Verdict
While there are a span of meaning defect to go around , the TK860I ’s telling brightness , sharpness , sound and aggressive approach to HDR make it a unspoilt option for punishing - to - melanise - out room
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The BenQ TK860i do live on the heels of theW2710i . While the TK860i sure enough shares some DNA with that model , it ’s ultimately quite a different beast , aimed at a very unlike drug user base .
While the W2710i sits in BenQ ’s CinePrime series , aimed at movie fans ready , willing , and able to properly darken a elbow room for a serious film nights ; the TK860i belongs to BenQ ’s Home Entertainment series for more everyday user looking for a projector to utilize in comparatively typical ( as in , not melanize out ) room conditions with a blanket range of likely message sources .
The W2710i fitted its legal brief to tee , so hopefully the TK860i can do the same .
The BenQ TK860i cost £ 1,699 – precisely the same as the W2710i . This underline how BenQ sees the TK860i not as a cheaper alternative to the W2710i , but a model that ’s hopefully as able of doing as effective a caper for a dissimilar object market .
The £ 1,699 monetary value looks reasonable time value in today ’s market for a home - focalize projector that claim 4 special K solving and high dynamical stove capabilities .
you’re able to get a version of the TK860i , the TK860 ( minus the ‘ i ’ ) , that does n’t transport with a smart Android TV dongle . This costs £ 100 less , and should be popular with people who already have an outside voguish streaming machine such as a Fire boob tube stick or Apple TV box .
The TK860i will be usable to regulate in the US from the end of May , for $ 1,799 .
Design
At first coup d’oeil it ’s knockout to distinguish the BenQ TK860i from the W2710i – or any routine of other previous BenQ home projector . It has the same compact orthogonal material body , the same mince rounded edges and corner , the same white last for its top and leave alone / right position , and the same contrast obscure front sharpness contain a lens system at its right - hand side .
While it might not be an original design , it ’s a absolutely pleasant one that get minimum dislocation to your deep brown table .
It ’s a very virtual intention , too , with its control buttons on its top bound and straightforward zoom , focus and opthalmic image slip wheel adjustments tucked under a slide back cover above the lens of the eye barrel . Its three screw - down fundament also make it comparatively easy to both get the TK860i ’s image in the veracious space on your screen , and discipline for unevenness in the surface the projector ’s sitting on .
BenQ has helpfully provided a bay under a removable covering on the TK860i ’s top edge into which you may match the provide smart dongle .
The only really obvious ways of identify the TK860i from the W2710i are that the TK860i features a white rearward control board while the W2710i features a saturnine grey one , and that the TK860i variation an orangish border around its lens .
The TK860i ships with two remote controls : one for the projector , and a freestanding smaller one for the smart dongle . The independent projector remote control does in reality countenance you access all the apps and inspection and repair without needing the impertinent one , though , and is even equipped with a mic forGoogle Assistantvoice control .
Features
The BenQ TK860i check off all the boxful you ’d hope to see with a projector aimed at a comparatively effortless user base . Its 3,300 lumens of claimed peak brightness should be much more in force at punching through ambient light than the W2710i ’s 2,200 lumens . It may also help the TK860i get more value out of its claim support for high active range playback .
I should add that really no projector can render a ‘ true ’ HDR experience in the way thathigh - destruction TVs(for which HDR was spring up ) can ; projector just are n’t built that manner . The more brightness a projector has , the more of a chance it has of delivering at least a comme il faut step up from SDR . Provided that brightness does n’t get in the manner of other more traditional picture elements .
The TK860i is very easy to set up – ready to hand for a projector of this sort , which may well find itself being brought out of a closet every time a household wants to utilize it . Three gaoler down leg help you get the picture level and in the correct blank space on your wall or CRT screen , and a decent range of optical upright persona shifting is on manus to help pilfer or bring down the image without leaving you with angled edges . An automatic keystone correction system is provided to screen out out image geometry if the other plant up cock have n’t done the job already .
The zoom and focalize rings above the genus Lens feel antiphonal without being calibrated so tightly that you ca n’t make very fine adjustment to them , and the onscreen carte are middling straightforward for the most part . Especially if you’re able to superintend with their simplify out of the corner introduction , rather than interchange them into their Advanced mode .
round out the TK860i ’s casual appeal is a built in 2 x 5W sound organisation contrive with BenQ ’s TreVolo audio sectionalisation that will – if it ’s any good – hold open you the trouble of having to find an extraneous audio root .
The TK860i ’s connections are mostly telling for its money . In especial it carries three HDMI stimulus rather than the two you get on the vast absolute majority of rivals . You do n’t need to use any of these for the includedGoogle TVdongle , either , which , as I ’ve explained already , has its own separate connection .
