LG HU80KA Review: One of the Most Innovative Projectors Out There

The past couple of years have seen a rapid increase in the number of high-quality and affordable projectors available to customers. This is an exciting trend, as it means that those looking to invest in a projector for their home theatre or office boardroom no longer have to spend a small fortune to reap the benefits of modern audio-visual technology. With this being said, this rapid increase in affordable projector options has led to a subtle issue throughout the industry: Great projectors are starting to become more available to all, but almost every affordable projector available today feels like a cookie-cutter device with only minor changes or improvements.

Consider many of the projectors we’ve already reviewed on this site. Each of these options are great in their own unique way, but few of them feel like a revolutionary device, both in terms of form-factor and features. After all, if you’re going to be spending your hard-earned cash on a new projector, shouldn’t it be able to blow you away every time you use it?

Enter the LG HU80KA projector, which gives you access to cutting-edge features that are packed into a sleek housing which is both attractive and futuristic in nature. Without a doubt, this offering by LG is one of the most original and breathtaking 4K projectors to hit the market so far. In short, there just isn’t anything else like it available right now. In fact, if we are being honest with ourselves, it doesn’t even look like a projector when you take it out of the box, but once you get it set up, it will provide you some of the most beautiful images that you’ve ever seen.

So, is this revolutionary projector, which is sure to be the envy of your friends, right for your situation? We invite you to read on as we dive into what makes the LG HU80KA projector really special when compared to its peers.

Who is the LG HU80KA projector for?

We believe that the LG HU80KA projector will be an excellent choice for anyone looking to get the most out of their home theatre experience, as the innovative quality provided by this device is hard to beat, especially at its relatively affordable price point. As one of the most exciting projectors that we’ve ever had the pleasure to review, we really do feel that this could be the perfect projector for your current home or office setup.

With this being said, we realize that a projector as groundbreaking as this might not be the best option for all of our readers. For example, in order to fully enjoy the LG HU80KA projector, you must have a large enough space that will fit its 150-inch screen size. Bear in mind that this means that you will want at least ten feet of distance between the projector and surface to which it is projecting in order to get the most out of the LG HU80KA’s performance. On the other hand, for those of you who do a bit of traveling with your projector, whether it be for work or pleasure, we bet that you will be happy to hear that this unit was designed with portability in mind. The LG HU80KA’s sleek housing is not only attractive but more importantly extremely portable.

Additionally, this projector can be set up in a variety of configurations, ranging from standing on the floor to ceiling-mounted. This means that the LG HU80KA can easily be integrated into your existing setup, assuming that you have enough distance between the projector and its enormous screen size.

Overall, the LG HU80KA projector is a great option for those who are willing to spend a little bit of extra money in exchange for the opportunity to use one of the most innovative home theatre devices available today. If you have enough space for it, the LG HU80KA just might be the projector of your dreams.

What unique features does the LG HU80KA offer?

LG isn’t exactly known for its projectors, but they do have a sterling reputation when it comes to creating some of the best home appliances and digital devices available. We are happy to report that this trend holds true with the LG HU80KA projector, as it looks like the team behind this excellent device didn’t cut any corners during its development.

As this is LG’s first 4K projector, we expected them to pull out all of the stops when it came to unique features, and they certainly did not disappoint. Some of the most notable features that come standard with the innovative LG HU80KA projector include:

• Hyper-portability: Many manufacturers claim that their projectors are built with portability in mind, but few devices have managed to deliver upon this promise as well as the LG HU80KA. Thanks to its compact form-factor and sturdy aluminum handle, you shouldn’t have any issues bringing this projector along wherever you please. As is typically the case with such user-friendly features, the key to a portable design lies in the details of a device. With the power cord of the LG HU80KA capable of being stored within the unit itself thanks to a retractable mechanism, this project can be a great choice for those who are always on-the-go with their projector.

• Laser-driven 4K: Let’s keep it short and simple: The images provided by the LG HU80KA are some of the best we have ever seen from a consumer-grade projector. Better yet, this great resolution is accomplished by a nifty engineering trick, which uses a large mirror to aim its beam onto the screen, thus providing a superior level of brightness and contrast when compared to traditional bulb-based projection methods. This isn’t a new way to project images, in fact, it was highly popular with Polaroid projectors in the 1990s. However, this is one of the first times we have seen this technique applied to 4K-quality imagery, which makes the viewing experience provided by the LG HU80KA all the more enjoyable.

• Smart TV features: Thanks to a built-in Smart TV platform, the LG HU80KA is capable of streaming video from popular apps like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and many others right out of the box. This is a great advantage for users, as it will allow you to get the beautiful imagery of a high-grade 4K projector while still enjoying all of the conveniences we have come to enjoy from Smart TV interfaces.
• Fantastic onboard audio: If a projector is intended to be extremely portable, then it should probably have outstanding onboard audio, right? Thankfully, the LG HU80KA manages to check this box as well with some of the best built-in speakers that we have ever seen on a projector. This means that using the LG HU80KA is as simple as plugging it in and getting started with your movie or presentation. In short, there is no need for you to worry about bringing along great speakers, as they already come included with this wonderful projector.

As the LG HU80KA marks the company’s entry into the crowded projector market, we expected this unit to have some great features. The team at LG certainly did not disappoint us in this respect, as this projector boasts one of the best feature combinations that we have ever seen on such a device. Still, we know that no device is perfect, and this holds especially true for projectors.

