HT3550

I bought a used Benq W2700/ HT3550 for less than £400. It's a good 4k projector. Look for used ones or maybe have a look at Alibaba, I just got a quote of £580 for a JMGO N3 4k laser projector duties and shipping included. It's a bit of a gamble!

You’re not dealing with a “bad projector” — you’re dealing with physics. The HT3550 is a dark-room cinema projector. In a light-controlled basement it shines. In a family room with lights on and a 120” screen, 2000 ANSI lumens simply isn’t enough. But here’s the important part: 2200 lumens on the Horizon Pro is not a real-world upgrade. That’s a \~10% brightness bump. On a 120” screen with ambient light, that difference is marginal at best. You might gain a slightly punchier image due to processing, but you’ll likely lose black level and contrast compared to the BenQ. If you want a noticeable improvement in a lit room, you need one of these: • Smaller screen (100–110”) • ALR screen • 3000+ ANSI lumen projector • Or move to a large TV Switching to another \~2000 lumen class projector is mostly a lateral move. If your HT3550 still works fine, I wouldn’t call the Horizon Pro an upgrade — it’s more of a trade-off. That’s the honest answer.

so i got the [benq ht3550](https://oklookup.com/review/benq-ht3550-projector/) a while back for around $1500, and honestly, it's been pretty great. the colors are super vibrant and it’s got decent brightness for daytime use. i really love the 4k support and how easy it is to set up. only downside is the fan noise can be a bit annoying if you're watching something quiet. but like, once you’re into the movie, you kinda forget about it. other options are cool too, like the Epson 5050, but the benq just fits my vibe better.

Upscale 4K is a joke. It sucks. Get a good 1080 like the benQ 3050 (1000$) Also being farther away from it makes it almost pointless you can’t tell the difference. If you have 6k to blow then get a true 4K laser projector. I bought one of the most expensive upscale 4K Sony projectors I could find on Amazon(3,500$) compared it to the benQ 3050 and it was an easy easy decision. Also you have to do some digging to find out if it is true 4K and not an upscale. Edit: this is my experience as a layman. May be wrong with some jargon. My point is the difference between a 1k projector and a 3k projector does not scale and you don’t get that much more paying 2k more when a 1k projector is very good

I've owned the HT3550 for 6 years and it's been nice. I've got a basement that can be blacked out which was great initially with the BenQ, but now with young kids, and reducing parts of the basement, it's used as our family room pretty much. so lights are frequently on (but still dimmed a lot of times). anyway, I'm finding the picture washed out a lot (picture attached if I did that right). Im not a projector purist really. I just want a good picture that can be viewed in low light as a daily family projector. Until today I've never heard of the XGIMI until I saw it on rting.com. I assumed some cheap Amazon crap but saw how highly rated it is and seems like it will meet my needs and sub $2k. Doing some browsing on Reddit seems like it's the flavor of the month type of projector that gets a lot of love and hate. Sorry for the long post but would the XGIMI be an upgrade for me over the BenQ or am I just wasting money? I have a 120' set up for reference. I really appreciate it because I'm very lost.

I really appreciate the thoughtful answer. It means a lot. I (perhaps ignorantly) was reading that the Horizon Pro was 4100 lumens so I took that as a significant upgrade based on just having a "brighter" imagine in a lighted room situation. I imagine the 4100 lumens is a false narrative based on other factors that are outside my scope and the 2200 lumens you list is more accurate? Thanks again! Edit: reading your post again. Would an ALR screen be a bigger upgrade for the BenQ or if I got the Horizon Pro? Because that is certainly a cheaper upgrade vs. getting a new projector.