Recommended Projectors for Toasty (Budget, Mid-Range & Laser)

Before the list, the most important thing: Toasty works on any projector. It runs entirely in a web browser, so there's no app to install and nothing special to buy. If a device can open a website — a projector, a smart TV, a laptop, a streaming stick, a spare monitor — it can run Toasty. The picks below just make a good thing nicer.

We've grouped our recommendations into three tiers: budget (great for a first try or a bedroom ceiling), mid-range (the sweet spot for most people), and laser (bright, big and built to last). Prices are approximate and move around — treat them as ballpark, not gospel. For the "why" behind the specs, see our companion guide on what to look for in a projector.

A quick word on what matters for Toasty

• Throw distance. Ceilings and walls are often close, so a short-throw lens fills more surface from less distance. Standard-throw is fine if you have room to back up.
• Brightness in context. Glowing trails and widgets pop best in a dark room, so you don't need a blinding unit for a bedroom. For a bright lounge or an event, go higher.
• Keystone & autofocus make pointing the image at an awkward angle painless — common even on cheap units now.
• A built-in browser or a streaming stick. Either lets you open your Toasty screen directly, with your phone as the remote.

Budget picks — under ~$150

Perfect for trying Toasty tonight, or for a kid's ceiling. In a dark room these punch well above their price.

• Magcubic HY300 Pro+ (~$60–80). The famous little cube. Auto-focus, auto keystone, built-in Android and a browser, and a body that tilts straight up — almost purpose-built for ceiling projection. Modest brightness, but in the dark it's genuinely fun and impossible to beat for the money.
• A 1080p-native auto-focus mini (~$100–150). Brands like TMY, WiMiUS and AuKing sell near-identical 1080p-native minis with auto-focus and auto-keystone. Look for native 1080p (not just "1080p supported") and a real autofocus step up from the cube.

The catch with ultra-cheap projectors: brightness and contrast claims are wildly inflated, and you'll want the lights off. That's fine for Toasty — but don't expect daytime movie nights.

Mid-range picks — ~$300–$900

This is the sweet spot: real brightness, smart software and a picture you'll happily leave running all evening.

• XGIMI MoGo 4 (~$400–500). A portable Google TV projector with a clever built-in stand that twists to aim — including straight up at a ceiling. Auto-focus, auto keystone, decent speakers, and a browser via Google TV. The most "grab it and point it anywhere" option here.
• Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air / Capsule 3 (~$350–450). Battery-powered and very portable, with autofocus and auto-keystone. The Capsule 3 is soda-can sized but dim (~200 lumens); the Mars 3 Air is brighter and a better all-rounder. Great for taking Toasty from room to room.
• A 1080p short-throw (e.g. BenQ TH690ST, ~$700). If you're mounting something semi-permanently for a ceiling, a true short-throw fills the surface from close up and stays sharp. The pick for a dedicated bedroom or playroom setup.
• Epson Home Cinema 2350 (~$800). ~2,800 lumens of 3LCD brightness, Google TV built in, and vertical lens shift for flexible placement. Bright enough to hold up in a living room with some ambient light.

Laser picks — ~$1,700+

Laser light engines are bright, color-rich and effectively maintenance-free (no lamp to replace). Overkill for a dark bedroom, ideal for a big living room, a bright space, or an installation you want to look fantastic.

• XGIMI Horizon Ultra / Aura (~$1,700–2,400). The Horizon Ultra is a long-throw hybrid laser-LED with Dolby Vision and Google TV — a superb do-everything pick. The Aura is its ultra-short-throw sibling for those who want a cabinet-top install.
• Hisense PT1 (~$1,500–2,000). An ultra-short-throw with an RGB triple-laser engine — crisp 4K, wide color, and strong value for a laser UST. Sits inches from a wall and throws a huge image.
• Hisense PX4-Pro (~$3,000). A 3,500-lumen tri-chroma laser UST with full BT.2020 color and an adaptive iris. Big, bright and gorgeous for a dedicated wall.
• AWOL Vision LTV-3000 Pro / BenQ V5000i / Epson LS800 (~$3,500–4,000).Premium 4K triple-laser USTs for serious home-theater rooms. Lovely for Toasty's ambient applets on a giant wall — though far more than the use case requires.

One note on ultra-short-throw lasers: they're designed to sit just below a flat surface, so they're brilliant for walls but awkward for ceilings. For ceiling projection specifically, a portable or short-throw unit is usually the easier fit.

Still not sure? Start with what you have

You really don't need to buy anything to begin. Open Toasty on a spare monitor, a TV, or a laptop and see if you love it first — then pick a projector when you're hooked. Every tier above runs the exact same Toasty, because all it ever needs is a browser.

Ready? Start free, then point a projector at your favourite surface. New to the setup? Walk through how to project airplanes on your ceiling to get going in about five minutes.