Wanbo Vali 1 Pro for CZK 5,499: Testing a budget projector, and these are my first impressions

In Alza’s discount catalogs, interesting projector deals often appear in high positions. We have also repeatedly reported on advantageous offers including models from the Chinese brand Wanbo, whose products are also popular on online marketplaces like AliExpress. This Black Friday, my flatmates and I purchased the Vali 1 Pro model for CZK 5,499, and before a detailed review comes out, I would like to share at least my initial impressions. I can immediately reveal that after watching the first movie, I was pleasantly surprised.

The projector replaced a TV that wouldn’t fit in the room

It all started with the idea of shared movie nights. Even before we lived together, I used to go to the cinema quite often with my three friends – we watched a range of titles from Oppenheimer to Bullet Train and often discussed them afterwards. However, for the past year, it has been almost impossible for us to meet directly in a large hall, so we came up with the idea of setting up a cinema at home.

Initially, I wasn’t too keen on buying a projector. I was quite sure I would want to watch content during the day and in higher resolution, for which a TV would be much better suited. I even had the opportunity to get a 75″ model at a very friendly price (around 8 thousand crowns), but in the end, the whole plan ran into a space-related problem. We have nowhere to put a TV in our small student apartment, and drilling into the wall became a complication for various reasons that we didn’t want to undertake.

So we ended up back with the original idea of turning the free wall above my bed into a movie screen. We decided to wait for Black Friday, planning to order a projector in the price range of roughly three to six thousand, and ultimately chose the WANBO Vali 1 Pro. Instead of CZK 6,999, it now costs CZK 5,499, and when this amount is divided among four people, each of us spends less than for ten discounted cinema tickets.

Brightness was the main criterion

When choosing a projector, brightness was the main criterion for me, as it typically represents one of the main pitfalls of cheaper models. If you underestimate it and don’t completely darken the room where you intend to watch content, the image quality will suffer significantly – colors will be faded, and you might even prefer to sacrifice size and return to a computer monitor. I didn’t want the projector to be just a winter toy, when it gets dark early, but rather something I would enjoy using throughout the year.

In the case of WANBO Vali 1 Pro, the manufacturer states 900 ANSI lumens (650 ISO lumens) on paper, which is certainly not a top-tier value compared to models costing tens of thousands, but in this price range, it is still an above-average high number. Many similarly priced competitors commonly promise around 260 to 500 ANSI lumens, which might not be enough before complete darkness.

First impressions: nice build quality and better picture than I expected

Upon unboxing the WANBO Vali 1 Pro, I was impressed by the build quality. The projector is entirely designed in a pleasant beige color, which fits nicely into our home, furnished primarily with light furniture, and utilizes a stand with a 200° range. This allows it to project images not only conventionally onto a wall but also onto the ceiling. Since it is not equipped with a separate battery, it requires constant connection to the electrical grid.

The WANBO Vali 1 Pro runs on Google TV system, and immediately after pairing the remote control, an option popped up on my Pixel 9 Pro XL to connect the projector with my phone. Each household member can add their own Google account to the interface, so we won’t mess up each other’s YouTube algorithm. Of course, there is also support for popular streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, or Oneplay, and thousands of other applications that you can install from the Play Store.

And now to the projection itself. I have only tested the projector after dark so far, but even then, the video quality pleasantly surprised me. The image in native FullHD resolution appears sharp, and the automatic focus and keystone correction functions incredibly simplify the setup. Color reproduction is far beyond expectations, and in the settings, it is also possible to switch to a different color profile and manually adjust presets like brightness, contrast, or sharpness.

Regarding the sound, I initially feared we would have to buy a dedicated soundbar, but after approximately three hours of watching, I don’t see it so dimly anymore. The audio, of course, corresponds to the fact that the projector is half a meter above my head and also above two shelves, but the speakers themselves seem quite decent. However, I still intend to pay more attention to them before the review is published.

In the coming weeks, I plan to get to know the projector better, and the result will be a review with a more comprehensive description of its individual features and a final evaluation. In the Community, you can ask me anything you’d like to know about the WANBO Vali 1 Pro for now.

What is your experience with projectors?