BenQ TK860i 4K Review: Perfect entertainment projector
Introducing the BenQ TK860i 4K projector, an impressive addition to BenQ’s Home Entertainment series. Alongside the W2710i 4K, BenQ has continued to raise the bar with their new line of 4K projectors, catering to different audiences and needs.
Designed for more casual users who may not have a dedicated home theater setup, the TK860i thrives in typical room conditions where ambient light might be present. Unlike the W2710i, which targets serious movie enthusiasts who can create a darkened room environment, the TK860i is ideal for those seeking a projector that can be used in everyday settings with a wide range of content sources.
One of the standout features of the BenQ TK860i is its brightness. With an impressive 3300 ANSI Lumens, this daylight projector ensures vibrant and clear images even in well-lit rooms. The projector boasts accurate color reproduction with 98% coverage of the Rec. 709 color space, making it a great choice for those who prioritize image quality and color accuracy.
For sports and gaming enthusiasts, the TK860i promises smooth and immersive visuals, thanks to its Motion Enhancer and Quick Modes. These features reduce motion blur and input lag, ensuring a seamless and responsive experience, making high input lag a thing of the past.
For those who already have external smart streaming devices like a Fire TV stick or Apple TV box, there is an option to purchase the TK860 (without the ‘i’) at a $100 discount. This version omits the smart Android TV dongle, making it more appealing to users who want to save on costs or prefer to use their existing streaming solutions.
The BenQ TK860i 4K projector is an excellent choice for users seeking a versatile, bright, and high-performance projector for their home entertainment needs. With its accurate color reproduction, HDR10 support, and reduced input lag, it promises an exceptional viewing experience, whether you’re watching movies, sports, or gaming.
BenQ TK860i: Video Review
| Specs | BenQ TK860i |
| Display System | DLP |
| Native Resolution | 3840 x 2160 (4K UHD) |
| Maximum Brightness | 3300 Lumens |
| Aspect Ratio | 16:9 |
| Contrast Ratio | 50,000:1 |
| Color Depth | 10-Bit (1.07 Billion Colors) |
| Optical Zoom | 1.3x |
| Throw Ratio | 1.13 to 1.47:1 |
| Keystone Correction | Vertical: ± 30° |
| Horizontal: ± 30° | |
| Supported HDR Input Formats | HDR10, HDR10+, Hybrid Log Gamma |
| Built-In Speaker | 2 x 5W |
| Remote | Yes |
| Virtual Assistant | Google Assistant Built-in |
| Lamp Life | 10,000 Hours |
| Noise | 28 dB |
| Dimensions | 15.0 x 5.0 x 10.4" / 380.0 x 127.0 x 263.0 mm |
| Weight | 9.3 lb / 4.2 kg |
Design
The BenQ TK860i 4K projector features a familiar chassis design seen in many of BenQ’s home entertainment models. Positioned on the right-hand side when viewed from the front, the lens is concealed behind a sliding door that also hides the lens shift, focus, and zoom rings. This design not only ensures a clean and minimalist look but also provides practicality and protection for the lens components.
With a sleek white body and a black front panel, the TK860i exudes a modern and stylish appeal. Weighing just over 9 pounds, the projector’s compact and lightweight design makes it easy to move and place in various environments, whether it’s a small apartment or a spacious living room. Measuring at 14.96 x 4.99 x 10.35 inches, its dimensions allow it to seamlessly blend with any decor, making it an unobtrusive addition to any entertainment setup. The emphasis on durability and longevity is evident in the projector’s sturdy build.
To set itself apart from similar-looking models, the TK860i features a distinctive reddy-orange square around the lens cover area. This simple yet effective design choice helps users easily identify the specific model at a glance. Additionally, the projector is equipped with three screwable feet at the bottom of the chassis, facilitating stable table mounting.
At the back of the TK860i, users will find the speakers placed behind a grille, delivering audio output. The connections are conveniently positioned in the central area, allowing easy access. The projector offers a wide range of connection options, including a 12v trigger, an RS232C port, a service port, a USB media reader port, 3.5mm, and digital audio outputs, as well as three HDMI 2.0 ports with ARC on HDMI 2 and a USB power port for added flexibility in connecting various devices.
The package includes a slim, white remote control with all the major keys located at the top end of the unit. The remote fits comfortably in the hand and offers an intuitive layout, making it easy to navigate the projector’s settings and functions. Notably, the remote can also control the QS02 dongle when connected and paired, adding to the convenience and versatility of the overall setup.
BenQ TK860i: Specifications
The BenQ TK860i 4K projector boasts a native 4K UHD resolution of 3840×2160, providing high-definition clarity with its 8.3 million pixels. This ensures sharp and crisply defined visuals, allowing users to experience a new level of image detail. The projector’s resolution aligns with modern standards, making it a valuable asset for those seeking impressive picture quality.
Although the TK860i features a contrast ratio of 50,000:1, which may be on the lower side for premium projectors in 2023, it compensates with other features. With support for over a billion colors and a brightness of 3300 ANSI lumens, the projector delivers vibrant whites and rich blacks, resulting in a compelling and immersive viewing experience even in well-lit rooms.
One of the TK860i’s standout features is its advanced HDR-Pro technology. This proprietary technology incorporates a local contrast enhancer and tone mapping, which optimizes the brightness of various segments of the image. As a result, the projector achieves perfectly detailed shadows and highlights in both dark and bright scenes, enhancing the depth and realism of the 4K images.
