The Viewsonic X2000B-4K is a compact and the company’s first ultra short throw smart laser projector.
Being the go-to person in my circle for tech recommendations, I usually get questions like which phone or laptop to get under a certain budget, and responses to these queries are usually a cakewalk for me. However, every once in a while, my friends do put me in a tough spot by asking me to pick between a smart TV and a projector.
In most of these cases, based on my experience, I mostly ended up recommending a smart TV over a projector, purely considering the price. When Viewsonic reached out to me for the review of their latest 4K projector, I was more than happy to accommodate, as it would finally fuel my curiosity to find out if modern projectors are as good as modern smart televisions.
Setting up the projector
The Viewsonic X2000B-4K is a compact projector for what it does. It’s a short-throw projector and is also the company’s first 4K laser ultra-short throw laser projector with a rated brightness of 2000 lumens, and it’s much smaller than conventional bulb-based 4K projectors and is also rated to last for 20,000 hours. However, it’s still substantially larger than a standard 1080p class projector.
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It’s also a smart projector, but not as smart as most modern televisions. With Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, users can wirelessly cast content from smartphones and laptops to the projector and can even directly stream content from major OTT platforms. However, the UI isn’t that intuitive and it is based on Android AOSP with no Google Play Store support.
This is where my unused Realme 4K Smart Google TV Stick came into the picture. Once plugged in via the built-in HDMI port of the projector, I finally had a device that is as versatile as any modern smart TV. I could even power it using one of the built-in USB ports on the projector, without needing an additional power adapter.
My experience
For someone who has been an avid smart TV user (50-inch), switching to a projector was quite a revelation. With a projector, I can adjust the screen size, and the ViewSonic X2000B can go up to 200-inch screen size without distorting the image quality, so it’s almost like having a mini theatre in my living room. I was surprised the image was automatically focused with a very minimal setup process.
I did project the image on a light blue wall; despite that, the colours were vivid, and it had plenty of brightness to work with. What took me by surprise is the feature which allows users to choose the colour of the wall, and it automatically tweaks the colours to deliver accurate output. The best thing about this projector is that you can project a 100-inch image from just 23cm away from the wall/screen and it also uses 4-point adjustment and 60 points correction to deliver perfectly shaped pictures, even on a curved surface.
I streamed a lot of content on platforms like Hotstar and Prime Video at 4K resolution, and I was pleasantly surprised with the picture quality, which was as good as my smart TV.
Another surprising element for me was the audio. As I have tested a few 1080p projectors before, audio used to be the weakest link. This time, it was the other way around; the built-in speakers on this projector were not just loud but also very clear, and I could even experience the stereo effect similar to the Xiaomi smart TV that I recently reviewed.
Overall, the Viewsonic X2000B-4K is clearly the best projector that I have tested so far, and it could easily match the content consumption experience of a premium 4K television. However, one thing that did feel out of place is the constant fan noise, which continues to stay on even if we are not using the projector. Barring this minor shortcoming, the Viewsonic X2000B is a stellar deal for sure.
Verdict
While I quite like this projector as a whole, one also needs to know that it costs over Rs 3,00,000. While it’s a lot less than premium QLED and OLED TVs from Samsung and Sony, it’s definitely a lot more than what an average person might spend on a home entertainment device.
If you are a hardcore movie enthusiast who likes to get a theatre-like experience at home, the Viewsonic X2000B is a great pick.
First published on: 19-07-2023 at 12:00 IST
