Viewsonic X10-4KE 4K LED Front Projector Review

Hollywood blockbuster movies are getting more and more grand. And so is the way we enjoy them. While we think 1080P HD looked great, the new 4k Ultra HD looks even better. And not only are the prices of 4k TV’s coming down, there are more ways to enjoy it affordable, thanks to pixel shifting. Now we can also find not only 4k projectors, but models designed to be portable as well. Up for review today is the Viewsonic X10-4KE.

 

Features and specs:

DISPLAY TYPE: DLP LED

RESOLUTION TYPE: 4K (3840x2160)

RESOLUTION: 3840 x 2160

BRIGHTNESS (LUMENS): 2,400 LED

DISPLAY SIZE (IN.): 30 - 200 in. / 0.7 – 5.1 m

THROW DISTANCE: 1.6 - 11.5 ft / 0.5 - 3.5 m

THROW RATIO: 0.8

KEYSTONE: Vertical (+/- 40°)

LENS: Fixed Zoom

LIGHT SOURCE (WATT): RGBB LED

LIGHT SOURCE LIFE, NORMAL (HOURS): 30000

COLOR DEPTH: 1.07B Color (R/G/B 10bit)

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9

VIDEO SIGNAL FREQUENCY HORIZONTAL: 30K~97KHz

FREQUENCY VERTICAL: 24~85Hz

COMPATIBILITY PC RESOLUTION (MAX): 3840 x 2160

MAC® RESOLUTION (MAX): 3840 x 2160

CONNECTOR:

USB 2.0 TYPE A: 1

USB 3.0 TYPE A: 1

USB 3.1 TYPE C: 1

CARD READER: Micro SD

ETHERNET LAN (RJ45): 1

SPDIF AUDIO OUT: 1

3.5MM AUDIO OUT: 1

3.5MM AUDIO IN: 1

HDMI 2.0 IN: 2

BLUETOOTH: Bluetooth 4.0

AUDIO

INTERNAL SPEAKERS: 8W (x2)

POWER

VOLTAGE: AC 100-240V (universal), 50-60Hz

CONSUMPTION (TYPICAL): 140W

STAND-BY: <0.5W

OPERATING CONDITIONS

TEMPERATURE: 32-104º F (0 - 40º C)

HUMIDITY (NON-CONDENSING): 0-90%

ADDITIONAL HARDWARE

KENSINGTON LOCK SLOT: 1

WEIGHT (IMPERIAL): NET (LBS): 9.0

GROSS (LBS): 14.3

WEIGHT (METRIC): NET (KG): 4.1

GROSS (KG): 6.5

DIMENSIONS (IMPERIAL) (WXHXD)

PACKAGING (IN.): 13.1 x 13.5 x 11.0

PHYSICAL (IN.): 10.3 x 10.7 x 6.5

DIMENSIONS (METRIC) (WXHXD)

PACKAGING (MM): 333.0 x 343.0 x 280.0

PHYSICAL (MM): 261.0 x 271.0 x 166.0

GENERAL

REGULATIONS: FCC, cTUVus, ROHS

PACKAGE CONTENTS

X10-4KE Projector, Power Cable, USB-C Cable, Remote Control, WiFi Dongle, Quick Start Guide

 

The Viewsonic X10-4KE came in a nice color printed box with photos and specs of the projector. Opening the box revealed a well protected projector held in place by custom molded foam. Materials used in the construction was mostly plastic with some metal. Quality of materials used, as was the fit and finish, was very good. And holding the projector in hand, it felt like a very well made projector. Also included was the manual, remote, batteries, wi-fi doggle, power cord, HDMI cable and USB-C cable.

 

I loved the design of the Viewsonic X10-4KE. The built in handle makes it really easy to move from room to room, or the back yard. But you still have to be able to get content to the projector. And the Viewsonic has you covered there as well, with its smart streaming functionality, and the included wi-fi doggle, getting content is simple. No HDMI cable is needed. Just take the projector to whichever room you want and plug it in. Then it’s just a matter of connecting the projector to your home wi-fi network. Then you can have access to a multitude of content, such as any of the streaming services. And with the built-in Harmon Kardon speakers, you’ll have great quality sound for your content.

