Today, I’ve brought you the best projector for under 200 dollars—a refreshed 2024’s model from GooDee, YG600. What is so special about the projector when it comes to a bright and clear display for a budget-friendly price? Let’s test and review it.
Those who don’t know about GooDee and its projectors should know how beautifully this manufacturer has established its brand, producing different projectors for an affordable price. Today, I’ve one of its popular models called YG600 in hand; let’s deep dive and see what it has to offer.
Pros & Cons: What do I think about the GooDee YG600?
What I like
- Its picture quality; bright and clear.
- A wide range of compatiblity and connectivity options.
- Easy to set up.
- Affordable.
- Amazing customer support.
What I don’t
- Its sound could be better.
Check The Latest Price On Amazon
Physical Appearance: The GooDee YG600
Gone are those when the physical appearance of a projector was not a considering factor. With that in mind, GooDee has done a great job and come up with a quite elegant, fully black design. The projector is neither large-sized nor small-sized, though it sits between, or better say, a mid-sized projector that measures (12×9.36×4.68) (wide, deep, thick) inches.
Even though it is a mid-sized projector, you won’t have any problem putting it into a carrying bag. It still maintains its portability above the bar. Like its dimensions, the weight of the projector is also somewhere between lightweight and heavyweight. For most people, it may be lightweight as it only weighs five pounds. However, if you ask me, I’d say it was a fair weight and normal size for transport.
For skinny guys looking for the lighter one, GooDee has the G500 HD video projector, weighs around three pounds, and measures (9.64×6.53×3.2) inches. However, you might have to compromise on its brightness as it’s not as bright as YG600. Keeping portability in mind, you have a great option for travel is the GooDee G500.
Design: Quite elegant design, comes in black color.
It’s a fully black plastic box housing lots of different ports, vents, and stuff like its logo (located on the top towards the back) and instructions. Using it for a couple of days, I could say it was easy to clean.
Its front left side boasts the control panel that includes several buttons and keystone dials, such as a source button, a power button, a rewind button, a menu button, and those typical four navigation buttons facing each other. However, these menu settings and controls are still out of the remote control range; the GY600 won’t let you access the control panel by the remote.
For cooling and airflow, its front and sides have vent holes. So when it comes to watching any content at full brightness, it won’t heat up; instead, it will maintain its coolness. Unlike other cheap projectors or the same priced projectors, The GoodDee YG600 doesn’t produce much noise. Yes, you heard it right. Even though you use it for any heavy-duty task, its fan noise won’t be that noticeable. However, it’s honest to say that it produces a soft noise in case of no content being played.
Its back has several connectivity inputs, such as two standard HDMI ports and a VGA port. You’ll also find USB ports, an audio jack, an AV port, and a slot for SD cards. Towards the down, you’ll see a power On/Off button with power input.
Brightness: How bright is it?
The projector boasts 6800 lux, a fairly good brightness for any video projector; though, it is average and above the mark for the price. Moreover, You don’t have to worry if outdoor use is in your mind as it handles a well-lit room easily. However, when it comes to daylight, you might need to worry a little as the sun has more lumens than the projector, lol. Still, the brightness of the projector is impressive for the price.
Contrast: Is it balanced?
Projector offers a 3000:1 contrast ratio. I found its brightness and contrast quite balanced; the projector produces an amazing image with good color accuracy. Moreover, the darkest and brightest tones can be seen on display. Overall, the contrast ratio is perfect for the price.
Picture Quality: What picture quality can you expect from the GooDee YG600?
As far as its built quality is concerned, it wins everyone’s heart. However, what about the picture quality? Considering the basics of the projector, it supports FullHD (1920x1080p) resolution, while it claims to be supported a partial HD (1280x768p) resolution natively. This native resolution is quite impressive for a projector that comes under 300 bucks.
Since most projectors carry a certain range of distances and screen sizes, The YG600 also has a limited range of screen sizes and distances where it projects the best. For example, at 4.9 feet, it will project up to 44 inches of screen size diagonally. Besides, it goes all the way up to 230 inches from 18 feet. Moreover, the projector’s recommended distance and screen size by GooDee is 10 feet and 98 inches, respectively. In this range, the YG600 gives you an optimal focus with optimum picture quality.
Those looking for a true full HD projector have GooDee BL98 1080P projector to take into account.
Keystone Correction: How simply can you position the projector?
It’s easy to position the projector, allowing you to set it off to the side, on the ground, on the table, or even upside down on the ceiling. It’s just a 15-degree adjustment that you do with its keystone control. Moreover, it can be adjusted in all directions. For a square image on the screen, you have the wheel located on top of the lens.
Sound: It comes with built-in 3-watt speakers
The projector comes with built-in 3-watt speakers—it’s a set of two speakers, offer limited volume but clear sound. However, there is no doubt that these projectors struggle to produce enough sound when it comes to a home theater. Therefore, looking for external speakers will be an ideal and smart choice for you. Or, choose the higher GoodDee’s higher model called YG600 comes with a pair of built-in 5-watt speakers.
Compatibility: What options do you get?
As with any projector, you get the standard HDMI connectivity option to connect your cable TV or other HDMI-enabled devices. Moreover, you can connect streaming sticks, such as Roku, Firestick, Chromecast, Apple TV, Etc. However, I won’t suggest using any streaming device or source playing 4K content, as the projector can’t downscale and lags a lot. Feeding up to 1080p is acceptable; projector downscales FullHD content without any problem.
Moreover, you can use USB-enabled devices as an input source to feed content, such as your hard drive and other flash drives. Besides, you can play videos directly from your SD card.
Another option to watch your favorite content on the projector is the typical one called mirroring, which displays the same content on both connected devices, such as your laptop and projector screen. The task requires nothing but your laptop—or the similar input source, to be configured for the dual-display.
Lamp Life: How long does it last?
The projector has a good lamp that promises up to 50,000 hours of use. For the price, I think it is an average lamp life you get. However, the company claims that it lasts up to 6 years of continuous use.
Mounting: The projector’s bottom includes holes
On the bottom, there are some M3-type holes for mounting. In order to mount the projector on a ceiling, you’ll have to remove the screw caps covering the mounting holes. In case of upside-down mounting, don’t forget to invert the image using the menu.
Warranty: The GoodDee YG600
As far as the projector’s warranty is concerned, you have a 2-month of return policy, giving you and promising you a full refund in this initial return window. Moreover, its three years of warranty when anything goes wrong with the projector.
Final Verdict: What to expect from the GooDee YG600?
It’s all about the money you spend on a product; it’s not fair to expect high-end features from a budget-friendly projector. Still, GooDee offers unbelievable features, be it its picture quality or lamp life of up to 50,000 hours, at an affordable price.
Moreover, you’ll love watching videos with dark scenes, as its production of the darkest black is fantastic. The contrast and brightness of the projector is top-notch. However, there is room for improvement, including its sound and native resolution.
Keeping all of these key features in mind, I can say this projector is amazingly impressive. That’s why it is on my top 200 dollars video projectors list.
The brightness is subpar and there is no way to increase the brightness level.