Vankyo Performance V700W Projector Review

Home cinema tech has taken leaps and bounds in recent years, with advances in LED technology making them cheaper and better. There was a time when any projector under $300 was guaranteed to be rubbish, but now the mid- to low-end projectsn are very decent and provide bright, clear, good-quality images. Vankyo is one of the leading lights in that market. They are always surprising me with the quality and affordability of their devices, so I was very keen to take a look at its new Performance V700W Projector.

This is a sponsored article and was made possible by Vankyo. The actual contents and opinions are the sole views of the author who maintains editorial independence even when a post is sponsored.

Bringing Cinema Home

The Vankyo Performance V700W Projector is a native Full HD 1920 x 1080 video projector. This means the actual resolution of the projector is HD rather than a low resolution interpolated to higher res, as was the case in the past. The device has a bright 420 ANSI lumens lamp for visibility in daylight and a powerful and sophisticated sound system, containing two 5W speakers that create a rich, immersive 360-degree sound.

Packed in the Vankyo Performance V700W Projector box, you’ll find:

• Performance V700W Projector
• Slim and curvy remote
• Kettle-style power cable
• HDMI cable
• Lens cleaning kit
• Giant folding 120” screen
• Adhesive hooks for the screen

The projector case is 29.5 x 22 x 9.5 cm, and while there are smaller projectors out there I suspect, although larger than I would like, the size of the case contributes to the sound quality. There is an extendable leg at the front of the unit to raise the front up and down for positioning the image on the screen. As far as inputs. there are two HDMI and two USB ports. One of the USB ports does double duty as a wired connection for screen mirroring portable devices and phones. The built-in Bluetooth receiver means you can easily connect the projector to external wireless speakers if required.

There is also a headphone/wired speaker output socket and two IR receivers for the remote on the front and back of the unit. (As always, the IR signal bounces off the screen if you’re in front of the projector.) Also at the back, there is a knob for manual keystone correction, also known as adjusting the angle of the sides of the picture to make it square on the screen.

Movie Workhorse

It’s nice to finally get ahold of a projector that doesn’t really need external speakers to sound plenty good enough. If you put the projector on a table in front of your couch between you and the screen, the sound is perfectly aligned, and everything about the sound is clear and involving. I’ve heard a few 5W speaker projectors’ internal speakers, and these are really very good. Would they satisfy the most exacting hi-fi enthusiast? Probably not, but this is not for them.

The 360-degree sound, enhanced by Dolby Digital technology, is a good effect but not overwhelming and not really meant as a replacement for decent surround speakers. It does, however, add a pleasing and noticeable 3D dimension to the sound.

The picture on the Vankyo Performance V700W Projector is similarly impressive: bright, crisp and colorful. A few of the projectors I’ve owned in the past have struggled to provide anything like good image fidelity in daylight with open curtains. This one has no problems at all. At all times of day, the image is bright and colorful.

As mentioned earlier, the keystone angle is adjusted with a wheel knob at the back of the unit which I found a bit stiff and fiddly, but focus is handled by buttons on the remote. This is the first time I’ve experienced this kind of digital focus. I thought it would be imprecise and annoying, but it’s actually quite easy to use – it’s very nice not to have to be near the projector to alter it. You can sit in your chair and get focus from the place you’ll actually be watching.

Something the Vankyo Performance V700W Projector excels at is wireless connection and screen mirroring. This is something that used to be quite fiddly, and most of the ones I’ve used in the past either had difficulty connecting or problems with dropped connections.

Apparently, the bugs have been worked out of this system. As long as you have a good solid Wi-Fi signal, the projector shouldn’t drop the connection and only did once the whole time I was using it. That might be due to my terrible Wi-Fi.

But for safety, you also have the option of tethered mirroring via one of the rear USBs, and this would be a good idea if you really can’t have any dropouts, say for a business presentation or something. Options for iOS and Android are well catered for as well as Windows 10.

The screen sizes are great. It comes complete with a 120” fabric screen, which is obviously the ideal size, but if you don’t have room for that, bringing the distance down a bit gives you proportionally smaller sizes. A 2m distance gives you a screen of around 60”, which is the sweet spot in my space. It can go as low as 38” at 1.2M according to the manual, and as high as 224” at 6.5m, but you have to have some serious indoor real estate to make that happen.

I tried it at the last distance mentioned, and although the screen is still nice and bright, I suspect its ability to compete with sunshine coming in through windows could be a little impaired. You can’t change the laws of physics, as light will always get softer the further away it gets. But the Vankyo does an excellent job.

The screen is terrific, really thin and light, and slightly stretchy, so you can get it really nice and taught. Its weight won’t yank the hooks off the wall if you position them correctly.

Finally, although its cooling fan is by no means completely silent, you can’t hear it over the speakers at usual listening volume. It’s not loud by any means. Right next to the unit, my meter read 48dB, but at usual watching distance, that shrank to about 28dB. Basically, it adds about 20dB to normal quiet room tone without additional noise. This sound is easily drowned out by the speakers, especially if you use external ones.

Summary

The Vankyo Performance V700W Projector, priced at $299, is a great flagship product, a definite upgrade from the previous models: it’s brighter and more stable and delivers great quality movie-night pictures.