BenQ W2720i review

Clearly visible on the front, right next to the centrally mounted lens are the Time of Flight (ToF) sensor and the Ai camera, both used for assessing the distance from the screen, the amount of light being reflected back and the ambient light in the room in relation to the on-screen scene. Along with its eco-friendly LED light source, the 30,000 hour lifespan should technically give you many years of intervention-free viewing. Time to catch up on all those questionable choices in your Watch List.

BenQ’s suite of Cinema Master settings offer granular control over the saturation, brightness and contrast of different colour channels in relation to the white balance, if you want to take matters into your own hands. But BenQ’s track record for out-of-the-box image quality has been exemplary and the W2720i is no exception to that rule. It may not cover 100% of the DCI-P3 colour space like its more expensive flagship sibling, the W5800, but it still manages a very respectable 90% coverage.

Unless you wish to place the W2720i on a hammock, it has enough tools to help get the right sized and proportioned image on your screen. Vertical lens shift, keystone, 8-point corner fit and a 1.3x zoom control ensure that you have a generous area of installation. We did try the Auto Screen Fit function which is supposed to fit the image to your screen size without any intervention, but unsuccessfully. The reasons thrown up on the OSD were reflective surfaces and ambient light, both of which were non-existent in our viewing room.

Couple that with a Filmmaker Mode, support for HDR10+ and a solid 2500 ANSI lumens of brightness via its 4 LED light source and you have a picture that is rich in colour and capable of optimum brightness in low-light to dark-room settings. Turning on the AI or HDR-AI mode does make effective changes to the picture based on changing ambient light conditions, but in terms of tone mapping, remains very close to Filmmaker mode, which is a great starting point.

On detecting any HDR10+ source content, it automatically switches to HDR10+ mode and on the Prime Video show ‘Call me Bae’, it really allows for the detailed production and costume design to shine through with a very immersive picture. Edge-to-edge focus remains sharp and in terms of colour fidelity, its performance is very close to the W4000i, which is the more expensive model. All the usual BenQ traits like smooth and natural motion processing including a 24fps mod and  wide colour gamut for a richly textured presentation as long as you have a light-controlled room.

As is the case with most projectors at its price, black levels tend to struggle a bit, especially if you have a room with even small amounts of light leaking in. But the W2720i never sacrificed colour accuracy for peak contrast or brightness and always maintained a good blend regardless of how demanding the scene was. Different types of Contrast Enhancers (local or global) allow you to experiment and dial in just the right kind of Gamma curve you prefer or your room can handle, depending on lighting conditions. Clarity and impact with smooth motion processing have been hallmarks of all recent BenQ products and this projector is no different.

We would’ve liked a horizontal lens shift option too for more placement flexibility. This isn’t the same as an ultra short-throw projector so make your decision after evaluating its final installation site. But the big takeaway was how silent this projector runs. Even when placed within 2ft of the primary viewing position, we could barely hear the whirr of the cooling fan even after two hours of operation.

For those who want to dabble with the “i” in the W2720i, BenQ has included the Google-certified Android TV dongle which, like an Amazon Fire TV stick, opens up a world of streaming apps without the need for an external source. Three HDMI ports including one capable of HDMI 2.1 and hence 4K/120Hz also makes it gaming-worthy, although its 17.9ms input lag isn’t exactly class leading. For the casual gamer, it’s more (or less, in this case) than enough though, putting the W2720i in a sweet spot that manages to qualify as a something for everyone kind of projector.

With or without the Ai spiel, the fact that the W2720i is a great projector inherently doesn’t change. BenQ’s now tried and tested suite of HDR-Pro tone mapping and Cinema Master controls let you extract beautifully realistic and true-to-intent video from almost any sort of program material. While the AI does help marginally, most serious buyers would rather take control and choose to manually or professionally calibrate the projector for optimum performance.