BenQ W1800i review: 4K projector with lights and shadows

The BenQ W1800i package includes something you don’t expect: a dongle. In fact, this projector was born “normal”, with no operating system inside, and to make it smarter and more attractive, BenQ gives you an HDMI pen, with Android TV 10 (too bad she forgot the micro USB power cable needed to make it work).

Included in the package we also have a TV remote (for the dongle, not the projector) and nothing else special. Ah yes, there are 2 AAA batteries for the remote control, and a certification regarding the factory calibration performed on each individual projector.

Aesthetically speaking, BenQ W1800i is a projector like any other. White, wider than high, made of plastic, without any particular design element. On the right side we find a large grill for the fanon the left the exit for lo speaker. On the bottom we have three height-adjustable feetso that we can conveniently tilt the projector according to the wall on which we want to project (they can also be moved more in the center to raise it further).

On the back we have the two doors HDMI 2.0b (an ARC), the VGA input and a 1.5 Amp USB A port (useful for powering the dongle), in addition to the mini jack for the audio out.

On the top we find various controls to adjust the image while a lens cap is missingwhich you will therefore have to take care of keeping clean over time.

The remote control, as already specified, is mainly used to control the Android TV dongle, and in fact has all the typical keys to interact with the operating system, including one dedicated to Assistant (there is the microphone) and one for Prime Video. In the absence of Netflix, BenQ has added a button to call back FamiLanda proprietary app of the company for contents suitable for the whole family and in general for the little ones.

The remote control is entirely in plasticand the pressing of the keys is not particularly clicky, neither soundly speaking, nor to the touch.

It should then be noted that while the remote communicates with the dongle via Bluetoothit does this with the projector only via infrared. So if you want to interact with it, you’ll have to point it at the IR receiver, or it won’t work.

BenQ W1800i is a 4K projector (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) with a certified lamp for 15,000 hours (in LampSave mode, but this is reduced to 4,000 in normal mode). The refresh rate goes up to 120Hzthere is support HDR10 / HLGand the image size can reach 200 inches.

Good the contrast (10,000: 1), and good la brightness 2,000 ANSI LUMEN, which in any case does not allow you to fully enjoy it during the day, if the window is open.

There Auto keystone correction is vertical onlyplus or minus 30 degrees, but you can proceed to adjust the ratio manually if necessary.

BenQ guarantees full spectrum coverage Rec. 709 and ensures a factory calibration on each single projector with Delta E lower than 3, as per the report included in the package. The audio is entrusted to a single 5 Watt speaker. However, find the rest of the specifications on the manufacturer’s website.

As for the dongle with Android TV, this is based on Amlogic S905Y2 SoC, a quad-core Cortex A53 now somewhat dated (2018), but which still supports hardware decoding up to 4K @ 60fps on various formats, including H..265 (also 10-bit), H.264 And VP9. The graphics are entrusted to the GPU Mali-G31 MP2.

Luckily there are 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory, which will allow you not to run out of storage space too soon. Connectivity is good, with dual band Wi-Fi ac, and Bluetooth LE.

Being an Android TV dongle, it is also a device Chromecast, with all the advantages of the case by now well known. Too bad, however, that BenQ has not integrated the support natively in the projector: in this way you will always occupy an HDMI port on the back, you will not be able to put it completely against the wall and above all, as valid as the dongle supplied in the package may be, a Fire TV Stick. 4K Max or a Chromecast with Google TV they are of a completely different level, both from the hardware and software point of view (Netflix certification in the first place, which is absent here).

BenQ had a clear goal with this projector, and it hit it right: the visual quality. W1800i delivers images that, honestly, I would not have expected from a projector of this range. And it’s not just a matter of faithful colors, which certainly help anyway, but of saturation and color renderingwhich are particularly convincing in the filmmaker mode.

The latter is one of the projector presets, and is independent of the Android TV part, which in fact cannot control the image if not only marginally. We enjoyed some of the Apple Originals in 4K and similar contents on Prime Video, remaining pleasantly convinced by both the complexions, defined but not excessively sharp, and by the dark tones, where HDR still does a good job, although not as effective as on a TV of the same price. We are however facing a relationship of contrast 10,000: 1, which is a very good value in this range and once more contributes to the improvement of visual quality especially in places that are not entirely dark.

The image quality is in fact so convincing that the perceived brightness is even higher than the nominal “sun” 2,000 ANSI LUMEN. Even keeping the shutters of the only window in the room where we tested the projector open, the projection is not compromised even in daylight hours, as long as the sunlight does not directly affect the image itself.

So what is missing from this projector to make it an authentic one best buy? Small things, but added together they are not few. For example, there is no autofocus, and the automatic keystone adjustment is only vertical: two things that, once the projector is in place, you should no longer touch, but which, depending on the use, can annoy you.

The audio then is certainly not up to the video: a single 5 Watt speaker, which “shoots” from a single side (the left) is not enough to immerse you completely in the scene. And then there is the absence of Netflix to weigh on the final judgment, especially since the Android TV dongle supplied in the package on the one hand can be a small complication for the installation of the projector, which you will not be able to attach to the wall, but above all it has not always proved to be flawless in terms of performance . Considering that a 4K Fire TV Stick currently costs € 34.99 it’s hard not to recommend it.

And finally, the sonority of the fanwhich is practically always present, and if the projector were close to you while watching a movie it is practically impossible not to hear it.

Under certain conditions, for example with ceiling installation and audio system already present (perhaps via HDMI ARC if possible), you will have one excellent yield, but it is obviously a situation that is neither common nor possible for everyone. Undoubtedly in this price range and with this image quality the BenQ projector is to be taken into serious consideration, and perhaps for this reason it is a pity that the rest of the user experience has not been so tailor-made. To take an example with the latest 4K projector we reviewed, the visual quality of XGIMI Horizon Pro 4K is inferior to that of the BenQ W1800i, but the overall experience can be superior in the light of everything beyond the image.

The price of BenQ W1800i is € 1,199. That’s a good figure for a projector of this video quality. To have solutions that slightly overcome all its main flaws (from the audio, to the silence, to the operating system included) you will have to spend enough more. And if you already have an (Android) TV dongle left over and a good position to place it (not too close to you), you will be on horseback.