If you have been looking for a way to bring the big-screen experience to your home, countless projectors and large TVs claim to deliver just that. And, with Amazon Prime Day now in full swing, plenty of different brands are offering tempting discounts across a range of products.
But which models will get you the best large screen, all while saving you some of your hard-earned cash? We have found two products to fit that particular bill – that will deliver an immersive screen size and have similar price tags. Each offers something different, but both can bring the big-screen experience to your home.
A super-sized TCL TV
First up, the gigantic 98-inch TCL C7K is a king-sized 4K TV at a jaw-droppingly low price. The five-star set would usually cost a respectable £2399, but Prime Day has seen this crash to a remarkable £1999 at Currys. Don’t get us wrong, that is still a lot of money. But for the sheer size and quality of the TV, this is a bargain price.
You get 3000 nits of brightness controlled with 2000 dimming zones, plus TCL’s Halo Control features, which aim to reduce the effect of backlight blooming. This is aided by an anti-glare film that reduces reflections.
It received a What Hi-Fi? Award last year, thanks to its spectacular brightness and colour, as well as its excellent gaming specifications. The dimensions of the TV alone are enough to blow your socks off, as we say in our review: “We’ve seen a few 98-100-inch TVs now, but the raw cinematic impact of seeing our favourite test movies and TV shows writ so large across our field of view never seems to grow old.”
The brightness is intense, especially at this size, with small HDR highlights looking every bit as dazzling as on pricier TVs. TCL’s Halo Control also does a stellar job of suppressing any unwanted blooms of light emerging.
In terms of sound, the TV offers a 6.2.2-channel system designed by Bang & Olufsen. It is detailed and clear, and never becomes overstated, harsh or brittle. It does, however, lack the levels of bass and immersion that a decent, dedicated Dolby Atmos soundbar would provide.
It’s very well equipped for gamers, with VRR, ALLM, and a 144Hz refresh rate. You get a full complement of HDR format support, but only two HDMI 2.1 ports.
Of course, a 98-inch screen will take up a fair bit of room in your home. If you don't have the space to accommodate, the option below might be a better fit for you.
And a more compact projector from BenQ
TCL’s super-sized TV is certainly a large beast to behold, but it is simply not a realistic addition to many people's homes. It measures 218cm wide, which is quite a challenge if you are working with a compact space. There is the option to wall-hang, but of course you need to have a wall capable of supporting its 55kg weight.
If that won’t work for you, there’s another way to get the big-screen experience. The BenQ W2720i is a 4K projector that holds the crown as the best mid-range model in our best projectors guide. The price for the What Hi-Fi? Award-winning projector has dropped from £1999 to £1799 at Richer Sounds, saving you a reasonable £200.
It offers a more compact option than the TCL C7K, as it measures 14 x 42 x 31cm (hwd) and weighs just 6.5kg. You can push the screen size up to a claimed 300 inches, which knocks the 98-inch TV out of the park.
When we reviewed the projector, we were met with a clean, detailed picture that still looked natural. We say in our review: “So crisp, detailed, pristine and full of texture and density are the W2720i’s pictures that they really do look 4K, even if pushed to prodigious image sizes.”
The Award-winner's connections go further than those of most projectors, by including three HDMIs, one of which provides ARC support for passing sound out to a connected AVR or soundbar, and one of which supports 4K/120Hz.
There are some limitations to consider with a projector compared with a TV. Any projector that costs less than £10,000 will struggle to produce deep black levels, especially compared with a Mini LED such as the C7K. The W2720i is still a great performer in this area when compared with rival projectors, but the TCL TV does a better job at recreating proper black depth.
You will also have to deal with a weaker picture performance in any sort of ambient light compared with a TV screen.
But the BenQ’s smaller footprint and impressive specifications may well suit your home cinema set-up better. It depends on which big-screen experience works best for you, but these stellar bargains on both products are worth looking into.
MORE:
These are the best projectors out there
Check out the best TVs we have reviewed
And this is our full review of the 98-inch TCL C7K
