BenQ HT2060 LED 1080P Projector Review

The BenQ HT2060, like most of BenQ's 2023 line of projectors, offers slightly more defined edges with less curvature than the older models. The HT2060 is a two-toned, mostly matte white projector with a champagne semi-gloss front panel. I love the color scheme BenQ chose to use on this projector. It looks great in my living room.

The BenQ HT2060 measures (WxHxD) 14.4 x 9.6 x 4.6 inches (366 x 244 x 118 mm) and weighs 7.9 lbs. (3.6 Kg).

Except for the more defined edges of the chassis shape, this projector shares an overall design similar to other BenQ home projectors we've seen in recent years. The lens, an ambient light sensor, and ventilation are on the projector's front panel. The right and left sides of the projector have more ventilation, and the rear is where all the inputs and connections are located.

The projector's control panel is easily accessible on the top rear of the projector. From this control panel, users can adjust settings, control all the projector's menu-based functions, and even power the projector on and off. The location and design of the control panel make it easy to operate the projector without the remote control and, if necessary, even when mounted on the ceiling.

The HT2060 provides manual vertical lens shift, zoom, and focus capabilities. These allow users to fine-tune the position of the projected image without physically moving the entire projector. This flexibility makes setting up the projector according to different room configurations or mounting preferences convenient.

The HT2060 ventilation design helps keep the projector from overheating during extended use. Additionally, the HT2060 incorporates noise control mechanisms, ensuring minimal fan noise and minimizing distractions during your viewing sessions.

The HT2060 does not come with a HDMI media stick but will support all current external media devices. BenQ has removed the projector's onboard media player feature, so the projector will not recognize media on any USB drives, which is unfortunate.

The HT2060 offers a wide array of connectivity, including multiple HDMI ports and USB ports (for power and service only), mini jack audio-in and audio-out to connect devices like gaming consoles, Blu-ray players, and sound systems. This versatility allows for the seamless integration of different multimedia components.

The BenQ HT2060 remote control is well laid out and backlit. The top section has power controls and feature shortcut buttons.

The next bank of buttons is focused on navigation: Back, Menu, Auto, Mute, Light (for the backlight function), and Blank. Then, there is a 1-9 plus 0 numeric pad for entering numbers in the network settings or when setting the remote-control ID. On either side of the 0 buttons are the All button (left) and ID Set (right).

The final section of the BenQ HT2060's remote control contains six buttons. Zoom + and Zoom – are paired together, with Zoom + on the top and Zoom – on the bottom. It is the same setup for Page + and Page – with Page + on top and Page – on the bottom. The final two buttons, stacked on each other, are 3D and Freeze. Overall, that backlight made the remote control easy to use.

BenQ projectors have menus that are easy-to-use and understand. The menus are organized in a way that makes sense, so you can find what you're looking for without any trouble. Navigating through the menus is straightforward. You can customize the projector settings to your liking, whether adjusting the brightness, color, or other aspects. The menus offer quick access to important functions, so you can easily switch inputs or change the picture mode. With BenQ projectors, the menus are designed to be user-friendly and make getting the best performance from your projector a breeze.

Like other BenQ projectors of its class, this unit works on two different menu interfaces. The first is the BenQ basic menu, allowing users to control the most common projector features. The second is the advanced menu, allowing full access to every feature and adjustment the projector has to offer.

The menu is typical BenQ; it is easy to navigate with a sensible layout. My only real complaint is that the menu speed could be faster. There is a noticeable delay between pressing a button on the remote and the corresponding menu response, which is unfortunately common for BenQ projectors, especially in this price range.

BenQ has loaded the HT2060 with a ton of technology designed to improve the projector's picture quality manually and automatically. For example, the company has included a feature called LumiExpert that, when activated, allows the HT2060 to detect a room's ambient light conditions and then automatically adjust the projector's gamma offset to create a balance between a room's ambient lighting and the projector's light output. This technology is not new.

