REVIEW – We’ve reviewed a LOT of projectors here at The Gadgeteer, but I personally haven’t had the chance to try out a native 4K one yet (though I’ve tested some great 1080P models). The Paris Rhône 4K SP005 LCD Projector looked pretty similar to other one I just reviewed (the KJM K3 1080P projector) but with higher resolution and a lower max brightness, so I wanted to see if the tradeoff was worth it for a future home theater installation (spoiler alert – it is).
What is it?
The Paris Rhône 4K SP005 LCD Projector is a home projector capable of 4K resolution, 600 ANSI Lumens brightness, and some smart features like autofocus, auto keystone, and even auto-obstacle avoidance (shrinks the screen slightly if something is in the projection area to avoid it). Paris Rhône added decent 12W stereo speakers, and used Android TV 9.0 as the software of choice.
What’s in the box?
- Paris Rhône 4K LCD Projector SP005
- Remote control
- AC Power adapter
- HDMI cable
- User manual
Hardware specs
Click to view
- Resolution: 4K UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels)
- HDR: 10+
- Brightness: 600 ANSI Lumens
- Projection technology: LCD
- Speakers: 24W (12×2)
- Image size: 60-200″
- Automatic image adjustments: Autofocus, Auto Keystone Correction, Auto obstacle avoidance
- Contrast ratio: 1600:1
- Throw ratio: 1.37:1
- LED life: 40,000 hours
- Operating System: Android TV 9.0
- Connectivity: HDMI 2.1, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
Design and features
The Paris Rhône 4K SP005 LCD Projector is a well built slab of projector, with a decent weight to it and nice materials on the exterior (like fabric and brushed aluminum in addition to not-cheap-feeling-plastic). The front end has the lens (and a lens cap that was removed for the photos). There’s also a small webcam type camera that’s used in the autofocus/auto keystone processes.
The back of the unit has all the IO: power in, RJ45, two USB 2.0 type-A ports, two HDMI 2.1 ports, audio/headphones analog port, and USB-C.
Both sides look about the same, so I’ll just show one (above). Ventilation allows audio and air out.
The top of the projector has a single power button with an LED status light. Don’t lose the remote, as there are no other physical buttons on the projector.
The bottom of the projector has the air input with a replaceable filter, four rubber feet, and a small peg that pops out with a slider switch to add about 1/2″ of height adjustment. You’ll want a projector stand or mount, I had to get creative with boxes and books to position it properly for testing.
Finally, the remote feels nice. It has the basic functions you’d want from a remote, plus an auto-focus and manual focus trio of buttons above the audio buttons. The remote is Bluetooth (though I think it falls back to IR? – during testing I initially failed to connect it via Bluetooth and it only worked if pointed at the back of the projector for a while). Once connected via Bluetooth it worked great.
Setup
When you power on the Paris Rhône 4K SP005 LCD Projector, the projector immediately performs auto-focus/keystone steps then leads you through connecting the Bluetooth remote and then connection-to-WiFi.
These are all easy steps, and you’re to a home screen faster than most projectors I’ve used.
Most of the big names in streaming are already right on the main screen once you’ve passed the setup screens, and others can be downloaded and installed.
I was happy to see Netflix as an option, though it was a bit of a pain to actually get logged in – the interface seems like it’s built for touch controls rather than a remote. It took some trial and error to figure out how to get from one text box to another without triggering a login attempt before I’d filled in the password.
Performance
In the video above, I tested out 4K HDR animal footage in a room with minimal ambient light, then trailers and more test footage in a dark room. The last clip in the video above is playing off of a USB drive and is a 4K/60FPS test video, and it worked great. The clarity of the 4K resolution was a noticeable upgrade over the 1080P projectors I’ve previously tested out. Many of them have been great performers, but even at about 100 inches I could tell that it was a big jump in details in many scenes. The other thing that impressed me right away was the 60 frames per second handling (on videos that supported it, things were buttery smooth). Gaming via Xbox Series X at 4K on a big screen was a blast, and the speakers are good for built-in speakers, but if you’re installing this as a home theater projector you’ll want a dedicated beefier soundbar or sound system.
Fan noise is not whisper quiet as Paris Rhône advertises, but once a movie or show starts you won’t notice the fans at all unless the scene is very quiet. There’s no whine, just air, it sounds like a good laptop cooling system.
I like the inclusion of Bluetooth speaker mode, where you can use the projector as a speaker via Bluetooth. You can also cast your media or entire screen to the Paris Rhône 4K SP005 LCD Projector. I did some full screen mirroring, and it works but it’s a bit choppy (just like on every other TV/projector I’ve tried this with).
The last thing I want to mention is the brightness. We have a 1000+ nit 75″ TV in our TV room that is great for movies and shows, but even with daylight sunlight in windows to the side I have the brightness turned to 50% or lower (above that is eye-searing – there’s such a thing as too much brightness in some situations). I think the brightness on the Paris Rhône 4K SP005 LCD Projector is good for a dedicated theater room where you can darken any sun-facing windows. Any projector can suffer from ambient light issues, if there are room lights on then dark portions of the screen will look medium-grey instead of black. On very bright projectors, I’ve seen the high brightness in one part of the scene cause the whole room to get so bright that it then washes out the darker areas of the screen. This is all to say that I think the brightness chosen for this projector is actually very good for a home theater experience, you get a rich viewing experience as long as you can darken the room for optimum viewing conditions.
What I like
- Good brightness and sharp picture
- Actual 4K resolution instead of “4K capable” native 1080P like many other projectors
- Great for gaming with HDMI 2.1 supported – no perceptible lag for me
- Good sound
What I’d change
- Fans aren’t as quiet as you’d think from the advertising
- Poor navigations options in some apps
- Bright enough for fantastic dark room performance – but with ambient light it
Final thoughts
I am planning on a basement dedicated home theater space, and as of now, the Paris Rhône 4K SP005 LCD Projector is the top contender for installation when that happens. I’ll definitely use a device like an Apple TV for a better software experience, though the apps and general experience is fine on the projector. I’ll also set up a surround sound system, but if I had to always watch on these built-in speakers, I wouldn’t hate it. At the price, when reviewed, it seems like you’re getting a lot compared to similarly-priced units out there. I look forward to many movies and much gaming in the future on the Paris Rhône 4K SP005 LCD Projector!
Price: $699.00
Where to buy: Paris Rhône and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Paris Rhône
