XGIMI Horizon Pro 4K Projector with Android TV

XGIMI is brand that has been making a pretty decent name for itself over the last few years. A refreshing break from the many popup brands that haven’t been delivering what they promise. Instead, this company has been delivering on just about every claim it has ever made. And just like its portable HALO+ projector, XGIMI’s Horizon Pro 4K Projector provides a formidable solution that creates a lot of space between it and others within its price point.

Like XGIMI’s other models, this isn’t just a projector. It’s an entertainment system built into a projector. This is thanks to Android TV 10.0 being loaded onboard. Allowing you to access an endless supply of media content without ever having to plug anything into it.

With Android TV, you can log into your favorite video streaming solutions like Netflix, Amazon Video, YouTube, and many others. Not to mention all of your favorite music streaming solutions as well. Or everything in one spot if you manage a Plex server. It’s just like having an Android tablet or phone, at least when it comes to available apps. You just don’t get a fully customizable home screen with widgets (although you can customize some things on Android TV’s simpler home screen).

Of course, if you still want to plug anything into it, you can. It is the same as any other projector in the sense that it offers HDMI inputs (two). So you can connect it to an AVR, or your favorite video game system (or Blu-ray player, DVD player, Roku or Fire TV device, cable box, etc).

Along with a 4K HDR10/HLG, it offers up to 2200 ansi lumens, leading to a noticeably bright image that can easily be projected against any surface (preferably a screen, of course). Noticable with the lights on or off, but mostly with the lights turned off like most home projectors (2200 isn’t something you’d want to use in a bright room like you would a commercial projector designed for presentations). An X-VUE 2.0 Image Engine powers everything and provides up to a 200-inch image (a range of 40″ to 200″ to be exact).

What allows you to easily project against just about any surface is the many auto-adjustment features that you find with XGIMI models. This includes auto keystone, auto alignment, and auto focus. All you have to do is turn it on and point it against the surface you want to project on.

Along with this, it has object avoidance, which is one of XGIMI’s strengths. We have run across a few other companies promising auto this and auto that, but XGIMI is the only brand we have come across that offers object avoidance. And it does this very well. The purpose of this feature is to avoid any objects on the wall. Like picture frames, shelves, plants, or the souvenirs of your conquered foes. Sizing the image to fit between everything in a large enough space possible.

To add to the overall experience, the company built-in two 8W Harman Kardon speakers, one on each side of the projector. These speakers allow you to keep a minimal footprint without the need of an external audio solution.

Although this is no replacement for a soundbar or full surround system (AVR), it does provide a noticable amount of clean audio, allowing you to use it in simple situations where the added level of sound isn’t required. We typically lean toward things like a kid’s den where they just want to be entertained any way possible and don’t care or know how to appreciate a loud sound system (or you’d rather not listen to one).

Looking Deeper into the specs

Since you have Android TV, this means it also comes with Google Assistant built-in. Allowing you to do a lot of things using your voice. Like opening your favorite apps, searching for content, and even triggering devices on your network like you would a Google Speaker (or phone, tablet, etc).

Google Chromecast is also a native option that allows you to cast from any device to the projector, as long as that device supports Chromecast. It’s the same as casting from your Android phone to any other normal Google Chromecast device. Allowing for even more content to be shared with it without ever needing to plug anything in (outside of the power cable).

It has a 30,000 hr lamp life, which means it will outlive any of the older DLP projectors that had replaceable bulbs. This is a long life span that should last many years. So consider that there are 8760 hours in a year (in case you ran in 24/7 for whatever reason). Obviously, you likely won’t be using it in such a way. But if you watched three two-hour movies a week with the family, every week, all year long–you’d consume 312 hours of your massive 30,000 hr lamp life. Not bad at all.

Now consider that the older models with replaceable bulbs generally had a bulb life of around 2,000 hours and the average person replaces the bulb about 1-2 times within a projector’s lifespan (before replacing the projector). Generally because the user has grown bored of the current model and wants to upgrade to something better as new technology and resolutions enter the market. So as my colleague in the below video mentions (under the conclusion of this story), you’d likely be ready to upgrade to something even better before it ever stops working. Allowing you to repurpose this one or sell it off to buy XGIMI’s newest creation (maybe).

It has 32GB of space on board for all of your favorite apps and 2GB of RAM to process everything. So again, it really is like a tablet and projector shoved into one (just with less capacity since you won’t install as many apps as you may on a tablet). This seems to be more than enough space and RAM for a modern 4K model. It also shows in its performance (which we will get to in a moment).

