LG HU85LA Review: A Realistic, Lifelike Visual Experience
If you want to transform your standard couch into an exciting movie theater experience, then LG HU85LA is your go-to projector.
You can literally talk to this projector, as you would with a friend, and it will respond to your questions, commands, and voice inputs. It has the intelligence to understand who is talking to it and will automatically adjust the settings for each person. For example, if you are playing a game and your kid suddenly walks in, you can tell it to pause the game for him or her.
And with its webOS Smart TV functionality, accessing entertainment has never been easier – making the HU85LA undoubtedly the best option for someone like you who wants to enjoy movies with friends and family in their private home theater. There’s really no better choice for perfection than LG HU85LA, even for gaming enthusiasts.
The projector itself is very compact, with a stylish and elegant design that won’t draw attention to itself. Its 3Ch laser light source produces bright colors with great clarity even when the lights are turned on in the room. Amazing, right?
Let’s just take a brief look into the design and features of LG HU85LA.
Features of LG HU85LA
Harmony with your private home theater interior
LG HU85LA is designed to create harmony with your home interior, setting the mood for a beautiful cinema experience. The projector has a simple style and a grayish color with a little touch of charcoal-gray finish which makes it go comfortably well with any room interior as well as look premium and sophisticated.
The projector also features a great deal of cable management and shelf options to keep your home theater setup tidy.
Can be moved around easily
The streamlined look of the HU85LA and its almost-slim profile makes it easy to take by one hand.
It has a whopping total weight of 26.9 lbs/12.2 kg, so you can easily move it around without any hassle and enjoy your movies wherever you like.
Projects massive pictures just 7.2–inches from the wall
LG HU85LA is an ultra-short throw projector that can sit just 2.2–inches in front of a screen to project a massive and impressive 90–inch picture on your wall.
With a little extra space, that’s 7.2–inches from the wall, your screen will pop up a nice 120–inches diagonally to display a more clearer and lifelike picture with a little touch to it. It’s one of the largest projected images for a home entertainment projector in that distance.
So nearly your whole room will be yours to enjoy when you watch films on HU85LA.
The projector’s super short throw feature also allows you to angle your screen upward or downward more easily, if that’s what you prefer.
Projects brilliant cinematic picture quality
LG HU85LA has a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) DLP display that produces images with superior brightness and precision along with a color palette that makes each frame breathtakingly beautiful, so you can enjoy every moment of your favorite movie as if you were part of it.
With 4K UHD, you have access to the highest resolution, in its class, for a jaw-dropping viewing experience unlike any other with over 8.3 million self-emissive pixels on your screen.
The projector’s outstanding performance also boasts realistic and lifelike images that are bright and colorful enough.
Up to 2700 ANSI Lumens brightness – laser projector (Class 1 laser)
LG HU85LA has a brightness rating of up to 2700 ANSI lumens in its class, which puts it way above the range of most other home cinema projectors.
This means you don’t need those blackout curtains. In fact, the image from the projector is incredibly clear and you can see every detail on your screen with great clarity eve in ambient light conditions.
The brightest picture quality, coupled with its amazing brightness rating, makes every movie even more awesome. And thanks to laser light source technology, you will never have to deal with flickering or ghosting.
HDR10+ compatible
LG HU85LA supports HDR10+ technology to give you an even more realistic view of any movie or TV show. With HDR10+, you can enjoy a more vibrant and realistic experience by getting to see accurate colors, so that no matter what you are watching, the colors are as vivid as they will ever be.
HDR 10+ is short for High Dynamic Range with a plus (+) sign meaning greater dynamic range than in HDR10.
You get a broader brightness range and color palette on your 4K UHD display that makes blockbusters even better, this means you can enjoy films the way their creators intended them to be enjoyed.
Advanced Edge Adjustment (12 Point Warping)
HU85LA’s image warping function helps you achieve the best visual experience by letting you control each point and manipulate the image in detail. This feature is incredibly useful especially when you are trying to make adjustments on big screens.
You may want to make some adjustments depending on your seating position or eye sight for example and HU85LA will allow you to get it done with ease.
The whole process of setting up is not very difficult but it’s not as basic as plugging it in and starting to use the feature either, so I highly recommend reading their manual, or doing more research before you can make a final decision.
Enjoy complete control over your TV entertainment
You have complete control over what you watch on LG HU85LA.
With the projector’s LG webOS lite, or sometimes called the “Magic Remote,” you have complete access to webOS Smart TV capability. Watching your favorite shows, movies in Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, and YouTube videos has never been easier because it will be at your fingertips anywhere in your house, at all times.
This means you can tune in to live football matches, listen to music on Spotify, browse through Facebook and Twitter with ease, or watch your favorite kid’s cartoons right in the comfort of your home theater.
