The Epson PowerLite 5520W is a bright 5,500-lumen projector with WXGA (1280 x 800) resolution, designed for business and education use. Thanks to its 3LCD technology, it delivers equal color and white brightness, so colors stay vibrant even in rooms with lots of light. It’s a great fit for classrooms (K-12 and college), conference rooms, and meeting spaces.
In this review, we’ll give you a quick overview, highlight the main features, explore its special capabilities, look at the hardware, and talk about picture quality and performance. By the end, you’ll know whether the PowerLite 5520W is a good match for your needs. Let’s dive in!
| Epson Specs | |
|---|---|
| Price | |
| Technology | 3LCD |
| Native Resolution | WXGA (1280×800) |
| Brightness (Manufacturer Claim) | 5500 |
| Contrast | 15000:1 |
| Zoom Lens Ratio | |
| Lens Shift | |
| Lamp Life | |
| Weight | |
| Warranty | |
Overview
The Epson PowerLite 5520W is rated at 5,500 lumens—and if past experience tells us anything, Epson usually delivers even more brightness than they claim. Either way, 5,500 lumens is more than enough for most classrooms, conference rooms, and even large college lecture halls. Just keep in mind: the bigger the image, the more brightness you’ll need!
The Epson PowerLite 5520W delivers sharp images and handles video really well.
With WXGA resolution (1280 x 800), it’s essentially 720p for business and education—good enough for most classrooms and meeting spaces. If you’re working in fields like engineering or science where image detail is critical, you may want to go for a higher-resolution option like WUXGA or 4K. In general, 3LCD projectors like this one tend to show clearer text than most DLP projectors, though some higher-end DLP models do a great job too. That said, the 5520W performs very well, especially with smaller fonts and fine detail.
The Epson PowerLite 5520W has solid lamp life—about 5,000 hours at full power and up to 10,000 hours in ECO Mode. That’s better than average for a lamp-based projector. If you run it around 20 hours a week, 10 months a year, the lamp should last nearly 6 years. Not bad! Plus, Epson’s lamps are affordable, and educators can get extra discounts through the Brighter Futures Education Program.
This projector also offers advanced connectivity, making it a great choice for more complex setups, like college lecture halls. We’ll cover the connection options and hardware details in the next section, but overall, the PowerLite 5520W delivers excellent performance for both business and education needs.
Highlights:
5,500 lumens (color and white)
$2,199 list price
WXGA resolution (1280 x 800)
3LCD technology
Long lamp life: 5,000 hrs (normal), 10,000 hrs (ECO)
15,000:1 contrast ratio
Flexible placement: 1.85:1 zoom, vertical/horizontal lens shift, HDBaseT
Built-in 10W mono speaker
Crestron RoomView and Extron support
Brighter Futures Education Program for schools
Excellent warranty: 2 years parts/labor, 90 days for the lamp, plus ExtraCare Road Service