BenQ TK850i True 4K HDR-PRO Smart Home Entertainment Projector powered by Android TV | 3000 Lumens | 98% Rec.709 | Lens shift & Keystone for Easy Setup | 3D Projector for Binge Watchers and Sports

Let me start saying that this is my first BenQ projector and my overall experience so far has been super great. I’m not a professional video calibrator, not a videophile guy, but when it comes to technology, I like to spend my hard earned money wisely. Before I made my decision to buy this 4K projector, I spend hours of research on different brands and models from Sony, Optoma and Epson. It was a tough decision, since I had to take a lot of considerations, like my room size, screen material, lightning, picture quality and must important, value. This is a $1,500 4K DLP projector but what make it so special is that BenQ was able to put so many features and great performance in a complete “affordable” package. Now let’s move on to some of the specs and performance. Build Quality & Remote Control The BenQ HT3550 weights around 12lbs and is 15in x 10in. x 5in. It has a beautiful bronze color on the front and back of the unit and the rest is pure white. What I like about this unit is the size, is not to big and has a nice weight and rounded shape. The remote control is fully backlit and it has a nice weight and feel on your hand. The buttons are well placed and they have a nice click sound when pressed. On the back of the unit are (2) HDMI 2.0, (1) Service USB, Ethernet port and (1) USB for media files which also you can use it for the firmware updates. 2000 Lumens Yeah, let me be clear, this projector is designed for rooms that have complete light control. If your looking to watch movies during the day with some ambient light I suggest go for the BenQ TK850, it has all the same great features of the HT3550 minus the Wide Color Gamut in favor of a 3,000 lumens lamp. However, the expense of light output in this projector is compensated with very well calibrated colors and great contrast out of the box. The best mode to watch movies isCinema. On this mode the projector has the best light output, fallowed by Vivid TV“ for watching cable programming and sports. The other setting is Dark Cinema which engage the Wide Color Gamut but it dims the picture by 10%, however you will get more spectrum color depending how well you calibrate this unit. I found that this unit unit has a very good light output with 100 & 120 inches screens, however with bigger screen I think some users may prefer to go with a more higher lumens projector. 4K - (Pixel Shift) First, this is not a native 4K projector, inside the HT3550 is a Texas Instruments 0.47” new DLP XPR 4K UHD chip which has a physical mirror matrix of 1920 x 1080. It uses 4-phase pixel shifting to create 8.3 million pixels. This is a cheaper but effective way to produce a 4K resolution that it makes difficult to the human eye to distinguish a true native 4K vs. 4K pixel shift picture (also known as Faux-K to others). This technology began with JVCs introduction of pixel shifting in 2013 and since then it has spark controversy among consumers and videophiles purists. But I’m not gonna talk about this topic, it just to give you an idea of what it is. HDR + Dynamic Iris + Tone Mapping These are some of the best solid features of the HT3550. Thanks to the Dynamic Iris and software tone mapping the HT3550 is capable to produce awesome black and white levels, it has a contrast ratio of 30,000:1. As today, this is the only projector under $2K that has Dynamic Iris at this price range. The HDR performance on this projector is super great, all Marvel movies on Disney + looks awesome with really deep blacks and rich colors. For me, HDR is the secret sauce to really enjoy 4K. The Dynamic Iris works very well, however I would have liked that the dynamic Iris would have been a bit faster. Sometimes you can see some light flickering as the DI tries to adapt, it feels a bit distracting but is not something that will not ruin your overall cinema experience. Sharpness This projector has a very good sharp image. It may not have the sharpness of other more expensive hi-end projectors like Sony and Epson but is very decent and clean. The firmware update (V1.0.5) that was release last December really help to improved some of the algorithms in favor of a more sharper picture. This was one area that some users were complaining and I think BenQ did a nice job with the fix. This projector supports 3D. While I do own a very small amount of 3D movies, I decided to give it a try for this review. So I popped in Avatar 3D into my Panasonic 4K player and I was really impressed on how good it performed. The image was sharp, “crosstalk” free, however, the projector dims the light output by 20%, it feels kind of bummer. TV Material Performance This in one area that I feel is bit of a mix bag. The projector does shine with 4K material, with HDR engaged looks simply awesome, but for 1080p material it will depend on which source your watching and how good and clean your getting that signal. Regular Blu-ray movies and streaming will look great, Netflix and Disney + are incredible to watch on this projector. On cable, I feel the projector falls a bit, and the reason I’m saying this is because you can see some jaggy images, however this will depend on how good your cable or satellite provider is and quality varíes from channel to channel. Sound The projector have good quality speakers. They are 5w each and deliver very good and clear dialogue even with the volume down. I think the best EQ sound mode is Cinema and for some reason it even sound better that the user mode. However the best way to go is with a sound-bar. The only thing I really missed is Bluetooth connectivity that helps to avoid long cable runs. Fan noise Ok, I have to admit that this projector is a bit noisy, in my room with a very quiet environment my SPL meter was reading from 26-28db. However, during movie sessions and with the air conditioner unit turn on, the noice is barely noticeable, This will also depend on how far the projector is from the sitting position. Wrap up The BenQ HT3550 is a great DLP projector. As today, it is hard to find a projector under $1,500 packed with so many features. In my opinion, it even rivals some projector that cost a lot more. In the end, I guarantee you won’t regret this buy.