You can also control your on-screen menu using the Magic Remote to scroll through your TV show or movie like you would do with a normal remote. Or use the Magic Remote to look for upcoming content and download it to watch in the future with just one click, without waiting for buffering.
WebOS Smart TV makes it very easy to enjoy a movie in private
WebOS Smart TV operating system gives you brilliant entertainment while allowing you to maximize control over everything that happens on screen. It’s your best choice for cloud-based entertainment.
With webOS Smart TV, you have the ability to keep track of your favorite movies, TV shows, and how much time you spend watching your favorite content.
LG also provides more than one thousand different apps that are customized for each of its models (sort of similar to Google Play Store) so you can use whatever you want as long as it is compatible with webOS Smart TV’s features.
Versatile connectivity
HU85LA makes use of wireless mirroring to take advantage of Miracast to project content onto a larger screen from any smartphone, tablet, and video game. It can also be used to project content from other devices such as computers, laptops, game consoles and so on.
It can also be paired with Bluetooth enable audio products as well as support many other common connectivity options.
The projector also supports HDMI inputs and outputs as well as MHL support for accessing multimedia content even from smartphones or tablets. You can also stream content from an external storage device to enjoy your favorite movies on the big screen without the hassle of replaying your videos on another device.
Tip: You can eliminate Wi-Fi dead zones with wireless networking – Having a Miracast compatible projector is great, but if you are stuck in place because there is a Wi-FI connection that just doesn’t work where you sit, then this is one feature of LG HU85LA you will be happy to take advantage of.
Includes LG ThinQ AI
LG CineBeam ThinQ AI helps you use your projector in the most convenient way. With LG ThinQ, you will enjoy a hands free voice control. You can begin by saying, “Hi, LG” and talk to it like you would with a member of your household when you want to get information on something and be entertained.
LG ThinQ will respond to you and carry on a meaningful conversation with utter naturalness.You can use these conversations in place of menus and other pop-up instructions.
ThinQ also has a deep learning feature. Meaning, the more you use, or interact with it, the more entertaining it gets and your life is also made easier. You will be able to achieve this by putting your device on Wi-Fi in range of the projector or by connecting it via Bluetooth so the projector can recognize your voice. Voice recognition also includes Google Assistant and Alexa built-in.
LG HU85LA has several features that will offer you the best cinema experience in your home. But when mishandled, these features can be a thorn to your entertainment. So let’s have a look at its limitations to help you make an informed decision.
Pros of LG HU85LA
Ease of Use – The machine is easy to roll out of the box. You don’t have to use your remote control. Just connect to WiFi and speak to HU85LA like you would with a friend. You can also find many setup guides online on how to get the projector ready in minutes.
Easy setup – You can setup HU85LA in any room around your house, and enjoy the best image quality.
Ultimate color accuracy – For brilliant, colorful images, the HU85LA has accurate and vivid color reproduction capability.
4K Upscaling – This feature will make all your media look outstanding. Transform your movies and shows into a brilliant experience by upscaling your favorite content to 4K.
Excellent up-time – This projector ensures you will never miss any of your favorite shows, no matter what time it is or where you are located. You can be on the couch, in bed, or even at another part of the house and you can still enjoy all those movies and television shows.
Cons of LG HU85LA
No HLG support – HU85LA does not support Hybrid Log Gamma HDR standard. This feature is supported in most 4K projectors, but since it’s not supported in HU85LA, you will miss out on some of its exciting features.
Pricey – The price of the projector is quite high (goes for $5,000), and this may be a turn off for many customers who are looking for affordable projectors.
If you’re not satisfied with the features in HU85LA, here are some of the 4K projectors you can consider.
Alternatives
BenQ TK700STi – is true 4K UHD graphics gaming projector that can smoothly handle various game modes, FPS, RPG and more. With it 4K UHD graphics, you will enjoy bright, bold, and color accurate images with beautiful details. Plus, TK700STi will save you thousands of dollars (goes for $1,699.9) while retaining all the features and capabilities in HU85LA. Besides being cheaper, it boasts the lowest input lag, around 16.9ms, which means faster load time, sharper image, and less motion blur in your favorite games.
Another cheaper alternative is the XGIMI Horizon Pro. This native 4K will project stunning images on your screen, up to 300-inch screen size. If you opt for Horizon Pro, you’ll only lose the voice control feature in HU85LA, but oh, boy, the AI on Horizon Pro will certainly make your cinema experience and setup process a breeze. Plus, its ultraportable, boots fast, has a longer lamp life, and a clear built-in speakers.
Conclusion
LG HU85LA is a stylish, reliable, and easy to use 4K UHD home theater projector with Alexa and other AI technologies. It is a very good investment if you are looking for a new home theater system with voice recognition. By using a variety of features, you can easily satisfy your entertainment needs. However, if this projector doesn’t meet your ultimate expectations, there are other affordable alternatives that will suffice all your entertainment needs.