BenQ GP520 Review

Price

The GP520 sits atop BenQ’s LED lifestyle‑cinema range, positioned between its portable projectors and high‑performance home‑cinema/gaming models.

It’s the top ranking GP offering (above the GP100, and a replacement for the GP500), and comes with a price tag of £999. The US ticket is comparable, at $999. Australian buyers will be forking out  $1,999 AUD, give or take.

Design

• Compact, but with a large external power brick
• Dark-grey finish

It’s probably fair to describe the GP520 as utilitarian rather than fancy. The dark grey, cube-like chassis offers little in the way of decoration. It’s compact enough to easily move between rooms, although the substantial external power brick required does limit true portability.

The unit feels well-built and solid, intake vents to the side, with an exhaust to the rear. A row of physical control buttons up top allow basic operation without the remote control. BenQ offers an optional £99 stand, with full metal base and anti-slip pads, for those without a suitable table, shelf or cabinet.

The supplied remote zapper has fast track buttons for Netflix, YouTube and Prime Video, as well as a built-in microphone.

Features

• 4LED light engine
• Google TV Smart OS
• Autofocus and Auto 2D Keystone Correction

Feature-wise there’s plenty going on. BenQ’s GP range is engineered around convenience and auto optimisation, so to help set things up, there’s Wall Colour Correction (should you not have a pristine white wall at your disposal), and Screen Fit and Obstacle Avoidance (able to identify physical interruptions, like light switches).

The projector also has knife-sharp Autofocus and Auto 2D Keystone Correction, fixing geometry when you’re forced to project from a severe angle. All of these embellishments make life just that little bit less fiddly. Just one press on the appropriate remote button and everything snaps into focus.

While many compact projectors these days pack a laser light engine, the GP520 takes a different tack, utilising a 4LED engine – Red, Green and Blue LEDs plus an additional Boost blue LED to bump up brightness. Lifespan is said to be up to 30,000 hours, in Eco mode.

BenQ quotes 98.7 per cent of REC709 coverage, courtesy of its CinematicColor calibration system. Motion handling comes via MEMC compensation, while an Auto Cinema Mode relies on an integrated ambient light sensor and proprietary software, to make real-time adjustments to brightness and image characteristics.

Depending on your viewing situation, the GP520 juggles white levels and luminance for optimum image quality.

The inclusion of HDR-PRO compatibility, an umbrella which covers HDR10+, HDR10 and HLG formats, is a sop to movie enthusiasts. While projectors seldom replicate the peak brightness and contrast of HDR-capable TVs, the GP520 at least manages HDR material respectfully, avoiding unnatural brightness spikes or crushed shadow detail. There’s no support onboard for Dolby Vision, though.

Finally, but crucially, the integration of Google TV confirms the GP520 as a competent entertainment hub. There’s Google Cast and Apple AirPlay for casting, along with a cupboard of popular streaming services. Notable by its absence though is BBC iPlayer.

Operating noise is subjectively low. Quoted at 28–30dB, I found the projector doesn’t draw undue attention to itself.

Connectivity

Connectivity comprises two HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which includes eARC, allowing users to return audio to an AV receiver or soundbar.

Gamers get support for 4K content up to 60 Hz, or 1080p at 120 Hz. The provision of Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and a quoted input lag of 17.9ms in Game Boost mode should keep most console owners in the game.

There’s also a couple of USB-A ports, one reserved for firmware updates, the other supporting media playback from attached storage devices, while USB-C is a welcome addition for those looking to connect laptops, tablets or perhaps a Nintendo Switch.

Finally, there’s a 3.5 mm analogue output. When it comes to wireless, there’s support for Wi-Fi 6, Apple AirPlay for iOS owners and Google Cast for Android devices, while Bluetooth 5.2 allows pairing with headphones and Bluetooth-enabled speakers.

Picture Quality

• Single chip DLP
• 2600 ANSI Lumens peak brightness

Either I’m getting easier to please or sub £1k projectors are getting inexorably better where it counts most. In short, the GP520 is a bit of a knockout. As a single-chip DLP projector, its image clarity is excellent. Pictures are sharp, clean and convincingly detailed.

The GP520 isn’t a native 4K projector, but UHD resolution, as delivered via DLP XPR pixel-shifting, delivers a dense image that looks crisp across both large close-ups and wide landscapes.

Brightness is another major strength. Rated at 2600 ANSI lumens, the GP520 can comfortably push image sizes beyond 100-inches without sacrificing dynamic snap; it’s also bright enough to use in rooms with moderate ambient light.

Sports in daylight conditions remain perfectly watchable, even if colour depth and contrast benefit from darker environments.

Colour fidelity is strong. Reds avoid drifts into orange, and the overall colour balance feels natural rather than exaggerated. Running through The Midnight Sky (Netflix), the projector transitions smoothly from bleak, grey-white Arctic landscapes to vivid, multi-coloured alien environments, maintaining tonal consistency and visual coherence.

Black levels are inevitably limited, as with most projectors in this category. Letterbox bars appear grey rather than truly black, but shadow detail is well preserved and contrast remains punchy.

Ultimately, you’re trading deep OLED-style blacks for scale and impact – and I can live with the trade.

Characteristic DLP rainbow artefacts are present at a low level, but not intrusive. I’m quite sensitive to them, and they didn’t significantly distract from the image.

The GP520 has a 1.2× zoom lens with a throw ratio of 1.21–1.56:1. For an 80-inch image you’ll need around 2.1 – 2.8 m. For a 100-inch picture, you’re going to require around 3m to 3.4m.

Sound Quality

• 2 x 12W stereo speaker
• Bluetooth

Onboard sound may not be immersive cinema audio, but it’s not an afterthought either. The built-in 12W x 2 speakers are better than I expected.

This BenQ’s sound system comfortably masks the projector’s fan noise, and for occasional big-screen sessions, works as a genuinely usable all-in-one solution.

Dialogue clarity is good, dynamics are respectable, and there’s enough mid-bass weight to avoid the thin, hollow sound common to many compact rivals..

Obviously, for any permanent installation, it’s worth gilding the lily. External audio via HDMI eARC or Bluetooth is still the right long term move. I paired my JBL Tour One over-ear headphones to the projector for private listening (which also completely eliminates operating noise), without issue. That said, the onboard sound system is more capable than most.

Should you buy it?