The Epson Home Cinema 3800 is a 4k HDR LCD projector. It projects an 80" image at a distance of approximately 8 feet, 100" at a distance of ~10 feet, and 120" at a distance of ~12 feet. The projector has Epson's 4k PRO-UHD technology with a 3-chip design, allowing it to project colorful and sharp images with double the resolution of 1080p. It's fully 10-bit HDR capable and has manual focus and lens-shifting settings. The projector has two HDMI 2.0 ports for full 4k @ 60Hz gaming, Bluetooth with aptX support, and two integrated 10W speakers.
Our Verdict
The Epson 3800 is great for watching movies. It's very bright, so it performs well in bright rooms, and it's even better when the lights are dimmed due to its great contrast. While it doesn't have a wide color gamut, colors pop due to the projector's brightness. The 3800's color accuracy is excellent out-of-the-box, and it looks fabulous after calibration due to the projector's 11-point white balance and full-color calibration features.
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Very bright projector with excellent brightness uniformity.
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Great contrast for a pleasant viewing experience in dark rooms.
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Excellent color accuracy nearly out-of-the-box, which you can improve even further with calibration.
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Doesn't have Wi-Fi and lacks a smart interface.
- 8.2 Movies
- Updated May 21, 2024: Updated text throughout the review according to Test Bench 0.9, mainly in the Verdict, Compared To Other Projectors and Contrast sections.
- Updated May 21, 2024: We've converted this review to Test Bench 0.9. We've overhauled our Contrast tests, as we now measure contrast at various average pixel levels (APL). You can see the full changelog here.
- Updated Feb 29, 2024: We fixed a slight measurement error in our contrast results. The Contrast text box and score have been updated, and the text in the review was adjusted to reflect the resulting slight bump in contrast.
- Updated Feb 13, 2024: Review published.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We bought and tested the Epson 3800 projector. It has no variants, but Epson has other projectors in their Home Cinema line, like the lower-end Epson Home Cinema 1080 and the higher-end Epson Home Cinema 5050UB.
You can see the label here.
Compared To Other Projectors
The Epson 3800 is a great projector. It's pricey but offers some of the best performance in its class. It's almost as good as the more expensive Epson Home Cinema 5050UB, making the 3800 a better buy for most people. The XGIMI HORIZON Ultra has more features than the Epson, like an integrated smart OS and full Wi-Fi 6 support, but the Epson, in turn, has much better image quality. Overall, if image quality is what you care about, it's hard to beat the Epson 3800.
Check out our recommendations for the best home projectors and the best projectors for home theater. If you'd prefer a cheaper unit, look up the best projectors under $1,000 instead.
The Epson Home Cinema 5050UB is slightly better than the Epson Home Cinema 3800. The 3800 has higher peak brightness than its more expensive sibling. Still, the 5050UB has slightly better contrast and a noticeably wider color gamut, so it's the better-looking of the two projectors when watching movies in a dark room.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 is much better than the BenQ HT3550. The Epson is much brighter, and has way better contrast with significantly brighter colors. It's also vastly more accurate before calibration and has near-perfect accuracy post-calibration. The BenQ is smaller and lighter and has auto keystone correction on the vertical axis, so it's easier to carry around and faster to install.
The BenQ X3000i has more features than the Epson Home Cinema 3800, but the Epson is slightly better for watching movies due to being brighter and having better contrast than the BenQ. The Epson is barebones regarding features, as it doesn't come with Wi-Fi or a smart interface, while the BenQ comes with an Android TV 10 dongle for smart apps, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth support. It's also better for gaming with full 1080p @ 240Hz support.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 is better than the XGIMI HORIZON Ultra for watching movies with its higher brightness, better color accuracy, and superior contrast. The XGIMI, however, has more features, with full Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth connectivity and a full suite of image correction features.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 is better than the Optoma UHD35. The Epson offers better image quality as it's much brighter, is significantly more accurate overall, and has better contrast. The Optoma has the edge for gaming, however, as it can do 1080p @ 240Hz with low input lag.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 is better than the Hisense C1. The Epson has a more traditional design, while the Hisense is aimed at those who want an all-in-one projector; that is, it's more compact and has a smart OS for built-in streaming. The Epson gets much brighter, making it better suited to rooms with ambient lighting, and its optical zoom gives you more flexibility with placement. However, in a dedicated room where you can control its placement, the Hisense has much to offer, including a sharp, vibrant image and Dolby Vision support.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 is better than the BenQ HT4550i for watching movies due to its edge in brightness and contrast, but the BenQ is the more modern device with its smart features and better gaming capabilities. The BenQ also has a much wider color gamut, but the Epson, in turn, is the more accurate of the two projectors out of the box. The BenQ comes with an Android TV 11 smart dongle with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support, while the Epson doesn't have any smart features, although it does have Bluetooth with aptX support. Finally, the BenQ is also much better for gamers due to its 1080p @ 240Hz with low input lag capabilities.