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BenQ X3100i Review
A compact all-round 4K beamer with extensive gaming features
In This Article
Verdict
The BenQ X3100i is marketed as a gaming projector but this very capable 4K HDR beamer is also a great choice for film fans thanks to its bright and detailed picture. A compact design, intuitive setup and extensive gaming features that include very low input lags round out a solid package.
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The BenQ X3000i is a 4K HDR DLP projector and the latest in the brand’s line-up of beamers primarily aimed at gamers who want big screen immersion combined with dedicated gaming features.
The 4LED light source has a claimed brightness of 3,300 ANSI lumens, while gamers will be delighted with the four preset game modes and super-low input lags, plus FPS crosshair feature for easier aiming, along with the brand’s SettingXchange feature for updates and custom gaming settings.
However, there’s plenty of potential for film fans as well, with the promise of improved contrast performance, 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 wide colour gamut, and a built-in sound system with BenQ’s CinematicSound spatial audio. All of which means the BenQ X3100i could be a fantastic all rounder.
Availability
The BenQ X3100i is available now and can currently be picked up for £1,949 in the UK, $2,199 in the US, €2,599 in Europe, and AU$3,199 in Australia. All these prices are reasonable for a 4K HDR projector with a number of cutting-edge film and gaming-related features, along with some impressive specifications.
If you’re looking for alternatives to the X3100i, the Optoma UHZ55 is worth considering. This laser-powered 4K HDR DLP projector delivers 3,000 lumens, a low input lag, offers flexible setup, and even support for WiSA wireless audio. It can be purchased for £1,699 in the UK, $2,459 in the US, and €2,099 in Europe.
Design
The BenQ X3100i continues the brand’s ‘cubist period’ with its square plastic chassis, rounded corners and white finish. It’s compact and well built, with a gloss black front that has a design printed on it to break up the uniformity. There’s an orange trim around the outer edge, and a large recessed lens that’s offset to the left as you face it.
There are vents on the sides that pull double duty handling both the cooling fans for the LED light source and the built-in speakers. There’s a dial on top for vertically shifting the image, while on the left hand side near the lens are manual controls for zooming and focusing the image. There are also basic controls in case you misplace the remote.
At the rear you’ll find a pair of HDMI 2.0b inputs, all of which support 4K/60Hz, HDR10, HLG and ALLM, while input 2 also supports eARC. There’s also a USB port, an optical digital output, and a 3.5mm analogue output, along with a 12V trigger and an RS-232 connector for serial control. In terms of wireless connectivity there’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Google Chromecast andApple AirPlay.
BenQ claims built-in Android TV in its marketing, but this isn’t strictly true. In reality there’s a removable panel at the top behind which you’ll find Mini HDMI and Micro USB connectors for attaching BenQ’s Android TV dongle, which you then slot into a provided compartment. While this is technically internal, it’s definitely not a built-in smart system in my book.
The provided remote is a dual purpose controller that handles both the projector and the separate Android TV smart system. While it’s comfortable to hold and easy to use with one hand, it uses some fairly obscure icons to identify the various buttons. So you will need to familiarise yourself, but on the plus side the menus and operation are responsive.
Features
The BenQ X3100i is a longer throw projector than some of the others on the brand’s gaming line-up, with a throw ratio of 1.15 to 1.5 and a 1.3x zoom. This allows you to project a 100-inch image from 2.5-3.3m and a 150-inch screen from 3.8-5m. There’s also 40-60% vertical lens shift, digital zoom, and adjustable feet to make installation quick and easy.
The 4LED light source has the benefit of a very long life, with BenQ claiming 30,000 hours. This easily equates to a decade of marathon gaming sessions, and countless movie nights. It’s also very bright at 3,300 ANSI lumens, so you can use the X3100i in a room with a degree of ambient light, although the darker you can make things the better the results.
Otherwise the X3100i is a standard single-chip DLP projector with a claimed resolution of 4K – although this is achieved using a Full HD DMD and XPR four-way pixel shifting. The X3100i also supports high dynamic range, specifically HDR10 andHLG (hybrid log-gamma). In addition BenQ claims this beamer covers 100% of the DCI-P3 wide colour gamut.
The X3100i sports a sound system based around a pair of treVolo chambered speakers each of which is driven by 5W of amplification. BenQ calls this system CinematicSound, and it’s designed to deliver room-filling spatial audio using a Bongiovi DSP chipset. If that name sounds familiar it’s because the technology was developed by Jon Bon Jovi’s cousin!
The X3100i is primarily aimed at gamers, and as such it boasts a number of gaming related features including four different game modes depending on the genre. The projector can also automatically detect a connected console and select the appropriate mode. There’s even a crosshair feature to make targeting easier in first person shooters.
Finally there’s BenQ’s SettingXchange, which is a piece of software you can download on your PC and used to sync with the projector. It allows you to update the beamer’s firmware, but also import custom gaming settings and colour parameters created by experts and professional gamers. This is intended to improve the gaming experience and foster a sense of collaboration and community.
Aside from the general annoyance of having to unscrew the top of the X3100i to install BenQ’s Android TV dongle, the platform it provides is fairly basic. It’s also not the most robust, and I experienced a number of crashes and glitches when using it. While most of the main streamers are present and optimised for the beamer, due to ongoing issues with Google there are no UK TV catch-up apps.