The fan was a major issue for me. Way to loud. Went with the HT5550 in the end and fan was extremely quiet. Better choice for sure

Very clear picture! I love this projector! Its perfect for home theater use!

Okay so I currently live in a dorm so I cant utilize this projector to its fullest but soon Ill have my own theatre room. Anyway heres a short video of the projector in action. Just on my plain wall which is white paint. The blacks are actually amazing. I cant imagine what this will look like on a silver or black screen. I cant stress how good HDR looks! I own a QLED TV and wow this is comparable with the extra movie emersion! As you can hear the sound is not bad if youre on a budget and cant buy a surround sound system yet. No worries this can still deliver quality sound. No changes in settings. I just plugged it in and turned it on. Only adjustments needed were the focus ring. I also liked the remote. Especially the satisfying clicking feel and sound from pressing the buttons. Overall I have poor conditions for a projector setup right now yet this projector performs brilliantly. UPDATE!! 2AUG19: the blacks produced are so good I highly recommend a white or grey screen otherwise you lose the vivid colors. I only watch in dark so its pointless to have a black screen. UPDATE!! 10AUG19: got my new silver ticket white matte screen. This paired with the projector makes me feel like Im in the movie theater.

This projector was a direct upgrade from an HT2050A and is my first 4K unit. I have to say, the sharpness of the image and richness of color continue to blow me away in the past few days Ive had it installed. The improved contrast due to the inclusion of a dynamic iris is an added bonus as well! My Home Theater is fairly small, being 11x13ft in size, so my front row is close to my screen. This was manageable with the 2050A as long as you didnt learn forward, but literally standing a foot from my screen I can hardly make out individual pixels. I skipped the 2550 last year because it seemed like it had a little too much baggage. But just like other reviewers have stated, I think BenQ nailed it with this projectors performance at this price point and many will make the jump over to 4K. Amazon for its part seemed completely aloof as to the stock situation with the HT3550, so fortunately I was able to acquire one elsewhere and couldnt be happier!

Ive been drooling over affordable 4k projectors since they first came out back in 2018 or thereabouts. First, was the Optoma UHD50, then the BenQ HT2550 and a Viewsonic and even an Acer. Yet, I didnt have the money at the time and these first-generation projectors used a DLP chip that left a lot to be desired. Come 2019, and the next wave of affordable 4k projectors came out. I embarked on more research and by the beginning of 2020, I decided to get the BenQ TK850. Why? I have a light-controlled but my screen is 180, so experts recommended to go for the TK850s extra brightness, with the trade-off of less-than-perfect colors. I bought the TK850 from another place since it was out of stock on Amazon. The unit came and it wow-ed me. It looked so vibrant and with so much detail! But once the excitement was gone, I noticed a lot of color inaccuracies and even some weird aberrations that distracted me. Nothing big, though. But, for the first time, I noticed the rainbow effect, and it drove me crazy! Sadly, I returned the TK850, and bought the HT3550, risking getting a dimmed image, as the experts said. After a couple of weeks of heavy watching, I can say that Im very happy with my purchase and that the HT3550s image is bright enough for my huge 180 screen. I upgraded from a BenQ HT2050, the 1080p version of this one, and the difference is night and day: From dark levels, to a gamut colors, and of course 4k detail. The HT3550 blew me away!

This is a huge upgrade compare to my 16 year old 720p projector dont get me wrong 16 years and still working, if i get 16 years from this benq ht3550 Ill be impressed even more,,picture is awesome, firmware update easy to do, installation a little tricky because it takes some measurements if you already have a screen build into wall,,only issue was an old bluray movie upgraded to 4k did not look so great,,Im only reviewing for my experience on 1 week of use,,the 4 stars can go up or down in a few months Ill update. Update 4/12/20,,, Its been more than a month now and i really love this projector even though is not a native 4k projector the pixel shifting technology is awesome. Update 8/25/20,, For now no issues with Benq ht3550, Im still very happy with purchase, i do have a switch that controls the outlet,,,i turn power of completely after fans cools down projector, switch is high up on waĺl with a safety cover to avoid accidents. Update 4/21/21. Im still enjoying my benq ht3550 but the shortage of good movies is driving me crazy,,, i did had a glitch with projector while i was playing with settings back and forth between Google chromecast tv and nvidia shield tv, the screen turn blue and had to turn off wait a while and turn back on and seem fine again. Update 2/9/22 I been really happy with this projector ,its been 2 years now and knock on wood it still shows a beautiful picture i really enjoy movie weekend... Update 10/02/22 Still enjoying BenQ ht3550 its been a good experience since purchased in 2020.

Love the projector. Looks sleek and picture is amazing. It’s just pricey; took all my savings but I needed an upgrade in my media room.

It is pretty noisy. The picture is great for the price point but after only 2 days I lost a portion of the screen to bad pixels. Update: after receiving my second unit, it came used. Nothing was in the original packaging and when I turned it on the lamp had 194 hours of run time on it. It sucks because it takes 37 days AFTER the return is received before you get a refund. So now I am out thousands of dollars and need to order a 3rd unit. I feel it only fair that I have to drop my review to 1 star.

I like everything with this product thank you.