What makes it so different?
Okay, so first things first – the reason the Hisense 100L5 costs less money than many regular 75-inch + TVs is not because it’s using some cheap hardware. It's simply because this technological masterpiece is technically an ultra-short throw projector that has been combined with a rigid 100-inch projection screen, one that rejects ambient light, so that there’s no need to darken the room like one has to with projectors. The joy of watching England lose at home was seriously amplified dramatically with the experience this marvellous TV created for us. Very different from an average projector, this unique projector-TV is supported by DLP technology, which means there is no lamp-replacement hassle. It comes with a tuner as well as a built-in smart TV system with support for most key streaming apps. Much like a TV, or even better than some, the amount of brightness and colour it can retain despite keeping the lights on is incredible - it manages to deliver a pretty convincing 4K look.
Design
It comes in a rigid 100-inch screen that fits perfectly on our wall. It was no less than a dream come true to enjoy the most sport-packed weekend of the year, with the Wimbledon finals, the Copa America and UEFA Euro 2020 matches, sprinkled with some MMA as well, making it very difficult for us to leave the room. Coming back to the design, the ultra-short throw projector on this is placed very close to the screen, so, even though we could see that it’s there, it wasn’t coming in our way or anything. This device incorporates a powerful speaker system, and we think it’s way better than a lot of TV speakers indeed. While it does come in two parts, the projector and the screen, the screen is actually thinner than a majority of the LCD TVs on the market. The 100L5 is equipped with a smart sensor that can turn the laser off when it detects anyone starting to lean over the image aperture.
Connectivity
It has four HDMIs, just like a TV, but unfortunately, there is no support for 4K at 120Hz, variable refresh rates or eARC. A regular audio return channel is supported, and there is a pair of USB inputs for multimedia file playback. It also has an optical digital audio output, a headphone jack, and Ethernet and Wi-Fi network options. More unexpectedly, it has an RF port for a built-in digital TV tuner.
Smart TV (VIDAA)
Hisense has opted to use its own VIDAA system for this TV and we think it works super smoothly. We were able to navigate around its simple, icon-driven menus without experiencing any sluggishness. Hisense has offers in place with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube. There is no voice recognition support on this, though, but we truly believe that VIDAA’s simplicity will be very welcome with most users who don’t really care much for voice input support.
Performance
This laser TV’s high, laser-inspired brightness delivers punchy and vibrant visuals – something that truly makes up for not being there in the stadium to watch our favourite football players live, because this TV does bring them to life with vivid details, right in our living room. We saw some surprisingly full-blooded colours, complementing our emotions perfectly as Italy inched towards victory after a nail-biting match. The L5 from HiSense actually delivers some eye-catching intensity that we know for a fact that projectors are just unable to able to manage in well-lit rooms room. The brightness delivered by this TV is supported perfectly with an incredibly wide colour gamut that helps the 100L5 steer clear of washed-out colours. This splendid combination of high brightness and wide colour range from HiSense enables it to produce some really amazing high dynamic range (HDR) pictures, especially for a projector. The 100L5 delivers pictures that are crisp and sharp, as native HD sources are upscaled neatly to help it gain extra density and sharpness, making it really look like 4K even though it really isn’t. The penalty shootouts had us at the edge of our seats with this amazing entertainment solution.
Audio
The speakers on the HiSense 100L5 laser TV are astonishingly powerful, and way better than what TVs usually offer. Their 2x15W of rated power along with the projector’s robust design help deliver incredibly potent and well-rounded sound that is free of distortions. We usually connect an external set of speakers for sporting events like these, but with this laser TV, we just did not need to. Being placed on the rear end, these speakers were able to fill up our not-so-small living room to deliver the perfect experience we needed to enjoy the gruelling match between Italy and England.
Conclusion
All in all, this laser TV from Hisense is a great option if you are looking to invest in a huge screen at a not-so-huge price. Hisense’s clever UST projector solution delivers a crisp and bright 100-inch picture in a TV-like configuration for less money than many smaller TVs. If you don’t like to darken your room every time you watch something, like you have to with most projectors, this can be a great investment.
