BenQ GP520 review: as bright as budget 4K projectors get

BenQ GP520: One minute review

The BenQ GP520 is a promising projector for those on a tight budget. At $1,499, it provides a much cheaper alternative to the Hisense C2 Ultra and JGMO N1S Pro 4K. While there are plenty of other examples of the best projectors that can compete near its price, the BenQ GP520 has a solid edge where brightness is concerned. An LED light source lets it hit a high of 2,600 ANSI Lumens, and that’s plenty to provide a pleasing image even if you don’t completely black out your viewing space.

The GP520 beams a sharp and modestly colorful 4K picture and supports HDR10+ high dynamic range. In the right viewing conditions, it can look downright great for a projector at this price, and even has solid motion handling.

BenQ rounds out the GP520 with a potent pair of speakers that will do the job when you don’t have time to sort out a better sound system, and it has integrated Google TV for streaming. The projector is small and easy to move about, making it viable as a go-anywhere all-in-one theater system. While there are plenty of ways the GP520 could be better, it’s a great option for those on a budget.

BenQ GP520 review: Price & release date

• Release date: October 2024
• Price:$1,499 / £1299 / AU$ 2,199

The BenQ GP520 is a recent entry to the market and comes in at a modest price. At $1,499, it’s a small bargain next to the BenQ W2720i, and is cheaper than the BenQ X300G and BenQ X3100i in the company’s gaming projector lineup. It doesn’t have the gaming chops of those latter projectors, but it delivers a big, bright 4K picture for the money.

BenQ GP520 review: Design & features

• Compact, all-in-one design
• Multiple tripod holes for mounting
• Google TV

Like many recent mainstream home projectors, the BenQ GP520 has a simple, boxy design. With a compact, gray case and a blue accent around the lens, it looks a lot less like office equipment than other BenQ projectors. Inside, it packs an LED DLP projection system, dual 12-watt speakers, and the Google TV streaming platform. It’s a compact projector that’s easy to move and set up in new positions.

While some competitors have started including gimbal stands for angling their projectors, the GP520 has simple rubber feet that can extend to make small angle and tilt corrections. That said, the GP520 is equipped with tripod holes on the top, bottom, and rear for adaptable setups. You’ll want a rather sturdy tripod to secure this projector, though.

The GP520 will automatically configure its picture for new setups, including keystone and autofocus adjustments, and even framing and obstacle avoidance. Aside from focus, these are all digital adjustments that reduce the resolution of the 4K picture.

The BenQ GP520 runs the Google TV smart TV system, and while this provides plenty of functionality for finding and streaming content, the hardware running it isn’t so capable. After making a selection or trying to access a menu, the OS will hang up for one or several seconds. For instance, trying to access the picture settings menu from the main menu, the delay was long enough for me to be convinced the system had glitched (it didn’t).

Around back, the GP520 offers up a pair of HDMI 2.1 ports (one with eARC), a 3.5mm audio output, two USB-A ports (one for service only), and a USB-C port. That last one is special, as it not only supports 20 watts of charging power for a connected device but also serves as a DisplayPort input.

The back of the projector also features a small vent for exhausting heat, and while plenty of heat comes out of the back, the fans are not very loud. On top, it has buttons for volume, Bluetooth pairing, and power. The sides of the projector are covered in large grills that allow air to flow in and sound to come out of the speakers. While the GP520 is compact, BenQ uses a large and heavy external power brick that could get in the way of a convenient and tidy setup.

The remote included with the GP520 is basic and feels a bit cheap, but it does the job. It has the typical Google TV layout with a circular navigation dial, a microphone button for voice controls, and quick buttons for home and back. Interestingly, it includes a zoom control to quickly shrink the image down and blow it back up, and also has a dedicated button to automatically adjust keystone and focus. Thankfully, the remote has a shortcut button to change inputs, making it much quicker to jump from the somewhat slow Google TV operating system to any other input without getting bogged down in unresponsive menus.

• Design & features score: 3.5/5

BenQ GP520 review: Picture & sound quality

• Crisp, bright 4K picture
• Color is a bit lacking
• No gaming features

The BenQ GP520 puts on a good show, beaming a picture with 2,600 lumens of brightness. In a well-lit room, you’ll want to stick with content like cartoons and TV, but if you can draw the curtains and dim your space, the GP520 is good for movies. Enemy of the State had great visuals and solid contrast on my 100-inch screen, even with light slipping through my blinds during the day. Black levels weren’t incredibly deep, but it still looked good.

Watched in these same conditions, a 4K Blu-ray of Dune looked excellent in the GP520’s HDR10 picture mode. The picture had sharp detail, and there was also detail in dark shadows, such as fabrics and the Harkonnen armor. Occasionally, the projector exhibited judder during panning and tilting shots, but it was very subtle. There’s also an Auto HDR picture mode, but this shifts to a cooler color temperature and introduces the soap opera effect along with other odd motion artifacts.

Elevated black levels seen on the GP520 can be a little distracting when it displays letterboxed movies or larger areas of black, but contrast is nonetheless quite good. The GP520 performed well in Paul’s duel with Jamis toward the end of Dune. I’ve seen other projectors struggle greatly with this fairly dark scene, but the GP520 presented it clearly and brought out plenty of detail, including in Jamis’ face.

The GP520 falls a bit short on color, though, with its LED light source only covering 81% of the DCI-P3 color space. That leaves plenty of room for improvement, but such improvement will generally come from more expensive triple laser projectors, like the JMGO N1S Pro or Hisense C2 Ultra. This won’t hold the GP520 back with some movies, such as the aforementioned Enemy of the State, but it loses a little punch with content that benefits from especially vibrant color, like Cyberpunk Edgerunners.

The speakers on the GP520 pack a punch for a system of this size. The balance is a little crisp, putting a lot into the mids and rolling off the bass. Sub-bass is absent, so you’ll miss some meat from movies, TV, and games.

While the projector can run games with a reasonably low latency, it can’t switch to 1080p display and bump up the frame rate like some of its competitors. Regardless of resolution, the refresh rate is capped at 60Hz.

• Picture and sound quality score: 3.5/5

BenQ GP520 review: Value

• Brighter than similar options
• Affordable price for a 4K projector
• All-in-one design enhances value

The BenQ GP520 may not be the best projector around, but it’s offering an excellent value. For one thing, it’s a complete package with integrated speakers and a streaming software that lets you power it up and start watching without any extra gear. It’s also offering solid performance for the money, with a picture that’s plenty bright, crisp, and with HDR10+ support. It could use a bit more color richness, a deeper black floor, and the option to increase refresh rate at lower resolutions, but for straightforward movie and TV watching, it’s quite good.

At $1,499, the BenQ GP520 sits in a proper place, steering clear of some of its more colorful triple-laser competition but offering better brightness compared to similarly priced projectors.

Should I buy the BenQ GP520?

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How I tested the BenQ GP520

• Tested at home in multiple, real-world viewing conditions
• Presented the display with a variety of media and formats
• I have tested numerous projectors and displays over the last half-decade

I tested the BenQ GP520 at home, in real-world conditions. This saw it faced with ambient light coming in from numerous windows, in-room lighting, as well as ambient noise that both the projector and speaker systems had to overcome. The projector was tested both against a bare, white wall and an Akia Screens CineWhite screen. It was presented with streamed content, HDR and non-HDR, and PC gameplay.

My testing evaluates the projector’s performance with respect to its price and competition from other models I and colleagues at TechRadar have tested.

I have been testing projectors since 2021 and displays for even longer.

For a more detailed explanation of how we test TVs at TechRadar, check out the link.