Product: XGIMI Horizon Pro Projector
Type: Projector (4K)
Price: 2599.00 AUD
Availability: Now
Link: XGIMI Australia

The home theatre projector has been around for decades, with the idea of a cinema-like experience at home becoming more affordable during the era of DVDs and BluRays. As we’re now in the era of 4K, the rise of big-screen TVs has, in a way, impacted or lessened the advantage you get from a home projector - that is, a big-screen experience.

Still, there’s nothing like a crisp image projected onto a 100-inch screen or wall. And the overall cinematic quality of projectors, the reflective image that is both easy on the eyes and akin to what you find at the cinemas, is hard to deny. There’s nothing quite like it, and the benefits of a projector when it comes to watching movies are unmatched, even when 65-inch TVs and streaming apps are the norms.

I’ve always had a soft spot for projectors, so setting up and firing up the XGIMI Horizon Pro Projector was like getting acquainted with an old friend, albeit a friend that has gone through a few notable and impressive advances.

From a bright image that can automatically adjust and focus without manually adjusting through to the addition of smart features from the excellent Google TV interface and app support.

Looking Good

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Alongside its affordable price point, the first thing you notice about the XGIMI Horizon Pro Projector is its small and compact form factor and sleek design. Setting it up is a breeze; for optimal performance, you’ll need to have the unit a couple of metres from the intended display area and pair it with a projector screen to amplify the image quality and overall brightness.

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The overall cinematic quality of projectors, the reflective image that is both easy on the eyes and akin to what you find at the cinemas, is hard to deny. There’s nothing quite like it.

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Even so, the 2200 ANSI LUMENS-rated projector is bright enough that you don’t need to be in complete darkness to get a crisp and detailed picture. There’s even some smart brightness action to improve clarity for daytime viewing or gaming.

The keystone correction and autofocus capabilities are impressive, with the unit correcting the image placement and perspective. This means it can be placed on a coffee table or taken on the go. If you’ve set up an Android device or Google TV, then the rest of the process and UI design will be familiar. It’s clean, simple, and powerful, and you’ll be ready to stream within minutes.

That said, this is where we ran into our first stumbling block, with the XGIMI Horizon not currently not featuring native Netflix support. But I quickly switched to the Xbox Series X, which had all my gaming and streaming apps ready.

You might wonder if a projector is still good for gaming in 2023. The answer to that is a resounding yes - with a few caveats. Naturally, you miss out on the crispness of an OLED-style HDMI 2.1 4KTV and a variable refresh rate. But the 18.2 ms response time Game Mode and the massive 100+ inch image lead to impressive immersion for cinematic gaming. And the inbuilt harman/kardon speakers are surprisingly decent and loud, though things improve with a more theatre-like traditional speaker setup.

Also, once you’re in Game Mode, keystone auto-correction is disabled to ensure the fastest possible response times - which means projector placement and setup are key for gaming and not as much for general media consumption.

A View to Remember

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Another feature of the XGIMI Horizon Pro worth mentioning, at least for modern-day console gaming, is its ability to receive a 4K 60 Hz input, which is great when pairing it with something like the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5. There’s also HDR support via HDR10 and HLG, which is great. The DLP chip, with its light source rated at 30,000 hours, offers a clean image.

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You might wonder if a projector is still good for gaming in 2023. The answer to that is a resounding yes - with a few caveats.

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Out-of-the-box, the image calibration and colour accuracy are decent, though lacking. Thanks to plenty of options for fine-tuning to get the right cinematic tone and look, you can get it all surprisingly close to reference levels. The default modes for movies and games all carry an overly saturated look, so thankfully basic tuning is simple using the controller and OSD.

XGIMI Horizon Pro Smart Home Projector

• Display Technology: DLP
  
• Display Chip: 0.47″ DMD
  
• Standard Resolution: 3840 X 2160 (4K)
  
• Brightness (ANSI lumens): 2200
  
• Lamp Type: LED
  
• Lamp Life: 30,000 HOURS
  
• RAM: 2GB
  
• Storage: 32GB
  
• Operating System: ANDROID TV 10.0 OS, CHROMECAST BUILT-IN, GOOGLE ASSISTANT
  
• Intelligent Screen Adaption Technology: QUICK BOOT, ±40 DEGREES AUTO KEYSTONE CORRECTION (HORIZONTAL & VERTICAL), AUTO SCREEN ALIGNMENT, OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE, AUTO FOCUS
  
• I/O Connection Ports: DC x 1, HDMI x 1, HDMI (EARC Supported) x 1, USB x 2, LAN x 1, Headphone x 1 (3.5mm), OPTICAL x 1, WiFi (Dual-band 2.4/5GHz)
  
• Sound System: DUAL 8W HARMAN KARDON SPEAKERS with DTS and DOLBY support
  
• Size(HxWxD): 208.4 x 218.4 x 136.2mm
  
• Weight: 2.9KG

Again, there’s something different about watching something or playing a game with a projected image of a large screen - something best described as cinematic. For the XGIMI Horizon Pro Projector, that’s probably the best way to describe the experience. Cinematic.

Outside of the glaring omission (outside of XGIMI’s control apparently) of native Netflix support (everything else is here) and the fact that you need a more proper setup and placement for gaming with a reasonable latency response, the portable big-screen experience is impressive.

The 4K image of the XGIMI Horizon Pro is impressive, even when gaming. The response times aren’t there for competitive titles or those serious about their fast-paced shooters, but for more cinematic fair or even something like God of War Ragnarok on the PS5 - you’re getting a truly cinematic experience. For those looking for a more entry-level option for media, the baseline 1080p XGIMI Horizon would probably fit the bill too. In the end, the XGIMI Horizon Pro is a bright, vibrant, crisp, and detailed home theatre projector well worth looking into.