Hisense XR10: RGB Laser Projector Test and Review

Hisense XR10 is a projector for people for whom 100 inches is no longer enough. A triple RGB laser, optical zoom, large range of lens shift and the built-in VIDAA system are meant to allow comfortable use of images with 150-, 200- or even 300-inch diagonals. The price of about PLN 22,000 in our test, however, sets specific requirements for image quality. So we checked everything: from brightness to contrast, color reproduction and gaming capabilities, as well as how the XR10 performs in everyday use.

Hisense XR10: Is it worth buying? Verdict

The Hisense XR10 responds very well to the needs of a user who wants a truly large image but does not plan to build a dedicated home theater. The most impressive feature is the combination of high brightness with an extremely wide color gamut. On our 120-inch screen we measured about 300 nits in SDR, in viewing-appropriate settings. BT.2020 coverage was 97.5%. That is a solid foundation for impressive HDR.

The projector also convinces with its equipment. Motorized zoom and lens shift make installation easier without digital degradation of the image. VIDAA runs fast, the built-in speakers allow a standalone viewing session, and the operating noise in standard settings is good. You also get solid build quality and a case that is genuinely useful for transport.

The main compromise remains black level. Contrast of about 2500:1 with the iris open and about 5000:1 with it closed gives a good result, but in a dark room good LCoS projectors retain a clear advantage. You should also consider the possibility of noticing the rainbow effect, the lack of 4K at 120 Hz, and the shared white balance settings for SDR and HDR.

We recommend the XR10 primarily for large-screen use in a living room where you can limit ambient light during viewing. At 150–200 inch diagonals, its brightness, colors and ease of use form a very attractive package. Those who prioritize black depth above other features should compare it with LCoS designs under conditions similar to their own room.

Hisense XR10: Appearance and Build

We've unboxed many projectors, but the carrying case that comes with the XR10 still impressed us. It's sturdy, well finished, and more like a proper piece of luggage than electronics packaging. Inside you get the projector, a fabric sleeve, the remote, the power cord, and the documentation. Importantly, the case remains useful after the initial unboxing. You can stow the entire kit inside and carry it conveniently. During our tests we also placed the projector on top of it, and its sturdiness and height worked well for that role. The XR10 itself looks great. The housing is solid, and the finish befits gear in this price range. After all, this is a fairly substantial unit: about 11 kg in weight and a footprint measuring roughly 27 × 29 cm. It's a projector you can take with you, but day to day it's more likely to have a permanent spot in the living room.

Connections

There are enough connectors to hook up a console, a player, and a sound system without constantly swapping cables. eARC is especially handy, as it makes connecting the projector to a soundbar or AV receiver easier.

Hisense XR10 – Installation and Picture Setup

Automatic Adjustment

You can set the XR10 down, point it at a wall, and let it handle the rest. The projector automatically adjusts focus, corrects geometry and accounts for obstacles. In our tests it did this smoothly, and even when set at an angle we quickly got a rectangular image. That's convenient when we take the equipment elsewhere or just want to start a movie without lengthy setup. For a permanent installation it's worth spending a few minutes on more precise positioning, because the XR10 has really good tools for that.

Zoom and lens shift

The motorized 2.5× optical zoom lets you get a 120-inch image from a distance of about 2.2 to 5.3 m. That's a lot of flexibility: the projector can sit behind the sofa or closer to the back wall, depending on how the room is arranged. In addition, there's optical image shift in both vertical and horizontal axes. Lens shift allows you to adjust the projection position without tilting the unit. So we can place the XR10 below the screen or mount it on the ceiling and move the image into the right spot using the lens.

This is exactly how we'd set it up for everyday viewing: perpendicular to the screen, with the geometry adjusted optically. Digital keystone correction uses only part of the available projection area, which reduces image detail and can leave a dark border around the picture. With such an advanced optical system, it's a shame not to make use of it. Finally, we fine-tuned the focus manually. The autofocus got close, but a small tweak produced an even better result.

Hisense XR10 - Contrast and black level

With the iris open we measured around 2500:1. For a DLP projector that's a very good result and a big step forward compared with older designs of this type. In dark scenes you can see detail, the image stays readable, and shadows do not blend into a single blotch. However, when compared to a good LCoS projector in a darkened room, you'll notice a difference in the depth of black itself. On the XR10 it remains slightly gray. This is the most important compromise of this model and the feature that will be noticed especially by people accustomed to JVC or Sony cinema projectors.

The iris provides a noticeable improvement

With the iris fully closed, contrast rose to about 5000:1, roughly double. That's a change worth using during evening SDR viewing. You then have plenty of brightness, so you can give up some of it in exchange for better blacks.

Simply reducing the laser power works differently: it lowers the brightness of both whites and blacks. In our test, the iris improved the balance between them. There are seven manual settings and two automatic modes available: Cinema 1 and Cinema 2.

How does that look in a typical living room?

