Hisense C2 Ultra 4K Projector Review - Luxury is a Whopping Big 4K Screen
Over the years, I have been lucky enough to review some really cool tech. Tech that I really didn’t want to send back. Some amazing monitors, cool laptops and even some stunning TVs have crossed my path, and the need to return these tech wonders has always hurt a little. But in all that time, my family, a decidedly un-tech-nerdy bunch, has never felt the same. I excitedly tell them all about these devices, patiently explaining why they are such a leap in technology, but still, they just don’t seem to care that they won’t have that item in their lives anymore. That is, until now. The current bit of gear that I am obsessed with has transcended my nerdiness and infected the entire family. I had friends coming up with dodgy plans, so I didn’t have to send it back. My kids have been at me constantly to say it got lost in the mail. They just don’t want to let it go.
Let me introduce you to the Hisense C2 Ultra 4K Projector. Honestly, it has invaded my and my family’s lives.
There are two disclaimers I need to get out of the way before we kick off the praise. The first is price. The C2 Ultra is a pricey beast, coming in at around the $4K mark. That is quite a lot of moolah, there is no denying, and it puts this item very squarely into the luxury zone. The second is a simple fact of life for projectors. You need a big blank wall or screen to get the most out of it, and lighting is always a concern. You can forget using it in the daytime unless you have some great curtains or a dedicated media room built to suit. You just can’t beat the sun, no matter how much you spend.
Now let’s get to the good stuff. The C2 Ultra is a 4K projector that can project up to 300″, which is around the 6m mark. Yes, you read that right, 4K on a 6m screen. It does so with a beautiful 4K upscaler to bring your 1080 and even 720 content to a new level, and while these lower quality sources don’t look quite as good as something that was produced in 4K, it is pretty darn close. I had a blast going through some old classic TV shows like Red Dwarf and Black Books, watching them at a quality I had never seen before. I hit it with fast-motion live sports, no problems at all. A full-on bombastic cinema experience like Avatar, just stunning. Hell, we even watched some cooking shows, and frankly, a picture has never made me hungrier. I have seriously never seen a projector produce such a high-quality picture.
I am lucky in that I have set my backyard up for projector use. We have previously just used a standard work projector hooked up to a laptop, and comparing that setup to this is like comparing a Datsun Stanza with an Aston Martin Vanquish. Everything just works; there is no need to fiddle with focus or levels. The C2 Ultra does it all for you. It automatically detects the screen size, adjusts the picture, determines the lighting and even adjusts to the colour of the wall or screen you are using. There is no input required by the user for all of this to occur. As for the rest of it, it works just as your home TV does, using Hisense’s proprietary TV operating system. If you have ever used a modern TV, you know what you are getting here. All the apps you will ever need, easy logins and, sadly, a few ads just to annoy.
Perhaps the thing that impressed me more than anything, though, was the sound. On my old setup, I was pretty much forced to run cables from my PC to my amp to get decent sound, simply because of the vagaries of Bluetooth connections and things like delay. Here, the point is moot because the base of the projector is a 2.1 JBL soundbar that goes toe-to-toe with any $800-1000 soundbar I have used. It supports DTS Virtual 3D surround sound, has a beautiful tone and, considering the size, a surprisingly deep bass. One of my highlights of my time with the C2 Ultra is playing some of my old concert Blu-rays on the projector, cranking up the likes of Metallica, AC/DC and Slipknot to the point that my wife was rousing on me before the neighbours did. Seriously impressive stuff.
Considering we are a video game website, it would be remiss of me not to mention the video game performance. My experience with projectors and gaming hasn’t been positive in the past. There are always lag and latency issues that seem to pop up, at least in the systems I’ve used. That is certainly not the case here. The C2 Ultra automatically adjusts to give the best possible gaming performance, reducing lag and improving response times. I played my Xbox Series, PS5 and Switch 2 on it and they all performed beautifully.
The C2 Ultra has a big “Designed for Xbox” sticker on it, and frankly, I am not sure what that means apart from that it works well with game systems and seems to recognise an Xbox natively. But hell, the other systems aren’t exactly any harder to set up. All three required me to do some fiddling to get the best HDR implementation, but that is normal anytime you connect one of these systems to a new screen. That minor fiddling is well worth it, though. Outdoor gaming became a common pastime while I had my hands on the C2 Ultra. Do you know how much fun four-player Mario Kart is on a screen this large? It is glorious, I tell you.
There is one last thing I want to talk about, and that is light levels. Using a projector in the backyard has been fraught with lighting problems in my experience. Things like a BBQ light, a light from inside or even someone’s phone can really diffuse what is happening on screen. Not the case with the C2 Ultra. I had my cooking lights on, kitchen lights on, hell, I even used it at dusk with the sun low in the sky, and it still performed well. The picture only disintegrated if I shone another light source directly on the screen. It is pretty impressive, I have to say.
Yes, as I said earlier in my review, the C2 Ultra is a pricey beast, but as soon as you use it, you can see where that money goes. Every feature works beautifully. Old movies are brought to life, gaming is perfect, and the sound system is simply astounding. The C2 Ultra is easily the best bit of audio/visual gear I have ever had the pleasure to use. So much so that I am going to truly upset my friends and family when I send it back. If you have the space and the money, I can’t recommend it enough.
