BenQ and ViewSonic are two of the best multinational companies dedicated to manufacturing innovative electronic products. Their rivalry across monitors and projectors is well known.
Both brands produce value-for-money products catering to general audience. Hence, many of their products clash at similar price point, which confuses buyers like you.
Gaming projectors are an upcoming rage, and both brands offer gaming projectors at budget price point. Hence, it’s time to address the elephant in the room and decide for once, who’s better?
In this article, we’ve compared ViewSonic PX706HD vs BenQ HT2150ST gaming projectors. This comparison takes into consideration the design, build quality and performance, including special features of both the projectors.
Later, you’ll know, which projector is the best between the two and which one should you consider.
Are you ready?
Let’s get started!
ViewSonic PX706HD vs BenQ HT2150ST
- SUPERSIZED MOVIES AND GAMES: Immersive theater-like experience in Full HD (1920x1080p) on a screen up to 300-inches
- CINEMATIC COLORS: Exclusive Color technology offers a wide color gamut for beautiful image production in nearly any environment
- SHORT THROW: With a short throw lens, this projector can be placed just inches away from a wall or screen to give you a huge image
- REDUCED INPUT LATENCY and Gaming Mode: Ideal for intense action-packed gaming, this projector delivers smooth images without delay
- LONG LAMP LIFE: Eco Mode allows the lamp to shine bright for up to 15,000 hours
- POWERFUL VERSATILITY: TV projector integrates seamlessly with Roku, Fire TV stick and ChromeCast for effortless programming for education, entertainment or business environments
- FLEXIBLE CONNECTIVITY: Supports most media players, gaming consoles, PCs, Macs, and mobile devices with input options such as HDMI, USB Type-C, and more
- INCLUDED IN THE BOX: PX706HD Projector, Power Cable, VGA Cable, and Remote Control
- UNPARALLELED PICTURE QUALITY:: Native 1080p Full HD image quality with 2200 ANSI Lumens, 15, 000:1 contrast ratio, 6x RGBRGB color wheel delivers rich colors and crisp details that are calibrated for movies and gaming.
- VIDEO GAMES ON THE BIG SCREEN: superior short throw projection enables you to project 100 inch screen from just 3 Feet letting you fully immerse into your games. Project up to 300 inches
- LOW INPUT LAG: The specialized low input lag and unique game modes ensure gamers an ultra-smooth and comprehensive gaming experience
- INDUSTRY LEADING WARRANTY : 3-year limited parts and labor coverage makes you rest easy that our us-based customer service team is here when you need it
- AWARD WINNING PROJECTOR - Best Overall - Best Projectors for Gaming 2019 - IGN
- FLEXIBLE INSTALLATION: Vertical keystone correction and a 1. 2x zoom allows easy installation
- DLP TECHNOLOGY: DLP is the leading technology used in 90% of the world’s cinemas and 100% of digital IMAX theaters. You will experience a longer lasting, slimmer design, sharper and crisper image in BenQ projector
First Impression & Design
Let’s start with the ViewSonic PX706HD and its design. Its box-type design looks typical, but compact enough to fit any small space.
Considering it’s marketed towards gamers, the projector design should have been better! Having said that, the basic design helps keep the price down making it accessible to most people.
It fits pretty well within the dimensions 4.5 x 11.5 x 8.7 inches in height, width and depth. The outer casing is mostly made out of plastic, yet the projector does has a sturdy design!
On the other hand, the BenQ HT2150ST looks stunning aesthetically! However, it is not as compact as the PX706HD. The BenQ HT2150ST measures 4.8 inches high, 15 inches wide and 11 inches deep. Hence, you’ll need additional space to accommodate this projector.
It comes in a trapezoidal shape with a lot of curves making it look astounding! We were further impressed that it comes with a carry case which improves portability.
Like us, you might not like Viewsonic PX706HD design standards, but the projection quality is a totally different game! You can quickly tell it is one of the brightest projectors in class within the first go. Due to the high brightness you can play most games either during day and night.
👉 Also Read: A 2-minute guide about connecting Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch to projector
That’s precisely why the ability to project bright yet vibrant images plays a vital role in any gaming projector. The PX706HD uses a 240W lamp to attain this feat. In fact, it claims to project the images at the capacity of 3,000 lumens.
The BenQ HT2150ST also comes with an equally powerful 240W lamp for its primary power source. However, it can only throw images at 2,200 ANSI lumens. This makes it a lot less bright than its counterpart. Although, the BenQ HT2150ST is targeted towards home theater usage; hence the low brightness makes the picture quality vibrant and not washed out.
👉 Also Read: Epson Home Cinema 3200 vs 4010: Home Theater projector comparison
Another promising feature of PX706HD is its capability for short-throw projection. In fact, the throw distance range for this projector lies within 3.0 – 7.2 ft. At this range, you get images varying in size 60 – 120 inches! Gaming is usually conducted in compact spaces.
Therefore, a projector that can cast bright and color-accurate images from a shorter distance becomes vital!
BenQ HT2150ST, on the other hand, comes with a throw ratio of 0.69 – 0.83. Simply putting, it requires a minimum distance of 8ft to project a clear image of 100 inches, while the PX706HD does it in 4.5ft. In short, we liked the Viewsonic PX706HD more in this matter.
However, BenQ HT2150ST does prevail in terms of audio quality nonetheless. It comes equipped with 2x 10W chamber speakers that provide excellent stereo sound! PX706HD, on the other hand, merely comes with a 5W mono speaker.
Although, to get an improved audio experience, I’d suggest getting a dedicated external speaker system. It will offer better stereo separation and you can place the speakers at your preferred position.
Built Quality & Performance
In the weight department, the Viewsonic PX706HD weighs less than 6 pounds, whereas the BenQ HT2150ST weighs close to 8 pounds. The compact design of PX706HD helps keeps it weight down.
