Acer H7850 Review: A Reasonably Priced and Feature-Packed 4K Home Projector
The home theatre experience has come a very long way over the past few years. Though the very first home projectors were considered ground-breaking at the time for good reason, back then it was hard to consider a reasonable price home theatre setup to be on par with the experience provided by a movie theatre. Without a doubt, there are vast differences between the grainy and blurry projections created by the first consumer-grade projectors and today’s 4K, feature-packed home projector solutions.
With such advancements in mind, now more than ever is a perfect time to explore the possibility of creating your own home theatre setup. Affordable projectors like Acer’s recently released H7850 4K Ultra High Definition Home Theatre Projector now allow consumers to bring the unprecedented video quality of 4K into their homes in a manner that is sleek, visually stunning, and most importantly affordable.
While Acer isn’t known for top-of-the-line projectors, the release of the Acer H7850 was met with much fanfare at the time, as it held the title of the smallest 4K Ultra HD projector available on the market at that point in time. With a footprint of only 15.7 by 11.7 by 5.0 inches, the Acer H7850 is both slim and discrete, ensuring that it can be installed in even the smallest of nooks.
However, as is oftentimes the case when shopping for a 4K Ultra HD projector, consumers are typically more concerned with value and visuals over sleek design. We understand that many of our readers share this view, so we have dedicated the time and effort to compile what we believe to be the authoritative review on the Acer H7850 4K Ultra High Definition Home Theatre Projector. With this in mind, let’s have a closer look at this innovative digital projector offering to see if it might be the right product to add to your home theatre setup.
Who is the Acer H7850 Home Theatre Projector for?
As the title of this product suggests, our research has led us to conclude that the Acer H7850 projector is a great option for those looking to create their first home theatre setup or hoping to add a 4K Ultra HD projector to their current lineup. As Acer’s currently lowest-priced 4K Ultra HD Home Theatre Projector, the H7850 is a great option for those looking to get the most out of their movies from the comfort of their home, all while sticking to a reasonably affordable budget.
Furthermore, we believe that this could be the perfect projector for your home if you find yourself to be an individual who is willing to accept a slightly lower picture quality for a stunning and nearly microscopic physical form factor. We understand that home theatre projectors are typically not created with aesthetics and tasteful industrial design in mind, yet we can’t help but appreciate just how nice this projector looks when compared to the other bulky and boxy options on the market today. If you are a home theatre enthusiast that feels like they should be entitled to display a tastefully designed projector in their home, then the Acer H7850 just might be the perfect option for your setup.
On the other hand, we feel that it is just as important to point out who might not benefit from investing in this intriguing home theatre projector. Those that are hesitant to dedicate a couple thousand or so dollars to a home theatre projector might want to look into projectors that are not 4K — this is as good a deal as you could possibly get with any 4K projector. People in this category will find this Acer unit to be on the pricer side, while those already familiar with 4K projectors will know this is a steal. This makes sense – after all, packing high-grade features into a mid-level priced projector is quite the feat – but we understand that everyone has different priorities when it comes to creating the perfect home theatre for them.
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While one person might want to dedicate tens of thousands of dollars to an exquisite and impressive theatre that puts even the best professional showrooms to shame, others will be satisfied with a simple projector and screen that allows them to enjoy a near-cinematic experience from the comfort of their own couch. With this being said, we would like to lay out the features offered by the Acer H7850 for those that may be interested in this option.
What notable features does the Acer H7850 4K Ultra HD Home Theatre Projector offer?
When it comes to features, the Acer H7850 delivers all that we have come to expect and then some. A laundry list of interesting features have been packed into this pint-sized projector and we could easily dedicate multiple blog posts to these vast features alone. However, we understand that many of our readers are busy professionals or students, so in the interest of time, we will focus on the major features that would likely be of interest to you. Some of the most notable features and advantages afforded by the Acer H7850 projector include:
Vivid Visuals
The H7850 presents a refreshingly crisp image that is able to bring out the finer details of any picture or video.
With a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, this new offer from Acer manages to punch high above its weight class, offering vivid visuals that we have come to expect on top-of-the-line home theatre projectors.
Lens Adjustability
This projector comes with lens adjustability, which will help to ensure the perfect orientation for whatever environment you choose to use the Acer H7850 within.
With a reasonably powerful 1.6x zoom lens and a vertical lens shift that allows for modest adjustments to be implemented on the fly, blurry or distorted pictures will never present a problem when using this high-quality home projector. Most importantly to those of you who are seeking to replace an old and outdated projector, these zoom and shift features ensure the flexibility to place the Acer H7850 in any location.
In practice, this means that avid home theatre enthusiasts can keep their existing projector mount in the same location, which will save our readers both time and money in the long run.
ISF Day and Night Modes
This projector has great support for the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) standard for calibration of ISF Day and Night modes.
With a small investment in the services of a certified ISF professional, you will be able to take advantages of these advanced viewing modes, which help to ensure that the best home theatre projector experience can be had both day and night.
Affordable Lamp Replacement
We realize that this advantage isn’t as cool or sexy as many of the others on this list, but it is nonetheless worth noting, as we understand that our readers care about the performance of their home theatre investments throughout a product’s lifetime.
When one chooses to order their replacement lamp through Acer Service, it can be had for less than $75, which is one of the best prices for a lamp that we have seen in some time. Our readers should note that purchasing a replacement lamp elsewhere typically costs substantially more, however, we do not anticipate this to present a common issue for our readers.
With a lamp life of over 4000 hours in full power mode, 10,000 hours in eco-friendly mode, and 15,000 hours in Acer’s ExtremeEco mode, changes are that years will pass before you will have to look into purchasing a replacement lamp bulb.