The HDMIs only supporting 120Hz refreshen rates with full HD answer eat ; there ’s no playback of the 4K/120Hz images available from the late consoles and premium PC graphics card . Nor is there any funding forvariable refresh rategaming , and HDR data formatting support is set to HDR10 and HLG ; the TK860i does n’t share the W2710i ’s support for the activeHDR10+system , which add together superfluous scene - by - scene word picture information to the data stream . It does bring together the W2710i in not plump for theDolby Vision HDRformat .
comparatively few projector support 4K/120Hz feeds ( even gaming projectors ) , and even few documentation HDR10 + ( or Dolby Vision ) . So have three HDMI embrasure alongside the smart dongle bay , a 12V trigger port wine , an RS232 ascendency port and a USB media player port stands as an above par effort .
The TK860i ’s innovative onscreen menus contain an impressive array of picture set up features . These admit a fulsome color calibration system , and a return of BenQ ’s HDR - Pro scheme , complete with its Local Contrast foil engine . This break the image into more than a thousand separate zones , and then tweaks the persona ’s appearance in each zone to seek and get the optimal image performance – while also remember to keep things balanced between the different psychoanalysis zones .
There ’s a dedicated Game preset that delivers input lag below 18ms with 4K/60Hz sources , and a Cinema preset designed to surrender the projector ’s most ‘ exact ’ pictures with film sources . There is noFilmmaker modeas found on the more movie - focussed W2710i , and the TK860i ’s more occasional approach shot also ascertain it trench the W2710i ’s backing for ISF professional calibration ( though for DIY calibrators there ’s still both two full stop and 11 - point white Libra the Balance adjustment , plus a full three-D Colour Management System ) .
The TK860i also lacks BenQ ’s CinematicColour organisation , which expend Waveform analysis , special color wheels and factory standardization to deliver accurate colours out of the box . BenQ claims the TK860i can report 98 % of the Rec709 stock dynamic range color palette ( versus 100 % on the W2710i ) , but it does n’t join the W2710i in claim 95 % of the DCI - P3 digital cinema color range .
It does hold a dynamic flag to adjust the amount of spark breathe at any given moment in a play to improve black level response , as well as a solid frame interpolation scheme that can come in ready to hand when watching sport broadcasts and streams . Also retained from the W2710i , despite the TK860i not being such a dedicated movie machine , is a dead on target Cinema 24p mode for more instinctive - looking playback of 24Hz sources .
The TK860i ’s smart dongle , finally , builds into the projector a enough version of Android TV . This supports phonation restraint / lookup , and provides a wide of the mark choice of streaming service apps – the vast majority of which are native , signify they can discover its capableness and adapt their streaming calibre accordingly . Some other projector , by comparison , only access basic on-line versions of streaming overhaul , which end up hand over poorer , unoptimized picture timbre as a result .
There are one or two hole in the smart idiot box system ; theITVXapp cast off up a subject matter pronounce it ca n’t work on this equipment . There ’s an argument , for sure , for opting to save £ 100 by get the TK860 without the ‘ i ’ dongle and adding aFire TVor Google Chromecast stick instead . Though do n’t forget that a third party streaming gimmick wo n’t conveniently fit inside the bay build under the projector ’s top edge like BenQ ’s consecrate dongle does .
Performance
The BenQ TK860i really is a dissimilar picture beast to the W2710i . Its additional luminance pretty much hits you in the face . I started off my tests in a dark room set up , in which the TK860i ’s pictures , specially withhigh active rangesources , badly break loose off my screen – even though that screen only deploys a impersonal gain . This makes pictures look more intense , punchy and , I infer , HDR ( though I must strain again that no projector can do full justice to HDR ) .
The impressive brightness helps colours look more vivacious and voluminous , specially while using the TK860i as a gaming display . The extra luminance also help the TK860i ’s pictures perforate through ( within grounds ) ambient luminosity , confirming that as placard , it ’s a much more effective casual employment / living room selection than the non-white elbow room focused W2710i .
A positive attribute the TK860i ’s pictures share with the W2710i is their uttermost asperity . aboriginal 4 K source really do depend 4 honey oil in my baseborn opinion , rather than like some sort of mere souped up HD . Along with the W2710i , the TK860i fork out the most elaborate , nappy - looking pictures I ’ve seen on any projector for anywhere near the £ 1,699 cost point .
And this detail remains pleasingly entire when there ’s motion in the frame , no matter of whether you ’re using the framing interpolation organization with 50Hz frame interjection , a 1080p 120Hz gaming flow , or a 24fps movie source .
Colour reproduction is n’t as subtle or refined as it is with the W2710i , and nor are tones broadly speaking quite as natural looking at using the out of the box presets ( especially with HDR sources ) . There is an exception , though , when it comes to tegument look , which look really impressive with minimal manual interference , while the TK860i put up enough standardisation alternative to have you substantially improve out of the box colour flaw too .
While the TK860i can somewhat be considered a very good SDR projector for film , cyclosis and play purposes , its brightness can have a few HDR hiccups once you look past the ab initio eye - catching positives .
bleak levels come out steep with observably more greyness with HDR rootage than they do on the W2710i . This tone down the sense of dividing line in the picture , too , despite the self-aggrandising brightness ascending , and make black scenes seem mostly less convincing .
The greyness plain in dark areas can obscure a footling more shadow detailing in dark area than the W2710i does , too . Though it ’s worth stressing that the TK860i ’s rather gray black point are less detectable in the relatively undimmed living room configurations the projector is designed to sit in than they are in the sort of colored rooms the W2710i is intended for .
