The Technet Laptop Cooling Pad is an inexpensive cooling solution for any heavy-duty tasks you throw at your laptop, whether you’re gaming or rendering 3D animation. It rocks two fans capable of up to 1800rpm and is compatible with laptops up to 17 inches.
As those fans would suggest, the Technet Laptop Cooling Pad offers genuinely impressive cooling. The baseline 3D Mark Stress Test I ran on our Acer Predator Helios 300 with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 saw its temperature rise from 20.2°C to 52.1°C, an increase of 31.9°C. With the Tecknet running at its highest output, our gaming laptop hit a high of 41.8°C, a much more modest warming of 17.9°C. That’s one of the best results I’ve seen in my testing so far.
With this kind of cooling, you’d expect some pretty serious fan noise from the Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad. However, in my experience it wasn't too disruptive – while the noise was noticeable, it didn’t distract from the tunes I was listening to.
And this was borne out by empirical testing – 10 minutes into the stress test, I measured the noise levels from three inches away and the combined noise of the cooling pad and laptop was quieter at 58dB than the 60dB benchmark of the laptop’s fans working alone. At my head height (21 inches away), this evened out a little, registering a little louder at 45dB combined compared to 42dB alone. Still, this rivals some of the best laptop cooling pads.
The Tecknet felt comfortable to use. The ergonomics were just right for me, with its angle allowing me to comfortably rest my wrists without any flexion or extension.
Speaking purely aesthetically, its looks are perhaps a little on the basic side – it’s essentially just made of textured matt plastic and a grille over the fans. You won’t see them most of the time, but when in use the fans are lit by a subtle blue light, which I think looks a bit more classy than some of the flamboyant RGB lighting its rivals opt for. One slight worry I do have, though, is the textured grips that hold your laptop in place. While my laptop didn’t slip around too much during testing, I have concerns about how well they’ll keep one in place during extra vigorous gaming sessions.
Ultimately, though, I can’t argue with the results. Despite being toward the cheaper end of the spectrum at $19.99 / £19.99, the Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad offers seriously decent performance, even if it doesn't look quite as fancy as more stereotypically gaming-focused cooling solutions. All in all, it's definitely worth the spend if your biggest priority is shaving off those degrees for as little dough as possible.
(Image credit: Future)
Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad review: specs
(Image credit: Future)
Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad review: price and availability
Released August 18, 2015
MSRP of $29.99 / £24.99
The Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad first went on sale on August 18, 2015, and is still available now. It retails for an MSRP of $29.99 / £24.99, but there are plenty of deals out there. It’s currently on sale for $26.99 on Amazon US, while you can buy it direct from Tecknet in the UK for just £12.49, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for bargains.
There aren’t many different options available, with most retailers only offering it with blue lighting and detailing. However, Amazon US does currently offer it with red lighting and highlights, so if that’s more your bag, it’s worth snapping that option up.
(Image credit: Future)
Should I buy the Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad?
Buy it if…
You want impressive cooling Able to keep our testing laptop a full 14°C cooler even during a 3D stress test, this cooling pad is seriously frosty. It should go a long way to stop your laptop overheating, even during the most demanding gaming sessions.
You want reduced noise Thanks to those ultra-quiet fans, this cooling doesn’t come at the cost of loads of noise. In fact, the Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad seems to be no louder than our testing laptop’s built-in fans.
Don’t buy it if…
You want souped-up gaming aesthetics If you want psychedelic RGB lighting and the sharp, angular geometry typical of most gaming equipment, you might be disappointed here. The Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad has understated blue lighting and is made of relatively basic materials, so it’s more for cooling than drooling over.
You want to ensure your laptop will stay put Unlike some cooling pads with physical rests for keeping your laptop in place, the Tecknet only offers some textured grips. These are not a guarantee your laptop won’t slip during vigorous gaming sessions.
Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad review: also consider
TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad The TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad looks stunning, with its vibrant RGB lighting and quality build, while the braces at its bottom end keep your laptop firmly in place. It didn’t quite manage to keep up with the Tecknet’s cooling in our test, allowing our laptop to warm up by 22.8°C, but it was just as quiet. If you’re willing to spend $29.99 / £29.77, this will definitely earn you some extra style points.
How I tested the Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad
Tested it over several days
Used a thermal camera to measure temperature difference before and after test
Used a sound level meter to measure fan noise 10 minutes into test
I spent several days testing and using the Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad. I ran it through several standardized benchmarks that we use for all laptop cooling pads. I checked the temperature of the hottest point of our Acer Predator Helios 300 with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 testing laptop using a handheld thermal camera, ran a 15-minute 3DMark Stress Test with the cooling pad on its highest setting, then checked its temperature again.
To test the noise it generated, I used a sound level meter to check the noise generated 10 minutes into the test both with the laptop alone and with the laptop cooler running. I tested this from three inches to get an accurate reading of the noise generated, as well as from my head height to gain a reading of how loud it will sound in practice.
In terms of my experience, I’ve been a committed gamer and laptop user for over 30 years, and I’ve been covering tech and gadgets as a journalist for well over a decade.
The Meridian Ellipse is a seriously capable single-unit wireless speaker. It can handle incredibly detailed hi-res audio, whether via Wi-FI or wired inputs like USB-C or optical, and is crammed with seriously clever features. But it’s also one of the most expensive wireless speakers I’ve ever tested. So does it justify that high price tag?
On the one hand, the Meridian Ellipse is capable of impressive clarity and detail. When listening to the relatively spacious mix of Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes by Paul Simon, I was impressed with how much room various elements were given to breathe. The vocals of Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo in particular projected forward into the room, while the slap of the percussion was keen and clear.
However, if you feed the Ellipse something much sonically denser like electronic or dance music, some of the shortcuts it takes become more apparent. Listening to Expander by Bonobo, dynamic elements like the punchy kick and shuffly hats were well-communicated, as was its gorgeous vocal line, but there was a lack of cohesion lower down to help glue the mix together. The sub and low mids felt brighter and chillier than the glowing warmth I’ve come to expect from the best wireless speakers. And while you can tweak both treble and bass levels in the Meridian app, I definitely felt like I was ameliorating these imbalances rather than entirely reversing them.
It compensates, in part, for this with its suite of smart features, some of which are truly fantastic. For example, Image Focus does an exceedingly deft job of reorientating the stereo field when you’re sat at an off angle, while Image Elevation is a piece of psycho-acoustic wizardry that throws its voice higher to make TV audio seem like it’s coming from your TV screen. Its position-optimization settings are decent, although they aren’t algorithmic like on some devices, merely offering Free, Wall, Shelf and Corner options. Sadly, I was pretty underwhelmed by its frequency-balancing tech for different volumes: the speaker sounds great at higher volumes, but somewhat neutered at lower ones.
The connectivity options on offer are also decent, although maybe not as extensive as with speakers like the Ruark Audio R410 or Cambridge Audio Evo One. It goes without saying that it can utilize Wi-Fi streaming solutions like TIDAL Connect, Spotify Connect, AirPlay 2, Google Cast, and Roon connectivity, as well as Bluetooth. But it’s also able to support sampling rates of 192kHz / 24-bit over USB-C, 96kHz / 24-bit via mini-TOSLINK optical, plus 88kHz / 24-bit via its stereo analog input and built-in DAC. However, it doesn’t offer more exotic options like eARC or phono in, so you won’t be using this as your all-in-one home audio hub.
As its name suggests, the shape of the Ellipse is… anyone? Yep, it’s elliptical. I’m sure I’m not the only person to notice this but it gives me distinct vibes of the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Pro, both having an undeniably similar Hindenburgian silhouette when viewed front on. Oh, the humanity. However, the metal grille on the face of Meridian’s speaker is much flatter, giving the device a footprint more like a slightly gibbous moon. It also features blue-lit, touch-sensitive controls on its top surface, allowing you to play and pause, skip tracks, adjust volume and initiate Bluetooth pairing mode.
All told, the Meridian Ellipse is a hi-res, feature-packed speaker with some major strengths and a few significant caveats. It’s undeniably detailed and, when its smart functionality delivers, it really delivers. It deftly reproduces trebles and dynamic details, while managing satisfactory, if not exactly stellar, frequency reproduction elsewhere. Were it not for the price tag, I’d be tempted to give it a pass on some of the weaker elements but, at the savings-siphoning price of $3,000 / £1,900 / AU$4,999, I feel its sound needs to be beyond reproach. For that reason, I’d suggest you at least consider cheaper options like the $1,799.95 / £1,299 / AU$2,599 Ruark Audio R410 or $1,499 / £1,299 / AU$2,495 Cambridge Audio Evo One before you commit here.
Meridian Ellipse review: price and availability
Released August 24, 2024
MSRP of $3,000 / £1,900 / AU$4,999
Launched on August 24, 2024, the Meridian Ellipse is available to buy now. It goes for an MSRP of $3,000 / £1,900 / AU$4,999, which is no small change for a single speaker. By way of context, TechRadar’s current pick for best premium wireless speaker, the KEF LS50 Wireless II, costs $2,499.99 / £1,999 / AU$4,000. Even our pick of best wireless speaker if money’s no object, the Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8, is a similar $2,749 / £2,199 / AU$4,499, which shows you the kind of company this speaker keeps.
(Image credit: Future)
Meridian Ellipse review: specs
(Image credit: Future)
Meridian Ellipse review: features
Crammed with smart features
Good range of connectivity options
Lower wattage than some rivals
For a comparatively compact speaker, the Meridian Ellipse certainly squeezes in a lot of features. When it comes to drivers, it focuses on quality over quantity. It only contains three drivers but they’re substantial: it has two 3.5-inch (90mm) polypropylene wide-range drivers and one 5.9 x 3.9-inch (150 x 100mm) racetrack sub. There’s not quite as much oomph behind these drivers as you’d hope, though. The Ellipse only offers 25W for those full-range drivers and 30W for the sub, while the cheaper Cambridge Audio Evo One packs a whopping 50W of amplification per driver.
Naturally, as a wireless speaker, the Ellipse focuses much of its energy on cable-free connectivity. It can stream over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Ethernet, offering both native streaming from Spotify Connect and TIDAL Connect, as well as AirPlay, Google Cast, and Roon connectivity. This doesn’t mean that wireless connectivity is the only connection to its bow however: it also possesses a USB-C that supports sampling rates up to 192kHz / 24 bit, a mini-TOSLINK optical port capable of 96kHz / 24 bit and an analog input with a built-in DAC that can hit rates of 88kHz / 24 bit.
None of this is unusual for a premium wireless speaker. However, what does set Meridian’s speaker apart is the range of smart features they’ve crammed into the Ellipse’s brain.