You can also connect to your network three different ways. Either by Wi-Fi using 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz, or by using the Ethernet port on the back. It also supports Bluetooth 5.0 as well, allowing you to stream your music wirelessly from any compatible Bluetooth device. Turning it into a Harmon Kardon bluetooth speaker when not using it as a projector.

The backside offers a number of inputs/outputs, while keeping things simple. You have those two HDMI inputs for connecting whatever devices you’d like. Preferably, if you have a lot, you’d want to connect this to an AVR and use the AVR to switch between everything else. Just make sure that AVR is also 4K (for pass-through).

There is the before-mentioned Ethernet port, as well as two USB ports for external drives that can be used for images, music, of video content. Then you have an optional optical-out and 3.5mm analog-out for sending audio out to an external audio system if you aren’t making use of the HDMI ports (one of the HDMI ports does support ARC).

The Remote

All of XGIMI’s models come with your typical plastic remote with only a few options. Since these projectors don’t really need any other buttons. Unless you buy a high-end projector, you won’t have features like PIP or Freeze Frame, or some of those other options you’d see on a busy remote. You also likely won’t have the need for any of those features. Instead, you get exactly what you need.

This includes a power button (at the top), a settings button (for projector settings), and an Android Assistant button that triggers Assistant so you can use your voice to command things. Then you have your typical directional pad with an enter/select button at the center. Below that is a back/return button, a menu button (for the content you are watching or the app you are using), and a home button to take you back to Android TV’s home screen. Below that are two volume buttons. Finally, in the silver area, is a single button to trigger the auto focus.

However, this remote is a little difference from the others. It offers a more durable and eye-pleasing design. The silver portion of the remote is actually aluminum, It has a better weight to it and feels good in your hand. Beyond that, though, there really isn’t anything different from the company’s other remotes/models.

Performance

The overall performance of the projector, when it comes to resources, is pretty good. We were able to pop in and out of apps no slower than most of the modern high-end projectors we have sat in front of. This includes menu performance as well. From moving around the Android TV home screen, to searching on YouTube or scrolling around the many options within the projector’s own settings. Everything is fluid without any noticable lag.

As for the auto image features and object avoidance, it does absolutely fantastic at acquiring everything in a matter of seconds. This can be seen in the below unboxing video below the conclusion of this store. You do have to run through the basic setup steps to get started before it will do any of this though. At first, it will only run a quick auto-focus so that you can read everything. So you’ll have to aim it properly to see most or all of the image as it will be big at first (as you can also see in that video).

Once you get through these steps, you can trigger the auto features by browsing to the projector settings and making sure they are all turned on. Then you can either trigger them manually right there, or you can gently move the projector to trigger its auto re-adjust feature. You can also turn it off and back on, unless you have disabled the option for it to do that at every startup (which you would if the projector is set in place and won’t be moving ever).

The one thing, as we learned while demoing it for the first time in the below video, is that you have to consider two things in order for the auto features to work. For one, when the projector triggers its auto features (focus, keystone, alignment, and object avoidance), you have to make sure the space you want it to align to is fully covered with the blown up white space before it starts to acquire anything. That white space is the max field it can move the image around in. So if part of your screen is outside of this space, it will not be able to fill the whole screen when it makes its adjustments.

That, and it works much better with the lights on. So although you would want to watch your content with the lights low or off, it is best to turn them on if it needs to run through these features (so it can perfectly see all available borders or any objects it needs to avoid). Then you can turn the lights off and enjoy your content. In the before-mentioned unboxing video (below), we did everything with the lights and wouldn’t quite get it to fill the screen.

Later, we set it back up in the demo room again to see how well it works with video games, and hadn’t turned the lights off yet. This time, it perfectly filled the 150-inch screen, avoiding the borders and leaving no additional white space uncovered. Winner!

You can see this in the following video:

Now that you have projector running and ready to play your favorite content, you get to bask in the quality of image. The 2200 ansi lumens really does fill a large screen perfectly with the lights off. It looks very good and competes well against some of the larger models we have come across, including long-throw and UST (although some of these new laser options are getting a little brighter as the technology improves).

The image quality will absolutely get your attention though. Especially as this is a relatively small 4K projector compared to most of the normal-size home theater solutions we are used to working with. The image is not only bright, but the color quality is quite pleasing. Not to mention the overall clarity. As we point out in the below unboxing video, there is some noticable jitter here and there in some of the finer detail of the image. It doesn’t happen all the time though and only seems to happen in the most busiest of scenes (like large cityscapes with an assortment of buildings and other detailed objects it is having to focus on). This could be the processing power of the projector, but more likely has something to do with its engine.

At its original MSRP, this might have been a bit of an issue. But since the projector’s average price (as of writing this) is around $1,899, this doesn’t become an issue. There are better options out there that can recreate these images flawlessly, but they are typically $3,000+.

