It’s impressive, but not as impressive in a bright room, unfortunately—this projector is best utilized at night. And it lacks the dynamic iris of the Titan Noir Max (which is, admittedly, much pricier).
Best Budget
I had to double check the price of the BenQ W4100i because it’s so much cheaper than my other top picks. Yet, of all the home cinema projectors I’ve tested in the last few months, the quick and easy setup on this model, plus a few unusual perks, made it a top pick.
It’s easy to configure, even though it uses the older Android TV operating system. I asked the onboard Google Assistant bot to start the install process and it only took a few minutes to do the whole thing. While the dark gray enclosure is understated, I liked how easy it was to adjust the focus and throw distance using analog levers on the top of the projector.
At this price, the W4100i is not meant to compete with the titans of home cinema like the Hisense XR10, and it matches an older color gamut spec (Rec.709). The lumens rating is only 3,200, far below the Titan Noir Max’s 7,000.
Still, there are a few interesting perks with the BenQ W4100i. It has a mode that can match the 24p frame rate of movies for a more fluid look. With the refresh rate cranked to 240 Hz, playing the game NTE on my gaming laptop, I came to realize just how much I like using this projector for low-latency gaming. My controller flicks were rendered immediately during chaotic battle scenes.
I’m not sure why BenQ insists on still using a dongle attachment for the operating system. You can skip it altogether if you use one of the HDMI ports for a Blu-ray player or another device. In the end, the lower-than-expected price, low latency, and easy setup are what sold me on this BenQ.