Some focus more on clarity: for example, Q-Sync exists to minimize jitter and increase clarity, while Digital Precision boosts the signal-to-noise ratio of the digital audio. Others aim to smooth out the Ellipse’s acoustics, with Perfect Balance ensuring low and high frequencies are perceived the same at low and high volumes and Free-Q offering the now-obligatory tech for sonically compensating for the device’s placement.
Perhaps the most unique smart features are those that tweak the speaker’s soundstage. Bass & Space offers stereo-enhancing tech to increase the sense of soundstage width, while Image Focus helps ‘correct for off-center listening’. Finally, Image Elevation is a piece of pseudo-Dolby-Atmos-style trickery that promises to raise the sound image so you can raise it from the speaker below to the middle of your TV screen – although with no actual height channels, it’s worth moderating your expectations on this front, as it won’t position sound as well as one of the best soundbars.
There are admittedly a few things the Meridian Ellipse is lacking. You won’t find a remote control here, which some rival premium wireless speakers supply and it doesn’t offer fancier inputs like eARC or phono in. All told, though, the Meridian Ellipse has an excellent range of features and a lot of the core functionality you’d expect.
Features score: 4.5 / 5
(Image credit: Future)
Meridian Ellipse review: sound quality
Crisp, accurate presentation
Sounds great at higher volumes
Bass and lower mids a bit flat
Given its not-inconsiderable price and the hype around the Meridian Ellipse, I was really hoping to be able to give it an unequivocal thumbs up. But in reality, things aren’t so clear-cut. While a lot of the coverage of its sound quality during its release and early demos was gushing in its praise, I think part of this is down to the protean nature of the device itself, where it sounds wonderfully crisp in some situations and displays distinct flaws in others.
Undeniably, the Meridian Ellipse is capable of some impressive, high-resolution detail. When playing Chemtrails Over the Country Club by Lana Del Rey, it could achieve skillful separation of each instrument. Not only that, but it really brought out the rich, smokey timbre of her voice, giving it real, palpable presence in the room.
High-end detail is also unflinchingly precise. Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac has exposed many a speaker’s weakness with its bright, trebly mix but the Ellipse holds the line. It never becomes overly sharp and yet still has plenty of definition – you can almost hear the scrape of the plectrum as it rings off those taut guitar strings, while the toms punch right through the mix.
Elsewhere, the picture gets a lot more mixed. For example, the Ellipse did a reasonable job with I Want You by Moloko: the funky keys and glockenspiel both had plenty of bite and presence, though I couldn’t help but feel this came at the expense of more nuance in the lower mid frequencies. With electronic music like Chimes by Otherliine, this became much more pronounced: the sound felt very forward without necessarily having the depth to back it up, leaving everything feeling a bit compressed and overdriven.
Again, the Meridian’s bass sometimes felt like it was all bite and no bark – which is particularly disappointing in light of its supposed E3 Bass, which is meant to ‘Expand, Extend, Enhance’ the low end. It’s undeniably punchy and dynamic, with kick drums giving a sizable thump, but the Ellipse can’t always back this up with substance – emphasis on the sub. The gargantuan bass of Tectonic by Technimatic sounded a lot weedier than I’m used to and there was noticeable ducking of the bassline every time the kick sounded, making me question whether its racetrack can really deliver the goods where sub is concerned.
Thanks in no small part to the Perfect Balance feature mentioned above, the Ellipse can hold its own at much higher volumes than many wireless speakers. In fact, I would argue it sounds much better when you crank it up. While Black Eye by Allie X sounded a bit hollow in the lower mids at average volumes, turning it up to 60% gave its saw-toothed synth line much more presence without causing those urgent string slams to distort. While this does give it some much-needed punch, if you’re not going to be listening to the speaker at earwax-melting volumes, it's worth asking whether its weaker sound profile at lower volumes is a compromise you’re willing to make.
To test the speaker’s soundstage, I popped on Tighten Up, Pt. 1 by Archie Bell & The Drells. Despite the hard panning typical of 1960s soul, on the Ellipse there was barely a sliver of daylight between the bass and horns, with much of the sound feeling like it came from a single point.
Its Image Focus stereo field correction was much more impressive, however. Positioning the device at a 3/4s angle definitely left Heart of Gold by Bettye LaFayette missing some of its high-end clarity. And when I slipped the Image Focus setting to <7, it really brought the slap of the bongos back into clarity. Admittedly, you could get up and spin the speaker around yourself, but where’s the fun in that?
I was skeptical about how convincing its Image Elevation feature would be, but when I played some classic episodes of The Simpsons and dialed it up to max elevation, it was genuinely compelling. The slight treble boost of the dialogue made it seem like it was issuing directly from the screen. Yes, with some effort I could get my brain to recognize the sound was issuing from the speaker, but it’s a pretty convincing effect.
Impressive though these smarts are, though, I’m not sure they totally compensate for some of the speaker’s sonic weaknesses. It might seem like I’m being overly harsh – the Ellipse doesn’t sound bad by any means and fed the right genres and sources, it sounds impressively clear and expressive for a speaker of its size. But it’s also inconsistent: in some frequency ranges it focuses on cut-glass definition at the cost of more balanced expression and there’s a lack of ballast to ground it in both the mids and bass. As a result, its sound quality is a qualified success, which would definitely give me reservations about spending this kind of money.
Sound quality: 3.5 / 5
(Image credit: Future)
Meridian Ellipse review: design
Well built and attractive
Decent touch controls
Not the most original shape
For anyone who has spent some time following the wireless speaker space, the design of the Meridian Ellipse looks… eerily familiar. There’s no getting around it: there’s something undeniably Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin-esque about the Meridian Ellipse. It’s not quite as rounded as B&W’s audio dirigible, with a front grille that’s slightly convex rather than actively bulging, but it’s still a similar elongated ellipse shape that will be familiar to that device’s many fans.
Build quality is very decent, even if it’s not as luxe as some audio products in this category. Its matt black surface is smooth to the touch but doesn’t seem to pick up fingerprints, while a sturdy metal mesh protects its fabric covering and drivers. Its size is right in the middle of a Goldilocks zone between ‘big enough to make its presence known’ and ‘so large it’ll dominate your living room setup’. It’s also pretty light and easy to move, should you want to: at 8.6lbs (3.9kg), you won't need to wear a back brace just to relocate it to another shelf.
Controlling the Ellipse falls to a series of blue-lit touch-capacitative buttons on the top surface of the device. These are clearly marked and easy to activate, covering most of the basic functions you’d expect, including play / pause, skipping forward and back, adjusting the volume, and triggering Bluetooth-pairing mode. There are no presets here, though, which is a shame. Being able to quickly switch to various inputs or playlists is something a lot of wireless speakers offer these days and, while it’s not a must-have feature, it would be nice all the same.
Design score: 4/5
(Image credit: Future)
Meridian Ellipse review: value
Eye-wateringly expensive
Some cheaper speakers sound better
Ultimately, the Meridian Ellipse is a good – or even potentially great – wireless speaker. But your expectations are inevitably going to be influenced by how much you’ve paid for a device. And for $3,000 / £1,900 / AU$4,999, I expect an audio device to sound unimpeachable. That’s not really been my experience with the Ellipse.
It’s smart, really smart. But instead of taking already rock-solid audio and polishing it up to a truly breathtaking listening experience, I often found myself tweaking the features just to get an aural picture that bested or even matched what I’ve heard from much cheaper speakers. When you can get better audio from the Cambridge Audio Evo One and comfortably buy the £599 / $699 / AU$1,299 Pro-Ject Debut Evo 2 out of the change to plug into its inbuilt phono stage, it does make me wonder who this device is for. Because, in reality, I think audiophiles can get more for much less.
Value score: 3 / 5
(Image credit: Future)
Should I buy the Meridian Ellipse?
Buy it if…
You want crisp, high-resolution audio For a speaker of its size, the Meridian Ellipse is capable of consummate detail, with each instrument having impressive separation. And it keeps this up even at high volumes: it remains coherent at a level many speakers dissolve into a mess of distortion.
You want a whole range of smart features Whether it’s tweaking the positioning of the soundstage, tailoring the speaker to its placement in the room, or widening the sound, the Meridian Ellipse features a wide range of tech to improve the audio you hear.
Don’t buy it if…
You want well-rounded lower mids and sub bass Despite the above, the Ellipse does have a few shortcomings, sonically speaking. In particular, the mids and bass are lacking heft in their lower registers, meaning it can sound like it’s pulling some punches when it comes to certain genres.
You want value for money Not only is the Meridian Ellipse firmly at the premium end of the market, with a whopping $3,000 / £1,900 / AU$4,999 price tag, but I would argue some cheaper speakers can give a more balanced, consistent experience.
Meridian Ellipse review: also consider
Cambridge Audio Evo One While the Cambridge Audio Evo One is significantly bulkier than the Meridian Ellipse, it’s also arguably more talented. It’s capable of producing polished, dynamic sound that’s well-tuned across its full frequency range and genuinely impressive separation when fed appropriately hi-res sources. However, its real strength is in just how versatile it is: not only can it stream over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth but it can also handle your TV’s audio over eARC and play records from your turntable via its built-in phono stage. Not bad given its $1,499 / £1,299 / AU$2,495 price tag. Check out our full Cambridge Audio Evo One review.
KEF LS50 Wireless II The similarly priced KEF LS50 Wireless II can muster streaming hi-res audio up to 24-bit/96kHz and offer a range of connectivity options, whether that’s HDMI eARC, Ethernet port, coaxial and optical or 3.5mm AUX inputs. They’re also discreet, compact units that nonetheless provide crisp, detailed sound across the frequency spectrum and taut, well-controlled bass. Couple this with superb stereo separation and a wide soundstage and these are some fantastic performers. Read our full KEF LS50 Wireless II review.
How I tested the Meridian Ellipse
I tested the Meridian Ellipse for a month
I used it to stream a wide range of genres and audio resolutions
I have several decades of experience using and reviewing audio gadgets
I lived with the Meridian Ellipse for a month, testing it with a range of types of music and sources. Not only did I listen to the TechRadar testing playlist but I also tried out plenty of my own go-to tracks to assess its dynamics and frequency balance.
Additionally, I monitored the quality of its output by trying out a variety of sources. This included my iPhone 16 Pro, MacBook Pro, and TV. On top of this, I tried out a variety of different audio resolutions, from Spotify's most basic tier to Tidal's 24-bit, 192kHz Max tier.
In terms of experience, I've covered tech and reviewed gadgets for over 10 years. Additionally, I've been listening to and producing music for several decades, which has given me insight into the balance of different frequencies and sonic performance.
The TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad is a mid-range cooling pad for high-performance gaming and creative laptops. Not only does it rock three 110mm fans and three 70mm fans, but it offers six different fan speeds, with the smaller fans capable of hitting 2400rpm. As such, I was expecting to see some seriously frosty cooling here.