Performance
The BenQ X3100i is a DLP projector and thus benefits from the relative strengths and weaknesses of this particular display technology. The single chip nature of the optical block, along with a decent lens ensures pin sharp images with no alignment issues, while the use of LEDs rather than a colour wheel should minimise possible rainbow artefacts – although their absence can’t be guaranteed.
The four LEDs certainly deliver the goods in terms of brightness, with BenQ’s claims of a peak luminance of 3,300 ANSI lumens appearing correct in actual testing. However, the more accurate Cinema mode will reduce this to around 2,000 ANSI lumens but that’s still pretty bright and certainly sufficient to deliver punchy images that really pop when viewed in a darkened room.
The inclusion of the fourth LED in addition to the usual red, green and blue doesn’t just boost the brightness, it also allows the X3100i to achieve a wider colour gamut than is possible with a DLP beamer that uses a colour wheel. The BenQ is able to cover nearly 100% of BT.709 in SDR and almost all of the DCI-P3 colour gamut with HDR, resulting in a pleasingly colourful presentation.
The X3100i doesn’t just deliver wider colours, it actually manages to do so while remaining impressively accurate out of the box. The greyscale, gamma and colour errors are all below the visible threshold of three, which makes this projector a good choice for film fans as well a gamers. There are also calibration controls for improving the accuracy, although most wouldn’t notice the difference.
The black levels are fairly typical for a DLP projector and more a dark grey, and this was especially obvious when watching The Crow on 4K Blu-ray with its nighttime cityscape bathed in shadows. Even with the Dynamic Black feature engaged the actual intra-frame contrast ratio is a far cry from the claimed 600,000:1, and the native on/off contrast ratio is closer to 1,000:1 in reality.
However, the increased brightness, the wider colours and the overall accuracy offset any weakness in terms of contrast, and thanks to some competent tone mapping a film like The Greatest Showman really pops in terms of its 4K visuals and HDR-enhanced colours. Whether you’re planning a movie night or gaming session this beamer should put a smile on on your face.
As you’d expect from a DLP projector motion handling is superb, with the lightning fast response times of the technology smoothly delivering all the movement in Furiosa’s frenetic action scenes with no signs of blurring, judder or other artefacts. This smooth motion doesn’t just apply to films, and the same fluid delivery is also applicable to games, once again making this a great all rounder.
The absence of a colour wheel does at least mean there’s no high-pitched whine as it whizzes around, but the four LEDs still require cooling and there is a fair degree of fan noise. However with the beamer’s built-in speakers blasting away or an outboard sound system filling the room with audio, the fans will be drowned out and shouldn’t really be an issue most of the time.
Unsurprisingly given the X3100i is primarily aimed at gaming it excels in this area, and while limited to 24p or 60Hz when watching films and TV shows, you can go as high as 240Hz with 1080p PC games. The result is a silky-smooth and super-responsive gaming experience with input lags that range from 16ms with 4K/60Hz, down to an incredibly low 4ms at 1080p/240Hz.
The X3100i automatically detected my PS5 and switched into the appropriate game mode, and playing Grand Theft Auto V resulted in a suitably chaotic and violent experience with incredibly smooth motion, along with the bright and detailed 4K HDR imaging. Thanks to this beamer’s big screen pictures it’s an immersive experience, but to really enjoy it you’ll need to invest in bigger and better audio.
The sound system itself is reasonably good for more casual viewing, but a degree of expectation management is required. The two speakers don’t have the scale or power to create a soundstage that complements the big screen images, despite the ingenuity of Bon Jovi’s cousin, and with just 5W of amplification for each speaker they also can’t go too loud without starting to distort.
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Should you buy it?
You want bright, punchy and immersive big screen gaming
The BenQ X3100i projector’s pin sharp 4K HDR visuals, superior motion handling, multiple game modes, incredibly low input lags, FPS crosshair feature, and SettingXchange customisation make this beamer a great choice for gamers.
You want a projector that can handle 4K/120Hz gaming
Despite the BenQ X3100i’s overall gaming prowess, there is one area where it’s lacking. The HDMI 2.0 inputs mean this projector can’t accept 4K/120Hz signals, which is a shame given its fast response times and low input lags.
Final Thoughts
The BenQ X3100i delivers big, bright and colourful 4K HDR images thanks to its 4LED light source. Once you add in its great motion handling, good picture accuracy and host of dedicated gaming features you have a beamer that’s a good choice for film fans and hardcore gamers.
The cube-shaped design is stylish if a little plastic in construction, and the optical adjustments and setup options make installation quick and easy. It’s limited to HDMI 2.0, so no 4K/120Hz, and the Android TV smart system could be better, but otherwise it’s a cracking all rounder.
How we test
We test every projector we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We usePortrait Displays Calman colour calibration softwareand industry standards to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in ourethics policy.
Tested over several weeks
Tested with real world use
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FAQs
The X3100i’s HDR only extends to HDR10 and HLG.
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Full specs
Steve Withers is a professional calibrator and freelance journalist who regularly contributes to Trusted Reviews, reviewing audio and video products, and writing articles. Steve has been writing about…
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Why trust our journalism?
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
