Two minute review
Laser projectors are starting to get a bit cheaper, finally, thanks to 4K projectors like the LG CineBeam HU810P. It's still expensive, but it's half the price of the laser projectors that companies like LG offered a few years ago. That said, while the projector's design isn't all that unique, it will fit in any living room or home theater and the image quality the projector delivers is very good. You'll get a very bright image up to 300 inches, and on SDR and HDR content, the projector can display vivid colors. The device is also compatible with a variety of smart home ecosystems, including Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa, as well as AirPlay 2 and Amazon Alexa. And, while we don't recommend using the built-in speakers, they can at least get pretty loud, enough to at least mask most of the fan noise. Of course, black levels aren't as deep as we'd have liked, and it lacks some major streaming services, both of which detract from its overall value compared to, say, the Samsung Premiere. Overall, the LG HU810P is a great projector, and if you're building a home theater it's worth considering.
Price and release date
The LG CineBeam HU810P became available in mid-2021, after being announced at CES 2021. It's not cheap, unfortunately: you'll have to shell out € 2,999 / € 2,998 (around AU € 4,000) for the projector. . It's available from LG and Amazon, although at the time of writing it was out of stock on both.
Design and functionality
The LG HU810P offers superior build quality with a design that should look good in any living room or home theater. It's pretty much a big white box, but it's a nice big white box, and things like the gray base and black highlights help make it look more elegant. White also helps the projector blend in if you mount it on the ceiling. The projector isn't small, but it's not huge either, especially when compared to some of LG's short-throw projectors, which are quite large. The HU810P is 13,3 inches wide, 16,1 inches deep, and 5,7 inches tall. Unlike many other projectors, this one is deeper than it is wide, so you'll need to make sure you have a big enough stand or shelf if you don't plan on mounting it. On the front of the projector, you'll get the main lens, along with sliders for zoom and focus. On the right, you'll get a lens-shift adjustment dial, which allows you to change the direction of the lens. This makes the projector more versatile and can be mounted or placed on a table. This helps to avoid the classic stack of books, even at a relatively close distance. On the back of the projector, you'll find a power button and joystick for software control, along with all its inputs. Speaking of inputs, this projector offers a lot. You'll get three HDMI ports, one of which is an HDMI 2.1 port that supports ARC and eARC, as well as two USB ports (both USB-A), an optical out, and an Ethernet port. That's a good selection of ports, and while it doesn't reach many modern TVs, it's more than enough for most. If you've used an LG projector in the past few years, you'll recognize the remote. It's a relatively large remote, powered by two AA batteries, and it offers just about everything you need, including voice commands, software commands, volume controls, and more. The remote is also one of LG's magic remotes, allowing you to point at your projection screen to control the software. It's quite smart and often makes it easy to control the software, although some will end up sticking to standard software commands. Setting up the projector is relatively easy. All you really have to do is set it up where you want it, then plug it in and turn it on. You'll then need to use the lens shift, zoom, and focus controls to adjust the image, although this is relatively easy, and most should be able to easily figure out how to do it. You may find that things still don't look quite right, in which case you'll need to dive into the software settings and adjust the keystone, which helps make it appear rectangular even though it's not physically so.
(Image credit: LG)
WebOS 5.0
The LG HU810P may have many HDMI ports, but you don't have to use them. That's because the projector integrates LG's WebOS 5.0 operating system, which allows you to access certain streaming services without the need for a separate streaming box. WebOS works a bit differently than many other smart TV operating systems, in that it doesn't necessarily rely on a large, tile-like home screen. But it works very well and allows you to quickly get started in different services. Unfortunately, while WebOS 5.0 works pretty well, it's not supported by most major streaming services. When we first plugged it in in May, services like Netflix, Apple TV+, and HBO Max were missing, and while they may be added in the future, it still sounds like you could buy an external device to make sure you've got all your bases covered. That said, there are other ways to cast content to your projector if you can't find the right app: The device supports AirPlay 2 and Google Cast, so you can stream content from your projector, phone, or computer. The projector is also compatible with other smart services. It can be integrated with Apple HomeKit, allowing you to turn the projector on and off and switch input. It also integrates Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. This is good news for those who want to integrate the projector into their smart home.
Image quality
Sure, if you're spending that much on a projector, things like having to use an external streaming device are annoyances, but probably not breakers. The main event is image quality, and this is where the LG HU810P excels. Laser projection technology is starting to get a bit more affordable; Let's be honest, this projector is still $3,000. But that's about half the price of LG laser projectors from a few years ago. It's a good thing technology is getting cheaper: the LG HU810P offers excellent picture quality that will turn any living room into a home theater. Laser projection technology has serious advantages, including reduced maintenance and longer life. The projector doesn't offer native 4K images, but you'll hardly notice the difference. Instead, the projector takes a 1080p image and applies blazing-fast pixel shifting technology to render a 4K image. This is all very technical, but rest assured, the image is excellent. The projector is capable of displaying an image up to 300 inches, which is absolutely huge, and is rated at 2700 lumens of brightness, which is very bright. As with any projector, you'll get the best image in a dark environment, but we found that even in a relatively bright environment, the LG HU810P was able to display a decent image.
(Image credit: LG) The projector excelled at displaying SDR content and you'll get a range of different color modes, which you can change to suit your preferences, including Bright, Vivid, Standard, Expert (Bright Room) and Expert ( Dark room). We ended up switching between the Standard modes and the two Expert modes during testing, but decided to stick primarily to the two Expert modes depending on the testing environment. SDR images were detailed and bright, with vibrant colors on screen. Unsurprisingly, things take things to the next level when viewing HDR. The projector supports HDR10 and HLG, and in HDR you'll get a few more modes including Cinema, Filmmaker, and Home Theater. Ultimately, we opted for Cinema Home. HDR content like David Attenborough's Our Planet was beautifully alive. However, we would have appreciated support for Dolby Vision. The image is not perfect. In particular, black levels weren't the deepest, so while colors looked nice and bright, contrast didn't look as high as we would have liked. It's not that great, though, and most will still appreciate the image quality as a whole. Overall, the LG HU80PW is capable of delivering incredible image quality. Laser projection technology is still a bit expensive, and therefore lamp projectors in this price range can offer slightly better image quality, but at the cost of more maintenance, noise, and a shorter lifespan. Ultimately, most will probably want to make this trade-in, especially since this projector still offers excellent image quality and a host of other great features.
If you're shopping for a high-end projector, you should also set aside some money for decent speakers, especially if you plan to use your new projector in a home theater setup. But, if you need to use the projector's built-in speakers in a pinch, they'll get the job done. They are medium weight and lack both bass extension and high extension, but can be relatively loud for a projector's built-in speakers. Laser projectors require less cooling than lamp projectors, but they still need fans. Fortunately, the fan noise generated by the LG HU810P is relatively low and ignorable if you listen to anything at a normal volume.
Should you buy the LG CineBeam HU810P projector?
(Image credit: LG)
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