You can't accuse BenQ's new 4K projector, the W5800, of being weak. With an eye-catching $5,999 / £4,700 / AU$9,000 price tag and a host of high-end features, the W5800 looks set to take center stage in homes with the space and budget to do its projection justice.
This top-spec model looks like a big improvement on its predecessor, the W5700, with 2,600 lumens and a 200,000:1 contrast ratio compared to the previous model's 1,800 lumens and 100,000:1 ratio. In layman's terms, that means the W5800 is much brighter, with much more contrast between tones and colors.
And colors should appear in full force, with 100% coverage of the cinema-oriented DCI-P3 color gamut and support for HDR10+ (something unheard of in home projectors not long ago) to dynamically calibrate each frame in content HDR supported.
This is a 4K, or Ultra HD, projector, with 8.3 million pixels spread over a wide projection of 150 to 200 inches: a bit limited compared to more portable projectors like the XGIMI Halo, which offers a variable projection of 30 to 300 inches, but perfect for a fixed installation at home.
Elegant, with impressive specifications.
The W5800, like its predecessor, is not a casual projector that can be shoved in and out of a closet or left on a counter; Ideally, you can install it on the ceiling of a dedicated home theater room, although the model comes with horizontal and vertical lens shift (21% horizontal shift, 50% vertical shift) to help get the right angle from less optimal positions. A 1.6x motorized zoom feature also helps with setup.
You'll get a full set 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 pass-through. The HDMI ports are just 2.0 rather than the newer HDMI 2.1 standard, although you won't need the latter's 4K 120Hz capability here.
What the W5800 does support is 24fps playback via Filmmaker mode, which helps reduce image processing for more precise, creator-intended images and display movies at the frame rate at which they were intended. filmed.
At $5,999, it's certainly not cheap, and buyers would do well to consider whether an ultra-short throw projector – one that can throw an image onto the wall from just a foot away – might be better suited for their home theater setup. But if you want a stylish ceiling-mounted projector with impressive specs, the BenQ W5800 could be a good choice.