In the nineties, when I was starting my tech career, Sony had a feature called a luminous sensor in their televisions that did something similar, just not as well. Fast forward to today, sensors are more sensitive, processors are more powerful, and these smart displays can take action quicker and with a wider range of adjustment. The result is a feature that works remarkably well. The automatic adjustments are subtle but effective.

The HT2060 is fully configurable with all the controls and adjustments typically found on a BenQ home entertainment projector, including detailed adjustments for calibration. Projector Reviews highly recommends a professional calibration to get the best performance from any projector. Calibrating the projector ensures users get the best performance possible for their screen and environment. Professional calibration opens access to the projector's ISF modes. If professional calibration is within your budget, do it by all means.

BenQ has included five SDR preset picture modes, including a single USER mode. The HT2060 also features two HDR modes. I'll go into these in more detail in the brightness section below.

I also noticed mild banding on bright content, which disappeared as the projector ran for a few minutes.

Out-of-the-box, this projector is excellent, presenting a warmly saturated image on the screen. BenQ understands that total control of a room's lighting is not always possible. One of the big advantages of BenQ's new 4LED light source is that it works incredibly well in spaces with a moderate amount of uncontrolled ambient light. The HT2060 is not a lights-on viewing projector, but its inherent color saturation means it will maintain decent color saturation in situations where total light control can't be achieved. Lights-on viewing can be achieved by adding a high-gain screen to your home theater system.

The video quality of the BenQ HT2060 is already good right out-of-the-box. However, it's easy to take the image to the next level with simple adjustments using the projector's SDR and HDR preset picture modes, light source adjustments, and CMS (Color Management System). For instance, I switched the light source mode from SMARTECO to NORMAL. I experimented with different picture modes like FILMMAKER and USER to adjust the picture to my specific requirements and viewing environment.

The HT2060 offers various adjustments within the projector's advanced color settings menu. Users can adjust gamma, color temperature tuning, and HDR brightness settings. The projector offers an extensive color management system to change the image further. These comprehensive color adjustments, including detailed white balance control, make it easier for users to tune the projector according to their preferences for a more satisfying viewing experience.

Above are screenshots of a variety of SDR videos and movies. Like all our photos, they are not adjusted for color, so they do not look as good as what the projector produced. Since most live broadcast content and TV shows will continue to be produced in HD for years, most broadcast content will look excellent on the HT2060's native full-HD display. The HT2060 did a superb job upscaling 720p to 1080p. I even threw a DVD at it, and the picture looked decent on my 100-inch screen. 

While the HT2060 is a 1080P projector, it can accept 4K signals up to 60 frames per second. 4K 60 Hz content is detected and down-rezed to 1080p 60 Hz. The HT2060 is not the sharpest 1080p projector I have reviewed, even from BenQ. Depending on the content or shooting on a screen larger than 120 inches, I found the images the projector produced to be softer than I prefer, which surprised me considering this projector's 0.65-inch DMD.

BenQ has included a FAST mode, which minimizes the response time between the input source and the displayed image. Fast mode is only enabled for game content below input timing adopted by most popular games and will allow the projector to display content at 1080p 60 Hz and 1080p 120 Hz. 

The skin tones on the BenQ HT2060 appeared warm but natural, making this projector stand out in its price range and, honestly, slightly above. The HT2060 is not the brightest projector available at $1,000. Still, the projector's overall color performance and BenQ's inclusion of the company's comprehensive calibration tools, allowing users to adjust color performance to their tastes, put this projector at the top of my recommendation list.

Despite my feelings about the projector's out-of-the-box color saturation, the projector has a great-looking picture, especially considering the price point of $999, which is an incredible value for everything BenQ provides.

The HT2060 is the follow-up to BenQ's highly successful and long-lived (over five years on the market) HT2050A. The HT2060 projector has big shoes to fill, and I'm happy to report it does an excellent job. The HT2060 keeps all the best features of the HT2050A, from brightness, DMD size, and weight, to name a few, and builds on them by offering a brand new 4LED light source to replace the previous model lamp. The addition of the 4LED light source offers several significant advancements.

