For this price, its the dynamic ability were most pleased with. 600 Lumens is bright for a portable projector, but not for an indoor one. There is some good spatial sense to the sound as the yellow bots metal parts unfold. A bright, adaptable, dependable portable FHD projector that should survive a decade of non-competitive gaming or media consumption on the go. Its not painstaking, but compared to Googles latest Chromecast, XGIMIs software just isnt as snappy and feels especially slow when it comes to Google Assistant, taking more than a second to start listening. The sky is a beautiful sapphire blue, the candyfloss a brilliant synthetic pink and the paintwork of the 1980s cars is a line-up of some wonderful teals, burnt oranges and assorted metallics. Lamp Life: 30,000 hours It will go into Energy saving mode after a couple of hours though, where the brightness drops significantly and colours turn yellowish. You dont like a lot of wires The Halos weight can make it a little tricky but not impossible to set up on a smaller tripod, though it has a small stand on the bottom to help you find the right angle without one. At the rear, both projectors have an HDMI input, plus a USB port. The XGIMI Halo can hit 800 lumens when plugged in, and 600 lumens on battery power. At 1080p, the grain can start to show up when stretching the picture to larger sizes, but even projecting over 75-inches, it hasnt been glaring. It completely tears the toy tag off a Pico projector, offering the best audio-visual experience for a projector of its size. The easiest option is to stick a media streaming stick into the HDMI port, powering it via the projectors USB port. Still, watching on 100 inches of wallspace means only having to place the Halo around 8.7ft (2.67m) away, so you can get a cinematic experience in a relatively small space. In our testing, we were able to get over 2 hours of playback before the projector switched into low-battery mode, and it continued running for 2 hours and 48 minutes before shutting itself down. Subscribe now to never miss a thing from ProjectorCentral.com! We watch Up In The Air on DVD and the upscaling is handled relatively well. Rather than seeing the deep blacks and shadow detail you might get from an OLED (opens in new tab) or QLED TV, this projector offers noticeable video noise that will be distracting for the fastidious viewers. With this turned on, HDR content looks more vibrant and detailed than on the regular Halo. Plus, the fact that you dont need to carry an additional Bluetooth speaker around with you helps offset the weight of these projectors. Native Resolution: 1080p HDR Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year. Yet another award-winning show just got canceled - whats going on? While its still quite bright, you can get an image about the same size as a regular TV; as it gets darker, you can move both the Halo and Halo+ back and get a much bigger image more than 100-inches is easily possible (depending on space). Its when the scene gets dark that the XGIMI Halo, like many other projectors, has more trouble. Theres plenty of weight and a clear tonal balance that never threatens to get too bright even when we push the volume towards its limits. It's a bright and dependable little machine that can adapt as needed and won't go kaput after a year or two. The brightness in the sky behind her is quite blown-out for whites and the shadows in the foreground are strong patches rather than careful shades. You can plug in USB devices as well, meaning an Amazon Fire Stick will also work fine. Throw ratio: 1.2:1 Theater enthusiasts may not be satisfied with the brightness and picture of the Halo, especially because of somewhat distracting video noise in dark scenes. Sound is a genuine consideration when buying a portable projector. Max Resolution: 1080p HDR On the outside, there is a single HDMI port (ARC-enabled), a USB and a 3.5mm headphones socket. The Xgimi Halo is just about the midpoint of the series. When you do want to step outside of the built-in streaming apps, the XGIMI Halo features an HDMI 2.0 port on the rear as well as a USB 2.0 port. Thank you for signing up to What Hi-Fi?. The XGIMI Halos battery is a serious one. TechRadar is supported by its audience. You want to play a lot of games Both the Halo and Halo+ are decked out in the same metal mesh finish, too. Whether that's true or not, it's still plenty bright for outdoor viewing even in the daytime, should the mood take you. And although it does support 4K input, the output is still restricted to FHD. That means you can pick up where you left off anywhere, as long as you can nab an internet connection. We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. I wouldn't recommend it for the long term, seeing as the exhaust is on the back. There are even some preset image modes to choose from, including a 'gaming' mode that prioritises input latency. Youre