My biggest emergence with the TK860i ’s default HDR preferences , though , is that they cause fairly extreme press clipping in the brightest areas of strong-growing HDR headmaster . In the excellently bright 4 K Blu - ray transferee of Pan , for instance , during the sequence where Peter first arrives on the vanish ship to Neverland , the orange clouds stand out like radioactive material from their surround , while the white - ish musing on the floating H2O bubbles they sail by are so deficient in pernicious shading they look like bloodless yap rip out of the image .
The only adjustment I could find oneself that fundamentally fixed this government issue – while also sorting out an issue with exaggerated color disturbance – was to reduce the TK860i ’s BrilliantColour setting from its default 10 floor to as low as level three or even two . Doing this , though , make the picture look importantly less brilliant and punchy . So much so that it does somewhat undermine the TK860i ’s credential as a casual brilliant elbow room option .
keep down Brilliant Colour so much to solve the glowing / detail - losing apex HDR problem also reduces the TK860i ’s demarcation , since brightness is lose without surrender a obtrusive improvement in the projector ’s black spirit level .
The TK860i ’s redundant brightness make therainbow effect(where stripe of staring red , green and blue can flutter in your peripheral imagination or over stand - out bright picture highlights ) slightly more distracting than it is with the W2710i , too .
One other issue with the TK860i ’s out of the box pictures is one I also blot with the W2710i . A inclination for the dynamic iris ’s default High set to be overactive , do both aggressive chemise in luminosity during cuts between dark and bright shot and , worsened , make the image ’s brightness level to fluctuate and flutter within a stroke .
Both these problems can be very distracting . Fortunately you could greatly reduce their impact simply by turning the dynamical Iris down to its Middle background – but as with the Brilliant Colour step-down command to reduce colour freshness and clipping , devolve the dynamical Iris to Middle does cost the figure of speech a little more of the luminosity that ’s at the heart of its living room prayer .
While it ’s a shame you have to pick off its configurations and compromise on some of the TK860i ’s brightness to revel a coherent and therefore involving HDR experience , though , the solution of your tweaks are still enjoyable to see in even a quite promising living room fix .
Sound Quality
The TK860i ’s sound , cede by a 2 x 5W speaker system created with BenQ ’s Trevolo sound division , seems pretty much selfsame to that of the W2710i . Which is unspoilt news , actually , as it means a repeat of the W2710i ’s well - round , richly detail , distortion- and harshness - free sound .
The sound is tug a decent space clear-cut of the projector ’s bodywork , too , so that if you ’re sit around behind the projector the sound seems at least vaguely connect with the onscreen action – a rare luxury with built - in projector strait systems .
There is n’t much basso to underpin the action , but the TK860i still sound a lot more satisfying than most projector .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
- : The TK860i ’s pictures are bright enough to hold up against ambient light , at least when shown on a moderate gain screen .
The TK860i ’s out of the box brightness slenderly magnify the rainbow burden , reduces contrast and make some clipping in sphere of bright color and peak whites in aggressive HDR sources .
Final Thoughts
The TK860i lives up to its billing of being a quite different proffer to its same - toll W2710i sibling . Its additional brightness and more aggressive photograph preferences make it a much more satisfying watch in most slipway in a light room environment than the more ‘ dark room ’ focused W2710i , and its uttermost acuity and vibrant coloring material give it an edge over many of its similarly priced aliveness elbow room equal .
Its over - enthusiastic approach to HDR color and rather hyperactive High Dynamic Iris setting mean you regrettably have to tweak some of the TK860i ’s brightness away to get a cheering , immersive and balanced pictorial matter .
This entail the W2710i does a well job overall of impinge on its brief than the TK860i , and earns a higher final score consequently . provide you ’re aware of its strengths and limitations and are confident it mark off the boxes you ’re looking for from a projector , the BenQ TK860i is still a very sizeable and , once its scene have been sorted out , light to use life room home entertainment projector .
Trusted Score
How we test
We try every projector we review thoroughly over an lengthy period of sentence . We use industriousness stock tests to liken feature in good order . We ’ll always tell apart you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to review a intersection .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics insurance .
FAQs
DLP projector work out by shining Light Within from a lamp or laser onto an raiment of individually controlled diminutive mirror placed on the back of a controller splintering .
This is a smart TV system design by Google that provides an interface for video streaming and gaming apps .
4K/60Hz , 1080p/120Hz , 17.9ms of input lag with 4 K 60Hz
Full Specs
Sustainability
Trusted Reviews ’ holds the fact that global warming is not a myth as a core value and will unendingly endeavour to help oneself protect our planet from injury in its patronage exercise .
As part of this mission , whenever we refresh a Cartesian product we station the caller a serial of question to help us gauge and make transparent the impingement the machine has on the environs .
We presently have n’t receive answers to the questions on this intersection , but will update this pageboy the mo we do . you’re able to see a elaborated breakdown of the questions we ask and why in oursustainability info page .