LED projectors offer many benefits over traditional lamp-based ones, both in viewing experience and operating ease. The LEDs don't need to warm up after turning on or to cool down when switched off. This minimizes the time you must wait for the projector to start. With instant power on, your device is always ready to use.

LEDs start up quicker and greener, requiring less power to operate, which results in significant energy savings compared to their lamp-based counterparts. Specifically, the new BenQ HT2060 has a typical power consumption of 220 watts compared to the older HT2050A, which had an average power consumption of 353 watts. And since they have a lifespan of 30,000 hours (corresponding to a use of 4 hours per day for over 20 years), projectors like the HT2060 require much less maintenance over the projector's life. Also, LED-powered projectors create less pollution than traditional lamp-based projectors' toxic mercury lamps.

LED projectors don't need to be equipped with powerful, noisy fans because they produce less heat, making them quieter and with more internal space, resulting in smaller, more portable devices. The HT2060 is incredibly light, weighing less than eight pounds. The lighter weight makes this projector easy to install or transport. The HT2060 is so lightweight and compact that it can easily fit into a backpack, leaving room for a PC and gaming console.

Most importantly, LED projectors like the HT2060 provide an enhanced viewing experience. They produce a higher perceived brightness thanks to the 4LED system's higher color saturation. This increased color saturation creates a picture with a wider color gamut for more vibrant and colorful images. This improved color gamut is a massive advantage, especially if you're a movie enthusiast or enjoy big-screen gaming.

Compared to a traditional 3LED light engine, this BenQ 4LED adds a blue LED that boosts the projector's overall brightness, similar to how some laser-based light sources work by adding a blue laser diode to improve picture quality. However, there are some big differences. This new 4LED system does not introduce any specular artifacts that can often be found in RGB or dual blue laser light sources. The HT2060's engine uses no color wheels, so it is smaller, which reduces the overall size and weight of this new projector. LEDs run much cooler than lamps or laser-based projectors, so the HT2060 runs cooler and quieter than they do.

The BenQ HT2060 factory calibration looks quite good out of the box. I'm not claiming it is perfectly calibrated, but it is so good that most users will square the projector, focus it, and be done with it. Once I got the projector set up and running, I expected the HT2060 to offer similar color performance to the company's X1300i Full HD or the GP500 4K projectors, as both devices use 4LED light sources, but I think colors appear more statured than other BenQ LED projectors I've reviewed.

Before reviewing this projector, I had the BenQ LH820ST, a Full HD projector designed for the simulator market. This model had a GOLF mode that increased color saturation and was intended to boost colors in golf simulations and environments with varied ambient lighting. I'm not saying the color profiles of both projectors are the same, but with their increased color saturation, they have more in common than the GP500 or X1300i I've reviewed.

The HT2060 delivered sharp and detailed images without any issues. As mentioned, the HT2060 uses a Texas Instruments 0.65-inch DMD DLP chipset to achieve its full HD (1,920 x 1,080p) display resolution. The HT2060 is also Full HD 3D-ready, allowing you to enjoy 3D movies, videos, sporting events, and games with enhanced depth when wearing compatible 3D glasses.

The BenQ SMARTECO mode automatically adjusts lamp brightness based on projected content. This mode enhances brightness and contrast, which improves the HT2060's black-level performance.

Even though BenQ is marketing the HT2060 as a home theater projector, this projector is great for on-the-go gaming or backyard movie nights on a screen up to 150 inches in size.

Overall, I was impressed with the BenQ HT2060 projector. It delivers a bright picture with slightly oversaturated but still accurate colors that are out-of-the-box. This projector is an excellent choice for a first big-screen home theater. BenQ makes excellent use of the larger 0.65-inch DLP chip combined with the latest 4LED light engine, providing black levels you don't see on other projectors in this class. BenQ has even added support for HDR, supporting HDR10 and HLG content.

Overall, the BenQ HT2060 delivers impressive video quality and features far above its class and selling price.