In recent years, projectors have suddenly gone relatively mainstream, used extensively for entertainment. But while movies may be their primary use, a growing number are catering to gamers. Take the BenQ X3000i 4LED Gaming Projector, purposefully built for competitive and laid-back gaming.
While BenQ has also hopped on this bandwagon, this isn’t their first gaming projector. The X3000i, however, looks to be a different beast. We were offered to test it out, and its specs make for an exciting device to check out.
Design and Features
The first thing you’d realise upon opening the box is how massive the projector is – it measures 259mm by 272mm by 197mm, which is sure to take up a lot of space. This means that finding somewhere to place the projector for smaller rooms or homes could be an issue.
It isn’t light either, weighing in at 6.4kg! I had to use a considerable amount of strength to carry the projector around, meaning that if you wanted to readjust the projector’s position, it might be quite a hassle.
The X3000i however, comes with a feature called 2D Keystone, which allows you to place the projector at any angle and still have the image projected normally without the trapezoid effects. This means that you (hopefully) won’t have to worry about moving the projector too much to get a clear and clean image.
Like all of the other projectors that BenQ has released, the X3000i comes with an in-built treVolo stereo speaker, which handily comes with HDMI Audio Return that also supports eARC. So if you have any Dolby Atmos systems, it will work great with the projector.
In terms of the display, the X3000i supports both 1080p (up to a 240hz refresh rate), and more tantalisingly, a 4K UHD resolution — making the projector great for any form of entertainment. Furthermore, the 4LED light source ensures brighter visuals and more brilliant colours, all while having a 30,000-hour lifespan, making your overall experience all the more extraordinary.
For connectivity, the BenQ X3000i comes with 2 HDMI Ports, a USB-A port, a VGA port, a SPDIF port and an audio output port; this allows for a wide range of devices to be connected and enjoyed on your projector and just about any device can be connected to it.
Performance
Testing-wise, we first had to try out the Android TV dongle given together with the projector. Here, you’ve got popular streaming apps like Amazon Prime and Disney+, but strangely, no Netflix. Navigating the projector with the included remote is decent enough, with smooth scrolling and tactile feedback.
From the Disney+ catalogue, we decided on more visual-heavy movies – Avengers Infinity War and Thor: Love and Thunder. Safe to say, we were not disappointed.
Overall colours were super vibrant and eye-catching. Love and Thunder’s first scene especially is a wonderful showcase of its visual performance with the bright and lush alien jungle environment. In addition to that, the in-built speaker was really solid, but of course, you wouldn’t be getting spatial audio as you would from a dedicated Dolby Atmos device.
Graphics was the main selling point of the BenQ X3000i, and we were not disappointed by it either. Testing out games such as Ghost of Tsushima on it, we were surprised at how clean the graphics were. In addition, colours are beautifully accentuated on the projector, particularly the more vivid ones like yellow and red.
The projector also supports a high refresh rate, but that only applies when it is set to a 1080p resolution; users only get 60Hz for 4K. While FIFA 22, another game we tried, couldn’t take advantage of the highest 240Hz refresh rate, the gameplay still had a smooth flow to eat when playing.
Latency-wise, there was essentially zero latency felt while using the projector. On paper, the projector has an input lag of 16.7ms for 60hz refresh rates. When at 120hz at 1080p, this number is reduced to 8.3ms. Meanwhile, on 240hz at 1080p, the number is nearly halved to 4.2ms.
This means that in terms of gaming, we had a buttery-smooth one, with the input lag barely being felt — great for competitive-style titles. Keep in mind that the 240hz option is generally more for PCs, and not consoles, which support up to 120hz only.
Furthermore, connecting a PS5 to the projector was a breeze; all we had to do was plug in and connect an HDMI cable, and we were ready to go. Cable management for the whole projector was clean and easy, as generally, the power cable and an HDMI cable are all you really need, meaning that there wouldn’t be a huge messy bunch of wires lying around when using it.
Verdict
While the X3000i is a great product as a whole, the price point on the other hand, isn’t so great. The X3000i comes in at an eye-catching S$3499, which to the ordinary person, is quite a high price to pay for something like that, in spite of the many features of the X3000i.
Putting the price aside, however, the BenQ X3000i as a whole is a great product to use and have at home, owing to its wide range of use. Moreover, you get to enjoy both films and games on a humongous screen; what’s not to like!
The bulky size of it however, and the fact that you need a plain wall that is unobstructed means that the use of a projector may seem rather inconvenient for some, making this a purchase that is hard to justify, especially if you live in a HDB home in Singapore. Though if you have the environment to accommodate it, you’ll get an excellent product that will fit all your entertainment needs.
If you want to look at the in-depth specifications of the X3000i, check out BenQ’s Official Product page. If you’re going to snag a unit for yourself to enjoy, you can head over to the product page on BenQ’s website, or shop via their Shopee, Lazada and Amazon stores!
Photos by Ryan Wong of the DANAMIC Team.
