.

Something we couldn't test is warranty and support. That said, Dangbei offers free shipping and distribution through Amazon in the US, a 15-day return period (full refund), and a 12 months warranty.