BenQ TK700STi Review | The Best Gaming Projector of 2021
- BLOG CAM
- Sep 9, 2021
- 7 min read
In today’s article, we’re looking at a new 4k gaming projector from Benq known as the TK700STI that claims to be the world’s first 4k HDR gaming projector that does 4k at 60 hertz with only 16 ms of input lag and if that wasn’t enough for you, it has quite a few more interesting features, it comes with an android TV interface as a smart TV voice remote and even has a short throw ratio producing a hundred-inch screen from about six and a half feet away.
So considering this projector runs the Android TV interface, the first thing you see when you open the box is the Benq QS01 which is Benq’s own 4k android TV stick and you also get a wireless voice remote which has a new design, that’s built to work with android TV you get batteries for the remote along with a quick start guide and of course, you get the projector.
So this projector is also sporting a new design, it’s a bit more square than the TK850 and has a nice grey face that looks great, on the top you get your typical focusing zoom dials and an IR sensor, you also have your power navigation source and eco mode buttons.
The front has another IR sensor, a lens and some ventilation on the corner as well as vents on both sides, it has adjustable feet on the bottom and it looks as they kept it fairly simple on the back, you’re going to have two HDMI 2.0 b ports, RS232 a stereo output and a USB port and you’ll notice that the area under the port bulge is out well, this is where the android TV stick plugs in so to install it.
You just remove the screw on top use a good amount of force to push the door to the left and it reveals the HDMI port and micro us cable that you’ll use for the stick, all you do is plug in the USB cable plug the stick into the HDMI port then slide the door back into place.
SPECIFICATION
Alright, so what about specs well, this thing is loaded with features not only does it have all the things I mentioned earlier but it produces 3000 lumens and covers 96 of REC 709, it also has HDMI CEC which, I’m super excited about 3d for all you hardcore 3d fans, an 8 segment RGB colour wheel, HDMI 10 and HLG support Bluetooth thanks to the Android TV stick and of course, the insanely low input lag of 16 MS with 4K HDR games, now that’s quite a long list of impressive specs.
But how does it perform in real life well, I set the projector around nine feet away from the 135-inch screen and it almost filled the screen so it has a short throw which will work great for people with a smaller room and the android TV the interface is great on this projector.
This isn’t the first Benq projector with android TV but it is the first one that I’ve reviewed and I think their implementation of android TV using the HDMI, the stick is great and they were able to do it pretty much seamlessly, the android functions work wirelessly via Bluetooth so there’s no need to aim the remote at the projector unless, you want to use the power buttons or projector menu, the remote even has a voice control menu that allows you to use the Google Assistant to search and navigate through the OS.
Since, it’s running official android TV version 9 you get access to most streaming apps including Amazon prime which has a dedicated button on the remote HULU, YouTube, HBO max, Disney plus and countless others, the only thing that was missing was Netflix.
I have noticed that Netflix has been missing from a growing number of smart TV devices which make me wonder if either they’ve changed their licensing or if there’s some other issue anyways, if you want to access Netflix this means that you’ll either have to sideload the app manually or you can grab something like the new chrome cast or Nvidia shield and use that.
What’s cool is that Benq has finally listened to me and added HDMI CEC so you can power the projector on or off using another device so if you have a chrome cast shield apple TV or another smart TV device.
The projector will automatically power on and off so you never have to bother with the projector remote and the addition of arc support allows you to send full surround sound from the projector’s built-in apps to your home theatre receiver or soundbar using the second HDMI port.
Being a gaming projector the first thing I did after I got it up and running was fire up my Xbox one x with some call of duty and I have to say that I was impressed with the low input lag call of duty is one of those fast-paced games where lag really counts and it was immediately noticeable.
Now, unfortunately, this projector doesn’t support 4k at 120 but it does support 1080p at 120 which cuts the input lag in half so you can get around 8 ms, if you’re okay with dropping down to 1080p and I connected the projector to my HD fury diva to get the input lag reading and it showed an average input lag of 14 and a half ms which is insane for a 4k home theatre projector and the lowest I’ve seen so far.
I’ve always said that 50 ms was sufficient for casual gaming but games like call of duty and other fast-paced games, absolutely require less than 20 ms especially, if you want to stay competitive so this is a pretty big deal and the projector has three different game modes, it has FPS mode, RPG mode and SPG mode and it claims to enhance the image for each of these genres to give you the best performance for the type of game you’re playing.
When it comes to movies the TK700 STI also does a pretty good job, the HDR performance is good and the image is razor sharp cinema mode is the most colour-accurate but does kill a lot of the brightness and the sports and game modes are noticeably brighter while sacrificing vivid colours.
Now being a bright living room projector, it doesn’t have the best black level so you won’t get those deep dark blacks but it’s not the worst that I’ve seen, it also doesn’t have super high colour accuracy so you might notice that certain shades of orange or light blue might seem a little off the RGB RGBw colour wheel.
lets in more white light, so the colours won’t be as vivid as an RGB colour wheel but this not only allows a slightly brighter image but it also allows those super-low input lag numbers so you have to take the good with the bad overall, I think the image looks great either way but if you’re looking for the best colour and you’re not a hardcore gamer, then the HT3550 might be a better option for you, alright so what about noise well one issue that usually comes along with brighter projectors is fan noise.
This projector was fairly quiet, you can definitely hear the fans but they’re not distracting at all now, I will say the projector does get pretty hot and you can certainly feel the hot air coming out of the vents but that just means the fans are doing their job so with Benq producing so many projectors.
Who is this projector for?
Well, in my opinion, this will be the best option for avid gamers over their existing projectors considering, it has much lower input lag even though, it doesn’t have the colour accuracy for me to recommend it, for a dedicated home theatre, it would work well in a living room or a multi-purpose room, where you don’t mind sacrificing accurate colour for some added brightness.
It would also be a good replacement for anyone who is looking to upgrade their existing short throw projector or an older gaming projector like the TH671stor, it would be great for gamers who are looking to move from a TV to a huge screen so this thing has a ton of features and has a great looking image.
What are the things I didn’t like?
There are a few small things but nothing major, the first issue I mentioned earlier and that is the absence of Netflix, now this could be something temporary that they could easily fix it with an over-the-air update or something like that but it should be noted.
The next thing is that I wasn’t able to get the volume buttons on the projector remote to control my home theatre receiver, the arc connection worked fine so I was able to hear the sound from the built-in apps but I wasn’t able to control the volume, now that could have been a setting somewhere that I missed but I wasn’t able to find it
And the last thing is that even though, the projector powers on when I power all my other equipment such as the Nvidia shield, it didn’t turn off automatically with the rest of the equipment now, it did eventually turn off after not receiving a signal for a while but it would have been nice for it to power off with everything else.
Now, what is nice is that if you’re using the Android TV OS on the projector, it did power my home theatre receiver on and off automatically so even though, some of the HDMI CEC features work, there are still some bugs.
Final thought
Overall, I do like this projector and BenQ never ceases to amaze me, the fact that they were able to fit all these features into, this projector is awesome if you’re currently gaming on a 4k projector, I’ll tell you right now to drop what you’re doing and grab this projector, the competitive advantage you get with such a low input lag is well worth it along with the long list of other features. You get with this projector it seems like, we get more and more features with BenQ projectors every year so I can’t wait to see what the future holds,
BUY ON AMAZON
So this concludes the topic for BenQ TK700STi Review | The Best Gaming Projector of 2021 and hopefully, you found this blog helpful and I do want to get your thoughts and comments on this projector so tell me what you think in the comment.
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