I’ve always told people – never pay full price for AV gear. However, when you see a deal, don’t hesitate.
I’ve just started reviewing the C1 TriChroma Laser Mini Projector from Hisense. It’s beautifully designed with a 4K picture to match. As always I do, I conducted a price check – and man – talk about timing. Its RRP is A$3,499 but you can buy it today (publish date) for as little as A$2,390.
My review video is nowhere near finished but I have no problem already recommending the C1. At more than a thousand dollars off, the Hisense C1 is outstanding value for anyone looking for a home cinema experience.
Watch Djuro Sen show the C1 to Tim Gilbert on Sky News Weekend Edition
But first, you need to consider your home setup. The Hisense C1 is a medium to long throw projector so you need some depth in your room. It can project a 4K image from 65-inches to a massive 300-inches. To get a picture that large (300″) you need to be around 8 metres from the screen.
It weighs just under 5kg so it’s pretty easy to move around or mount wherever you want. AutoMagic AI helps to take the pain out of setting up but I found the manual settings to be far better. For most people it will be a case of just pointing the projector where they want the image. Hisense has even included a 1/4“-20 mount for use on a stand or tripod. Very cool.
I’ll save all the best bits for my video but I will say the picture quality is excellent. It’s a very similar look and feel to a normal Hisense TV. But your room needs to be dark or at least not bright. It pumps out 1600 ANSI lumens, which is outstanding in the right conditions. Aside from all the usual picture modes you also get Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos audio.
The sound is very good out of this cube projector. A 1-litre Sound Chamber, made in collaboration with JBL, really belts out a movie soundtrack.
Image Matrix will post a review video some time after State of Origin II. I’ll be watching that for sure on the Hisense C1.
Hisense 4K Laser Smart Mini Projector Specs
| Product Category | 4K TriChroma Mini Laser Projector |
|---|---|
| Series | TL7K |
| Model Number | C1 |
| Console Colour | Black, Gray |
| Resolution | 4K |
| Aspect Ratio | 16:9 |
| Display Technology | DLP |
| Light Source | Laser Source |
| Light Source | Blue+Green+Red Laser |
| Audible Noise | ≤26 dB |
| Display Surface | Flat |
| Light source lifetime | 25,000 hours (Luminance drop 50%) |
| Eye Protection | Yes |
| Digital geometric or keystone correction | Yes, Both Auto and Manual keystone correction* |
| RoHS Compliant | Yes |
| Recyclable Product | Yes |
| Speakers / Type | Built-in |
| Operating System | VIDAA U6 |
| Luminance (typical, full field, in Lumens) | 1600 lm* |
| Static Contrast | 1600:1 |
| Dynamic Contrast Ratio | 2,000,000:1 |
| Number of Colours | 1.07 Billion Colours |
| Resolution | 3840*2160 |
| 4K Upscaling | Yes |
| 10 bit Colorimetry | Yes |
| High Dynamic Range | Dolby Vision/HDR10/HLG/HDR10+ Decoding |
| HDMI-ARC Support | Yes |
| HDMI-CEC Support | Yes |
| MHL Support | No |
| Anyview Cast (Miracast) | Yes |
| Network Streaming (DLNA) | Yes |
| Filmmaker Mode | Yes |
| Wireless Digital Audio (Bluetooth) | Yes |
| Wide Colour Gamut | 110% BT.2020 |
| Processor | Quad Core |
| MEMC | Yes |
| Smooth Motion Rate | 120 |
| Decoder | HEVC (H.265),VP9,H.264,MPEG4, MPEG2,VC1,MVC |
| 3D Digital Comb Filter | Yes |
| MPEG Noise Reduction | Yes |
| Mosquito Noise Reduction | Yes |
| Sound Output Power | 2*10W |
| Sound Technology | Dolby Atmos |
| NICAM / A2 Stereo | No |
| User Equalizer | Yes |
| AC-4 | Yes |
| MPEG-H | No |
| Media Player | Yes (Video, Audio, Picture) |
| Hotel Lock | No |
| Streaming video on demand | Yes |
| Web browser | Odin |
| Airplay | Yes |
| Anyview Cast | Yes |
| Anyview Stream | Yes (DMP,DMR) |
| Smart Phone Companion App | VIDAA App |
| HDMI1 | High speed HDMI (eARC) |
| HDMI2 | HDMI2.0 |
| USB1 | USB 2.0 |
| USB2 | USB 3.0 |
| S/PDIF Output | 1 |
| Composite (AV) Input | 0 |
| Audio (L/R) Input | 0 |
| Ethernet RJ45 port | Yes |
| Wireless LAN adapter Support | Yes |
| WiFi technology | IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax，Support three frequency band（2.4G，5G and 6G） |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Service port | 1 |
| Power Supply | 100-240V~ 60/50Hz Max 2.5A |
| Standby Consumption | ≤0.5W |
| Power Consumption | 180W |
| Weight incl. Packaging | 8.6kg |
| Product Weight (Net) | 4.6kg |
| Packaging Dimension (LxDxH) | 391*359*350mm |
| Product Dimension (LxDxH) | 245*179*216mm |
| Remote Control Model | ERF3AD90H |
| Remote Batteries | AAAx2 |
| User Manual | YES |
| Quick start Page | YES |
| Power Cable | YES |
| Container Format | AVI,MP4,MKV,TS,FLV OGM |
| Video | .AVI,.WMV,.MP4,.MOV,.3GP,.MKV,.MPG,.MPEG,.VOB,.FLV,.WebM,.OGM |
| Audio | .wma,.wmv,.mp4,.FLAC,.MP2,.MP3 music(mp3 aac wma wav) |
| Picture | .jpeg,.bmp,.PNG,.GIF,.webp |
| Additional Information | *When the projection size is greater than 150 inches, manual focus and manual geometric correction are required. *The brightness of the laser light beams will be reduced sharply when objects are near to the front of the console to protect your eyes. *Works with Amazon Alexa, Works with Apple AirPlay, Works with Apple Home |