The ViewSonic PX701-4K is a 4k HDR projector primarily marketed for gaming. It has two HDMI 2.0 ports, both capable of either 4k @ 60Hz or 1080p @ 240Hz. The projector also comes with an Ultra-Fast Input option promising input lag as low as 4.2ms. The projector has auto vertical keystone technology to eliminate trapezoid effects when installed at an angle and an advanced projection warping tool that corrects distorted images when they're projected on a curved surface. Depending on the selected picture mode, its light source is rated for anywhere from 6,000 to 20,000 hours. Finally, it has an integrated 10W speaker.
Our Verdict
The ViewSonic PX701 4k projector is alright for watching movies. Its native contrast is great, and its brightness is decent, leading to a good viewing experience in a dark room. Unfortunately, the projector drops the ball when it comes to color, as its colors are dim, its color gamut isn't very wide, and its color accuracy is wildly inaccurate out of the box. You can barely improve it with calibration.
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Great contrast for a pleasant viewing experience in dark rooms.
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Poor color accuracy out-of-the-box, which you can't really improve through calibration.
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Colors are dim and uninspiring.
- 6.8 Movies
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We bought and tested the ViewSonic PX701-4K. This projector has a higher-end model, the ViewSonic PX701-4KE, which has a 1.3x optical zoom feature and a shorter throw ratio, allowing you to install it closer to the wall or screen.
Compared To Other Projectors
The ViewSonic PX701-4K is an okay 4k HDR projector, but better options are available. For a similar price, the Epson EpiqVision Mini EF12 is a better and smaller option, and the XGIMI Elfin is just as good for a lower price. One area where the ViewSonic is better than most is for gaming, as it does 1080p @ 240Hz with low input lag. If you don't care about color accuracy and just want a fast and bright projector, it could be a good option, but otherwise, other products are better values.
The Optoma UHD35 is better than the ViewSonic PX701-4K. They're very similar projectors, with both capable of 1080p @ 240Hz for gaming. However, the ViewSonic has significantly worse color accuracy than the Optoma, and the Optoma also has a slightly wider color gamut, giving it the edge over the ViewSonic.
The Epson EpiqVision Mini EF12 is a bit better than the ViewSonic PX701-4K, although the ViewSonic is particularly interesting to gamers with its 1080p @ 240Hz support. The ViewSonic is brighter and has better contrast, but the Epson has vastly better color accuracy. The ViewSonic can also deliver sharper images through 4k pixel shifting, while the Epson projects a much lower 1080p image. The Epson has significantly more smart features, has an integrated smart interface with full Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support, and is more portable.
The XGIMI Elfin and ViewSonic PX701-4K are about as good, but the XGIMI is smaller and has significantly more features than the ViewSonic. However, the ViewSonic is particularly interesting to gamers with its 1080p @ 240Hz support. The ViewSonic is also significantly brighter and has slightly better contrast, but it has truly terrible colors. The XGIMI is dimmer but doesn't have the ViewSonic issues with colors. It's much smaller, more portable, and has a smart interface with full Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support.
The ViewSonic PX701-4K and XGIMI HORIZON offer similar image quality when watching movies, but the ViewSonic is much better for gaming due to its 1080p @ 240Hz with low input lag capabilities. The ViewSonic has slightly better contrast and is a bit brighter than the XGIMI, although the XGIMI has better brightness uniformity. Both projectors are wildly inaccurate before calibration, and while you can't improve the XGIMI enough with calibration to make it truly accurate, the ViewSonic, for its part, can barely be improved at all, so it's still very inaccurate post-calibration.
The Epson EpiqVision Flex CO-W01 is better than the ViewSonic PX701-4K. However, the ViewSonic is particularly interesting to gamers with its 1080p @ 240Hz support, while the Epson is aimed more at office use. Still, the Epson is much brighter and has vastly better color accuracy, although the ViewSonic's contrast is much better. The ViewSonic also delivers sharper images through 4k pixel shifting, while the Epson projects a much lower 1280 x 800 image.
Test Results
The ViewSonic PX701-4K is somewhat portable due to its fairly compact and lightweight body, although without an integrated battery. The projector has automatic vertical keystone correction and manual horizontal correction, although it lacks an autofocus. It does have an integrated 10W speaker in case you need to move it.
This DLP projector uses a lamp as its light source, which can last from 6000 to about 20,000 hours, according to the manufacturer, after which you'll need to swap the lamp for a new one. It's not a true 4k projector, as it uses pixel shifting to create a higher-resolution image. This offers better quality than a pure 1080p projector but isn't as good as a native 4k projector.
The average peak brightness of this projector is decent, although the sides of the image are slightly dimmer than the center. Unfortunately, bright, saturated colors are significantly dimmer than pure white, so colors don't pop.
The ViewSonic PX701-4K has great native contrast, leading to a very pleasant viewing experience in a dark room, even if its blacks aren't inky.
Unfortunately, this projector has poor color accuracy out-of-the-box. The white balance is decent, but blues tend to be overrepresented in most shades of gray, and the near blacks are completely undersaturated. Colors are terrible, though, as almost no color is displayed accurately. The projector is too dark in darker scenes and too bright in all other scenes. Thankfully, the color temperature is great, even if it leans slightly on the cold side.
Unfortunately, you can't improve this projector's color accuracy much due to its limited calibration options. After calibration, the projector is still too dark in darker scenes but fine in brighter ones. The color temperature is now almost exactly on target, and the white balance is better, with fewer accuracy errors. Unfortunately, the color accuracy is still terrible.
This projector's color gamut is passable. Its coverage of the Rec. 709 color space used in SDR content is good, but it truly struggles with the wider Rec. 2020 color space used in HDR content.
The projector's USB port is for power delivery only, which you can use to supply power to an HDMI wireless dongle like a Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV stick.