Unfortunately, in our standard 3DMark stress test run on our Acer Predator Helios 300 with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, I found the TopMate C12 more Chicago than Siberia in terms of chilliness. Our baseline test of the laptop alone saw it rise from 20.2ºC to 52.1ºC, an increase of 31.9ºC, while the TopMate on full fan power curbed its heating from 21.2ºC to 44ºC. While this reduced 22.8ºC temperature rise is a definite improvement, it’s nowhere near as impressive as the Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad, for example, which reduced this down to 15.3ºC.
On the plus side, the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad runs about as quiet as you could realistically expect. Ten minutes into our stress test, I used a sound level meter to measure the combined noise of the cooling pad and laptop – it registered 58.5dB from three inches away and 45dB from my head height at 21 inches away. That’s bang in line with any of the best laptop cooling pads I’ve tested, and better than the 60dB produced by the uncooled laptop.
Offering eight adjustable heights, you can adjust the angle of your laptop from 6.5 to 50 degrees, which really enabled me to position things at the most ergonomic angle for my height. Chunky flip-up rests keep the laptop firmly in position; however, while these were fine for a bulky gaming laptop, I did find they dug into my wrists when typing on an Ultrabook that these dug into my wrists, so bear this in mind if your laptop is on the slimmer side. In terms of additional flourishes, the RGB lighting is well designed and offers 10 different settings if psychedelic gaming rainbows aren’t your thing.
All in all, the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad offers perfectly decent performance and a solid, aesthetically pleasing build. This may convince that it’s as good a choice as any other, but there’s one other factor I’d urge you to consider before making your purchase: its price. At $29.99 / £29.77 / AU$49.77, it costs more than some of the other cooling pads I’ve reviewed while offering marginally weaker performance. If you really want something that delivers great bang for your buck, I’d argue that the $19.99 / £19.99 Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad or $19.99 / £19.93 / AU$47.95 Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad offer a better deal.
(Image credit: Future)
TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad review: price & availability
Released January 19, 2022
MSRP of $29.99 / £29.77 / AU$49.77
First launched on January 19, 2022, the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad is now available for $29.99 / £29.77 / AU$49.77. It’s worth keeping your eyes peeled for better prices, though: it has occasionally been reduced to £25.30 / AU$42.30 – while this is a modest drop, it does help it compete better with some of the best cooling pads for value.
But, for the most part, it’s easy to find similarly powerful cooling pads that cost a bit less – both the Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad and the Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad performed better in our benchmarking tests, while also costing less at $19.99 / £19.99 and $19.99 / £19.93 / AU$47.95 respectively.
(Image credit: Future)
Should I buy the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad?
Buy if if…
You want stable, ergonomic design Not only is this cooling pad adjustable and comfortable to use, but it’s also rock-solid. Thanks to its flip-up rests, your laptop shouldn’t slip or slide about, even during frantic Counter-Strike matches.
You want competitively quiet running The TopMate runs as quietly as the best laptop cooling pads we’ve tested. Even at max cooling, it should kick out less noise than your laptop’s fans straining on their own.
Don’t buy it if…
You want the best cooling Despite the fact it comes packing an array of six fans, some of which top out at 2400rpm, I didn’t find the TopMate capable of as effective cooling as some comparable pads we tested. So if you only care about how many degrees you can shave off, you should probably look elsewhere.
You want a bargain Don’t get me wrong: this is still an affordable cooling pad, especially compared to the $150 / £125 / AU$150 you'll pay for some products. Nevertheless, this pad is still more expensive than some others we’ve tested, and falls short of their cooling power. So you can definitely get better cooling for your cash.
(Image credit: Future)
TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad review: also consider
Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad If you’re after the cheat codes for affordable yet arctic cooling, this is my personal tip. The Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad is reasonably priced, costing just $19.99 / £23.59 / AU$65.66, and yet during tests it kept our laptop from rising any more than 15.3 degrees – that’s a full seven degrees cooler than the TopMate. It’s well worth a look.
How I tested the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad
Tested it over several days
Ran a stress test and measure temperature difference with a thermal camera
Measure fan noise 10 minutes into test using a sound level meter
Testing the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad, I ran it through several all of the standardised benchmarks we use for all laptop cooling pads. First, I checked the hottest point of our Acer Predator Helios 300 with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 testing laptop, ran a 3DMark stress test for 15 minutes with the cooling pad set to max speed, and then re-checked the temperature.
I also tested how noisy it was with a sound level meter. Ten minutes into the test, I measured sound levels from three inches away, as well as from head height to get the absolute and subjective volumes of the pads fans combined with the gaming laptop’s cooling system. I then compared this to benchmarks of the noise generated during a stress test by the laptop’s fans alone.
I also used the laptop cooling pad while gaming and conducting everyday office tasks to test its overall design, sturdiness and ergonomics. For this, I drew on my 30 years experience as a gamer and laptop user, not to mention my 10 years’ experience covering tech and gadgets.
Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch review
The Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch is an affordable digital photo frame that uses the third-party Frameo app to enable you to easily share your snaps via the frame. Right out of the gate, the first thing you’re likely to notice is that price; while its $149.99 / £169.99 retail price isn’t anything to write home about, during sales season we've been seeing prices around $89.99 / £89.99 – that’s a seriously low price for such a sizeable digital photo frame.
Connecting with the Arzopa Digital Picture Frame is nice and easy. Once you’ve powered it up and connected it to your Wi-Fi, you can scan an on-screen QR code to download the Frameo app. Now, simply press the "Add a Friend" button on the Arzopa’s screen, punch in the code that appears into the Frameo app, and you’re ready to start sharing pics. Even better, you can repeat this step to set up friends and family so they too can share their snaps with your frame.
Not everyone wants to share their photos with the cloud, particularly if they’re security conscious or have young children. If this is you, then the Arzopa’s offline storage will be music to your ears. The frame includes 32GB of internal storage and, should you fill this up, you can easily expand its storage capacity up to 128GB via its SD card port. This does fall short of what some of the best digital photo frames offer, but it still isn't bad, all things considered.
All digital photo frames built on the Frameo app work in the same way and, generally speaking, I’d say this is a positive. The app is easy to use: you can browse your device’s whole image library or just specific albums, adding individual photos or uploading up to 10 at a time. Unfortunately, if you want to upload more than this in one go, you’ll need to upgrade to Frameo+. The cost of this isn't exorbitant at $1.99 / £0.99 a month or $16.99 / £7.99 a year, but you'll need to bear this in mind when calculating if this frame is the right price for you.
As I mentioned in my Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame review, I’m not entirely keen on the way the Frameo app handles cropping images for digital photo frame’s auto-rotate feature. When uploading each image, you’ll set a circular focal area that the frame will ensure remains in frame in either orientation. However, this can still leave some images oddly centered or cropping out details you hadn’t anticipated. I’d rather just have the option to manually set the crop for each image.
(Image credit: Future / Josh Russell)
Once your shots are on the Arzopa, its 15.6-inch display definitely delivers your snaps with impact; the frame feels generously sized compared to many of the other affordable frames out there. Since its 1920 x 1080 resolution is shared over that larger screen estate, pixel density does fall somewhat next to rivals such as the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame at 212ppi. However, images still look pretty crisp; rendering my macro shot of a bumblebee, the Arzopa frame shows off every grain of pollen and every hair of her fuzzy coat in decent detail.
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(Image credit: Future / Josh Russell)
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(Image credit: Josh Russell)
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(Image credit: Josh Russell)
Unfortunately, where things start to come undone is with color. On my iPhone 16 Pro’s screen, a photo I took of a fireworks display reveals a shower of magenta and violet stars in a glowing pink nebula. But when I uploaded it to the Arzopa, the red and pink hues looked washed out, completely robbing the image of any punch. Similarly, floral shots completely underwhelmed, the lack of vibrancy going far beyond slight variations in color profile to looking actively anemic and poorly shot.
The Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch does fare better when it comes to black-and-white photography at least. Thanks to its deep blacks and bright highlights, its display is sufficiently contrasty to deliver monochrome landscape and architectural shots with impressive details. The Arzopa frame definitely shows off HDR photography to a high standard.
However, even this bold contrast was slightly undermined by its screen. Perhaps even more than its muted hues, the lack of a matte finish really damages the Arzopa’s performance in bright light. Without any treatment to diffuse incoming light, my photos were always obscured by hard-edged, geometric reflections of the panel lighting in the TechRadar offices; it was almost impossible to ignore since it made it difficult to make out details in the images. Worse, this reflectiveness means the frame is almost certainly unusable in direct sunlight, further restriction its position in your home.
This tendency toward glossiness extends to other elements of the frame’s design. The Arzopa’s frame feels a little cheap and plasticky, but thanks to its black color, this doesn’t feel so in your face. However, the frame’s bezels are much harder to ignore – despite the fact their beveled edges are designed to make them look more like mounting, the white plastic is so cheap-looking and reflective that it does detract from the overall quality of the frame.
Plus, there are other unusual design choices: the frame’s stand is literally just a plastic stick that screws into one corner of the frame. While it seems to do an okay job of supporting the frame in either horizontal or vertical orientation, I’m not convinced it’s sturdy enough to withstand becoming damaged over time.
Buy it on sale, however, and the Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch is available for an astoundingly good price – and it’s almost certainly better quality than some of the bargain-basement frames you’ll find on Amazon. In terms of crispness of picture, contrast and ease of use, it’s great value for money. However, its muted hues, overly reflective screen and the cheapness of its finish do make my recommendation here equivocal – if you can only find it at a higher price, some of the similarly priced best digital photo frames might make a better choice.
(Image credit: Future)
Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch review: price & release date
MSRP of $149.99 / £169.99 but currently reduced to $89.99 / £89.99
Available now in both the US and UK
Frameo app free or $1.99 / £0.99 a month for Frameo+
The Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch is available now in both the US and UK.
Its price varies to quite a degree, which has a huge impact on the value you’re getting. At its full price of $149.99 at Amazon US or £169.99, at Amazon UK, it effectively costs as much as the $159.99 / £149.99 Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame, which I'd argue is a much higher-quality frame, thanks to its anti-glare screen and delivery of bold colors. However, some of the sale prices we’ve seen bring the Arzopa frame down to around $89.99 / £89.99, which makes it a far more appealing option, especially if you can’t stretch to the more expensive Pexar.
One other important consideration here in terms of price is the Frameo app. While the base tier is free, to upload more than 10 photographs at a time or videos longer than 15 seconds, you’ll need to upgrade to Frameo+, which costs $1.99 / £0.99 a month or $16.99 / £7.99 a year. That will allow you to upload 100 images at a time, send two-minute video clips, and manage the content on your Arzopa remotely via the app.
(Image credit: Future)
Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch review: specs
(Image credit: Future / Josh Russell)
Should I buy the Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch?