   

The Viewsonic X10-4KE is also comfortable in a dedicated home theater environment. For ease of installation, the X10-4KE has all of the connection at the rear. The fans and speakers are built-in on the sides. The bottom has holes for a ceiling mount. The front houses just the lens, which uses a short throw auto focus and auto keystone system for ease of installation and allows for an image size of up to 200 inches from only 11.5 feet away. And thanks to the employment of the 2^nd generation DLP 4K UHD chip, you can enjoy 4K resolution, as well as HDR support.

 

Now for full disclosure, I wanted to provide some clarification. The Viewsonic X10-4KE claims to be a 4K projector. While it is a 4K projector, it is not a true native 4k. The DLP chip uses 4-way pixel shifting on a 1080P chip to display the 4K image. So while the image you see is not from a true 4K chip, the chip is able to display a 4K image. And the difference in image quality is supposed to be unnoticeable.  I’ll admit, that the image did look great with an increased resolution.  But since it does use pixel shifting, the photos we took with our digital camera do not do the image justice. So just keep that in mind when you see the attached photos.

   

The Viewsonic also has some other excellent features. It’s designed to work with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, making some of the controls super easy, such as power, volume and source switching, and more. Viewsonic has their VcastSender app, which turns your smartphone into a remote control, which is really cool! And of course, being Smart TV enabled to watch your Netflix, YouTube, and other streaming services, is also really cool!

 

The Viewsonic proved to be a great performer. You mount the projector, plug in the cords, and the projector does the rest. With its auto keystone, and auto focus, it makes sure you have the best picture possible. I was also impressed with the image. Colors were very dynamic and well saturated. Skin tones looked very natural. The overall image was also very bright. With a 4K image, resolution was also very good with great detail. Shadow detail and black levels were also good. Given its price point, most consumers would be very happy with the image provided. And for those more disconcerting consumers, there are internal settings to make adjustments to the picture for your liking.

   

The design also proved to be a bit of a double edge sword. The optical system has no zoom. What this means is you are stuck with its location if you have a set screen size that you want to fill. To fill the 100 inch screen in my theater room, there was only one spot for the projector, as far as distance from the screen. The Autofocus system made for a super easy installation, but it wasn’t perfect. It usually got the focus right, but there were times when the focus was a little soft. There were times when the focus was good at the bottom of the image, but a little soft at the top of the image. There was a manual focus in the internal settings, but it didn’t help much. Having said all that, it was still a minor effect, and the image was still pleasant to watch.

  

Having sufficiently passed the theater room test, it was time to test it in the family room, this is where the family really enjoyed it. We are streamers, and the family especially likes Netflix. Thanks to the smart home features, we were able to connect it to our home network through the included wi-fi doggle, throw the image on the white wall and listen through the built-in Bluetooth speakers.  The projector will display content thru the inputs on the back, mirroring from your phone thru Bluetooth, or thru wifi with the apps that you can install thru the Aptoide Store in the menus.  The wifi only seemed to work with the apps, but it does have the mirroring feature thru Bluetooth.

   

The Viewsonic X10-4KE impressed me more than I expected. It wasn’t perfect, but did what it was designed to do very well. And I especially enjoyed its portability with built-in handle, speaker, and wi-fi doggle! Backyard parties are now in 4K! Based on its design, features quality and performance, the Viewsonic X10-4KE has earned our Highly Recommended Award. For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.viewsonic.com.  Reference system included RBH SI-663R, SI-760R, SI-615, SI-1212, Onkyo TX-RZ920, Outlaw Audio 7000X, Emotiva BaseX-500, RBH SA-500DSP, Helios AS-P-603W, modified SVS 16-46 PC Plus, Sony UBP-X700.