Signals were generated by an Accupel DVG-5000. Its dual-band so the throughput of 4K streams is plenty quick. The Horizon Pro 4K is currently its top-spec model, launched this summer. The latter is achieved through the Horizon Pro 4Ks remote, which earns itself brownie points for being Bluetooth-based, light on buttonry, slim in the hand and simple to use. I enjoy deep picture contrast, and I enjoy not having an insufferable viewing experience during the daytime. Sudio E2 Noise-Canceling Wireless Earbuds Review, Vizio Starts Shipping 2023 4K TVs at Budget Prices, Epic Games + Bandcamp = Creative Music Opps, Marantz Model 40n Streaming Integrated Amplifier Review. Matching the sleek design language of the projector, the Android TV remote is wrapped with brushed aluminum with a black plastic panel to case the buttons. The dialog was crystal clear. In the beginning, I related the price of the XGIMI Horizon Pro to that of a top-end TV, but my time with this projector has shown me why its worth it: the Horizon Pro is capable of creating great experiences in many placesnot just one. In fact, XGIMI has yet to embrace the UST projector trend other models in its stable are the battery-powered, portable Mo-Go, the ultra-compact Elfin, and the also diminutive Halo, which the brand says completely tears the toy tag off a Pico projector.. Xgimi claims a life of 25,000 hours for the lamp. I understand that it probably goes against the seamless nature of XGIMIs auto keystone correction software, but a mechanical lens shift avoids the issue of stray light outside the keystone area; a location-volatile projector should ideally be able to control this, and the feature would provide additional versatility. Youll have no trouble filling a large room. It uses a single 0.47-inch DLP chip with 19201080 native resolution and TIs shift technology creating an addressable resolution of 38402160. There is also no form of a Rec.709/sRGB picture mode, and for costing nearly two grand I think that this is a weird omission. This is a bit of a toss-up, because at this price point, I do feel that theres probably some overlap in customers that are home-theater enthusiasts and customers who want a nice lifestyle projector. The Horizon Pro functions well as a stand-alone Bluetooth speaker. How Hi-Fi Dealers (Audio Stores) Can Bring the Best Value System to Your Home, Cutting The Cord to Cable TV: How I Got More For Less, Dear Audio Community, Get Your Head Out of Your, Announcing the SECRETS Recommended A/V Gear, Auris bluMe Pro Wireless Bluetooth Receiver Review. Movie watching experience is only as good as the sound reproduction, and the Horizon Pro got you covered here as well. These lifestyle components employ impressive optical trickery to create their pictures, but they also cost more than traditional projectors. As usual, you can try to counter this by addressing your viewing environment and tweaking settings, but it really seems to be baked in to the performance. You can literally place the projector up to 45 degrees off-center and get a square image but its not one youd want to watch. The device uses Xgimis X-VUE 2.0 Image Engine for clarity and realistic colour reproduction. Leave expectations of an OLED-esque black level at the door and spin a movie, and youll find this compact beamer is more than capable of crafting an enjoyable bigscreen experience. Some owners might never plug a physical source into the XGIMI, however, as its a fully fledged smart model, using the Android TV 10 platform to proffer video-on- demand apps (but not Netflix), Chromecast streaming and voice interaction. In our more modestly-sized lounge, we were able to get an image 2.54m diagonally from a distance of about 3m. A sweet, feature-filled launcher with a beautiful UX. As with every other display Ive seen this on, it works fine for most popular providers like Hulu, Amazon, or YouTube. For motion smoothing, XGIMIs MEMO tool (on its lowest setting) also proves good value, ensuring detail remains during camera pans and object movement, without ruining the filmic feel. Projector Settings XGIMI doesnt have the brand recognition of many of its projector rivals, but this flagship 4K model shows its ready to put up a good fight, says Mark Craven. There is, however, no more contrast available. Tucked inside the Horizon Pro 4Ks cabinet is a sound system from Harman Kardon. Upon initial powerup, the Horizon Pro 4K played a soothing tune as if to say, Dont worry friend, setup will go fine and be completed in a few minutes. I was prompted to connect to my homes Wi-Fi network and log into Google. Calibration brings most of the color points closer to their targets. 7Review is a free audio resource site for Beginners. I could not justify the extra 600 for the difference of a 4K image which apparently was a good decision as the difference cannot be noticed if the projected image is under 150". There is also one singular button near the bottom that refocuses the projector image if necessary. The lens offset is 100% so youll need to get the lens axis in line with the bottom edge of the screen. Ive looked at several over the years from Epson and BenQ and today, theres a new player vying for attention, XGIMI. You are using an out of date browser. This is with Local Contrast set to its most aggressive option. The default colors coming out of this projector are very cold and vibrant, which many people will enjoy for casual watching. The cinemas may be open again, but if youre still a