Verdict
A convenient and succinct optical maser projector , the Hisense C1 position in a rich , colourful performance , becoming sound and utile smarts
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
interest group in projectors has spring up in the preceding several years , as shown by the all-encompassing and different types of models available on the market .
Fromportable pico effortsto ‘ lifestyle ’ projector that fit easily into a living room over a consecrated instalment , Hisense is one of several brands staking an interest in this domain with the C1 .
A smart , portable optical maser projector with an visceral interface and built - in sound system , as well as the power to produce an figure bigger than a TV at less expense ; the Hisense C1 is here to replace your video forever .
Design
measure out 295 x 179 x 216 mm ( HWD ) and weigh 4.6 kilogram , the Hisense C1 projector is a heavyset , well - finished unit that feel ( and looks ) of a eminent bore . The finish on the front with its rotary line sum up a premium tinge , and the overall anatomy quality feels rich . There ’s nothing cheap or flimsy about the C1 despite being made from plastic .
On either side of the C1 are grille to disperse high temperature but during testing the projector never go too hot . In fact it scarper rather coolheaded for the most part , and whenever the rooter is called into action , I could n’t take heed it over the from the built - in heavy system .
On the top surface are buttons for power , playback and volume control ; though the package outback serf as the primary means of mental process , and I bump that you do n’t have to aim towards the projector to get a response – target it at the wall and that works fine .
Around the derriere are the connection , and though the C1 does n’t come with a stand , if you look on the underside there ’s a mount point to add together a tripod . There ’s no handle to enthral but it ’s none too difficult to pick it up and move .
Features
The specs for the Hisense C1 admit HDR10,HLG , andHDR10+decoding , and the projector support Dolby Vision HDR . film maker mode is included , though it does n’t activate mechanically in Prime Video when it smell a compatible stream .
Hisense also claims the C1 covers 110 % of the BT.2020 gamut to display a wider range of colours via its TriChomra Laser engineering ( red , green , and patrician lasers ) . The C1 also has a 3840 x 2160 resolution so there is no trickery or upscaling to 4 K necessitate .
Brightness is grass at 1600 ANSI lumens , which implies the Hisense C1 wo n’t be too distracted by ambient lighting in a well - lit room .
The 20W JBL sound organization can decrypt Dolby Atmos track but infer that the C1 wo n’t produce an immersive carrying out in the same elbow room that asoundbar or surround systemcan .
smartness come inAmazon Alexaand VIDAA Voice , along with the VIDAA U user interface . There ’s a biz mode and though I did n’t essay the rotational latency , Hisense value it as less than 60ms , which is still high compared to thebest gaming TVs .
With a throw ratio of 1:2 , the concealment size can be anything from 65- to 300 - inches . The Auto Matic AI organisation can align keystone fitting , focus and coordinate the screen to avoid any obstruction without requiring user input .
Connectivity features two HDMI port , including one that covers theHDMI 2.1spec witheARCandALLM . That mean you ’ll need to make a choice between adding a soundbar or game console . An superfluous HDMI comment or another HDMI 2.1 porthole would have helped .
There are two USB input ( 2.0 and 3.0 specification ) , Ethernet , phone and optical outputs , the latter for relate a non - HDMI sound organisation . Bluetooth 5and Wi - Fi are also available , as isAirPlay 2for iOS devices .
Interface
The C1 uses Hisense ’s VIDAA U6 user interface , and it go like it does on the blade ’s TVs . Netflix still holds pridefulness of spot in the app words , alongside the chief television streaming apps ( Prime Video , Apple TV+,Disney+ , etc ) , and plenty of other contentedness let in free options .
There’sFreeview Playbut no receiving set to get DTV terrestrial television channel so it ’s all IP delivered ( over the cyberspace ) . There are rows upon rows of curated content that goes on for a while , but the amount of row does n’t come out to make the interface late or laggy .
Signing into apps can be done promptly too , especially if passwords are already saved in the Android ecosystem .
The VIDAA menu system offers customisation alternative on picture , sound , auto correction and the smart side of things . book down on the power button and that reveals the Mixbar that brings up sources , intensity control , among other things . All the preferences are explain with ready to hand descriptions , so even those lacking more technical know - how will understand what ’s what .
Performance
It is very leisurely to get the Hisense C1 up and running , principally because it does all of the set - up itself . It ’ll graduate the stress on first baron up , croak from a fuzzy screen to a crisp image within secondment , and it ’ll auto correct the sizing of the screen as well – when it move the screen will get bigger or smaller and aline the nidus in variety .
It ’s very convenient – almost no action is needed on the exploiter ’s part to get an image that accommodates your space . There have been moment where I ’ve nudge the mesa and it ’s performed auto fudge factor , so the C1 is sensitive to any movement .
I did n’t use a cover , I just send off the image onto a white wall , and though Hisense tell the C1 can make out with well - lit rooms , it is good to draw the curtains , pull out down the blinds , or at the very least dim the lights . The Hisense C1 is capable of a bright and colourful image but with sorry content it ’s well help with the ignitor down .
Black bar of letterboxed subject matter can look grey but it ’s serviceable enough without being too unhinge . With HDR mental object the C1 fight to conserve black depth . Watching Zero Dark Thirty ( 4 K Blu - ray ) in the projector ’s Standard musical mode and it ’s a via media between seeing particular and getting black levels correct .
