New BenQ 4K projector is a home theater dream – if you can afford it

22 May 2024, 00:31 published

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BenQ’s new 4K projector, the W5800, can’t be accused of slacking. With a splashy $5,999 / £4,700 / AU$9,000 price tag and number of high-end features, the W5800 looks set to take center stage in homes with the room and budget to do its projection justice.

This high-spec model looks like a huge improvement over its predecessor, the W5700, with 2,600 lumens and a 200,000:1 contrast ratio to the earlier model’s 1,800 lumens and 100,000:1 ratio. In layman’s terms, that means the W5800 is a lot brighter, with far more contrast between tones and colors.

And colors should be out in full force, with 100% coverage of the cinema-minded DCI-P3 color gamut, and HDR10+ support – unheard of in home projectors not too long ago – to dynamically calibrate each frame in compatible HDR content.

This is a 4K, or Ultra HD projector, with 8.3 million pixels spread out across an expansive 150-200 inch projection: a little limited compared to more portable projectors like the XGIMI Halo, which offers a variable 30-300 inches, but perfect for a fixed setup at home.

Classy, with impressive specs

The W5800 is, like its predecessor, not a casual projector to be moved in and out of a cupboard, or left on a counter – ideally you’ll be able to install it on the ceiling in a dedicated home cinema room, though the model comes with horizontal and vertical lens shift (21% variation horizontally, 50% variation vertically) to help get the right angle from less optimal positions. A 1.6x motorized zoom function also helps with installation.

You’ll get a full suite of ports and inputs, including two USB-A ports, optical digital audio, and a pair of HDMI ports with support for eARC and Dolby Atmos passthrough. The HDMI ports are only 2.0 rather than the newer HDMI 2.1 standard, though you won’t need the latter’s 4K 120Hz capability here.

What the W5800 does support, mind, is 24fps playback through Filmmaker Mode, helping to cut back picture processing for more accurate, creator-intended images, and showcase movies in the frame rate they were filmed.

At $5,999, it’s certainly not cheap, and shoppers would do well to consider whether an ultra short throw projector – one that can fling an image onto the wall from only a foot away – might be better suited to their home cinema setup. But if you want a classy, ceiling-installed projector with impressive specs, the BenQ W5800 could be a good choice.