Wireless Projection Technology
Best of all, Acer has decided to include their Wireless Projection technology as a standard feature for the H7850 Ultra HD Home Theatre Projector, which means that annoying cables will now be a thing of the past.
We understand that none of our readers enjoy seeing exposed cords or cables crisscrossing around the room or distracting guests from the overall quality of a home theatre experience. Thankfully, Wireless Projection technology, which is enabled through the use of a dongle, ensures that this common issue never has to happen again.
In the same breath, we know that many prefer the flexibility and timeless reliability provided by being able to connect your projector to physical cables. Acer made sure to take this crowd into consideration when designing the H7850 home projector, as two HDMI ports, a USB port, VGA input and output, and an audio line in or out of the unit are included and neatly organized on the back of this beautifully petite projector.
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What are some pros and cons for this projector?
An impressive list of features is a great starting point for getting a better idea of what a particular model of projector has to offer the consumer. Yet, such insight only tells part of the story. In order to get an accurate, first-hand understanding of what a home theatre projector has to offer, it is important to understand the benefits and downsides that a particular unit may exhibit.
With this reality in mind, we’d like to take a moment to highlight the benefits offered by the Acer H7850, which include:
Pros
Very strong performance: Regardless of the metric that one uses to evaluate the Acer H7850 4K Ultra HD Home Theatre Projector, one thing is abundantly clear: this is a high-quality projector that performs well enough to impress even the most pessimistic technology critics out there today.
From crisp and refreshing full 4K visuals to the ability to calibrate and make use of ISF Day and Night display settings, this unit boasts one of the best viewing experiences that we have seen up to this point. For the die-hard performance fans out there ready to dedicate a little extra time to adjust the settings of this projector to your liking, we are sure that you will be able to get even more out of this impressive offering from Acer.
Loads of brightness: Clocking in with a rating of 3000 lumens, the Acer H7850 home theatre projector will display great looking content in almost any possible lighting scenario. With a cutting edge feature known as Video Optimized Lumens, the Acer H7850 is capable of adjusting brightness on the fly to deliver the biggest, brightest, and best possible video quality to users.
Strong Color Mode Performance: The H7850 delivers realistic looking color and great contrast in most modes, ensuring that your content will be highly watchable even with the typically lesser default settings mode left intact. As is the case with many projectors, the exception to this rule is the brightest mode offered, as this has the tendency to display an obvious yellowish-green tint throughout the screen.
Quality onboard audio options: As home theatre projectors are typically used with external sound systems, this is likely less of a concern for readers looking to add this projector to a home theatre or professional-appearing office presentation setup. Regardless, the Acer H7850 delivers impressive sound performance, especially when one considers its tiny form factor. The two onboard five-watt stereo speakers deliver above average sound quality and more than enough volume to fill a small or medium-sized room.
These are strong benefits that make the Acer H7850 an attractive product. However, as mentioned above no projector is 100% perfect. Throughout our research, we noticed the following cons, which may be enough to make-or-break the decision of many readers:
Cons
High levels of fan noise: When you are looking for a high-performance projector, you are typically going to pay a slight price in the form of increased fan noise. This is truly the case for the Acer H7850, as increased levels of fan noise after prolonged periods of use are enough to be distracting for many users.
While this is a minor annoyance, as many who use this projector will do so in tandem with an impressively loud and robust audio setup, it is nonetheless important to note.
Very noticeable input lag: Now, when we say noticeable input lag, we are actually talking about input lag on the scale of 145 or so milliseconds, which doesn’t seem like much at all for the average movie fan. However, such lag can be devastating for competitive gamer, as milliseconds can make the difference between dominating the competition or getting dominated yourself.
As such, we suggest that readers who intend to use their projector for competitive gaming look elsewhere, as while the Acer H7850 is a great option for consuming content, its relatively high levels of lag can be enough to inhibit high-level video game performance.
Lack of 3D content support: This is not a major issue, as most consumers have yet to adopt 3D content on a wide scale. However, such an omission is noticeable on a projector as expensive as the Acer H7850. While it won’t be a deal-breaker in most situations, it is still worth pointing out.
Noticeable rainbow artifacts in certain modes: This issue will be especially noticeable for those who prefer to enjoy their content with HDR input sources. Once again, this flaw is not a game-changer for most of our readers, but we suggest that those who plan on using strictly HDR inputs look at other projectors in this price range. Rainbow artifacts have become accepted as a typical issue with any projector, but the issue is especially noticeable on the Acer H7850.
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What is an alternative to the Acer H7850?
We are happy you asked, as a matter of fact, there are a number of strong alternatives for those who would like to continue their search for the perfect projector.
One option of note is the Optoma UHD60, which stacks up to the Acer H7850 in many of the same ways. While the Optoma UHD60 is significantly more expensive than the Acer H7850, coming in at a price point of over a thousand dollars more, the overall video quality and user experience are enough to justify this increased price point. On the other hand, the industrial design of the Optoma is lacking when compared to the Acer model, as the former is large and bulky while the latter is sleek and sophisticated in nature.
Overall, we feel that our readers should not purchase a projector that they do not feel 100% comfortable about, and will, therefore, leave it up to you to decide for yourself in the end.
Conclusion: Perfect as a first projector
In conclusion, the Acer H7850 is a very impressive projector that is packed with modern features and complemented by impressive industrial design touches. Yet, we cannot help but feel that there is a game-changing feature or benefit that is lacking in this model.
While it is certainly a great projector, it doesn’t warrant throwing out a fully functioning projector in order to upgrade with this model. In the end, we feel that the Acer H7850 4K Ultra HD Home Theatre Projector is a great first projector, but doesn’t quite manage to meet the mark for what we feel a seasoned hobbyist looking to purchase their second or third projector would be looking for in a product.
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