LG CineBeam PU700R

Placement and setup

The reason to pay for this projector is the stand. A 6.8 lb barrel sits in a cradle that rotates 90 degrees, so it runs on a nightstand aimed at the ceiling, on a sideboard aimed at a wall, or outdoors with no mounting hardware. There is no tripod mount, which is an odd omission for a projector sold on flexible placement.

The catch is the setup that is supposed to make that flexibility hands-off. CNN’s unit arrived out of focus, could not be focused from the projector or the remote, and needed repeated nudges to retry; manual focus exists but sits several menus deep and cannot be read while the image is out of focus. Autofocus was slow to start and slow to finish, and Auto Screen Adjustment keystone was often off target. PCMag hit the same family of bug, with Auto Screen Match adding extreme keystone distortion on repeated tries, and LG later released a firmware fix. Projector Reviews found the adjustment range limited and capable of misaligning the projector, though it praises the manual edge controls. If you need the projector to square itself up automatically, test that first.

Picture, sound and apps

Brightness is honest. PCMag’s center-spot check agreed with the rating. Brightness falls away quickly in the energy-saving modes, from 1,002 down through 933 and 820 to 676 lumens in Vivid across the three saver levels. For room sizing, PCMag’s guidance is the useful number: 1,000 lumens suits a 120–165 in screen in a dark room, and with his preferred settings it was comfortable at 90 in in a dark room or 80 in at night in a lit room, but washed out at 80 in during the day. CNN puts the practical ceiling lower, staying crisp in the 60-inch range and washing out past that without blackout curtains.

Color is a strength. CNN called the picture crisp and colorful with a realistic Standard mode, Projector Reviews rated skin tones excellent and free of the blue-green cast of other LG LED models, and PCMag praised Cinema and Filmmaker. Blacks are the limit: PCMag could not follow the darkest scenes at default settings and fixed it by raising the black level, which costs HDR contrast, and Projector Reviews describes blacks as dark grey rather than inky.

Sound is the most contested point. The smart side has gaps too: no Netflix, HBO Max or Hulu in the webOS store, slow processing that makes navigation sluggish, inconsistent motion smoothing, one HDMI port and no Ethernet. AirPlay 2, Bluetooth Dual Sound Out to two devices, and HDMI ARC for a soundbar are all present, and an inexpensive streaming stick covers the missing apps.

Running costs and upkeep

There is almost nothing to replace. The RGB LED light source is rated up to 30,000 hours and the light path is sealed, so there is no lamp and no dust filter, and upkeep is essentially cleaning the lens and case. Nobody found a parts catalogue, a service manual or a teardown for this model, so do not count on user-serviceable internals. The warranty is one year parts and labor.

The real ownership costs are the extras a fixed living-room setup would not need. A 1.0–1.3 gain ALR screen is the usual pairing to help black levels, an HDMI streaming stick adds Netflix and HBO Max, and a Bluetooth speaker or soundbar covers the weak built-in audio.

Is it worth it?

Launch pricing was $1,699.99 direct from LG.com in May 2023, and CNN Underscored listed $1,697 at B&H and $1,700 at LG at launch. PCMag and ProjectorCentral quote an MSRP of $1,499.99, and ProjectorCentral’s dealer-linked street price was $1,598, with ProjectorScreen.com listing $1,699.99. At roughly $1,500–$1,600 this is a defensible buy if ceiling or highly flexible placement is what you need; below about $1,200–$1,300 it is good value given the measured brightness and the maintenance-free light source. Above $1,700 it is hard to justify unless the design is the point.

The comparison to make is image and sound per dollar. PCMag says the brighter BenQ GP500, at the same $1,699, remains his category pick on picture and audio, and Simple Home Cinema’s table lines it up against the Epson 3800 at $1,599 and the Samsung Freestyle at $699.

Which model this is

This page covers the LG CineBeam PU700R, a 4K RGB-LED DLP smart projector on a swivel cradle. LG splits the US model into at least two suffixes, PU700R.AUS and PU700R.BKR, both sold as the PU700R 4K Smart Projector with Magic Remote; the LG Canada page carries a different UPC, 195174051115 in the US against 195174051122 in Canada. A second US bundle, the Smart Portable Projector with Simple Remote, is now marked discontinued on LG’s own page, so confirm which remote ships with the stock you buy. Do not confuse it with the box-shaped HU70LA or the 1080p PF610P, or with the gimbal-form CineBeam Q and PU600U. The listing is ASIN B0C383FVG3.

Sources

Manufacturer:

• LG press release (PDF)
• LG press release: introduces new 4K UHD CineBeam projector
• PR Newswire: LG introduces new 4K UHD CineBeam projector
• LG US product page
• LG Canada product page
• LG US support: PU700R.AUS
• LG US support: PU700R.BKR
• LG US spec sheet (PDF)

Independent reviews:

• ProjectorCentral specs and awards

Owner reports:

Parts and stores:

• ProjectorScreen.com listing
• Greentoe listing
• Value Electronics listing
• Walmart listing