With this reality in mind, we want to make sure that our readers walk away from this review with a strong understanding of the pros and cons associated with this unique projector. As such, let’s take a moment to highlight some of the benefits and potential drawbacks associated with the LG HU80KA projector.

Benefits and drawbacks associated with the LG HU80KA projector

Even the best projectors available today are far from perfect. This may seem like an exaggeration to some of our readers, but consider this: Even if a company had all the time and money in the world to develop the world’s best projector, they likely wouldn’t be able to do so at a price that customers could readily afford. This means that there will always be some tradeoffs that consumers must come to terms with when shopping for any device, regardless of whether or not is it a projector.

Considering this reality, our main goal is to ensure that you have a strong understanding of the tradeoffs that might have been made when developing the LG HU80KA projector. While the tradeoffs that we were able to find aren’t major deal breakers, it is still good for you to know what you are getting into, especially when one considers just home much of an investment a 4K projector can be for many of our readers. Without further delay, let’s start off on a positive note and detail some of the great benefits provided by this device:

• Unbelievably long lamp life: Since the LG HU80KA makes use of the neat mirror-reflecting-a-beam trick that we discussed above, the lamp life provided by this projector is truly impressive. The LG HU80KA is driven by a laser phosphor light engine that helps to improve the darkness of black pixels, which in turn helps to ensure fantastic image contrast. All of these engineering feats combine to allow for a promised 20,000 hours of lamp life, which means that you won’t need to worry about a replacement lamp for years and years to come.
• Plenty of screen size: When you compare the price of the LG HU80KA projector to a similarly priced 4K television, you end up with more than twice the overall screen size for the money. If you can get 150-inches of 4K projector goodness for the same price that an 80-inch 4K television might cost, who would ever go with the television?! In other words, if you’ve got enough space to accommodate the 150-inch screen size, you simply can’t go wrong with investing in the LG HU80KA projector.
• Impressive brightness: With a rating of 2500 lumens, the LG HU80KA projector is capable of performing beautifully regardless of where one might mount it within their home or office. Such great brightness means that the LG HU80KA projector is even capable of performing well in rooms with ambient lighting, which means that there is no need to darken your shades in order to enjoy the fantastic video quality provided by this device. Best of all, LG’s proprietary TruMotion Technology automatically increases the LG HU80KA projector’s refresh rate when required by fast-action movies or live sports. In other words, dim and blurry images will be a thing of the past if you adopt the LG HU80KA projector for your current setup.

Clearly, these benefits (in addition to the amazing features listed above) are more than enough to separate the LG HU80KA projector from almost every other budget-friendly 4K projector on the market today. If your space has enough room to make a 150-inch screen size look good, then this might just be the right choice for you. However, before jumping to conclusions, we want to make sure that we also touch on some potential drawbacks associated with the LG HU80KA projector. While these aren’t game-changing issues in and of themselves, they are still worth noting, as outlined below:

• No 3D compatibility: As we mentioned briefly above, it is nearly impossible for projector manufacturers to deliver products to customers that include every great modern feature at a price point that we can afford. A great example of this tradeoff at work is the lack of 3D image capabilities for the LG HU80KA projector. We understand that many of our readers value the ability to enjoy their favourite content in 3D so this omission might be a deal breaker for some of you. On the other hand, if you are willing to trade 3D capabilities for one of the most enjoyable (not to mention portable) projector experiences available today, the LG HU80KA projector could make for a great choice.
• Difficult and confusing menu: Unfortunately, the most glaring drawback associated with the LG HU80KA projector is the terrible user interface that it relies on. While the control panel built into the projector housing (no wireless remote control here) is minimalistic and easy to understand, the digital menus associated with it can be downright confusing when you are getting started with this device. This is likely just to be viewed as a minor inconvenience for most readers, although some will probably feel that the poor user interface used by the LG HU80KA project is enough to drive them to look elsewhere.

As we have seen, the good generally outweighs the bad when it comes to the LG HU80KA projector. A strong list of features and some pretty great benefits are balanced with some frustrating issues, but overall we still believe that this is one of the best projectors available on the market today. However, in an effort to give our readers another option, we would like to highlight a device that may serve as a good alternative to the LG HU80KA projector.

What is a good alternative to the LG HU80KA projector?

For those readers who might not be completely satisfied with the LG HU80KA projector, there are a couple of other strong options out there. Unfortunately, these alternatives don’t boast the same features or specifications as the LG HU80KA projector, but this generally means that they can be purchased at a comparatively low price.

Starting off, our first suggestion as an alternative to the LG HU80KA projector is the Optoma UHD51A 4K UHD Smart Home Theatre Projector. Additionally, we suggest looking into the ViewSonic PX747-4K projector. ViewSonic is well renowned for their high-quality 4K projectors that carry very reasonable price tags, especially when one considers the great features that are offered by these projectors.

If you’re not sure what factors you should consider before deciding on a 4K projector, we have written this detailed guide to help you out.

Verdict

The LG HU80KA projector is one of the most innovative projectors we have ever seen, boasting laser-driven 4K projection with wireless Smart TV functionalities built right in. While it does carry a higher price than many other projectors available today, we are confident that this small up-charge is well worth it, especially considering all of the cutting-edge features that owners of this great device will get to access.

Furthermore, if you are looking for a projector that can be portable for presentations or vacations, with the opportunity to occasionally set up this device in more adventurous locations like outdoors for a backyard movie, there are simply no other options currently available that can match the versatility of the LG HU80KA projector. In short, if you believe that this projector is right for you, we suggest that you dive right in and start enjoying the impressive features offered by the LG HU80KA projector today.