Buy it if…
You want a big, crisp screen At 15.6-inches, the Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi delivers a lot of screen estate on which to display your snaps. And while pixel density is lower than the 212ppi of the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame, photos still look crisp and clear.
You can get it on sale Whether the Arzopa frame delivers good value very much depends on the price you pay for it. Pick it up for the sale price of around $89.99 / £89.99 and you’re getting a very good deal, but you don’t have to spend much more than its MSRP of $149.99 / £169.99 to get a superior product.
Don’t buy it if…
You want your colorful snaps to pop Vibrant hues aren't the Arzopa frame’s forte – colorful subjects such as flowers and fauna can look muted at best, and downright drab at their worst. Fans of black-and-white photography needn’t worry – but if you want your walls to be a riot of color, other frames might prove a wiser investment.
You want to use it in bright rooms The Arzopa’s glossy screen means it's entirely unforgiving when it comes to reflections – whether using it during the day or at night, I found natural and artificial sources of light completely overwhelmed the brightness of the screen. Fundamentally, if it's to sit opposite windows or under harsh lighting, you’d be better off looking for a frame with a matte screen.
Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch review: also consider
Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame The Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame scarcely costs any more than the Arzopa at full price, at $159.99 / £149.99; however, performance is superior. It offers a 2000 x 1200 resolution across its smaller 11-inch screen, delivering higher pixel density, while colors are far more vibrant. Plus, its matte, anti-glare screen keeps reflected light to a minimum. Read our full Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame review.
Aeezo Portrait 01 If you’re unable to stretch to the Arzopa – or can’t find it at a reduced price – the Aeezo Portrait 01 is a bargain alternative that also includes internal storage and costs just $69.99 / £55.99. You’ll get bolder albeit sometimes slightly unnatural, colors; but the sacrifice is resolution at only 1280 x 800, rather than the Arzopa’s 1080p. Read our full Aeezo Portrait 01 review.
How I tested the Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch
I tested the Arzopa Digital Picture Frame WiFi 15.6-inch over several weeks. I uploaded a range of photos to it using the Frameo app and connected multiple other people to enable them to share images with the frame, too.
To test the performance of the frame, I uploaded a wide array of portrait and landscape images and included everything from brightly colored shots of flowers and animals to monochrome architectural shots. Additionally, I positioned the frame in multiple places around my home and the TechRadar office and changed its orientation between portrait and landscape.
I have many years of experience taking photos, both on my Canon DSLR and my iPhone 16 Pro and, over the past 15 years, I’ve taken over 40,000 photos. I’ve also spent many years working in print publishing, doing post-production on photos and preparing images for print. This means I have a lot of experience in making images look as close to their source as possible.
The Formovie Cinema Edge is a follow-up on the well-regarded Formovie Theater, a projector that gained fame upon release for its Dolby Vision high dynamic range support – a rare feature among the best 4K projectors. Rather than being a shiny, new upgrade, the Cinema Edge is a pared-down model with a lower price. While it launched at around $2,199 (about £1,420 / AU$2,775), it has since settled at $1,799, making it a true budget ultra short throw (UST) projector offering.
The Formovie Cinema Edge's ALPD ((Advanced Laser Phosphor Display) laser light engine delivers a reasonably bright and sharp 4K image that looks great in the dark, and decent in well-lit environments. It has Google TV for streaming and a pair of 15-watt speakers, giving you a complete package, though both elements could perform better.
While it’s relatively cheap compared to other examples of the best ultra short throw projectors, the Formovie Cinema Edge has serious competition. I recently reviewed the Hisense PX3-Pro ($3,500), and the difference in image quality between the two is stark, with the dazzling brightness, color, and contrast of the PX3-Pro’s picture beating the Formovie Cinema Edge hands-down. The PX3-Pro is considerably more expensive, but even the older but still available Hisense PX2-Pro (around $2,000) has a better-looking picture.
Formovie Cinema Edge review: price and release date
Release date: September 2024
MSRP: $2,499
The Formovie Cinema Edge’s pricing is a bit all over the place. It launched at a $2,199 (about £1,650 / AU$3,250) pre-order price, though Formovie lists the retail price at $2499. Meanwhile, both Amazon and ProjectorScreen.com in the US now have the price listed at $1,799 – a steep decrease.
The Cinema Edge's laser light engine viewed from top (Image credit: Future)
Formovie Cinema Edge review: Specs
Connections include 3 HDMI 2.1 ports (1 with eARC) (Image credit: Future)
Formovie Cinema Edge review: design and features
All-in-one design for a simple theater setup
Front adjustable feet limit angle corrections
Google TV cumbersome to navigate
The Formovie Cinema Edge is a compact UST projector standing just over 3.5 inches tall. Width is 17.95 inches and it’s a little over a foot deep. With a 0.22:1 throw ratio, it can sit extra close to the wall, with only a 33 cm distance needed to project a 120-inch picture.
The Formovie Cinema Edge sits on three feet with only the front two offering height adjustments. This means unless you’ve got a stand and wall that sit perfectly perpendicular (or at just over a 90-degree angle) to each other, you’ll need an adjustable console underneath the projector. The projector does support digital keystone adjustments, but these should be used only after making physical adjustments, as digital keystone processing increases latency and reduces picture resolution.
The Cinema Edge packs in the Google TV smart TV interface and 30-watt speakers, letting you quickly get up and running with all your cinema needs. That said, all-in-one packages can struggle to do everything well.
The processor running Google TV on the Formovie Cinema Edge is fairly weak. It stumbles when opening settings while content is playing, and that can be trouble if you’re trying to tweak picture settings while evaluating the impact of your adjustments on the picture. Navigating the operating system can prove a little tedious as well. Sluggishness is a common ailment for projectors running Android or Google TV, and the Cinema Edge falls prey to it.
It’s small fries, but if you’re hoping to take the Formovie Cinema Edge out of the box, set it down, and experience its magic right away, you’ll need to temper your expectations. The configuration, regardless of whether you’re going for the full Google TV streaming experience or just basic HDMI input setup, takes a long time.
Around the back, you’ll find enough HDMI 2.1 ports for a solid home theater setup, including support for eARC on one of them. Optical digital audio output is also available. A pair of USB ports are located on the back, providing power for a streaming stick or external storage for local media playback.
Like many laser projectors, the Formovie Cinema Edge has a feature that detects when someone gets too close to the laser output and automatically dims the display. It promptly activates, though oddly doesn’t go as black as on some others.
Design and features score: 4/5
The Cinema Edge's picture quality shines in a dark viewing environment (Image credit: Future)
Formovie Cinema Edge review: picture quality
1900 ISO lumens plenty for dim and dark environments
Not as color-rich as RGB laser competitors
Motion smoothing by default, but picture controls to compensate
The Formovie Cinema Edge readily projects a 100-inch picture with crisp 4K detail. It looks best in a very dim or dark room, though it’s also bright enough to watch some content during the daytime. RuPauls’ Drag Race, for instance, is typically bright, and it’s easy to watch even in a well-lit room, though sunlight can still be a bit much.
Contrast is also fairly strong. Alien was a joy to watch, with the intricate, H.R. Giger-designed mechanical details of the ship shining brightly while the nooks and crannies sank effectively into darkness.
Alas, the Formovie Cinema Edge is a simple ALPD projector that doesn’t deliver the same color richness of the Formovie Theater or Hisense’s PX3-Pro, both of which are specced to achieve around 100% of BT.2020 color gamut coverage. Watching Avatar 2, it was painfully apparent how much more drab the visuals were by comparison, with the many blue hues looking dull and the flora and fauna throughout failing to exude their characteristic vibrance. This isn’t to say the Formovie Cinema Edge looks bad, but there are better options on the market for picture quality.
I also noticed plenty of blown-out highlights in the earlier scenes after the Sully family joins the water tribe in Avatar 2. The Formovie Theater had some tone mapping issues in our hands-on testing, and it appears that’s the case again here. HDR is also limited to HDR10 and HLG on the Cinema Edge – there’s no Dolby Vision or HDR10+.
The Formovie Cinema Edge has a fairly aggressive motion smoothing feature (called MJC) enabled in most of its picture settings by default. It’s not the worst-looking implementation of motion smoothing I’ve seen, but it looks better set to Low or disabled outright. Either way, the projector can struggle a bit with motion. Fight sequences looked choppy at times with or without MJC enabled. At Low, it subtly smooths out camera motion, though action can still look a little overdone.
For what it’s worth, the Formovie Cinema Edge includes a veritable trove of picture settings to adjust. It does little to explain what any of them are, though, so it may be difficult to dial in things to your liking. Thankfully, the picture generally looks good without getting into the weeds.
The sound put out by the Formovie Cinema Edge’s modest built-in speakers isn’t explosive, but they deliver a half-decent volume level for a small living room. The soundstage isn’t very wide, and there’s no deep bass, but it’s fine for casual viewing. For a more serious movie-viewing setup, external speakers will be an obvious upgrade.
Picture quality score: 3.5/5
The Cinema Edge comes with a basic remote control to operate its Google TV interface (Image credit: Future)
Formovie Cinema Edge review: value
Good value at the current reduced price
Older UST projectors pose a competitive threat
The Formovie Cinema Edge has a suggested retail price of $2,499, but that has since been reduced to $1,799. This discounted price is essential to the value of the projector, as it goes up against the Hisense PX2-Pro, which is now cheaper thanks to the launch of the PX3-Pro. It also faces off against Formovie’s higher-end projector, the Formovie Theater, which has also fallen in price since its launch, now seeing discounts as low as $2,299.
Value score: 3/5
(Image credit: Future)
Should I buy the Formovie Cinema Edge?
(Image credit: Future)
Buy it if...
You want a compact projector: The Formovie Cinema Edge is small and sits close to the wall, giving you a big picture without taking up much space.
You want advanced picture customization: If you know just how you like images to look and don’t mind fiddling with settings, the Formovie Cinema Edge has plenty for you to dig through to adjust the picture to your liking.
Don’t buy it if…
You want comprehensive HDR support: The Cinema Edge doesn't have extended color gamut coverage and it lacks HDR10+ and Dolby Vision HDR support.
You want the best all-in-one projector: While the Cinema Edge has a good picture, decent speakers, and okay streaming capabilities, demanding viewers may end up wanting an external streamer and speakers, which will add to the price.
Also consider...
Hisense PX2-Pro The Hisense PX2-Pro has better picture quality and features but costs at least $200 more. It also uses the Google TV smart interface for streaming. It's a less compact option than the Formovie, and its built-in speakers don't offer any better sound quality.
Epson LS650 The Epson LS650 uses a 3LCD laser light source to beam a bright 3,600 lumens image, though its color isn't any better than the Formovie and the built-in Android TV system is worse than Formovie's Google TV platform. Both projectors are currently priced at the same level.
