Xiaomi’s Budget Projector Push: Redmi Projector 5 and 5 Pro Go Official

Published: August 6, 2026

Xiaomi didn’t wait for a global stage to make its move this week. Over two days in early August, the company quietly rolled out two new Redmi-branded projectors in China — the entry-level Redmi Projector 5 and the slightly more capable Redmi Projector 5 Pro — and between them, they cover almost every price point a budget shopper could ask for. One costs about as much as a nice pair of headphones. The other still comes in well under $300.

Neither model is going to trouble Hisense’s new PX4 Pro or an XGIMI flagship on raw image quality. That’s not the point. These are volume plays, built to get a projector into as many living rooms, dorm rooms, and bedrooms as possible — and the spec sheets suggest Xiaomi is taking that job seriously.

Here’s everything announced so far, what it means if you’re shopping this category, and why it’s unclear whether either model will officially leave China.

Two Projectors, Two Very Different Budgets

Xiaomi rolled these out in reverse order of price. The Redmi Projector 5 Pro arrived first, on August 3, positioned as the higher-spec of the pair. The plainer Redmi Projector 5 followed a day later, on August 4, as the true entry point of the lineup.

	Redmi Projector 5	Redmi Projector 5 Pro
Price (China)	CNY 999 (~$148)	CNY 1,999 (~$296)
Brightness	400 CVIA lumens	1,000 CVIA lumens
Resolution	1080p physical	1080p physical
Refresh Rate	Not specified	120Hz, 5ms input lag
HDR	Not specified	HDR10
Autofocus	Built-in ToF sensor	Built-in ToF sensor
Chipset	MT9 SoC	MediaTek MT9660
RAM / Storage	1GB / 32GB	2GB / 64GB
Max Screen Size	120 inches	Not specified
Cooling	Standard	Dual-circulation air cooling, ~28dB
Audio	Not detailed	10W dual-speaker, Dolby Audio
Connectivity	USB-A, 3.5mm audio, HDMI, dual-band Wi-Fi	USB 2.0, HDMI 2.1 (eARC), 3.5mm, Wi-Fi 6
Extras	360° integrated gimbal	30° wide-angle side projection, MEMC

Redmi Projector 5: The $148 Entry Point

The standard Redmi Projector 5 is Xiaomi’s answer to the question “how cheap can a projector be and still be usable?” At roughly $148 in China, it undercuts most name-brand portables by a wide margin — including Anker’s Nebula Mars 3 Air, which Xiaomi’s own brightness figures put it roughly on par with.

Brightness sits at 400 CVIA lumens. For readers unfamiliar with the rating system, CVIA is a Chinese brightness standard that’s generally treated as roughly comparable to ANSI lumens, though not identical — worth keeping in mind if you’re used to comparing spec sheets that use ANSI figures. At 400 CVIA, this is strictly a dim-room projector. Daytime viewing with any ambient light will wash the image out.

Resolution is native 1080p, which is respectable at this price — plenty of budget projectors in this bracket rely on lower native resolutions and upscale to fill the frame, which softens fine detail.

The standout feature here is the built-in ToF (Time-of-Flight) laser sensor, which handles automatic focus and keystone correction without manual fiddling. ToF autofocus has been trickling down from premium projectors into budget models over the past year or so, and seeing it on a sub-$150 unit is a genuine step forward for the category — it’s normally one of the first features cut to hit an aggressive price.

The projector also includes a 360° integrated gimbal, letting you angle the lens without repositioning the whole unit, and it supports up to a 120-inch projected image at a 1.2:1 throw ratio. Under the hood, an MT9 SoC is paired with 1GB of RAM and 32GB of storage — modest, but Xiaomi frames it as sufficient for casual streaming and app use rather than demanding multitasking.

Port selection is bare-bones: one USB-A, one 3.5mm audio jack, and one HDMI port, plus dual-band Wi-Fi.

Redmi Projector 5 Pro: Built With Gaming in Mind

Step up to the Redmi Projector 5 Pro and the price roughly doubles to about $296 — but so does the spec sheet.

Brightness jumps to 1,000 CVIA lumens, which Xiaomi’s own comparisons place at around 700 on the ISO scale, or moderate territory on ANSI. That’s still best suited to dim or dark rooms, but it’s a meaningful step up from the base model and should hold up better against a bit of ambient light.

The headline feature is a 120Hz refresh rate paired with 5ms input lag, plus MEMC (Motion Estimation, Motion Compensation) support for smoother motion interpolation. For a projector at this price, that’s an unusually gaming-forward pitch — most sub-$300 projectors don’t bother chasing refresh rate at all. It won’t compete with a proper gaming monitor, let alone Hisense’s new FreeSync Premium-certified PX4 Pro, but it signals that Xiaomi sees casual gaming as a real use case for this tier of buyer, not an afterthought.

HDR10 support is included, and the 1,080p physical resolution carries over from the standard model. Xiaomi also added a dual-circulation air-cooling system, said to keep noise at roughly 28dB during extended use — a detail that matters more than it might seem, since budget projectors often get noticeably loud under sustained load.