In Standard mode blacks are arouse . With HDR Night way it ’s better but black level become too drear and indistinct . In some shots it ’s hard to make out detail with black bet grey and formless but this is the pact you make when dealing with a projected ikon versus a TV ’s backlight . You wo n’t get the same bootleg levels or eubstance , thoughDolby Visioncan assistance – a stream of The Marvels presented pretty good sinister levels for the most part .
The Hisense C1 is most impressive with bright images . It ’s a sheer , colour rich trope .
When tune into a stream of Fallout on Prime Video , though bootleg point look gray it ’s an image that privilege the undimmed semblance of the wasteland even though the C1 loses out on some shade in HDR tones and shades . The sky in Fallout seems to be the same consistent spook of sensationalistic with no changes in graduation .
I do like the fondness of the C1 ’s picture however , and it ’s astute enough to catch the varied skintones of the Khan family line in The Marvels rather than paint them all in the same fashion . There ’s not much a projector can do with highlights but the C1 summon a decent sense of brightness with the brightest share of the image .
The downside of the C1 ’s delineation carrying out is that there is a slimly processed flavor to the image . Watching Rebel Moon ( Netflix ) , the boldness of Ed Skrein ’s fibre miss detail in some close - ups . Some parts of his face are elaborated and others seem soft , and it ’s a similar issue I noted when watching The Peripheral ( Prime Video ) .
Skipping through the HDR modes reveals a few more oddities . There ’s nearly no difference between HDR Night and Filmmaker mode ; while flicking on Dynamic fashion with Cinderella ( 4 K Blu - ray ) is a display case for noisy blacks , gloss that are clearly not vivid or boosted , plus skintones and distort that veer from grey to too orange , from shot to shot .
Vibrancy is missing , point floor have go on vacation – lineament look more like American bittersweet in some shot .
SDR content benefit from the C1 ’s robust colour performance and the deficiency of subtlety works in its party favor with Lucy . The rich reds of Mr Jang ’s apartment leap off the rampart , discolor in general look endearing , while white tones are reproduce in crisp and gross term ; with black levels better regurgitate in SDR too .
Like the HDR modes , not all the SDR picture mode sing as well as they should . received and Dynamic fare best in terms of producing a colourful and rich image with Lucy , but Cinema Day and Night modes are bore fests , lacking punch and draining skintones of colour . TheFilmmaker modein SDR is the bad of the deal : malnourished in terminal figure of color as if a brown filter has launder over the image . It ’s an eyesore .
The C1 ’s Ultra Smooth Motion feature article discharge itself well with Bad Boys II ( 4 K Blu - ray ) . There ’s not as much noise , break - up or even judder that I noticed on its Smooth context . I ’ve seen tv treat this film a lot uncollectible than the C1 .
There can be motion dim from time to time ( Rebel Moon ) with some artefacts popping up ( Lucy ) in terms of tracking character ’s hair and some wobbly edge definition , but on the whole these issues are svelte , and not too impactful .
Sound is ordinarily an return for projectors but the built - in JBL sound system is rich . Volume grade 20 is about the high I ’d go as bass heavy scenes and high frequencies can invoke some distortion . Otherwise sea bass response is expert than I ’d gestate , and there is adequate heartiness and intensity to give action scene punch .
It pushes sounds out a little wider and further from the building block , and there are sentence where voice feel attached to what ’s on the bulwark than the projector itself . Vocal uncloudedness is clear and accurate – the C1 never falter as far as clarity was concerned – and it ’s unspoiled performance was with disc - found lossless Atmos message , which go louder and beefier than lossy stream .
There ’s a selection of audio mood with Theatre producing the biggest and wide soundstage , with voices carrying more weight . Music and Speech are all right , though ironically with the latter , dialog sounds less than innate .
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Should you buy it?
Perhaps there ’s not space for a TV of the size of it you desire ; the Hisense C1 has feature you ’d bear from a idiot box but can display a picture on a much blanket canvas than any TV could .
As rich and colorful as the Hisense C1 ’s painting can be , it ’s not as wide - roll with colours as a TV is , and some of its pic style are dull .
Final Thoughts
Dropping nearly £ 2000 on a projector is a wad to drop but the Hisense C1 take its various part together in a smashing fashion . The C1 looks the part , its compact size easily conform to into any way . Its image functioning is a lustrous and colourfully racy one complemented by a adequate built - in audio system , and an interface that ’s unfussy and caters for your cyclosis needs .
There are few foibles : its picture modality could be sound , it lacks subtlety with HDR subject , and there is a limit to how loud the sound arrangement can go .
The Hisense C1 does n’t have the track all to itself . There ’s similarly priced competition in theXGIMI Horizon Ultra , BenQ GP500and the less expensiveDangbei Mars Laserprojectors that are deserving thoughtfulness .
irrespective , in terms of convenience and ease of use , the Hisense C1 gets it properly by restrain it as simple as possible . On that basis , it ’s worthy of a recommendation .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every projector we review exhaustively over an extended catamenia of metre . We use manufacture stock tests to compare features decently . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to retrospect a product .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
The C1TUK projector can decrypt HDR10 , HLG , and HDR10 + formats , as well as labor Dolby Vision HDR source .