Hisense PX3-Pro The Hisense PX3-Pro is our choice as the best ultra short throw projector for most people. It has a brighter, more color-rich picture than the Formovie and more comprehensive HDR support. At just over $3,000, it’s somewhat on the pricey side, though it’s much less so than other UST projectors from Samsung and LG.
Tested at home in multiple, real-world viewing conditions
Presented the display with a variety of media and formats
I have tested numerous projectors and displays over the last half-decade
I tested the Formovie Cinema Edge at home, in real-world conditions. This saw it faced with ambient light coming in from numerous windows, in-room lighting, as well as ambient noise that both the projector and speaker systems had to overcome. The projector was tested both against a bare, white wall and an Akia Screens CineWhite screen. It was presented with both SDR and 4K HDR streamed content.
My testing evaluates the projector’s performance with respect to its price and competition from other models that I and my colleagues at TechRadar have tested.
I have been testing projectors since 2021 and displays for even longer.
The BenQ W5800 provides a strong reminder that there’s nothing quite as dazzling as a home theater, especially one with a specialized projector, a screen that covers a full wall, cozy chairs, and a top-notch speaker setup. At $5,999 (£4,599, AU$8999), the W5800 is aimed at hardcore cinephiles who demand very few compromises on visuals and do not need on-board speakers or built-in smart TV platforms. To that end, the W5800 is a display and nothing else.
Make no mistake – the BenQ W5800 is a fantastic display. It provides hardware adjustments for image placement and sizing to make it easy to get a perfect image wherever the projector is set up. And as you'd expect from the best 4K projectors, it has a dazzling, color-rich picture that looks great with a broad variety of content. Many cheaper projectors offer automatic image adjustment, but they almost invariably do so by simply cropping or distorting the image digitally – compromises the BenQ W5800’s manual hardware adjustments avoid.
Still, the BenQ W5800 suffers from the diminishing returns of many a premium product. You can get brighter projectors for the price, but you might miss out on some of the professional setup flexibility found here. For example, an ultra short throw projectors like the Epson EpiQVision Ultra LS800 easily beat it when it comes to brightness, but they can be fussier to set up for a geometrically perfect image.
If you already have a big home theater that’s aching for a projector upgrade, the BenQ W5800 will be a fantastic option. But for most people, other, cheaper solutions should suffice.
BenQ W5800 projector review: price and release date
Release date: May 2024
MSRP: $5,999 (£4,599 / AU$8999)
The BenQ W5800 was launched in May 2024 at a starting price of $5,999 (£4,599 / AU$8999). Given the W5800’s premium status and relative newness, it’s unlikely to see major price changes anytime soon.
BenQ's W5800 supports the HDR10+ high dynamic range format (Image credit: Future)
BenQ W5800 projector review: Specs
Input connections include two HDMI ports (one with eARC) (Image credit: Future)
BenQ W5800 projector review: design and features
Sizable, with a stylish design
Lacks built-in sound and streaming
Motorized zoom, focus and offset
The BenQ W5800 immediately lets you know it means business. It’s a large, regal projector, nearly every bit as large as the Epson Pro Cinema LS12000, with a symmetrical design and a massive lens sitting at the center. This is flanked by loads of air intakes and ventilation slots that occupy much of the surface area. The benefit here is that the projector’s cooling fans are low-pitched and practically inaudible from even just a couple of feet away.
Around back, the projector features a small handful of ports. For many, the two HDMI ports, one of which supports eARC, and the S/PDIF audio output will be doing most of the work. Two USB-A ports can power streaming devices, and there are LAN and RS-232 ports for more specialized setups. The projector’s 3D Sync Out port may come in handy, too, as it supports a variety of 3D formats.
For many, the W5800’s HDR support will be most crucial. You get the basic HDR10 and HLG, but BenQ also steps up with HDR10+ support. Dolby Vision isn’t supported, unfortunately.
The projector has some handy hardware for setup, with motorized control over zoom, focus, and horizontal and vertical offset. This allows you to shift the projection to perfectly fit your space, which is incredibly convenient. Keystone adjustments are digital, but they are thankfully less necessary because of the adjustable offset. All adjustments can be made with the included remote, which has a backlit keypad and convenient shortcuts to many settings in the projector’s menus. Several controls are also available directly on the projector.
Even with its conveniences, the BenQ W5800 lacks many that other popular projectors offer. There’s no smart TV operating system, so you’ll have to source media from a separate device, and there are no built-in speakers. The W5800 is not the complete solution that something like the BenQ X3100i is, and that can make it a tricky proposition for many more casual users.
Design and features score: 3.5/5
With 100% DCI-P3 coverage, images on the W5800 have rich, detailed color (Image credit: Future)
The BenQ W5800 is an excellent projector for home theater. It shines big and bright and readily adapts to a great many installation situations. It provides impressive color, though the occasional rainbow effect – a common artifact of the projector’s DLP imaging tech – can mar the viewing experience for those sensitive to it.
At the heart of the BenQ W5800 is a laser light source shining through a 0.47-inch DLP micromirror array, and this is responsible for the sharp, 4K visuals and 2600 ANSI lumens brightness. BenQ rates the projector for a full 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, and I’ve seen little lack of color to make me doubt the rating. Animated programs like X-Men ‘97 benefit greatly from the wide color gamut, appearing thoroughly vibrant, but the same applies to just about any content.
Between its color and sharp 4K picture, the BenQ W5800 has a lot to work with, and it’s bright enough to look good in well-lit rooms and excel in dark ones. Shadows sink to a satisfyingly deep level, and they can maintain that depth alongside bright visuals elsewhere on the screen.
Thanks to the W5800’s hardware controls, it is exceedingly easy to get an image squared up perfectly onscreen with sharp detail from edge to edge. A long-throw projector like the W5800 is less sensitive to small surface imperfections and misalignment than short-throw and ultra-short-throw projectors. I noted a similar level of flexibility with the Epson LS12000, which is a long-throw projector the BenW W5800 competes with.
The BenQ W5800’s full DCI-P3 color space coverage gives it one critical edge over the Epson LS12000, which is rated only for 100% sRGB coverage. Of course, this still leaves room for improvement next to triple-laser projectors like the Hisense PX2-Pro, which is rated for 100% coverage of the even wider BT.2020 color space.
Nevertheless, the BenQ W5800 is a brilliant performer. It handles fast-motion content with aplomb and presents a colorful image that looks plenty vibrant. There are a few ways it could be even better, but it is nonetheless excellent.
Picture quality score: 4.5/5
The BenQ W5800's fully backlit remote control features shortcut buttons for key picture adjustments (Image credit: Future)
BenQ W5800 projector review: value
Expensive for a projector that does one thing
Performance and installation features help justify price
At $5,999 (£4,599 / AU$8999), the BenQ W5800 is expensive for a consumer-grade projector, though it’s less than half the price of the JVC DLA-NZ800, the premium pick in our best 4K projectors guide. Even so, that’s a lot of money to ask for a projector that only provides a display and nothing else.
The W5800 makes sense for the right audience. Its visuals are brilliant, and its flexible installation features provide a great picture with minimal fuss. Also, with many projectors that do feature built-in speakers and streaming platforms, those features often are just enough to make do, but not equal to their picture.
BenQ’s W5800 sits alongside the exceptional Epson LS12000, which is $1,000 cheaper while offering similar brightness and capabilities, including a 120Hz refresh rate option. If a long-throw projector isn’t a must, the Hisense PX2-Pro ultra short throw model is also a stunning system with admirable speakers and even more brilliant color at half the price. And if you aren’t too picky, you might find something like the $2,399 (around £1,900 / AU$3,690) BenQ X3100i to be more than good enough.
Value score: 3/5
(Image credit: Future)
Should I buy the BenQ W5800 projector?
Buy it if...
Don’t buy it if…
Also consider...
BenQ X3100i The BenQ X3100i is a gaming projector that also does an excellent job displaying movies. It lacks the long-throw capability of the W5800 and isn't as adept with handling HDR, but it's a significantly less expensive and more flexible projector option.
Hisense PX2-Pro The Hisense PX2-Pro is an ultra short throw projector designed to beam a big image from close up to a wall as opposed to from the longer distance the W5800 is capable of. It's less expensive and nearly as bright, and features both built-in speakers and the Android TV platform for streaming.
Tested at home in multiple, real-world viewing conditions
Presented with a variety of media and formats
I have tested numerous projectors and displays over the last half-decade
I tested the BenQ W5800 at home, in real-world conditions. This saw it faced with ambient light coming in from numerous windows and in-room lighting as well as darkened conditions. The projector was tested both against a bare, white wall and an Akia Screens CineWhite screen. It was presented with both HDR and non-HDR streamed content.
My testing evaluates the projector’s performance with respect to its price and competition from other models that I and my colleagues at TechRadar have tested.
I have been testing projectors since 2021 and displays for even longer.
EnGenius’ ECW536 brings Wi-Fi 7 to the office with a wireless access point offering a maximum aggregate throughput of 18.7Gbps.
Specifications
Model: EnGenius ECW536
CPU: Quad-core Qualcomm 1220 CPU
RAM: 2GB
Storage: 256MB NAND
Radios: One 4x4 for 6GHz Wi-Fi 7 / 6e, One 4x4 for 5GHz Wi-Fi 6, One 4x4 for 2.4GHz
Wireless throughput: Theoretical 18.7Gbps
Ports: 10Gb Ethernet with PoE, 10Gb Ethernet
Weight: 1.3 kg
Dimensions: 23 cm x 23 cm x 37 mm
Power Consumption: 15W with one client connected, 38W maximum consumption
MSRP: $1199
The dual 10Gbps Ethernet ports turn the unit into a 10G switch. A large aluminum backplate acts as a heatsink, dissipating up to 35W. The only accessories provided are a mounting bracket and screws. The unit thus requires a PoE LAN or an external 12V DC adapter to work correctly.
The access point integrates three radio modules, providing Wi-Fi 7 connectivity and Wi-Fi 6, 5, and 2.4GHz backward compatibility. Antenna gains are between 5dBi and 6dBi, similar to competitive APs, while onboard radio amplifiers provide an average boost of 5dBm. All this means that the ECW536 covers a surface of 100 meters square with a throughput of 300 Mbps or more.
EnGenius offers a range of access points that can work in a mesh. That is particularly interesting if one wants to boost the network throughput while extending the range simultaneously. The ECW536 retails for $1199 but is on sale for $499. The smaller version with a 2x2 radio configuration costs $456 while not on sale.
EnGenius ECW536: Design
The EnGenius access point ships with one accessory box containing the mounting kit. Once installed, the unit locks to the base by rotating it. The white plastic enclosure has a metal backplate that doubles as a heat dissipator. Two Ethernet connectors and a 12V DC socket at the back connect to the network. A small hole is also present to reset the device using a paper clip. The case gets warm after some time, eventually reaching 50 degrees Celcius. The access point measures 23 cm x 23 cm x 37 mm and weighs 1.3kg.
