Gaming projectors aren’t exactly new. Any projector with reasonably low latency gets marketed as such. The BenQ X1300i 4LED brings the same quick response time to the mix, all while adding elements that should make it more immersive for gaming.
Just like other gaming displays that came out in the past couple months, it’s released right in time for the new generation of consoles, so this thing should be optimized to work exceptionally well with the PS5 and Xbox Series X. No, it’s not a 4K projector, so you’ll probably still want to upgrade sometime in the coming years, but if you want a big-screen, low-latency, and high-refresh rate display to beef up the couch gaming experience, this delivers all that at a reasonably affordable price.
The BenQ X1300i 4LED is a 1080p projector, with 3,000 lumens of brightness, 500,000:1 contrast ratio, and 98 percent reproduction for the standard HDTV color gamut (Rec. 709), so it should deliver a picture quality comparable or better to other HD projectors in the market. Like other displays, it comes with picture profiles. Unlike them, though, it doesn’t just have a single profile for gaming. Instead, there are individual gaming profiles for RPGs, FPS games, and sports games, with each one fine-tuning the picture to maximize your in-game performance.
The RPG mode, for instance, focuses on bringing a cinematic quality that’s equal parts rich and intense, while the sports game mode gives a vibrant energy to the picture, accentuating the colors and details of the onscreen field and players alike to make it feel like a real live event. The FPS mode, on the other hand, takes great pains to make everything onscreen easy to spot in plain sight, ensuring you can see any enemies as soon as they pop into view. The projector has a latency of just 8ms at a 120Hz refresh rate, too, so every action you perform is immediately reflected onscreen.
The BenQ X1300i 4LED has two built in speakers blasting 5W of power each, with virtual surround algorithms adjusting the sound to match the gaming profile you’ve activated, too. According to the outfit, it will deliver deep bass in RPG mode, surround effect for FPS titles, and enhanced vocal clarity for sports games. It uses the Bongiovi DPS technology for audio, by the way, which boasts 120 calibration points for real-time audio optimization, so this delivers equal immersion on both the visual and auditory fronts.
The projector can display screen sizes between 30 and 300 inches, although they recommend sticking between 60 and 150 inches to ensure the clearest picture quality. Do note, big screen viewing will necessitate a good distance between the projector and the screen, with a 100-inch screen requiring 9.4 feet of separation and a 150-incher requiring 14.2 feet. Other features include 1.2x zoom (in case, you have limited space in the room), built-in Android TV, 4K support (downscaled to 1080p, of course), 30,000 hours LED lifespan, ceiling mount, adjustable feet, and 2D keystone alignment.
The BenQ X1300i 4LED is available now, priced at $1,299.