The enhanced tone mapping also plays a vital role in increasing contrast and preserving finer details in darker areas of projected images, further enriching the visual experience. Additionally, the TK860i supports 24P playback of high-definition sources at 24 fps without judder in HDR mode, ensuring smooth and natural motion rendering for an even more enjoyable viewing or gaming experience.
Installation flexibility is another strong point of the TK860i. Its vertical lens shift provides a 10% physical movement range, combined with a 2D keystone feature, ensuring that images can be projected without distortion even in limited spaces. The 1.3x zoom lens adds to the projector’s versatility during installation, allowing users to adjust the projection size to fit their screen perfectly.
In terms of noise, the TK860i operates at a typical/eco level of 30/28 dB, which is relatively quiet. This ensures that your viewing or gaming sessions remain undisturbed by excessive fan noise, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the content without any distractions.
Image quality
The BenQ TK860i 4K projector is marketed as a versatile home entertainment model, excelling in sports and big screen gaming, but also capable of handling movie content. While it may not match the dedicated movie-focused W2710i in terms of performance, the TK860i still delivers impressive results for its intended purposes.
When used with movie content, the TK860i’s extra brightness for general indoor use can cause the black levels to appear washed out, resulting in lighter grays instead of deep blacks. Grayscale and color performance may not be as accurate due to the absence of factory calibration or a Filmmaker mode. However, once properly calibrated, the projector produces beautiful and accurate SDR images with natural colors and realistic skin tones.
The TK860i’s video processing is commendable, offering good upscaling to HD content and smooth motion handling for various frame rates. While the frame interpolation system reduces judder, it doesn’t significantly add detail or reduce blur. Nonetheless, DLP technology ensures smoother motion, making it suitable for action-packed sports viewing.
In gaming, the BenQ performs excellently with low input lag (17ms for 4K/60 signals) and vibrant colors, providing an immersive gaming experience on the big screen. While HDR gaming lacks contrast and black suppression, SDR gaming remains visually pleasing and engaging.
As an HDR-compatible projector, the TK860i can display HDR10 and HLG content with slightly increased brightness and vibrancy compared to SDR. However, it cannot match the performance of direct-view displays like OLED TVs. Nevertheless, the projector offers a bright, sharp, detailed, and colorful image with good movement and fidelity, delivering a satisfying experience for its price point.
The inclusion of the Android TV dongle with the TK860i enhances its streaming capabilities, enabling smooth playback of 4K HDR content from platforms like Netflix. While the system may be slightly sluggish at times, it still provides a decent center for movie and streaming entertainment, making the overall experience enjoyable.
The BenQ TK860i 4K projector fulfills its promise of delivering impressive visuals for sports, gaming, and casual movie watching. While it may not offer the same movie-centric performance as the W2710i, its strengths lie in its brightness, motion handling, and gaming capabilities. For those seeking occasional big-screen thrills mixed with gaming or sports, the TK860i proves to be a reliable and enjoyable choice, providing a bright, detailed, and colorful image at an attractive price point.
Audio
The BenQ TK860i 4K projector stands out with its integration of treVolo 5-watt chambered speakers, a feature that sets it apart from many other projectors in its class. These speakers are designed with principles from both acoustic and psychoacoustic sciences, aimed at delivering a more immersive and dynamic audio experience. With deep bass and soaring highs, they aim to enhance the overall viewing experience and cater to users in smaller spaces who might not want to invest in separate audio systems.
The inclusion of built-in speakers is undoubtedly a convenient feature, especially for those who may not have the space or budget for external audio equipment. The TK860i’s audio performance is decent, delivering sound that is suitable for casual viewing and gaming. For everyday use, such as watching TV shows, playing games, or even hosting small gatherings, the built-in speakers can certainly suffice.
However, during comprehensive testing, it became evident that the audio performance is more on the average side. While the treVolo speakers offer an enhancement to the viewing experience, they might not fully satisfy audiophiles or those seeking a true cinematic sound experience. In scenarios where a more immersive and rich sound is desired, external audio equipment, such as a soundbar or dedicated speakers, would still be recommended to complement the stunning visuals delivered by the TK860i.
BenQ TK860i: Conclusion
The BenQ TK860i 4K projector is a compelling option for home entertainment enthusiasts looking for a versatile and immersive viewing experience. With its native 4K UHD resolution, the projector delivers high-definition clarity and sharp image detail, offering a new level of visual enjoyment.
While the contrast ratio of 50,000:1 may be considered on the lower side for a premium projector, the TK860i compensates with its ability to display over a billion colors and a brightness of 3300 ANSI lumens. As a result, it produces vibrant whites and rich blacks, making it a suitable choice for well-lit rooms, without sacrificing image quality.
The standout feature of the TK860i is its advanced HDR-Pro technology, which enhances the dynamic range and optimizes brightness for different segments of the image. This technology ensures perfectly detailed shadows and highlights, creating a more immersive and realistic visual experience.
Installation flexibility is another strong aspect of the TK860i. With vertical lens shift, 2D keystone correction, and a 1.3x zoom lens, the projector allows for easy and distortion-free image projection, even in limited spaces.
Overall, the BenQ TK860i 4K projector offers a compelling package for sports, gaming, and movie enthusiasts. Its combination of high-definition clarity, advanced HDR technology, and installation flexibility makes it an excellent choice for those seeking an immersive and enjoyable home entertainment experience. While it may not have the highest contrast ratio, the TK860i’s impressive color reproduction and brightness ensure a captivating viewing experience in a variety of environments.
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