BenQ W1070 Pro Reviews

After measuring and watching the BenQ for weeks, I returned to my current reference projector, last year’s $3,500 JVC DLA-X30 (Home Theater, May 2012). The JVC’s far superior blacks not only improved dark scenes dramatically, but its deeper contrast and sharper resolution enlivened brighter scenes as well. The comparison is perhaps a little unfair, but in video as in many things in life, you usually get what you pay for. Nevertheless, the BenQ had drawn me in. When a product isn’t quite making the grade, a reviewer typically rushes to check the usual boxes and get it over with. Not so here. On most material, I found myself glued to the chair, reluctant to get up and change to another disc even after the current one had served its purpose in the evaluation. In short, I could tune out the W1070’s limitations. Only when returning to a far more expensive projector was I reawakened to them. A Top Pick, then? No, I can’t quite go there. But the BenQ W1070 scores plenty high on the value quotient. If you can deal with its price-driven shortcomings, it might just be your most affordable route to a true, big-screen home theater experience.

You won't find a projector capable of such excellent picture quality in 2D and 3D footage for less

The BenQ W1070 might well be a budget projector but at least it tries to look the part with its two-tone effect and brushed metal finish; it certainly makes a nice change from the usual white plastic chassis. Of course, once you take a closer look the budget nature of the projector becomes more obvious, with a small and rather cheap lens, large grilles with excessive light spill and a noisy fan. There are manual controls for zooming and focussing the lens, which are quite fiddly to use, and unusually for a budget DLP projector there is also a limited amount of lens shift. The remote control is a disaster - small, difficult to use and with no backlight; whilst the 3D glasses, which aren't included, are too big and heavy.

The BenQ W1070 3D home entertainment projector offers high-quality 1080p video that's bright enough to stand up to ambient light, but it shows rainbow artifacts relatively easily.

If you want a huge, good-looking image for a little money, few come close to the BenQ W1070 projector.