The ECW536 uses a Qualcomm Pro 1220 multichip design. The processor is a fast quad-core ARM A73 CPU, which can support up to eight SSIDs on the 2.4GHz and 5/6GHz bands. There are also built-in VLAN tagging and a QoS for increased bandwidth management. Complementing the CPU are 2GB of RAM, 256MB of Flash, and two 10G Ethernet interfaces, which also support 5G, 2.5G, 1G, and 10/100Mbps.
Three Wi-Fi radios each serve a specific frequency while supporting four spatial streams, the twelve paths aggregating for a throughput of 18Gbps. Maximum transmit gains, which depend on country location, vary between 24dBm and 25dBm, while antenna gains vary between 5dBi and 6dBi.
The ECW536 access point consumes 13W without connected clients, which increases to 20W when one user actively uses the AP. A single multicolor LED gives feedback on the unit’s operation and is a departure from the past Wi-Fi 6 version, which had four LEDs. The AP is ready when the LED is green. Blue indicates that there is at least one connected client. The user can adjust the LED’s brightness through the mobile app.
(Image credit: Future)
EnGenius ECW536: In Use
Setting up the access point can be done entirely through the mobile app, which is available for Android and iOS platforms. The user needs an account to begin the installation. The AP and other EnGenius units can be added using a QR code on the back of each unit.
To fully utilize the Wi-Fi7 bandwidth, we strongly recommend connecting the AP to a 10Gb Ethernet LAN supporting PoE with at least 50W of available power. The ECW536 LED will blink orange if the PoE switch cannot provide sufficient power. Thus, the optional power socket becomes handy with an external 12V supply and completes the setup.
The mobile application offers features similar to those available on the cloud portal. The convenience of controlling access to the Wi-Fi network at one’s fingertips is very enticing. The user can also see what device consumes the most bandwidth at any time. However, the most helpful thing remains the ability to check the access point’s health from any place with Internet access.
The ECW536 offers mesh capability to increase signal reach; the AP can connect to other ECW536 units or previous-generation models such as ECS230S. There are obvious reasons to use one against the other. In a Wi-Fi 6 infrastructure, the ECW536 will mesh using one of its four 160MHz backhaul channels, providing a maximum of 1.4Gbps as throughput. On the other hand, using several ECW536 yields the best range and throughput since the backhaul is now over Wi-Fi 7 at 2.9Gbps.
(Image credit: Future)
EnGenius ECW536: The competition
Upgrading from something other than Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 7 should be a sound investment for the next few years, mainly because of the higher throughput offered by the denser 4096 QAM encoding. Still, fierce competition in consumer-level routers continues to drive prices down. The ECW536 comes with more technical support and an overall better performance when compared to consumer products.
Based on the same Qualcomm technology, the Zyxel WBE660S provides a similar throughput and range compared to the ECW536, while the Zyxel AP costs less than the EnGenius. A second 10G Ethernet port on the ECW536 turns it into a 10G switch, something lacking on the WBE660S. The ECW536 is also more compact and lighter, making installation a breeze compared to the WBE660S. Finally, the EnGenius AP consumes less energy than Zyxel’s access point, resulting in a device that will last longer while costing less electricity.
EnGenius ECW536: Final verdict
Thanks to the new Wi-Fi 7 standard, the EnGenius ECW536 takes wireless networks to the next level by adding more range and bandwidth. The range should be as good as previous 5GHz access points. The increase in bandwidth results from using a better encoding algorithm, quadrupling the throughput compared to Wi-Fi 6. These gains come with higher power dissipation and a more expensive unit. A 10G LAN infrastructure supporting PoE is required to use the AP to its fullest potential.
EnGenius offers a 5-year warranty on the ECW536 and customer support via online chat, phone, or email. The AP has cloud access, allowing network inspection and problem resolution remotely.
Buy the ECW536 if:
You are starting a new network that requires lots of bandwidth and range.
Dont buy the ECW536 if:
You already have a Wi-Fi 6 AP fleet from another manufacturer
The JVC DLA-NZ800 is the latest high-end projector from the brand, combining its existing BLU-Escent laser light source with a redesigned D-ILA 4K chipset that delivers deeper blacks, brighter images, and improved uniformity. As a result, this excellent beamer builds on JVC’s established strengths, maintaining the company’s position as a preeminent maker of the best 4K projectors.
The JVC DLA-NZ800's native 4K images are crisply detailed, while the upgraded 8K/e-shiftX processing makes great content look even better. The overall picture accuracy is superb, the SDR images impressive, and the HDR performance state-of-the-art thanks to JVC's proprietary dynamic tone mapping and Theatre Optimiser features, along with support for HDR10, hybrid log-gamma and HDR10+.
Key improvements for this newly evolved model include an increased claimed brightness of 2,700 lumens and native contrast ratio of up to 100,000:1. The 8K/e-shiftX upscaling is now more sophisticated, and quieter, while the laser power setting offers greater control. The new features include a Deep Black function, a Balanced dynamic laser mode, and a Vivid picture setting.
The NZ800 supports 3D, with pictures that are bright, punchy and free of any crosstalk, and it has two HDMI 2.1 inputs with support for 8K/60p and 4K/120p. There’s an effective remote, intuitive menu system, and flexible installation – although whether stand or ceiling mounting, bear in mind that this beamer is very big and heavy.
The NZ800 is also rather expensive, although the pricing remains unchanged from the previous generation. As with the earlier NZ8 it also has no direct competitor, so if you want exceptional cinematic performance, peerless HDR tone mapping, comprehensive features and a high degree of future-proofing, this remarkable high-end projector is in a literal class of its own.
JVC DLA-NZ800 projector review: price and release date
MSRP: $15,999 / £15,999 / AU$24,999
Release date: May 2024
The JVC DLA-NZ800 (DLA-RS3200) is the mid-range model in the brand’s 4K laser-powered line-up. It’s available now and retails for £15,999 /$15,999 / AU$24,999. The NZ800 replaces the outgoing DLA-NZ8 (DLA-RS3100) and sits below the flagship DLA-NZ900 (DLA-RS4200), which has also been given an upgrade and replaces the discontinued DLA-NZ9 (DLA-RS4100). The entry point remains the DLA-NZ7 (DLA-RS2100), which is retained from the previous generation.
JVC's proprietary dynamic tone mapping and Theatre Optimiser features bring out the best in 4K movies with HDR (Image credit: Future)
JVC DLA-NZ800 projector review: Specs
The projector has basic control buttons (Image credit: Future)
JVC DLA-NZ800 projector review: design and features
Gen3 0.69in 4K D-ILA device
Gen2 8K/e-shiftX
Gen2 Frame Adapt HDR
The JVC DLA-NZ800’s big new feature is the third generation of the brand’s proprietary D-ILA 4K chipset, which has been redesigned to be more efficient. These refinements allow for brighter images, deeper blacks, and improved uniformity. It’s also the reason why the NZ800 has an increased claimed brightness of 2,700 lumens and an improved contrast ratio of up to 100,000:1.
The NZ800 includes JVC’s second generation 8K/e-shiftX device, which physically shifts each pixel by half a pixel in four directions (up, down, left and right), thus allowing the projector to deliver a full 8K (8,192 x 4,320 resolution) image. This updated version of the proprietary feature uses sophisticated 8K upscaling for improved sharpness and detail across a wide range of content.
In addition to the improved black levels offered by the upgraded D-ILA chipset, JVC has added a new Deep Black function that employs a revised algorithm to further enhance the contrast without crushing shadows. In addition, the dynamic laser control adds a new Balanced setting for even punchier pictures without introducing the annoying brightness fluctuations seen on earlier models.
Speaking of brightness, JVC has improved the sliding scale setting on the laser power control, and while it still goes from 1 to 100 it’s now more granular, which means you can gradually boost the brightness without a sudden increase in fan noise, thus making it more useful. JVC has also added a “Vivid” mode for watching SDR sports or gaming in a room with some ambient light.
The NZ800 retains JVC's BLU-Escent laser diode light source with its claimed 20,000-hour lifespan and greater consistency. Other features include motorised focus, zoom and shift controls to simplify installation, plus lens memories for different screen aspect ratios. There’s also a Filmmaker Mode, along with extensive ISF-certified calibration controls.
JVC’s tone mapping is state-of-the-art, with the latest proprietary Gen3 Frame Adapt HDR dynamically analysing HDR10 content on a frame-by-frame basis to optimise the image, while 18-bit gamma processing results in smoother and finer gradations. JVC also includes the Theatre Optimiser which enhances tone mapping by taking into account the size, shape and gain of your projection screen.
In addition to the existing analysis of an incoming HDR signal, the NZ800 now reads the Display Mastering Luminance (DML) metadata. This tells the projector’s tone mapping function the peak brightness of the display on which the content was originally mastered and is useful because the more metadata the tone mapping has to work with, the better the results in terms of the displayed HDR images.
Design and features score: 5/5
Rear-panel ports include two HDMI 2.1 connections (Image credit: Future)
JVC DLA-NZ800 projector review: picture quality
Detailed and cinematic 4K delivery
Bright and punchy HDR images
Exceptional image processing
The JVC DLA-NZ800 impresses right out of the gate, with the redesigned D-ILA chipset delivering images that are sharp, well defined and free of any uniformity issues. On the review sample I was testing there were also no signs of the dreaded ‘bright corners’ that have been apparent on some JVC projectors in the past, even when staring at a black screen in my dedicated home cinema.
The perceived black levels also appear slightly better when compared to my NZ8, the NZ800’s predecessor, and this was borne out by actual testing, with the NZ800 delivering contrast measurements of up to 100,000:1. The peak brightness approaches the claimed 2,700 lumens, although this was in the Vivid mode, and in the Filmmaker mode or calibrated Natural mode this is closer to around 2,000 lumens.
Out-of-the-box SDR accuracy is excellent with the white point close to the industry standard of D65, an even greyscale, and colours hitting close to their saturation targets for BT.709. This can be improved through calibration, and I was able to get a reference level accuracy, so if you’re spending this kind of money you really should get your NZ800 professionally calibrated.
This accuracy also extends to HDR, and the NZ800 covers 100% of DCI-P3 with its colour filter in place. This filter reduces the brightness by about 20% – so those extra lumens come in handy – but if you’d rather not use the filter (and with HDR10+ you don’t have a choice) then the brightness increases but the gamut coverage drops to around 90% of DCI-P3 instead.
Where JVC projectors are streets ahead of the competition is in terms of HDR tone mapping with the NZ800 not only accurately tracking the PQ curve standard, but also using dynamic tone mapping to get the best out of content based on the available metadata and real-time analysis of the HDR signal. The ability to read the Display Mastering Luminance also helps in this regard.