Powering the unit is a MediaTek MT9660 chipset with 2GB of RAM and 64GB of storage — double the base model’s memory and storage — which should translate to smoother app navigation and more room for downloaded content. Connectivity steps up too, with HDMI 2.1 including eARC, Wi-Fi 6 for what Xiaomi describes as buffer-free streaming, and a 3.5mm jack. Audio comes from a 10W dual-speaker setup tuned with Dolby Audio.

One extra worth flagging: 30-degree wide-angle side projection support, which lets the projector throw a corrected image even when it’s not sitting dead-center in front of the screen — useful for awkward room layouts where a coffee table or shelf won’t let you place the unit head-on.

Why This Matters for the Budget Projector Market

Portable and budget projectors have quietly become one of the most competitive corners of the entire projector market. Anker’s Nebula line, Dangbei’s Atom and Mars series, XGIMI’s MoGo and Halo ranges, and a wave of smaller brands have all been racing to pack more brightness, sharper autofocus, and smart platforms into ever-cheaper devices.

Xiaomi entering — or rather, doubling down — on this space with two models that ship ToF autofocus at a $148 starting price is a signal worth watching. Autofocus and auto-keystone used to be premium-tier conveniences. Seeing them standard on an entry-level unit puts pressure on every other budget brand to match it or lose ground on convenience alone, even if their raw image quality is comparable or better.

The Redmi Projector 5 Pro’s gaming-oriented spec sheet — 120Hz, 5ms input lag, MEMC — also reflects a broader trend across the whole projector market this year. Gaming performance, once reserved for flagship home-theater units, is increasingly being marketed at every price tier. It’s the same instinct behind Hisense’s new PX4 Pro chasing FreeSync Premium certification at the high end; Xiaomi is simply bringing the same conversation down to budget shoppers.

Who Should Consider These Projectors

• The Redmi Projector 5 fits casual buyers who want an inexpensive, no-fuss projector for movie nights or background streaming in a dark room — dorm rooms, bedrooms, or a spare-room home theater on a tight budget.
• The Redmi Projector 5 Pro is a better fit for anyone who wants that same casual-use case but also plans to plug in a console or PC occasionally and would appreciate a smoother, lower-latency image.
• Neither model is the right choice if you need daytime brightness, 4K detail, or serious gaming performance — for that, look toward brighter laser projectors like the Hisense PX4 Pro or XGIMI’s Horizon and RS30 series.

Pros and Cons

Redmi Projector 5

• ✅ Aggressive $148 price point
• ✅ ToF autofocus at entry-level pricing
• ✅ Native 1080p resolution
• ❌ Only 400 CVIA lumens — dim-room use only
• ❌ Sparse connectivity and low RAM/storage

Redmi Projector 5 Pro

• ✅ 120Hz refresh rate and 5ms input lag are rare at this price
• ✅ HDR10, Wi-Fi 6, and HDMI 2.1 with eARC
• ✅ Quieter dual-circulation cooling system
• ❌ Still limited to 1,000 CVIA lumens
• ❌ No confirmed international release

Availability: Will These Launch Outside China?

Right now, both projectors are China-only, sold through Xiaomi’s official Mi.com storefront. Reporting on the launch notes that Xiaomi historically hasn’t pushed its Redmi-branded projectors into international markets at scale, which means importing or waiting for a regional variant may be the only route for buyers outside China in the near term. We’ll update this article if Xiaomi confirms a wider rollout.

FAQ

What’s the difference between the Redmi Projector 5 and the Redmi Projector 5 Pro?
The Pro model is brighter (1,000 CVIA lumens vs. 400), adds a 120Hz refresh rate with 5ms input lag, HDR10 support, more RAM and storage, and HDMI 2.1 with eARC. The standard model is cheaper and more basic, but still includes ToF autofocus and a 360° gimbal.

Are these projectors available in the US or Europe?
Not yet. Both launched exclusively in China as of early August 2026, and Xiaomi hasn’t confirmed international availability.

Is the Redmi Projector 5 Pro good for gaming?
It’s better suited to casual gaming than most projectors in this price range, thanks to its 120Hz refresh rate, 5ms input lag, and MEMC motion smoothing. It’s not a replacement for a dedicated gaming projector or monitor, but it’s a notable feature set at roughly $296.

What does CVIA brightness mean, and how does it compare to ANSI lumens?
CVIA is a Chinese brightness measurement standard. It’s generally treated as roughly comparable to ANSI lumens for casual comparison purposes, though the two aren’t measured identically — so treat cross-standard comparisons as approximate rather than exact.

Conclusion

Xiaomi’s two-day rollout of the Redmi Projector 5 and 5 Pro is a reminder that the budget end of the projector market keeps getting more capable, not less. A sub-$150 projector with autofocus and a 120-inch max image, sitting alongside a sub-$300 sibling with 120Hz gaming support and HDR10, would have sounded ambitious a couple of years ago. Today, it’s just Tuesday in the projector business. Whether either model crosses into international markets remains the open question — but even if they stay China-exclusive, they raise the bar every other budget brand now has to clear.