First Look At BenQ’s New HT 4550i And GP500 4K Projectors Announced At CES 2023

Usman Pirzada

We reviewed the BenQ HT 3550 back in 2019 and to this day it remains the most affordable and best-bang-for-buck 4K projector on the market (at the measly price of $1200 USD). BenQ has finally announced a successor to the projector with the new BenQ HT 4550i 4K projector. While details are scarce at this point, we were able to get a sneak peak at their booth during CES 2023.

The new BenQ HT 4550 4K projector can achieve 3200 lumens with a DCI-P3 coverage of 100%

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The BenQ HT 4550 4K projector boasts a massive 3200 lumens of light output and a 17.9 ms input lag at 1080p @ 60 Hz. The company also boasted that the projector will have a long lasting light source. This, combined with the specifications, leads us to believe that we are most likely looking at a 4LED light source similar to the one found in the X3000i. The BenQ HT 4550 can match 100% of the DCI P3 color gamut which should be using a WCG filter (the resulting lumen count after the filter is applied should be very much in the range of cinematic home projectors).

The BenQ HT 4550i wins our Best of CES 2023 award considering its the first DMD 0.67 4LED projector in this segment with 100% DCI-P3 coverage.

Furthermore, the model also finally incorporates both horizontal and vertical lens shifts for ease of placement. Similar to the HT 3550i model, it features Android TV and is essentially a smart projector. There is no word on pricing yet although based on the the fact that this is between the HT3550 and 4550, you are likely looking at a price tag between $1700 and $2700.

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Up next, we have the BenQ GP500. This is also a 4K projector and features a very quirky design. Unlike the HT 4550, this only has 1500 ANSI powered by a 4LED engine. The light source is good for 20000 hours (which is more than enough to cover the lifespan of 4K displays) and features a 1.0-1.3 throw ratio. It features a DCI-P3 coverage of 90%, which should be good enough for casual viewing or TV/Sports events.

Perhaps more interestingly, the projector features not only auto color calibration but also 4 different speakers for what BenQ is calling "360 audio". This is a projector that is designed to sit on your side table and allow you to get a large 100 inch image up and running quite quickly. The company also launched the HT 2060, which is an updated 4LED model of their 1080p line. The HT2060 4LED projector achieves 98% Rec. 709 performance for color accuracy and 100” throw ratio at 8.2 feet

To learn more about BenQ's participation at CES 2023, click here.
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