a home theater buff light meter measurements taken across the projected image. Both measure 172 x 114 x 145mm and weigh 1.6kg. The Halo struggles to produce any difference in the blocks of black or navy blue in the suits of the business people in this film. Its rated at less than 30dB and were never once distracted by the sound during testing. You will receive a verification email shortly. She can be found admiring AI advancements, scrambling for scintillating Raspberry Pi projects, preaching cybersecurity awareness, sighing over semiconductors, and gawping at the latest GPU upgrades. Whats the difference between the XGIMI Halo and Halo Plus. It may not match the connectivity, resolution or refresh rates a high-end, non-portable projector might have, but it's a worthy contender when it comes to 1080p projectors of the same price. When you compare the Halo to other portable 1080p projectors, such as the Epson Home Cinemawhich comes in at the same price point of around $800it becomes evident where Xgimi has focussed its design efforts: Adaptability, portability, brightness, and durability. The Xgimi Halo portable projector has me wanting to watch movies in the park, or get my game on at the end of the garden during a barbecue, because I'm totally antisocial. Thankfully, you can manually set the focus either by navigating the UI, or switching the plus and minus buttons on the remote from volume to focusthere's a toggle on the bottom of the remote for that. Popping Bumblebee on 4K Blu-ray into our player, that translates to a good, strong picture with plenty of colour saturation. True 3D and Full HD projection with a physical resolution of up to 1920x1080. You can find it on XGIMI.com or Amazon. The Bumblebee soundtrack is a pleasure to listen to through the projector alone. In movies and TV, its not terribly distracting, since our focus will generally be on lit areas of the shot, but that sense of motion created by the dithering is far more distracting in games. The Halo's 0.33-inch DLP display shines its red, green and blue LEDs through the fixed lens to exact a 1.2:1 throw ratio. What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Thats enough time to watch a standard film, but if you want to watch something more epic, youll need to use the provided power adaptor. They both have a foot underneath that lets you angle the projector, although theres also a tripod mount, too. If image fidelity is your main concern, however, the Halo sports a 1080p resolution. 800 ANSI Lumens. It may not be a pocket projector, but its incredibly portable for what it offers. You can plug in most games consoles, disc players and external speakers, and play files on USB sticks, hard drives, and even from the 16GB of internal storage space. Optomas HD146X and HD28HDR, for example, both cost less but can hit 3,600 lumens with a 1080p picture, with the latter even doubling as a gaming projector that can run at a 120Hz refresh rate for fast-paced play. You will receive a verification email shortly. XGIMIs implementation of Android TV isnt quite perfect, though. Please refresh the page and try again. Best graphics card deals in Australia (July 2022), The best gaming laptops in Australia for 2022, The best gaming headsets in Australia for 2022, The best gaming monitors in Australia for 2022, G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 2x16 GB DDR5-5600 CL28, Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag, Try a single issue or save on a subscription, Issues delivered straight to your door or device, Keystone correction doesn't work in gaming mode, 60Hz FR and 40ms latency not for competitive gaming. The ability to attach it to a universal mount helps, though, and it even has a little extendable foot to prop it up on a flat surface, so you can get the angle right. This dithering is most noticeable in dark scenes when there are large areas of mostly uniform color. With the standard Halo, you get autofocus, but keystone correction is manual. From XGIMI
Heres why you can trust us. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). XGIMI has managed to avoid those traps with its Halo and Halo+ projectors. Tuned by Harmon/Kardon, these speakers are loud and powerful enough that you dont need external speakers. There are some differences in image quality. But that's not to say you can't have a stellar gaming experience with the Xgimi Halo; it's fine for most single player stuff, just don't expect to be doing any intense competitive gaming. The projector itself only has four built-in controls: pause/play, volume up, volume down, and power on/off. The XGIMI Halo is a specialty product, and as a portable projector even an outdoor projector it may be unrivalled for the complete package of features and capabilities that it offers. BA1 1UA. is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. This does put the XGIMI Halo in a bit of a bind. This