The new Deep Black feature certainly adds value, teasing a touch more detail out of shadows while keeping the blacks suitably inky. A Balanced dynamic laser setting also helps, creating more depth at the lower end while also boosting the brightness at the other without any ‘pumping’ in the image itself. The NZ800’s superior tone mapping ensures the highlights are also free of clipping.
Processing is also superb, taking lower resolution content and flawlessly upscaling it to the 4K panel, while the 2nd generation 8K/e-shiftX device is a revelation, shifting pixels to create images with the perceived resolution and detail of 8K. While I like the effect of e-shift I don’t use it on my NZ8 because I can hear it in operation, so I was delighted to discover it’s nearly silent on the NZ800. In addition, the 65mm all-glass lens delivers all these pixels with perfect geometry.
The NZ800 can read Display Mastering Luminance (DML) metadata in sources to optimize its tone mapping function (Image credit: Future)
The NZ800 is equally impressive with motion handling, producing smooth pictures that are free of blurring and unwanted artefacts. An ability to handle frame rates up 120p adds to the beamer’s motion prowess, and its 36ms input lag – low for a projector that’s not specifically designed for gaming – and longer-life laser light source make the JVC a great choice for the well-heeled big screen gamer.
JVC’s NZ800 is a cracking performer with SDR content, producing detailed and natural images that enjoy added depth thanks to the awesome contrast ratios. Watching Gravity on Blu-ray revealed a remarkable image, where the whites of the space suits are juxtaposed against the black backgrounds, and every pixel of the computer-generated effects is rendered with precision.
Moving on to HDR, the NZ800 proves to be a stellar performer, delivering all the specular highlights of the sun-bleached desert landscapes of Dune Part Two, pulling out every detail in shadows during the nighttime action of The Crow, and reproducing the rich and saturated colours of La La Land, helping to replicate the Technicolor musicals to which it pays homage.
The projector’s dynamic tone mapping is very adept at optimising the performance of the NZ800, and the resulting HDR is often comparable to high-end video processors that cost more than the projector itself. When able to use the dynamic metadata of HDR10+, the results are equally impressive, and the bright flares in the nighttime scenes of 1917 are precisely rendered against the dark sky.
Finally, the 3D performance is excellent with plenty of depth and pictures that are bright, accurate, and free of any ghosting. You’ll need to purchase the optional RF transmitter and glasses, but if you’re a fan of 3D you’ll be rewarded with wonderfully layered images such as when you’re down in the streets of Iron City in Alita: Battle Angel, or floating inside the ISS in Gravity.
Picture quality score: 5/5
The JVC DLA-NZ800's remote control (Image credit: Future)
JVC DLA-NZ800 projector review: value
It’s a significant investment
There’s no direct competitor
The JVC DLA-NZ800 represents significant value for money, which might sound like a mad statement to make when you consider its price, but I’ll explain. The range-topper in JVC’s range is the DLA-NZ900, which costs $25,999 / £25,999, but in terms of features and performance, the NZ800 is very similar with the only real difference being the NZ900’s larger 100mm lens.
The NZ800 also doesn’t have a direct competitor, and the closest is the Sony VPL-XW7000ES in the UK (£12,999) or VPL-XW6000ES in the US ($11,999). While the XW7000ES is rated at 3,200 lumens, the XW6000ES only hits 2,500 lumens, and neither has support for 8K, 4K/120p or HDR10+, nor do they have HDMI 2.1 inputs. In addition, the NZ800 has better black levels and superior HDR tone mapping, making it the ideal choice for any discerning film fan.
Value score: 5/5
(Image credit: Future)
Should I buy the JVC DLA-NZ800 projector?
Buy it if...
Don’t buy it if…
Also consider...
BenQ X3100i The BenQ X3100i is a gaming projector that also does an excellent job displaying movies. It lacks the long throw capability of the JVC and isn't as adept with handling HDR, but it's a significantly less expensive and more flexible projector option.
As with all my TV and projector reviews I use a combination of subjective viewing and objective measurements against the industry standards. For projectors, I also do all my testing in a dedicated home cinema with a completely blacked-out environment and high-quality screen.
The subjective testing is based on watching a variety of familiar scenes, primarily sourced from 4K, 3D and 1080p Blu-rays, plus the Spears & Munsil UHD Benchmark 4K disc. These scenes have been specifically chosen to evaluate a display’s black levels, contrast performance, colour accuracy, upscaling, image processing, motion handling, and HDR tone mapping.
For the objective testing, I measured the NZ800’s brightness, greyscale and colour gamut in SDR, before doing the same in HDR. I also evaluated the accuracy of the HDR tone mapping, along with the colour gamut coverage for DCI-P3 and BT.2020. To do this I used a pattern generator and colour meter combined with Portrait Displays’ Calman calibration software.
I measured the NZ800’s input lag in milliseconds using a Leo Bodnar tester with the low latency mode switch on.
Finally, because I currently use the JVC DLA-NZ8 as my reference projector, I was able to directly compare the NZ800 to its predecessor.
If you love to sit back and enjoy movies but also like to lean in and get sweaty with the latest competitive games, the BenQ X300G could be just the projector for you. This short-throw model combines impressive capabilities in a compact package that rivals Xgimi’s Horizon Pro and Horizon Ultra.
The BenQ X300G manages decent color from its LED light source, and puts on a strong show with bright, 4K visuals. But it can also dial up the speed, switching to a 1080p/240Hz mode for fast, responsive gaming. We’ve seen this trick in action on the BenQ X3100i, and it’s a real treat for gamers.
Between its cinematic capabilities and gaming prowess, the BenQ X300G has a lot to offer. There’s room for improvement — the limited ports and so-so audio come to mind — but at $1,799, this projector puts up a respectable value, especially with its ability to play dual roles, something that not all the best 4K projectors can do.
BenQ X300G 4K projector review: price and release date
Release date: December 2023
MSRP: $1,799 (around £1,400 / AU$2,720)
The BenQ X300G is a fairly new model in BenQ’s lineup. With an original price of $1,799 (around £1,400 / AU$2,720), the projector hasn’t yet seen any discounts, though its price is reasonable for a 4K model.
Focus and keystone adjustments on the X300G can be made automatically, making setup quick (Image credit: Future)
BenQ X300G 4K projector review: Specs
The projector has basic control buttons located on its top surface (Image credit: Future)
BenQ X300G 4K projector review: design and features
Compact and flexible design
Built-in speakers and streaming stick
Rare DisplayPort over USB-C support
The BenQ X300G takes up less than a cubic foot and has roughly cube-like dimensions. Inside that small footprint, it packs a 2,000-lumen DLP projection system, 2.1-channel speakers, an internal streaming dongle, and the necessary hardware for optical zoom.
It’s an impressive package and not an unsightly one. Like many of BenQ’s recent designs, the BenQ X300G has a mostly white, plastic chassis complemented by a glossy black face with orange accents. In this case, those accents also extend to little LED fins that protrude from the projector’s back edges. That orange glow calls to mind heat – not a good thing for a projector – though the BenQ X300G deals with that well. Its internal fans do emit a light buzzing noise, but the sound is easily drowned out by its speakers.
The whole unit sits on rubber feet for grip. The front foot is especially wide and built around a hinge for propping the front of the projector up to adjust its projection angle, though the feet don’t offer any horizontal tilt adjustment if the projector is set on an uneven surface. There is also a threaded hole for mounting onto a tripod or ceiling mount.
The BenQ X300G includes a few ports on its side and uses an external brick for power. There’s an HDMI 2.0 port with eARC, a USB-C port with DisplayPort support — a rarity among projectors – and a USB 2.0 port. I found it regrettable to see neither a 3.5mm audio jack nor an optical audio output. The rear of the BenQ X300G hides a small compartment that hides BenQ’s included streaming stick. This has a built-in mini HDMI cable and micro USB cable for charging, and this fairly unusual design offers limited options for swapping the dongle out for a different unit such as a Roku or Amazon Fire TV streaming stick down the line.
A large remote control operates both the included dongle and the projector. This has similarities to typical Android TV remotes but also quite a few shortcuts to projector settings. Backlighting provides helpful visibility in the dark, and activates after a button has been pressed. In addition to the remote, a set of controls is on top of the unit. Manual adjustments are made electronically, including focus, zoom, and keystone. Focus and keystone adjustments can also be made automatically, making setup quite quick.
The streaming stick BenQ includes is a first-party model running Android TV OS 11, which is a little behind the times now, though at least it saw a recent February 2024 security patch. The dongle still provides quick and easy access to the best streaming services like Disney Plus, Max, Netflix, and Prime Video. While Hulu also loaded onto the system without issue, I couldn’t successfully use it as all clicks on the Sign In button failed to register.
Design and features score: 3/5
The BenQ X300G is designed for gaming, but it also does a good job of displaying movies (Image credit: Future)
BenQ X300G 4K projector review: picture and sound quality
Short throw provides big picture in smaller rooms
Good image with movies and games
Average sound quality
The BenQ X300G is a capable little projector that’s ready to beam a big and bright picture without much fuss. It’s plenty bright for a dim room and excels in the dark, where it can readily produce a gorgeous, large image. In fact, you’ll likely have a hard time getting anything less than a huge picture due to the projector’s short throw.
This projector is better suited for small rooms or coffee table installations. During setup, I already had a 77-inch diagonal image at a little under 4 feet from the screen. The projector’s optical zoom can shrink that down a bit, but if you place the projector at the back of a room, you’ll be sacrificing image quality quickly as it relies on digital zoom to shrink images down beyond the optical zoom range.
Once positioned, the BenQ X300G is a strong projector. Color rendition isn’t the best I’ve seen – BenQ rates it for 84% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut – with that crown going to triple-laser models like the Hisense PX2 Pro and LG Cinebeam HU915QE, but it’s not far off. The Na’vi looked plenty blue when I watched Avatar: The Way of Water, and the colorful world of Final Fantasy VII: Remake Intergrade was presented quite well throughout my testing.
A main perk of the BenQ X300G is its flexibility. It can provide a cinematic image with 4K HDR movies and shows at 24 or 60Hz, but also dial up the speed by dropping to 1080p at 240Hz for gaming. The projector’s DLP chip not only provides a high refresh rate but a stunning pixel response time that’s virtually free of ghosting. If competitive gaming is your speed, the BenQ X300G can keep up.
Speed is a critical advantage for the BenQ X300G, as it has competition from other models like the JMGO N1 Ultra and Hisense C1. Both models come in at similar prices and use triple-laser light sources to provide 4K visuals with far more stunning color, but they lack the option to ramp up to 240Hz in game mode.
The BenQ X300G speakers complement the imagery. While not amazing, they do a decent job, pumping out plenty of sound in the small rooms this projector is ideal for. They’ll fall flat unless you’re sitting close in larger rooms, and the sound is grating at high volumes. But at middle volume, they sound clear and full.