The BenQ projector primarily weighs more due to the larger speaker it holds. We adore the sound it’s capable of producing, but the additional weight can be a troublemaker for few. Although, we want a compact and all-in-one projector, you should consider the Wemax Dice or the LG PF50KA.
The top-mounted key panel on the BenQ HT2150ST consists of the standard navigation keys, power button, source selection key, and the menu button. Still, ViewSonic PX706HD comes forward a bit more interactively for this part.
Its top-mounted key panel includes a power button, navigation keys, source selection key, and the menu key. On top of that, it even has a blank-key and a color mode selection key.
This makes the PX706HD a lot easier to control, even without the compatible remote device. That being said, we really liked how HT2150ST has a movable cover on top of the lens adjustment area. This prevents the area from forming clots from unwanted litters.
The back panel of both projectors holds the respective connectivity interfaces. HT2150ST comes with one D-sub pin, one USB mini port, one RS232 DB-9pin port, and a 3.5mm 12 v DC trigger.
It also has a 3.5m Audio in and a 3.5mm Audio out port! The two IR receivers can be located in the front and top of the casing, respectively.
The ViewSonic PX706HD, on the other hand, has a VGA in, one USB Type-C port, one USB mini, one RS232, and 2 HDMI ports. It also has one 3.5mm Audio in and a 3.5mm Audio out jack.
It uses an AC in port for power consumption, unlike its counterpart. It outsmarts HT2150ST in terms of connectivity. That being said, its only IR sensor can be noticed in the front panel.
While both projectors don’t have wireless connectivity or smart TV-like features. You can connect them with streaming media players like Amazon Fire TV Stick and Chromecast and access Netflix, Prime Video and other internet services.
👉 Also Read: How to connect Firestick to projector
Both projectors come with a 240W DLP projection system and a default projection aspect ratio of 16:9. They even have an equivalent zoom capacity of up to 1.2x.
Nevertheless, ViewSonic PX706HD proves to be way more efficient in enhancing lamp life. It only comes with two modes to choose from, i.e., Normal and Eco-Mode. The former exhausts the lamp after use of 4,000 hours. However, the latter can be trusted to prolong the lamp life up to 15,000 hours.
On the other hand, HT2150ST three distinct lamp modes with a lamp life capacity of 3,500, 5,000, and 7,000 hours respectively, depending on various modes. Hence, if lamp life is a concern, then you should consider the Viewsonic PX706HD.
Having said that, if you’re looking for a long-lasting projector, you should check our 4000 lumens projector guide. The #1 projector, i.e., the Optoma HZ39HDR offers a whopping 30,000 hours lamp life.
Important Features & Functions
You’d love BenQ HT2150ST if you prefer a feature-rich gadget. In fact, it straight-forward dominates the ViewSonic PX706HD in this regard.
To begin with, it comes with a wide range of projection compatibility. In fact, it has three distinct compatibility modes to offer. The HDTV mode is compatible across 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p.
We then have the fundamental yet mandatory Video mode. This one is compatible with NTSC, PAL, SECAM, SDTV (480i/576i), EDTV (480p/576p), and HDTV (720p, 1080i/p 60Hz).
It even has a 3D compatibility mode for the immersive gaming experience.
To top that off, this projector comes with ISF Night/Day selection option. This specific feature enables the projector to adjust its projections by the surrounding conditions.
This especially comes in handy while gaming during day time! This feature is further complemented by Cinema Master Audio+ functionality. This enables BenQ HT2150ST to take complete control of its inbuilt stereo speakers.
Thus, you get to experience the best audio-visual gaming experience that can only be found in projectors that cost a fortune.
That being said, you cannot expect BenQ HT2150ST to project the most color perfect images. That’s because it only uses a dynamic contrast range of 15,000:1. Furthermore, it also uses lesser lumens (2,200 lumens) to project the images. Thus, the resulting images are not as bright as you’d expect from a gaming projector. This can be a problem if you prefer gaming in the daytime and areas with ambient light.
At the same time, ViewSonic PX706HD [check full review] performs a lot better with its default dynamic contrast ratio of 22,000:1. It not only enhances the images with better color accuracy but projects brighter images using 3,000 lumens.
Having said all of that, we must acknowledge that both projectors are capable of full HD projection at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.
Both projectors come with effective fans to keep them cool during projections. This establishes that you need to be prepared for some fan noise in both. ViewSonic PX706HD produces this humming noise in Normal as well as Eco mode, which could be annoying at times.
Even the inbuilt 5W speaker pathetically fails to deal with the noise. Whereas, BenQ HT2150ST produces this noise at about 29 dB. However, its dual 10W speakers subsequently and effectively diminish this noise every time!
Viewsonic PX706HD vs BenQ HT2150ST: Pros & Cons
Pros & Cons of BenQ HT2150ST
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Cons
Pros & Cons of ViewSonic PX706HD
Pros
Cons
Conclusion
While the ViewSonic PX706HD packs in a lot of power and some exciting functionalities within a compact casing, at the same time, BenQ HT2150ST holds the key to providing one of the best in-projector audio experiences.
The former requires less space to set up and project. However, the latter comes with a lot more features.
If you’re a fan of immersive audio experience, we’d suggest you go with BenQ HT2150ST. However, we believe that ViewSonic PX706HD packs a lot more punch than its counterpart considering the projection quality.
To conclude, if you’re looking for a home theater projector, I’d suggest getting the BenQ HT2150ST. Whereas, if gaming is your main concern, then the Viewsonic PX706HD won’t disappoint.
If you have any questions regarding both projectors, please leave them in the comment section below. Suppose you liked this article. In that case, please considering sharing on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.