doesnt make a huge amount of difference in general use, and both projectors are bright enough to use during the day if you pull the curtains shut; thats more than can be said for most regular portable projectors. If youve ever had to pull an all-nighter for work, then youll know the taste of the 4am cup of coffee strong and effective, much like the Xgimi Halo portable projector. Also, tucked underneath is a little kickstand that is useful for angling the Halo up to the right position. producing the manufacturer's cited brightness specification. There was a problem. The colors really pop in brighter scenes, as we saw in Bladerunner 2049, which definitely helps give the XGIMI Halo some pizzazz for the casual home theater setting. Meanwhile, casual viewers who want a projector they can pop-up at home, in their yard, or on camping trips may be just as satisfied with a more affordable, slightly dimmer option. Trusted Reviews is supported by its audience. It has impactful sound, a battery that can last through a movie, and unrivalled brightness. With the Halo+ costing just 50 more than the original Halo, the extra features (HDR and auto keystone correction) are worth the additional cost. PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Contrast ratio: 1,000:1 Sadly, the Netflix app isn't compatible yet, but thanks to the Halo's Chromecast ability, and Kodi compatibility, the issue can be circumvented. You could even store some movies on there, as the Halo has 16GB of storage space in its little aluminium frame. If you want to be able to watch TVs and movies both day and night without needing to carefully control the ambient light, there are much brighter options for a similar price (albeit without the same level of portability). Combined with 600-800 ANSI Lumens of brightness, Halo has become the brightest 1080p portable projector available. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). The light is focused by a fixed lens with a 1.2:1 throw ratio that can produce a picture of between 30 and 300in, with a 100in image possible at a distance of 2.67m. BUYER BEWARE Either this projector's brightness specification does not cite an industry-accepted
But the sound produced by the two gorgeous 5W Harman Kardon speakers belies the fact the Halo is so much more than just a portable speaker. Two-way Bluetooth is available, too, so you can play music through the Halo sound system from your phone or output the projectors audio signal to a bigger external wireless speaker. unit of measurement, or according to our calculations it seems unlikely that this projector is capable of
Weight: 3.5 lbs (1.6 kg) Just plonk the projector down, point it at a clear surface and it will get a perfectly square and in-focus picture. Unfortunately, Xgimi has chosen to have the drivers facing forwards on the Halo and that seems an odd choice. There are two other helpful items included. Now armed with an impressive array of seven portable projectors, ranging from standard-definition up to 4K, its here to take on Epson, BenQ and, most notably, Anker Nebula as the go-to brand for your all-in-one big screen needs. The ANSI
However, the automatic features will occasionally shift the focus about while were watching, which is particularly distracting, and it doesnt always seem to land on a perfectly in-focus picture. The XGIMI Halo uses an LED-lit DLP system that produces a sharp and vibrant image. All rights reserved. Heres why you can trust us. The Halo+ costs a shade more at 749 / $849. Its still small enough to throw into your bag, but big enough to give some impact around the house or even in the garden. Its brightness, battery, storage, speakers and connectivity options mean that, at first glance, it looks the part of a punchy and convenient travel projector. While wed always recommend upping the ante with a soundbar, headphones or wireless speaker, the 2x 5W Harman Kardon sound system in the Xgimi Halo is largely well appointed and makes an acceptable stopgap for AV and music listening needs. The projector also supports automatic vertical keystone adjustment along with manual control for both horizontal and vertical keystone, up to 40 degrees, and digital zoom to shrink the image. You want the best portable projector It measures just 113.5 x 145 x 171.5mm, roughly half the size of a typical shoe box. That'll happily achieve an image between 30 and 300 inches (76.2762 cm) across, though at the larger end of the scale 1080p is going to look pretty pixelated. The compact Halo comes in a slick design thats small enough to slip into a backpack and stylish enough to blend in with the decor at home, even if its best utilized away from the living room. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London and Bath. The speakers pack a nice punch and are loud enough to fill a small room. Both models can take a 4K input, although have to downscale the results to 1080p; still, this gives flexibility. Externally, youd be hard pushed to tell the difference between the two. Manufacturer Cited Brightness:
Setting up the picture projection itself couldnt be easier. Subtlety is not its strongest suit, but it most certainly gets the job done. The XGIMI Halo retails for 729 / $799 / 799 / CA$1069 / AU$1499. New York, With gaming mode switched on, you get around 40 milliseconds of lag, which is better than its little sister, the MoGo Pro, but still not the greatest for online multiplayer battles, where every millisecond counts. That weight is at the limit of what wed consider for a portable projector; however, slightly more bulk is worth it given the quality on offer. You dont need any extra gear to use the Halo properly, either. Should you buy an Insignia TV in 2022? The Xgimi Halo is a great projector for those who want to do a bit of light gaming in all sorts of spaces, watch movies from weird angles, or just listen to music on a banging portable sound system. The moment the characters sit on any dark furniture, everything bleeds together and half of each frame can be lost. The Halo is fitted with autofocus and auto-keystone. Squint and you could be forgiven for mistaking the Xgimi Halo for an aluminium Sonos One, though the Halo is a little larger at 11cm tall and 15cm wide, and it weighs 1.6kg. He is intimately familiar with the editorial process from the inception of an article idea, through the iterative process, past publishing, and down the road into performance analysis. The grainy WWII drama is a hard watch on the Halo and there arent enough adjustments available to get a picture thats consistently bright and detailed. It's the equivalent of switching a light switch on and off to get a median brightness, and here can look like there's a pattern squirming across the screen. Even so, XGIMI makes it easy to adjust the image so that its square on the wall, its just that youll need to do this when you move the projector around. Sign up below to get the latest from What Hi-Fi?, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! Both are still available, but which one is right for you? Meanwhile, for those on a tighter budget, the XGIMI Mogo Pro is very similar in specification just a bit dimmer. We dive into the details. Against the higher-end Optoma UHD38's 4.2ms latency, 240Hz, and 4K resolution, you can see what another couple of hundred dollars will get you. The Xgimi Halo makes a good stab at a serious step-up device from entry-level portable projectors, but it doesnt quite reach a rich and complex level of performance. Netflix wont run on it, which could be a complete deal-breaker for some. That said, if youre on a tighter budget and dont move the projector around that often, having to use the manual keystone correction on the Halo but saving a bit of cash may be worth it. While most portable projectors have built-in speakers, most arent very good. As a Smart Android device, the Halo can connect and stream over Wi-Fi from all sorts of services. With its wireless speaker-sized frame, built-in battery, 800 ANSI-lumens LED light source and 1080p HDR output, it could be the home and away portable projector that meets all your needs. Making more of a difference is the HDR10+ support from the Halo+. No, it's not Klingon slurthis is a company that's been making projectors since 2013, with a broad range already under its belt. Like many portable smart projectors, the Halo uses Googles Android TV 9.0 OS to take care of the apps and menus. Chinese brand Xgimi has been making smart projectors and laser TVs since 2013. Just get it set up with a Google account for Android TV, and it can stream content it pulls directly. While plugged in, the projectors 800 lumens are plenty bright for dark room while projecting an image upwards of 80 inches, and we find they can even hold up with some 60W overhead lights on in the room as long as were watching something with mostly bright visuals (like King of the Hill or Bobs Burgers) and staying underneath a 40-inch screen size. It comes with auto-focus enabled out of the box, as well a dynamic focal length compensation feature thats meant to adjust the focus in response to how the lens shifts as it heats up. Inputs: 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x USB 2.0, 3.5 mm audio jack When it comes to portable projectors, many suffer from poor brightness, poor sound and fiddly interfaces. You can also opt to use other speakers or headphones by connecting them to the rear 3.5mm jack or pair them via Bluetooth. The first is a built-in battery that offers two to four hours of video use, depending on brightness settings, and eight hours of audio playback. You do a lot of daytime viewing With the Halos internal battery, you dont even need to connect the XGIMI Halo to the power outlet to run it. The same was once true for Amazon Prime Video, but XGIMI has since fixed that omission, showing that it isn't just ignoring the issue. This feature has its limits though, and doesn't work at all in gaming mode unfortunately; you'll have to find a perfectly parallel spot to project your games from. The projectors colours are vibrant and don't feel washed out, and the Halo allows you to fully adjust the image settings to suit you. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). There's even a small novelty in its ability to play media in 3D, with images set side by side, or top and bottom. Android TV is a great operating system: its designed for TVs and projectors and comes with the Google Play Store so that you can install apps. The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviews, Try a single issue or save on a subscription, Issues delivered straight to your door or device. That may be fine for some more cartoony games, but it can make it really hard to see what youre doing in games anytime the setting is dark. Price: $799 (729). XGIMI has built a battery into these projectors, and theyll both last around two hours. Sure, they lack a bit of bass and dont have the clarity of a full-on soundbar, but the speakers are great for those times you want to just drop the projector down and get watching. Against the Optoma GT1080HDR's 120Hz for the same price, it looks pretty meagre. Black depth itself is decent, but the detail within those dark zones is scant. However, while Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video are supported, Netflix currently isnt. Brightness: 600-800 ANSI Lumens Learn more. But take it indoors, and itll get majorly outshined by the competition. It is a little annoying that the operating system doesnt clearly indicate the percentage the battery is at, though. XGIMI has used dual 5W speakers in both the Halo+ and Halo. The remote is fairly typical for Android TV devices, bearing a strong resemblance to that of the BenQ X1300i projector. The big, white Xgimi logo is quite blinding with the lights off. The XGIMI Halo is awesome at bright visuals but not great at darker ones. There was a problem. The minute you switch on the Halo, you get a good idea of just how bright this projector can go. 1999-2022ProjectorCentral.com | 8/1/2022 8:08 AMPST. The entire unit takes up incredibly little space for something that packs in so much. and independent advice on what to buy. Google Assistant provides an effective voice search, and there is also the Chromecast screen sharing technology to fill in most app gaps. It may not be the brightest in the land, maxing out at 800 ANSI Lumens, but according to Xgimi its the brightest 1080p portable projector around. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Its also 3D-enabled. It projects in true Full HD and is 225% clearer than mainstream 720p projectors. It makes the audio more muffled than it should be but, even in front of the Halo, it is still a touch soft and lacking a little precision compared with the Epson EF-12. For higher-specified models, you may want to consider the XGIMI Horizon, an HD beamer with a $1,099 / 1,099 price tag or the Horizon Pro 4K projector for $1,699 / 1,699. Even if its built out of hard plastics, the color scheme and shape can almost pass for something more premium in build, particularly with the grille design wrapping around the front and sides of the device. This effect is also less noticeable when the picture is smaller, say 55 inches or less. Mark Knapp The exhaust fan runs quietly enough, but it throws out some heat under full load. The perforated aluminium shell gives it a portable speaker look, and as a Bluetooth speaker alone it performs outstandingly. Having been obsessed with computers and graphics for three long decades, she took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni, and has been demystifying tech and sciencerather sarcasticallyfor two years since. The best home entertainment buying advice, Issues delivered straight to your door or device. Our Highly Recommended Award designation is earned by reviewed products that offer unusual value or performance in their price class. In that space, XGIMI has fit a Full HD DLP projection system, an autofocus sensor, a pair of Harman Kardon-tuned 5W speakers, a battery, and all the smarts necessary to run Android TV along with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Over the last several years, Mark has been tasked as a writer, an editor, and a manager, interacting with published content from all angles. Battery life: 2-3 hrs (standard mode) The keystone and zoom are digital, though, so the projector is still shining a dark gray wherever the picture isnt. But in spending your cash on a higher spec projector, you'd be sacrificing the practical portability something like the Halo can bring to the table. last updated 1 October 21. You will receive a verification email shortly. The Standard preset gets the most out of the shadows, but even