It depends a lot on the room. Bright walls and ceiling reflect light from the screen back onto its surface and worsen black levels. You notice this most easily in scenes where bright elements sit next to dark areas. That's why the advantage of a more expensive projector with very high contrast won't always be as large in the living room as in a controlled test room. The XR10 performs well in those conditions: it offers decent black levels while still giving you plenty of brightness for watching on a really large screen.

Hisense XR10 - HDR performance

Brightness is one of the main reasons the XR10 impressed us so much. On a 120-inch white matte Adeo screen with a gain of 1.0 we measured about 300 nits in SDR. That's with settings we'd normally use to watch a movie, not a mode set solely for the highest reading. Converting the on-screen measurements gives about 3700 lumens.

Brightness reproduction in HDR

When watching bright scenes, it quickly becomes clear why the projector has such headroom. The image has clear impact, and the brightest areas retain detail. Combined with a wide color gamut, this produces very impressive HDR. The projector adapts the material's brightness to its capabilities. On our screen, roughly a twofold downscaling of luminance compared with the values encoded by the PQ curve worked well. After applying that scale, the EOTF curve was very close to the target. Put simply: the image kept proper brightness relationships instead of excessively brightening some parts and losing others. We left the additional tone-mapping function disabled. In our setup it boosted the image too aggressively. Without it we achieved a more controlled result, with good brightness and detail in the highlights.

Dolby Vision and HDR10+

Dolby Vision worked well. Dark and Bright modes are available, and in the content I watched the bright highlights retained detail and didn't blow out into a white patch. The XR10 also supports HDR10+. Both formats use dynamic metadata, allowing HDR presentation to be adjusted for individual scenes. This is especially important for a projector, because the available brightness range needs to be used as effectively as possible.

150, 200, or maybe 300 inches? What screen size makes sense?

A large brightness margin makes you want to increase the image size. Based on a measurement at 120 inches, we calculated how the brightness would change at larger diagonals:

The calculations assume the same aspect ratio, screen gain and the same amount of light reaching it. In a specific installation the zoom setting will also matter. 150 to 200 inches looks like a very attractive range here. You get a huge image, and the brightness is still sufficient for HDR to make an impact. At 120 inches the effect will be stronger; at 200 inches the sheer scale of the projection will play a bigger role. We can choose the balance between those two factors to suit our room and preferences. 300 inches can also be justified. That works out to about 48 nits, a level associated with classic cinema SDR. In a well-darkened room you can therefore go really large with the diagonal.

Hisense XR10: Factory colors

Colors are produced by three separate lasers: red, green, and blue. We measured 97.5% coverage of BT.2020 and full DCI-P3. It's one of the most impressive results in the entire test. The wide gamut lets it reproduce very intense colors found in HDR content. The XR10, however, uses it judiciously. For regular SDR content it limits the colors to Rec.709, so you don't see everything with overly boosted saturation. It shows its full capabilities when the material actually needs them.

For viewing we chose Filmmaker mode. Out of the box it already provided a good starting point: gamma tracked close to the target and the white balance was only slightly warm. The picture didn't require major correction to comfortably sit down and enjoy a movie.

Hisense XR10: Colors after calibration

Calibration went smoothly. On our sample a two-point white balance adjustment was enough to remove a slight warm tint. The remaining errors dropped to a level we didn't notice during normal viewing. There's also a 20-point adjustment and a full color management system. It's a good set of tools for fine-tuning the image to a specific screen and room. This time we didn't need to use all the options.

Laser power and white balance

When setting up the XR10 you need to account for one thing: white balance is shared between SDR and HDR, and the white point shifts with laser power. At maximum power the image moves more toward green. We calibrated the projector at maximum power because our priority was HDR. If someone watches SDR with the laser heavily dimmed and HDR at full power, a single correction won't be ideal for both settings. Separate white balance memories would really help here.

Hisense XR10 - Resolution and image sharpness

After manually adjusting the focus, the XR10 looked very good. Small text, object edges, and UI elements in games were legible both in the center and toward the edges of the screen. We didn't have to choose between a sharp center and blurry corners. From very close up, you could notice slight colored fringing on high-contrast edges. During a normal viewing session, however, we paid much more attention to the overall good level of detail across the image.

How does 4K work here?

Inside there's a 0.47-inch DLP imager with a physical micromirror count corresponding to Full HD. The XPR mechanism is used to display 4K. The image is shifted very quickly between four positions, and each position shows a different part of the frame's information.

This way the projector addresses more than eight million positions on the screen. On fine test patterns, a good native 4K imager can resolve the most delicate structures more clearly. In movies the difference is much harder to notice, especially from a normal viewing distance. In practice, the XR10's level of detail is definitely closer to 4K than to Full HD. On a large screen this produces a well-crafted, sharp image that invites watching high-quality content.