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 and BenQ X500i are very different projectors and appeal to different needs. The Epson is a barebones projector that offers the best possible image quality at its price point but without any streaming features or any advanced gaming capabilities. The BenQ, on the other hand, has a well-rounded set of features, looks great in dim or dark rooms, and has full streaming and wireless connectivity due to its included dongle. If you're looking for the best possible image quality and you don't care about extra features, go for the Epson, but if you have varied needs and are mostly planning on using the projector in a dim or dark room, then for most people the BenQ has a bit more to offer.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 has better image quality than the Epson EpiqVision Ultra LS800, but the LS800 has more features. The LS800 comes with a full suite of smart and wireless features, while the 3800 is barebones and requires an external streaming dongle if you need smart features. The LS800 is also easier to place in a room due to its Ultra Short Throw capabilities, although the 3800 has an optical zoom, which lets you adjust the projection's size without moving the unit. The 3800 also has better contrast and is vastly more accurate than the LS800, both out-of-the-box and after calibration.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 is much better than the Epson Home Cinema 1080. Everything the 1080 can do, the 3800 can do better. The 3800 is brighter, has HDR support, has better contrast and a wider color gamut, and projects a sharper image with its pixel-shifting technology. It even has slightly better pre-calibration accuracy than the already great 1080.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 and Hisense PX1-PRO are somewhat different projectors, but the Epson has the Hisense beat regarding pure image quality. The Epson is much brighter and has better contrast than the Hisense, so it's the better-looking of the two, even if the Hisense has a wider color gamut. The Epson is also vastly more accurate out of the box, so you don't need to worry about calibration. The Hisense has way more features than the Epson, but it can't compensate for the image quality gap.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 is better than the Epson EpiqVision Ultra LS300, although the LS300 has more connectivity options and smart features. The LS300 is also an Ultra Short Throw projector, so you can install it very close to the screen. Still, the Home Cinema 3800 is a 4k projector (with pixel shift), is a bit brighter, has better contrast, and is noticeably more color-accurate after calibration, so it's the better-looking of the two projectors.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 is much better than the XGIMI HORIZON Pro. The Epson is significantly brighter and is vastly more accurate pre and post-calibration. The XGIMI has a wider color gamut but isn't bright enough to make its colors pop. The XGIMI has more features than the Epson, as it has a full set of automatic image correction features, Wi-Fi support, and integrated Android TV smart OS with full casting capability.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 is much better than the Epson EpiqVision Flex CO-W01. The 3800 has vastly better contrast and pre-calibration image accuracy, and it projects a sharper image with its 4k pixel-shifting technology. However, the Flex is better for office work due to its 16:10 aspect ratio, while the 3800 is better suited for watching movies due to its 16:9 ratio.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 is better than the Formovie THEATER for watching movies, as the Epson is much brighter and is vastly more accurate. The Formovie has better contrast, so it has a slight edge over the Epson in dark rooms. The Formovie also has more features, as it comes with Android TV 11, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, while the Epson requires you to purchase an external streaming dongle if you need any smart features. However, the Epson isn't a UST projector, so you must install it further away from the wall or screen than the Formovie.
Test Results
This projector isn't meant to be portable as it's quite heavy and lacks an integrated battery, so you need to plug it in. The projector lacks auto keystone correction, so you'll need to adjust the image geometry manually, and it also doesn't have autofocus. It does have two 10W speakers.
This LCD projector uses a lamp as its light source, which can last from 3500 to about 5000 hours, according to the manufacturer, after which you'll need to swap the lamp for a new one. It's not a true 4k projector, as it uses pixel shifting to create a higher-resolution image. This offers better quality than a pure 1080p projector but isn't as good as a native 4k projector.
This projector's peak brightness is excellent. It's extremely bright, uniform, and has vibrant colors. It's bright enough to look good in bright rooms, but like other projectors, it looks best when you dim the lights.
This projector has great native contrast, leading to a pleasant viewing experience in dark rooms.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 4k has excellent pre-calibration accuracy. There are minor accuracy errors in its white balance and colors, but they're not noticeable. Its color temperature leans slightly on the cold side, giving everything a subtle blue tint.
This projector has full 11-point white balance calibration and color calibration. It looks spectacular after calibration, with fantastic color and white balance accuracy, and its color temperature is exactly on target.
The Epson HC3800 has a decently wide color gamut. It does an excellent job with the Rec. 709 color space used with SDR content, although it struggles with the wider Rec. 2020 color space. If you'd prefer more saturated colors at the cost of color accuracy, setting the projector's color space to Rec. 2020 does result in a wider, but less accurate, color gamut in the Rec. 709 space, as seen here.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 doesn't have a smart OS and isn't cast capable, but it does have two 10W speakers.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 projector has a 2.0A DC Out USB port for power delivery, like for a streaming dongle or something of that nature. It also has a 12v trigger out port to connect your screen to it; this allows you to signal the screen to unfold when the projector powers on and inversely retract the screen when it's powered off. Unfortunately, the projector doesn't support Wi-Fi, but it does support Bluetooth with aptX.