One minute review
LG offers a cheap home projector with CineBeam PF610P. At $849 (about $630, AU$1,170), it's not exactly a bargain, but it's a pretty powerful cinematic experience in a set you can easily slip into a backpack - try to find a TV that can do that.
The LG CineBeam PF610P is almost an all-in-one package with its brilliant projection, dual speakers, and webOS smart TV platform. All of this makes it exceptionally easy to set up. A variety of ports, keystone configurations, and extensive connectivity options also make it flexible in how you use it.
The image provided by the LG CineBeam PF610P is solid and matches many other projectors we've tested in its price range. The LG CineBeam PF610P is pricey for these smaller units, beating out the Xgimi Elfin, but it offers a brighter picture at this price compromise. It is also slightly larger than the Xgimi Elfin. The LED light source also offers a long lifespan, so you don't have to worry as much about the bulb burning out as with many larger bulbs.
All in all, the LG CineBeam PF610P can serve as a decent home theater device for small rooms. It has enough sound for a bedroom or small living room, and it's bright enough to hold out even if it can't completely black out a room. Two HDMI ports allow for additional input devices, while there are numerous connectivity options for external audio.
As good as it is, the LG CineBeam PF610P is not ahead of its competition. While only slightly dimmer, the Xgimi Elfin is more affordable and compact, making it highly convenient. Xgimi also has the Halo+ projector which provides a comparable experience with superior portability thanks to a built-in battery. So the LG CineBeam PF610P is flanked on one side by a variety of excellent portable offerings from Xgimi, while bigger projectors like the Optoma HD39HDR and BenQ TH585 get brighter, louder and faster all the time, at They often cost less.
Price and release date
The LG CineBeam PF610P projector is available for €849 from LG and Amazon in the US. It's not currently offered in the UK.
Design and functionality
The LG CineBeam PF610P is a discreet projector thanks to its reduced proportions compared to many other home theater projectors. It measures just 8,9 x 7,6 inches and measures just under 3 inches. Plus, it only weighs 3.7 pounds, so it's not hard to pick up and carry from room to room. Its white plastic design is casual but doesn't offer much visual appeal.
Despite its compact design, the LG CineBeam PF610P still offers a fairly complete home theater system. It only provides a 1080p image, but it has a maximum brightness of 1000 lumens, HDR10 support to provide an image of up to 120 inches.
With automatic keystone adjustment and manual image resizing, it's easy to frame the projection to fit the space, although this can result in somewhat awkward borders that aren't quite black. The focus needs to be adjusted manually, using a dial on the top of the projector, something to keep in mind if you're mounting the projector to the ceiling.
The projector contains a pair of 3W speakers for stereo sound. Audio is clear enough, easily overpowering fan noise, and it'll work in a quiet 100-square-foot room, but you'll want to upgrade to something a little more robust if you're trying to fill a room. and watching with noisy friends. Fortunately, there's HDMI ARC, a 3,5mm audio jack, optical sound, and Bluetooth available for external audio connections.
Beyond these audio connections, the projector includes another HDMI port, two USB ports (easy power if you connect a streaming dongle), and an Ethernet port for wired networking. However, you don't need to use the HDMI ports because the LG CineBeam PF610P runs LG's webOS smart TV platform and supports Miracast and Apple Airplay 2. This allows access to tons of content using just the included remote. Said remote isn't as streamlined and sleek as many you'll find with streaming sticks and other projectors, like those from Xgimi, but it's a pretty standard TV remote, and very efficient.
Image quality
The LG CineBeam PF610P has a commendable picture, but it doesn't do much to stay ahead of its competition. Its brightness level of 1000 ANSI lumens means that it can be used mainly even in rooms that are not completely dark: a light off and a light-filtering curtain are enough to enjoy an 80-inch picture. However, dark images are easy to rub off, so you need a dark room to ensure good image quality everywhere.
Under ideal conditions, the light and color are lovely. The colors go through bright colors and poppies. It doesn't seem too skewed in either direction, although the LG CineBeam PF610P does offer a variety of brightness/HDR modes, with the brightest setting leaning significantly towards green. We found the Standard and Vibrant modes to be the best and still provide enough brightness.
Fortunately, the clarity of motion on the projector is good, as you don't increase the refresh rate or settings to adjust motion. The pans are not plagued by jerks and the action is clear.
The LG CineBeam PF610P suffers from one of the problems that we have seen in several other DLP projectors, and that is blurring. It is absent in the lighter elements, but large bands showing dark hues include this blur. It's a distracting effect that looks like little wriggling dots, and is likely to be more pronounced in cartoons and 3D animations/games.
Considering the price of the LG CineBeam PF610P is a big increase over the Xgimi Elfin we recently tested, we're surprised to see such similar picture quality. LG may win on brightness, but both projectors require a darkroom for good enjoyment, so the 200 lumen difference isn't necessarily worth the £200 difference.
Should you buy the LG CineBeam PF610P?
Buy it if...
You want a bright but small projector
The LG CineBeam PF610P isn't much bigger than a hardcover ledger, but it offers a competitive bright picture and a reasonably sharp picture. It'll hold up well in a dark room and can output a viewable image even in less than ideal conditions if you're watching bright content.
Do you like webOS?
The LG CineBeam PF610P integrates webOS. This provides many options for streaming without having to connect other dongles or video sources. It is also compatible with a variety of transmission technologies. Well, other projectors may offer similar functionality, you'll only find webOS on LG devices.
You want some portability
The LG CineBeam PF610P is not battery powered, but it is still very compact. You can easily store it in a backpack with the power cord and a tripod at a friend's or family's house for a portable theater.
Don't buy if...
You want the best photo for your money
At €849, the LG CineBeam PF610P approaches much more serious projector territory. Find models that offer thousands of lumens of brightness at this price along with HDR support, some even increasing the refresh rate for gaming.
You won't want to turn off the lights
The LG CineBeam PF610P may be able to handle some content in brighter settings, but many movies, shows, and games will be terrible in a dark scene if it doesn't handle ambient light.
You like games and cartoons.
Like many of the more affordable LED DLP projectors we've recently tested, there's annoying fading in the darker colors that's especially noticeable in large areas of solid color. It can be very difficult to focus in games with this blur which creates artificial movement in the dark, and will show up a lot in the animation.