Picture quality score: 4/5
Ports include HDMI with ARC, USB type-C, and USB type-A (Image credit: Future)
BenQ X300G 4K projector review: value
Has major competition at $1,799
Powerful for the price
The BenQ X300G is a strong all-around option. Cinema-focused projectors like the Hisense C1 can do better for the same price but lack the gaming capabilities that set the X300G apart. The BenQ X300G does a great job with both, upping its value for anyone who wants that flexibility. It does cut some corners on the hardware front, so it that’s a concern, the BenQ X3100i offers extra hardware adjustments and image upgrades, but costs $600 more.
Value score: 4/5
The BenQ's large remote control has a backlit keypad (Image credit: Future)
Should I buy the BenQ X300G 4K projector?
Buy it if...
Don’t buy it if…
Also consider...
BenQ X3100i The BenQ X3100i has the same gaming features as the X300G but provides a higher level of visual quality. It also has useful hardware for setup, but comes at a considerable uptick in price.
Tested at home in multiple, real-world viewing conditions
Viewed with a variety of media and formats
I have tested numerous projectors and displays over the last half-decade
I tested the BenQ X300G at home, in real-world conditions. This saw it challenged by ambient light coming in from numerous windows, in-room lighting, and ambient noise that the projector’s speaker system had to overcome. The projector was tested on both a bare, white wall and an Akia Screens CineWhite screen and was presented with streamed HDR and non-HDR content and console gameplay.
My testing evaluates the projector’s performance and takes into consideration its price and competition from other models.
I have been testing projectors since 2021 and displays for even longer.
The LG CineBeam Q is an ultra-compact portable projector that, like Samsung's super-popular Freestyle, features the same streaming platform found in the company’s TVs – in this case, WebOS. At $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$2,499, it’s pricier than Samsung's portable projector, but brings the benefits of 4K resolution and an RGB laser light engine for enhanced brighness and color. Picture quality is surprisingly good for such a tiny projector, and it can beam images large enough to light up the side of a garage, though the lack of a battery power option makes it best suited for indoor use.
The LG CineBeam Q stands out from the best portable projectors thanks to its 4K resolution in particular. Most are cheap HD-resolution models with a built-in rechargeable battery that run Android TV and can be used indoors or outdoors – even the great Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen, an ultra-compact projector that offers both portability and a superior streaming and gaming platform in an innovative design, is HD. The best 4K projectors have always been pricey, bulky and meant for indoor use – a different proposition. The LG changes this.
With an all-aluminum case and carrying handle, the LG CineBeam Q’s retro-industrial design makes it look good even when turned off. When turned on, an auto screen adjustment feature with autofocus allows for quick setup, and there are plenty of manual adjustments to dial in picture geometry and focus. Beyond that, the projector’s 22-point white balance adjustment duplicates the picture calibration controls found on LG’s OLED TVs, though its Filmmaker Mode picture mode also provides a high level of accuracy at its default settings.
WebOS offers most popular streaming apps such as Netflix and Disney Plus, though Hulu and Max are missing. Both AirPlay 2 and Android Screen Share allow for wireless streaming from a phone or tablet, and there are also USB type-C and HDMI inputs for connecting external sources such as one of the best 4K Blu-ray players or a games console.
While most portable projectors provide built-in speakers out of necessity, audio is an afterthought on the LG CineBeam Q, which produces tinny, anemic sound from its 3-watt mono speaker. Fortunately, it supports Bluetooth pairing with Dual Audio Output, allowing for wireless audio streaming to multiple Bluetooth speakers and headphones, or a soundbar.
The LG Cinebeam Q projector's WebOS smart TV interface. (Image credit: Future)
LG CineBeam Q 4K projector review: Price and availability
Release date: April 2024
MSRP: $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$2,499
LG’s CineBeam Q sells for $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$2,499, which is significantly higher than the Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen, another stylish portable projector.
The LG is a 4K resolution model, however, and that feature alone justifies its higher price bracket – most 4K projectors cost a lot more than this!
LG CineBeam Q 4K projector review: Specs
The CineBeam Q's rotating metal stand allows for a range of placement options and also serves as a carrying handle. (Image credit: Future)
LG CineBeam Q 4K projector review: Design and features
Stylish design and sturdy build quality
RGB laser light engine
LG WebOS streaming platform
The LG CineBeam Q is about as cool-looking as portable projectors get. LG appears to have designed it to be a conversation piece as much as a projector, with the LG CineBeam Q’s compact aluminum case and 360-degree rotating aluminum stand giving it an appealing, Braun-like industrial style.
At 5.3 x 3.1 x 5.3 inches (H x W x D) and 3.3 pounds, the LG CineBeam Q is easy to tote from room to room (the rotating stand does double-duty as a carrying handle), though with no built-in rechargeable battery (or accessory battery pack) you’ll need to carry its external power brick along with it to plug in. LG includes an IR remote control, though it’s a regular version and not the “Magic Remote” kind that comes with LG TVs where you can just point at what you want on-screen.
The LG CineBeam Q uses an RGB laser light engine combined with a DLP chip to produce images with up to 500 ANSI lumens specified brightness. An auto screen adjustment feature with autofocus can be used to make images look rectangular and crisp without effort when pointing it at a wall or screen, and there’s also manual digital keystone correction with 4, 9, or 15-point warping options.
LG’s WebOS platform is used for streaming on the CineBeam Q, with Disney Plus, Prime Video, Netflix, Apple TV Plus, and YouTube all present. Strangely, there’s no Hulu or Max, which are popular streaming apps that I use regularly. The projector supports both AirPlay 2 and Android Screen Share, however, which lets you stream from apps on your phone to the projector, or you can connect an external source to its HDMI or USB type-C input.
The LG CineBeam Q has a built-in 3-watt speaker, though it doesn’t sound good and can’t play loud. A better option is to use the Bluetooth pairing with Dual Audio Output feature, which lets you simultaneously connect up to two Bluetooth devices like a speaker, headphones, or soundbar.
Design and features score: 4.5/5
The Cinebeam Q has highly accurate color in Filmmaker Mode (Image credit: Future)
LG CineBeam Q 4K projector review: Picture Quality
Stylish design and sturdy build quality
RGB laser light engine
LG WebOS streaming platform
I went into this review with pretty low picture quality expectations for the LG CineBeam Q, and ended up pleasantly surprised by how good images looked. The main benefit the LG has over other ultra-compact portable projectors is 4K resolution with HDR10 and HLG high dynamic range support. That factor made a big difference in its picture, especially when watching movies, which is something I did on a 92-inch, 1.1 gain Stewart Filmscreen Cima matte white projection screen.
The LG CineBeam Q’s brightness was another surprise. Peak brightness measured on a white 10% window pattern was 60 nits in Filmmaker HDR Mode. Although that’s half the peak brightness you’d get from a more conventional home theater projector such as the BenQ v5000i, it’s very good for a portable model. The LG’s measured contrast ratio was 500:1, which is a typical result for a portable DLP projector.
Color performance was excellent, with the CineBeam Q’s grayscale and color Delta-E (the margin of error between the test pattern source and what’s shown on-screen) both averaging under our target level of 3 in Filmmaker Mode. Coverage of the UHDA-P3 colors gamut was also excellent at 98.7%, while BT.2020 coverage was an equally impressive 95%.
Input lag in Game Optimizer mode was 56ms, which is typical for projectors that aren’t specifically designed for gaming.
Watching reference 4K Blu-rays on the LG CineBeam Q, dark scenes in the James Bond film No Time to Die showed good contrast, and scenes with camera pans or fast motion looked solid and judder-free. Dark scenes in Dune were equally satisfying, though shadow detail wasn’t as good as what you can expect from the best larger 4K projectors. In both cases, the LG’s accurate color rendition made skin tones look completely natural, and brighter colors such as red, and orange, and yellow looked rich and clean.
Picture quality score: 4.5 / 5
LG's included remote control is a basic version and not the "Magic Remote" type that comes with its TVs. (Image credit: Future)
LG CineBeam Q 4K projector review: Value
Less expensive than other 4K portables
Better picture than other ultra-compact projectors
Superior design for a portable projector
At $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$2,499, the LG CineBeam Q is pricier than regular HD portable projectors such as Samsung’s The Freestyle 2nd Gen, but less expensive than other 4K portables such as the Anker Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K. And while its overall picture quality is very good, brightness is limited, and there’s no battery power option for true portability.
The LG CineBeam Q scores value points for having an all-metal exterior as opposed to the cheap plastic casings used for most portable projectors. If you’re looking for a portable projector with a classy design that you can leave out in your living room when not in use, the LG is one of the few worth consideration. If that’s not the case, you can easily find cheaper models, though they’ll have a less attractive design and a less impressive picture.
Value score: 4 / 5
With no built-in battery, the CineBeam Q relies on an external power brick for power (Image credit: Future)
Should you buy the LG CineBeam Q 4K projector?
Buy it if...
Don’t buy it if…
Also consider...
Anker Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K This powerful portable has a laser-based light engine with a whopping 2,400 lumens brightness, though it costs significantly more than the LG. It also has an appealing design, though there’s no built-in battery for easy outdoor use. See our full Anker Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K review.
(Image credit: Future)
How I tested the LG CineBeam Q
Tested at home, in a room with controlled light where I always test projectors
Measurements were made using Calman color calibration software
A 1.1 gain Stewart Filmscreen Cima matte white projection screen was used for evaluation and measurements
When I test projectors, my first step is to use it for casual viewing to assess the out-of-box picture presets. The next step is to select the most accurate-looking preset (typically labeled Filmmaker, Movie or Cinema) and measure the white balance (grayscale), gamma, and color point accuracy using Portrait Displays’ Calman color calibration software. The resulting measurements provide Delta-E values (the margin of error between the test pattern source and what’s shown on-screen) for each category, and allow for an assessment of the projector’s s overall accuracy.
Along with those tests, I make measurements of peak light output (recorded in nits) for both standard high-definition and 4K high dynamic range using a 10% white window pattern. Coverage of DCI-P3 and BT.2020 color space is also measured, with the results providing a sense of how faithfully the projector can render the extended color range in ultra high-definition sources. The final measurements are contrast ratio, which is the ratio of the brightest white to the darkest black that the projector can display, and input lag, which is measured using a Leo Bodnar 4K HDMI input lag tester.
The LG CinemaBeam provides a full range of adjustments to calibrate its picture, although its Filmmaker mode preset is accurate enough that most people will find it to be perfectly adequate. For my evaluation I calibrated the LG’s picture and relied on both reference 4K Blu-ray discs and streaming via AirPlay 2 to test its performance in the Filmmaker and Standard preset picture modes.
My projector testing experience spans almost three decades, going back to the early three-gun CRT models.
