BenQ Living Room Projectors GP520

The BenQ GP520 4K LED projector nails picture quality and effortless setup with auto keystone and vivid colors. However, its sluggish Google TV interface and flimsy remote hold it back from being a flawless living room centerpiece. If you spot one at a good price and don't mind a little lag in menus, it's a fantastic big-screen buy.

Picture quality is where the GP520 absolutely shines. In our testing, it lands in the 96th percentile—top of the charts. The 4K LED engine paired with 2600 lumens means you can actually watch in a room with some ambient light without the image washing out. Auto Cinema Mode does a solid job adjusting colors and brightness on the fly, so you don't have to fiddle with settings every time you turn it on. HDR performance is also a standout at the 90th percentile; HDR10+ content looks punchy without crushing shadows. For movie nights, it's a treat.

Gaming and audio are more middle-of-the-road. The built-in 24W speakers (two 12W drivers) are clear and get loud enough for casual use, but they sit at the 60th percentile—decent, not immersive. If you care about deep bass or surround, you'll want to hook up a soundbar via eARC. For gamers, there's ALLM and a Game Mode, but our data puts it at the 57th percentile. So it's fine for casual gaming, but competitive shooters will feel the lag. The silent operation, though, is a real plus—no distracting fan whir to pull you out of the action.

Most people looking at the GP520 are also considering mid-range to high-end 65-inch TVs like the Sony BRAVIA 3 II XR65X90L, Hisense U7 Series 65U75QG, or Samsung QN85D. Those TVs compete directly on price, but not on screen size. The BenQ can easily fill a 120-inch wall, which no TV at this budget can touch. Picture quality on the GP520 is genuinely better in dark-room cinema scenarios, but the TVs win on smart platform speed, gaming responsiveness, and built-in sound.

The Samsung QN85D, for example, has a vibrant Neo QLED panel that laughs at bright rooms and a snappy Tizen OS. The Sony X90L offers better motion handling and a rich Google TV experience that isn't sluggish. If you're just streaming Netflix and want a huge screen for movie night, the GP520 makes a compelling case. But if you play a lot of games or need a daily driver TV that works flawlessly every time, one of those sets is a safer bet.

The BenQ GP520 doesn't have a single official price, which is both a blessing and a curse. Across different vendors, you'll see it listed between $250 and a shocking $1,787. If you can snag one near the lower end, it's an absolute steal—especially from Amazon, where free delivery and a 3-year warranty sweeten the deal. At $500 or less, you're getting flagship-level picture quality for a fraction of what a comparable TV costs. But at the high end, you're better off putting that money toward a premium 65-inch TV like the Sony X90L or Samsung QN85D, which will give you a brighter, more consistent picture and a vastly better smart TV experience. Our advice: shop around, wait for a sale, and don't pay anything close to that top number.

If you've been hunting for a living room projector that doesn't cost a fortune but still delivers crisp 4K, the BenQ GP520 probably caught your eye. It's a 4K LED projector built around 2600 lumens, HDR10+, and Google TV, all packaged in a design that tries to make setup painless. From auto keystone to automatic color tuning, BenQ wants you to plop it down and start watching. And for a lot of folks, that's exactly what happens. The picture quality sits in the 96th percentile of our projector database, meaning it's one of the best we've seen for the money—vibrant colors, solid brightness for a living room, and genuinely sharp detail on screens up to 180 inches.

But projectors like this live and die on more than just a pretty image. The smart platform has to be fast, the audio decent, and the connectivity up to snuff. Here, the GP520 stumbles a bit. Google TV is built-in, but it's sluggish, and the remote feels cheap. Connectivity sits in the 39th percentile, so you're not getting the most robust port selection. And though the price isn't officially set by BenQ, across vendors you'll see it anywhere from $250 to over $1,700—a wild spread that means you need to shop smart. For the right price, this thing is a home theater gem. For the wrong one, you'd be better off with a high-quality TV.

We spent time digging into its real-world performance, user feedback, and how it stacks up against big-screen alternatives like the Sony X90L and Samsung QN85D. Here's what we found.

Skip the GP520 if you're easily frustrated by slow smart TV interfaces or a mushy remote—the Google TV experience here might drive you nuts. Hardcore gamers who need instant response should look at a dedicated gaming TV like the LG QNED 86QNED82AUA for lower input lag. If you need a projector you can easily move from room to room, the 2.5kg weight and lack of built-in battery make it a hassle (portable score sits at just 38.6 in our tests). And if you live in a very bright space without light control, a bright QLED TV will serve you better than any projector.

The BenQ GP520 is an excellent living room projector—for the right person. If you're chasing a massive, cinema-like picture without the bulk or cost of a 100-inch TV, it delivers where it counts. The 4K image is crisp, colors are vibrant, and setup is so simple you'll be watching in minutes. But that experience is dragged down by a frustratingly sluggish Google TV interface and a remote that feels like an afterthought. It's not a dealbreaker, but it's a daily annoyance you'll notice.

Should you buy it? Yes, if you can find it at a reasonable price (think $500-ish) and you value big-screen immersion over polish. If you want a seamless living room hub or plan to game seriously, a high-performance TV will treat you better. The GP520 is a picture quality champ that needs a little patience for its smart features.