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 preface this by saying that I purchased this unit used with 28 hours on the lamp. First of all, I have no idea why the original owner gave up on this unit but...thank you. Ive been using a Mitsubishi HC4000 HD projector for the past few years, always thought the picture was pretty good...not!!! After hooking this unit up, calibrating to my liking, which by the way turned out to be very close to the original settings, so not much work here. I happened to purchase a used Epson 6020UB the same day. Ill be running the Epson in my bedroom and the Ben Q in my theater room. Hooked up both units in my theater room to start. Right off the bat, I noticed the black levels on the Epson were richer and deeper, the picture quality on both units were far and away a major improvement over the Mitsubishi. . Im using a basic pull-down 110 screen, first off, I want to know what those thousand dollar projection screens do that this $100 unit doesnt do. The picture is fantastic with both projectors. Would I spend and extra 2K for the slight improvement the Epson provides, probably not. I purchased both units used. I paid $1100 for the BenQ and wait for it...$600 for the Epson. The BenQ? If I didnt have the Epson for comparison the Ben Q meets all my needs, incredible picture, fantastic price. If price is no object the Epson is the overall better unit, my recommendation would be is to take the time and search for the Epson unit on the used marketplace. Dont get me wrong the BenQ is an amazing unit, its just the black levels on the Epson that gave it the advantage. Update: A couple of things I wanted to mention. I played with the picture adjustments and improved the black levels significantly, still not quite what the Epson is but very close. I also wanted to mention that I read a couple of reviews that stated the projector doesnt do well in rooms with ambient light. I have to disagree, my room has light bleeding in from three windows (yes, blinds are closed) and see almost no difference between watching in daytime or nighttime. I dont know what kind of light these folks have in their rooms but I havent seen a projector yet that works in a well-lit room. Close a blind or two, you may just be amazed. The only issue I have with the Epson is going to sound a little strange but, it may be too bright. I only watch in my bedroom at night so the room is totally dark, I seem to suffer from eye strain if I watch for too long (yes, Ive tried making adjustments). I need to find an acceptable lighting solution for the room that wont interfere with watching the tv. I find the light output of the BenQ at 2000 lumens is preferable to the Epsons at 2400 lumens. Im curious though, I almost purchased the BenQ TK850 due to its 3000-lumen rating, based on my experience with these two projectors, Im glad I decided on the HT3550, Im afraid my eyes would not appreciate the extra brightness of the TK850.

In a location where half a dozen phones and computers have no trouble streaming video over wifi, this projector stutters and struggles. We usually end up plugging a laptop into hdmi, even though the reason I bought this model was to go wireless.

Failed in the first 20 hours

SDR quality is good, and HDR without the Wide Color Gamut filter is engaged looks very good...However, when the WCG filter is engaged, it adds a distinctly blue/green tint to the image. It doesnt just reduce brightness as I have read about. Wish I could watch in DCI-P3 HDR mode, but it just doesnt look good at all. Also, when I have a white on black image on the screen, say the white text on the Eco Blank screen, or white movie credits on black background there is a significant blue/purple shadow around the text. This is only noticeable up close, not really at normal viewing distance. Looks to me like chromatic aberration from the lens. Is this normal for this model? Finally, in 4k 24fps mode, there is a loud, annoying rattle. Maybe a fan, but I think its part of the pixel shifting mechanism...its quite loud. Maybe 2-3x louder than the fan, even on Normal lamp mode. The rattle does not occur in 30 or 60 fps modes..only in 4k/24. I really wanted to leave a 5-star review for this projector, since I decided to upgrade to this unit from the Optoma UHD50 that I was going to buy, but with the issues Im having, I just cant...I tried emailing BenQ tech support, but have not heard back from them in several weeks, and have tried calling their tech support phone number for several days now but cant get through, so not impressed with their customer service either at this point either... I havent decided whether Im keeping this projector or not yet. It has all of the features I want, and looks pretty amazing in SDR mode, so Im really hoping BenQ gets back to me soon and makes this right, so I can get the full benefit out of it. Maybe their Customer Service team monitors Amazon reviews more than they check their email or answer their phones...

I don’t know exactly how I feel about this projector because HDR was one of the main reasons why I bought this projector but it doesn’t seem to work properly. The projector is good and the picture looks decent but once you apply the HDR feature it’ll disappoint you!!! The colors show either very bad or your image will show in green and black. I use HDR 10 supported products with a 2.0b HDMI and it still shows up horrible with HDR on. 4K looks awesome especially at 100” though I will say that! Other then the HDR not working properly, this projector is very good. One thing I would say before I wrap up my thoughts, this thing will heat up your entire room! The fans blow out really hot air so during the summertime make sure you have your AC running when you decide to watch something on this.

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.

I expected a lot about this projector but as soon as I turned on, there were lines left side- I thought it was for alignment or something but over time, the lines don’t disappear. So disappointed.

There are many in depth reviews here, so I will just say that if you have and love your W1070, this is the perfect upgrade. Throw and lens shift are almost identical, so I simply bolted it to my existing ceiling mount and it works perfect! Picture is clear and crisp at all input resolutions, but best with 4K content. Contrast is better and HDR works great. As with the W1070, the fans are loud and distracting during low volume viewing and quiet dialog scenes. Worse for me since the projector is mounted on a 9 ceiling directly above my seating position. But there is a silent mode, which quiets the fans considerably, at the cost of HDR. So for TV, sports, etc, I keep it in silent mode. For movies where I have the volume cranked anyway, fan noise is not noticeable. Bottom line is this projector is highly recommended!

This is an awesome projector the black levels really shine on this. as well is the color and brightness!

We recent;y replaced our older BenQ projector with this newer model. While we loved the older model, this one blows it out of the water. 4K resolution is crystal clear. BUT... the color on this projector is out of this world - vivid and flawless with smooth color transitions. No banding effects at all. We are big movie fans and this projector brings us very close to the movie theater experience. We are using an inexpensive 110” screen and just installed a Pioneer Dolby Atmos sound system. By the way, BenQ Tech Support is the greatest too.