so, we struggle to find much in the way of individual hair strands on Charlies head as she rides her scooter off to the scrapyard. The throw distance means youll most likely be sitting behind this projector and so the sound will be going the wrong direction. Sign up to get breaking news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more, plus the hottest tech deals! It may be that the speakers are vibrating the device enough to think it needs to fix the focus. The Halo portable projector comes in as a median across the Xgimi range, as well as relative to what the market has to offer. Steve Winwoods Higher Love provides a real moment of joy as Charlie drives away in her first car, thanks to the decent dynamic ability of the system. is supported by its audience. While it compares favorably against portable projectors such as the Nebula Solar Portable and Nebula Capsule II, it doesnt stack up well against the types of projectors that are expected to stay put in one location. She's been heading the PCG Steam Deck content hike, while waiting patiently for her chance to upload her consciousness into the cloud. Thats very handy, as you can carry this projector everywhere (as you should), and never have to worry about fiddling around to get a clear picture. The clicks and whirrs arent quite as crisp as they could be when Bumblebee transforms from car to robot in the garage. Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence. Any noise is easily reduced by taking the sharpness setting down and applying a light touch to the Noise Filter, but that heavy contrast is tough to take, with detail even thinner on the ground than before. Size: 4.4 x 5.7 x 6.7 in (11.2 x 14.5 x 17 cm) With a battery life of almost 3 hours in standard mode (that's the brightest one), it may not give you long enough to watch The Fellowship of the Ring extended version, but that's long enough for at least one standard length movie. Theres a small downside to its simplicity, though. As impressive as this projector can be at times, at the first sign of a difficult frame the Halos big, punchy strengths turn out to also be its most significant weaknesses. Bath TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Throughout our testing, we never notice issues with our manual focus changing during use. Starting life on the consumer PC press back in 1998, David has been at the forefront of technology for the past 20 years. The projector struggles a bit with shadow detail, and thats made worse by some very visible dithering which is when the projector rapidly switches between two colors or brightness levels in order to try and reproduce a shade that it can't natively reproduce. Like most portables, the Halo runs far quieter than a traditional home cinema projector. The Halo is cheaper, but as well find out, theres a reason why the Halo+ has the plus addendum. Please refresh the page and try again. NY 10036. The XGIMI Halo is designed to help get you the best picture possible, almost automatically. It includes buttons for direct access to the settings menu and input selection as well as the usual navigation, volume and focus controls too. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Its definitely got enough juice for a movie away from the power outlets, just maybe not Avengers: Endgame. With Android TV, speakers, and a battery built-in, the Halo has everything it needs to deliver compelling entertainment without a mess of wires running to and from it. Its about as large as youd want a portable projector to be before it becomes a hassle to carry around. Please refresh the page and try again. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Each time you turn it on, or when its internal gyroscopes detect that youve moved it, the 10,000-point AF system springs into life and produces something close to the best possible image, with an impressive keystone correction of up to +/-40 degrees vertically and horizontally. Chromecast cant stream the Apple services but there are other, free Android TV apps available to help mirror content from iOS. There was a problem. Unplugged, the projector drops to 600 lumens, which is still good for a large image in a dark room. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, lumen rating measures the brightest white that a projector can produce by averaging nine
While both have a Full HD resolution, the Halo+ is slightly brighter at 900 Lumens (the Halo is 800 Lumens). So, no matter how far away you place the projector, you won't get the same level of detail as you would with a true 4K projector. And there are a host of media players available on the android store, so you can watch anything you already have downloaded. There just isnt enough care in handling the contrast on offer. We dont struggle to see whats going on when we add some ambient lighting and that bodes well for outdoor cinema use, as well as watching sports with friends.