So what it comes down to is wondering if there is going to be a noticable difference between 1080p and 4K. Something that will make or break a 4K model. We have a number of 1080p models both here at the offices as well as in some of our homes that some mistake as being 4K at first. So when the initial 4K models hit the market and they didn’t quite offer the color performance and/or weren’t “true” 4K, it was hard to determine if they were worth it or not. In fact, this still happens with some of today’s models. Showing you the powerful performance of some of the 1080p flagships that have released over the years.

In this case, the projector performs quite well and does provide a noticable difference. If you projected the same content side-by-side with one of these flagship 1080p models, you would immediatly see the improvements in the image. So yes, this is one of the 4K options that actually looks like it offers a worth 4K resolution.

As for playing video games with this model, it does offer a Game Mode (like a lot of decent models will). What this does is focus on performance in a different way in order to get the overall latency (delay) down. Resulting in as low as 35ms latency. This helps with gaming so that response time between button presses and what is happening on the screen isn’t as noticable (if at all noticable). You typically lose performance in some other areas to achieve this, but it isn’t always that noticable when engaged within an immersive game.

We spent a number of hours in a campaign modes playing a various games like Mortal Kombat 11, Bioshock Ultimate, and Halo 5. All of which looked great and felt pretty good on this projector with Game Mode enabled.

However, switching over to the new Modern Warfare II and playing online wasn’t as smooth of an experience. This was, thankfully, expected though as competitive online games are going need as little latency as possible in order to make every punch, swing, or bullet count. In these situations, you normally want to avoid using projectors and stick to low-latency TVs.

That being said, those campaign experiences were pretty good for a projector. Allowing this to be a pretty good option for casual gaming or younger children that aren’t allowed to play online to begin with (or, at least we assume you watch what your kids do when they game).

Our Conclusion

For the (current, at the time of writing this) average price of $1,899 (or less when you find it on sale), this feels like a good 4K model. It offers a beautiful image and plenty of resolution for all of your home theater needs. All while maintaining a small footprint and being loaded with streamable content (assuming you have subscriptions for any of the streaming services). This is definitely the best thing that has ever come from XGIMI.

Speaking of which, the projector is on sale (at the time of writing this) via a number of the below options we have left links for. Dropping the price a bit lower, so make sure to click around the below buttons to see who has the best special currently (things can change at any time and prices could go back up). XGIMI also just recently landed at Best Buy as well, making for one more outlet that the company’s projectors can be found. So we made sure to add that link as well.

The only danger to this model is that some of the larger 4K models are set to become a little more affordable once the current inflation (and global supply chain shortage) tapers down. Although, most of these models don’t have Android TV built-in and don’t feature such a small footprint, they can offer better hardware inside leading to an even better image. This isn’t 100% lethal to this model, though, since this still offers a number of advantages. It’s small, it’s still very powerful (for its size), it has Android TV, and its image still looks pretty good. Even then, it likely won’t hurt the price of this one that much now that it has lowered a little and those other models will still be more than this one. That, and who knows when things will taper back down, allowing the market to return to its competitive timeline.

Video:

Additional Images:

Specifications:

• Display Technique: DLP
• Display Chip: 0.47” DMD
• Supported Formats: HDR10, HLG
• Brightness: 2200 ANSI Lumens
• Standard Resolution: 3840 x 2160 pixels
• Lamp Life: 30000 Hours
• Lens: High Light Transmission Coated Lens
• 3D: Yes, Frame Packing & Side by Side
• MEMC: Yes
• Throw Ratio: 1.2:1
• Auto Focus: Yes
• Auto Keystone Correction: Yes
• Intelligent Screen Alignment: Yes
• Intelligent Obstacle Avoidance: Yes
• Projection Method: Front, Rear, Front Ceiling, Rear Ceiling
• Image Size: 40” – 200”
• Speaker: 2 x 8W Harman/Kardon
• RAM: 2GB
• Storage: 32GB
• System: Android TV
• Mirroring Display: Chromecast built-in/Airscreen
• Fast Boot: Yes
• Input Ports:
  • DC x 1
  • HDMI x 1, HDMI (ARC Supported) x 1
  • USB x 2
  • LAN x 1
• Output Ports:
  • Headphone x 1 (3.5mm)
  • OPTICAL x 1
  • WiFi (Dual-band 2.4/5GHz, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac6)
  • Bluetooth 5.0/BLE
• Noise: <30dB
• Power Dissipation: <200W
• Power: AC100-240V, 50/60Hz(250.04W)
• Product Size (H x W x D): 208.4 x 218.4 x 136.2mm
• Product Weight: 2.9kg

Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.

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