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- Sharp images and vibrant colour
- Great for PC and console gaming
- Good value for money
- Weak audio
- Lacklustre HDR
- Minimal features
Like the other big names in home cinema gear, Optoma is transitioning from more traditional lamp-based projectors to compact models based on LED or laser tech. The new Optoma Photon Life PK32 is smaller, lighter and quieter than much-loved models like the Optoma UHD38. It’s easier to set up, and its light source will last for up to 30,000 hours.
Yet what I’ve come to appreciate about this projector is the way it keeps things simple. It’s not the most stylish projector. It hasn’t got a load of fancy lifestyle features. It isn’t even designed to be a one-box home cinema experience. It’s just a good 4K projector offering dependable image quality at a surprisingly affordable price.
What do you get for the money?
For £699, you’re getting a 4K projector that uses a 4 x LED light source to beam images of between 60in and 150in at a maximum brightness of 1,100 lumens. It uses a DLP chip with a 1920 x 1080 native resolution, then uses pixel shifting to simulate 4K. Optoma’s new Time-of-Flight tech gives you auto-focus and auto-keystone correction in seconds, while a dedicated Game mode makes this a good option for PC or console gamers. The PK32 supports the basic HDR and HLG formats, but not HDR10+ or Dolby Vision.
As with the BenQ GP520, the switch from a conventional lamp to LED makes for a much smaller unit: the PK32 measures just 238 x 215 x 130mm (WDH). There’s nothing all that stylish about the matte black plastic shell or the overall design, but it’s practical and unobtrusive. The foot at the front screws out to give you some tilt, and there’s a socket on the bottom for a tripod or ceiling mount.
The optical system includes a zoom and limited lens shift, giving you more flexibility in your positioning and a throw ratio of 1.12 to 1.46:1. You can have a 60in image with a distance of 1.69m, or a 100in image at 2.47m, so it should work in most medium-sized to large living rooms. In theory, you can go as big as 150in with a distance of 3.7m, but I suspect you’d lose some brightness and contrast at that range. The sweet spot is probably 80in to 120in.
In a way, what you don’t get for the money is just as notable as what you get. There are built-in speakers, but they’re just 5W apiece, and Optoma doesn’t make any claims about immersive surround sound. There’s also no onboard streaming, just two USB ports for your consoles, Blu-ray players or streaming sticks. One supports eARC, and you also get a USB-A port to power a streaming stick, a USB-C port and a 3.5mm audio out.
What does it do well?
First, this is a really simple projector to work with. The upside of having no streaming facilities is that you can just connect your sources, select a source and let the auto-keystone and auto-focus do their thing. The on-screen menus are straightforward to follow, and while the compact remote control could do with a little more separation in the key layout, it’s fairly quick and easy to make adjustments or switch between options. There are eight picture modes – Vivid, HDR, HLG, Cinema, Game, Reference, Bright and 3D – and they’re all reasonably self-explanatory. You’re locked to the HDR and HLG modes when viewing HDR or HLG content. Yet there are more detailed colour and geometry controls if you need them.
Second, picture quality is very decent, especially given the comparatively limited brightness levels. You don’t get the ultra-crisp definition or vibrant colours I’ve seen recently from the Hisense C2 Pro (£1,499) or XGIMI Horizon S Pro (£1,189), but both projectors go significantly brighter and are significantly more expensive. Watching Star Wars: Andor, John Wick 3: Parabellum and The Northman, the PK32 gave me clarity and 4K images with a real sense of depth.
Colours look natural without seeming muted, and I found the HDR and Cinema modes gave me the kind of nuanced, cinematic presentation that I sometimes struggle to get on more expensive projectors without a lot of tweaking. Motion is fluid but not artificially smooth, and there’s plenty of texture and detail. Even HD content, including the original Arnold Schwarzenegger Running Man, looked good.
I couldn’t hit Optoma’s claimed 95% coverage of DCI-P3, but 82.3% in the Vivid mode is very good for a projector at this price point, and it covers 96.5% of sRGB with a 126.7% gamut volume. Blacks aren’t perfect, but they’re not too grey or muddy either, and colour accuracy is surprisingly good, with an average Delta E of just 2.09 in our tests in Reference mode.
Most of all, this is a great gaming projector, much like the old Optoma UHD38. It doesn’t go anywhere near as bright – the UHD38’s lamp could reach 4,000 lumens – but it’s bright enough for night-time gaming, and during sessions of Doom: The Dark Ages and Sonic Racing Crossworlds, I experienced no nasty smearing artefacts or obtrusive lag. In Game mode, colours look really punchy, and the image seems tuned to pick up shadow detail. I recorded an impressively low 4.6ms input lag, and you can even game at 1080p/120Hz on consoles or PCs that support it, which I found perfect for Doom’s intense and ultraviolet demon-slaying battles.
What could it do better?
The lack of Dolby Vision and HDR10+ is a bit of a non-issue because the PK32 struggles to do any HDR all that well. Highlights have a bit more zing than with HDR content, but I’ve seen the neons of John Wick 3, and the incoming blasts of Doom look a lot brighter. If you want more convincing HDR, you really need to pay more for something with a higher luminance ceiling.
The sound is also disappointing. I knew going in that the speakers didn’t have much power, but I was still surprised by how thin and weightless the output is, especially if you’re playing games or watching big movies. Even on smaller-scale TV shows, the dialogue seems muffled. There’s no Bluetooth, so I’d recommend hooking up a soundbar or – for late-night viewing – simply plugging some headphones in.
While this isn’t a noisy projector, it still puts out around 30 to 32dBA in everyday use, at a pitch that’s slightly distracting during quiet moments. You won’t notice so much if you’re using external speakers, but it’s an issue if you’re relying on the weedy onboard sound.
Should you buy the Optoma Photon Life PK32?
The poor sound and lack of built-in streaming might put you off if you’re looking for a one-box home cinema system, but I think the Photon Life PK32 has a lot to offer anyone who’s just after a big screen projector. It’s a good partner for consoles or 4K Blu-ray players, and can always be augmented with a streaming stick. It worked like gangbusters with a Roku Streaming Stick 4K powered through the USB slot.
In terms of picture quality, it ranks above the Philips GamePix 900 and Anker Nebula Cosmos 4KSE, and you’d really need to stretch to the BenQ GP520 to get a sharper, brighter picture. So while it might be a basic, no-frills option, the PK32 scores some big wins on value for money.
