BenQ W5850

Can a new lens promote BenQ's latest 4K projector from bridesmaid to bride?

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While it might not look like it, the BenQ W5850 projector is a rather unusual beast. Look closer and you'll find it features a shorter-throw lens than you might expect, making it possible to get a bigger image in a smaller room - even, potentially, from a coffee table.

The BenQ W5850 is priced at £4599, and this is a very competitive area of the projector market, over which the Sony VPL-XW5000ES looms large. Sony's four-time What Hi-Fi? Award-winner is officially £5999 but it can currently be bought for the same (or even less) money than the BenQ W5850. The Epson EH-QB1000 is seriously worth considering, too, for a roughly similar £4799.

The BenQ is a large projector. At 53cm, it is quite a lot wider than its Sony rival (46cm), but it's also slimmer and much less deep. The dimensions and swoopy lines of the chassis make it look svelte and elegant, and, from a distance at least, the gold ring around the lens cavity is a classy touch.

The projector arrives with the lens packaged separately. You need to line it up, insert it gently, and twist to click it into place. Some people might be put off by such things, but if you're a nerd about home cinema, there's something lovely and tactile about this little touch.

Equally pleasing is the gold-embossed envelope found nestled at the top of the projector's packaging. It contains the 'Individual Calibration Report'. This features graphs and measurements of the specific projector you have bought, done in the factory after manual calibration by a BenQ technician.