Hisense XR10 - Motion blur and motion handling

The XR10 displays 4K at 60 Hz and Full HD at 240 Hz. For movies there's also a single-slider motion smoothing feature that lets you adjust the smoothness to your preferences. At a moderate setting it worked well and didn't introduce noticeable artifacts in the material we watched. You can thus slightly calm motion without straying too far from the cinematic look. Viewers who prefer stronger smoothing also have room to increase it. A Full HD signal at 120 Hz is accepted and internally displayed at 240 Hz with frame repetition. To make the most of the top refresh rate, provide a native 240 Hz signal, for example from a PC.

Rainbow effect

The XR10 is a single‑chip DLP projector, so it displays color components sequentially. Some viewers may notice brief colored flashes when shifting their gaze, especially on bright text or objects against a dark background. Sensitivity to this effect is highly individual. If you’ve already watched a DLP projector, you probably know how you react to it. For a first-time purchase, it’s best to check for this during a short demo that includes demanding scenes.

Hisense XR10 - Features for gamers

Playing on a very large screen is one of the more enjoyable ways to use the XR10. There are two main settings to choose from: 4K at 60 Hz when you want detail, and Full HD at 240 Hz when speed is the priority.

For graphically focused and more relaxed gameplay we'd choose 4K/60 Hz. Full HD at 240 Hz will be more interesting for people playing fast PC titles. The projector supports ALLM, so it can switch itself into game mode when it detects the appropriate signal. 1440p at 120 Hz did not work well in our tests — the projector accepted the signal but dropped frames. So we'd stick with the two main modes.

Input lag

9 ms at Full HD and 240 Hz is a very good result. In this setting the XR10 delivers low latency that's suited to fast-paced gaming. At 4K/60 Hz we measured 35 ms, and with DLP Turbo enabled it drops to 21 ms. The difference can matter in games that require quick reactions. Turbo does affect colors, so for more relaxed titles we'd keep the standard mode and use the extra latency reduction only where it's needed.

Hisense XR10: Choosing a screen and watching in the living room

We tested the XR10 on a standard white matte Adeo screen with a gain of 1.0. Even on that surface we achieved a very bright image, so achieving a good result did not require a higher-gain screen.

We also didn't notice laser speckle on our screen, a fine, shimmering texture that can appear with laser light sources. This is an important observation, because such a texture can distract from the movie. In this case the image was clean in that regard. When choosing a different projection material, it's best to test it with the projector, because the screen surface affects the visibility of this phenomenon.

How much ambient light can remain in the room?

The XR10’s high brightness gives you more flexibility for less demanding viewing, although you'll get the best contrast by reducing light on the screen. For an evening movie, simply close the curtains and turn off lamps that illuminate the projection surface.

Hisense XR10: Operation, VIDAA and apps

In everyday use the XR10 feels like a TV. You turn it on, pick an app and start a movie. VIDAA is responsive, and access to the major streaming services lets you use the projector without an external set-top box. That's especially convenient when you move it to another location. You don't need to set up a full installation with a player and extra cables. To use the apps you only need power and a network connection. AirPlay is also available.

Remote well suited to the projector

The remote is backlit and has dedicated buttons for adjusting laser power and focus. These are small details you appreciate immediately, because those are the settings you reach for when preparing a viewing. You don't have to hunt for them deep in the menu every time. There are also shortcuts to streaming services, and you don't need to point the remote at the screen to control it. Overall it's comfortable and a good match for a device we often use in the dark.

3D support

The XR10 supports active 3D, including frame packing and side-by-side. Compatible DLP-Link glasses are required, and unfortunately must be purchased separately.

The projector's high brightness comes in very handy here, because the glasses reduce the amount of light reaching your eyes. For people with a Blu-ray 3D collection, it's a good reason to revisit favorite titles, this time on a really big screen.

Hisense XR10 - Sound

You don't usually expect much from a projector's speakers. The XR10 pleasantly surprised us: you can hear bass, it gets loud enough, and you can comfortably watch a movie without connecting extra equipment. Inside are two 8 W speakers and a 15 W subwoofer, tuned by Devialet. The sound is closer to that of a decent TV than to the basic auxiliary speaker you often find in projectors. This setup makes a lot of sense for occasional movie nights or when traveling. For a permanent home theater setup, we'd add a soundbar or an AV receiver with speakers to achieve a larger soundstage and anchor dialogue to the screen. Connecting via eARC is a convenient solution here.

Noise and cooling

The XR10 uses a closed-loop liquid cooling system. The effect while watching is good: in standard modes the projector ran quietly, even at maximum laser power. From the couch its hum was barely audible. A noticeable change appeared after enabling the "brightness boost" feature. The projector became louder, and the image gained a greenish tint. For movies we'd leave this feature off, because the default settings already provide plenty of light and a much more pleasing picture.

Hisense XR10 - Technical details and test conditions

Watch the full Hisense XR10 test, including a presentation of the device and Maciej's explanation of the measurements, in our video review.

The projector used in the test was loaned to us by Hisense. The manufacturer had no influence over the content of the review or the measurement results.