bit wary of watching a film with a couple of hundred people breathing over your shoulder, then you could consider buying a projector to set up your own personal home cinema system. The result is truly mesmerising for such a small device. Powered by Xenforo, Hosted by Nimbus Hosting, Original design Critical Media Ltd. The Horizon Pro 4K is their flagship display with a DLP chip and LED light engine, built-in Harman Kardon speakers, integrated Android TV with Google Assistant, HDR10/HLG support, and premium build quality. I had a Horizon. The real smart aspect of this PJ becomes apparent during setup. Like most DLP projectors, intra-image contrast increases with overall picture level. I dont find it to be a great fit as a centerpiece for ones home theater due to the lack of color controls and poor contrast, but it functions well as a living room, bedroom, or backyard big-screen, as long as light can be controlled. I also discovered the Local Contrast feature was different than anything Id seen before. For me, its good for sports but not movies or TV shows. Other sources dont fare quite so well, though, falling victim to the bigscreen presentation and processing limitations. The Horizon Pro is a portable DLP projector that won the EISA Award for Best Buy Projector. The system provides low distortion and high dynamic response along with a virtualised surround sound experience. I experimented a bit with the frame interpolation. There are Android apps that claim to support AirPlay streaming, but we cant guarantee how well those will work, and there are rival projectors that have AirPlay built-in for use with Apple devices. Further, the AI Brightness Adjustment feature ensures that the projector adapts to ambient light changes. With a 1.2 throw ratio, I had to set up about nine feet back to fill a 92-inch Stewart Filmscreen Luminesse with Studiotek 130 material. Autofocus runs every time you turn the Horizon Pro 4K on and sharpens the image in a few seconds using an internal target pattern. While not strictly accurate, it looks good with most material. For those that care, the native DLP chip resolution of the Horizon Pro is still only 1080p, but it utilizes four-phase pixel shifting to produce a true 4K image. AVForums.com is owned and operated by M2N Limited, Read our XGIMI HORIZON PRO 4K Review. Comparing XGIMIs audio to that of other projectors with integrated audio, it is on par. Ive looked at many such displays from BenQ and others and XGIMI looks like a contender for those seeking a 4K projector thats easy to set up and enjoy anywhere. Though it didnt employ HDR for the season one episodes, there was plenty of contrast in the brighter material. Chiefly and this is an issue that afflicts many living-room friendly DLP models its black level delivery isnt a knockout. Many projectors have a dynamic iris feature to darken the black level in darker scenes, but there doesnt seem to be any feature of that sort on the Horizon Pro. The picture now has far more pop and depth with rich detailed color that looks natural and correct. At 2200 ANSI Lumens, the Horizon Pro delivers bright projection with wide dynamic range and excellent sharpness. The aforementioned Bluetooth functionality means it also doubles up nicely as a wireless speaker. There are also two USB 2.0 ports for playing files stored on a memory stick or external drive, and 3.5mm and optical audio outputs for using headphones or external speakers. The total startup time is around 10 seconds. Most projectors have at least one threaded foot so you can get the image perfectly straight when placing it on a table. That means all SDR videos will be oversaturated though not too much. The Pro variant of the Horizon projector, which XGIMI sent to us for review, supports a playback resolution of 4K (while the non-Pro version only supports up to 1080p). Its all packed into a tiny cube-style chassis thats less than six inches high. I was surprised to find the Horizon Pro 4K has no leveling feet. If you are not satisfied with the result, you can always use the manual alignment option, which allows you to finely shift the position of each corner of the image area. Priced at $1,699 USD, the Horizon Pro costs almost as much as a 65-inch OLED TVthe reigning champs for picture quality. XGIMI has implemented the feature perfectly so if you want to use it, youll definitely enjoy the result. Its relatively new to the projector market (it was established in 2012) and only appears to have made a concerted push into the UK in the last few years. For connectivity options, the XGIMI Horizon is well-equipped. An LED light source provides a claimed 2,200 lumens of output and is rated for a service life of 25,000 hours. Tell me stuff at. Tell me stuff at [emailprotected]. Personally, Id rather have the correct gamut for each format, but I doubt many viewers will agree with this. Android TV works fine and its nicely integrated into the Horizon Pro 4K. There is no shift but there is a digital zoom. Running the PJ in its Movie preset, the films naturalistic colour palette is well respected, with believable earthy hues and skin tones. Image mode: Custom I pulled my old Bogen camera tripod out of the closet, its beefy enough to hold a TV camera, and attached the XGIMI to it. The Horizon Pro 4K fulfills its television replacement mission by including Android TV and Google Assistant. XGIMIs Horizon Pro 4K Projector is bright and compact with a sharp picture, extended color, HDR and a 25,000-hour LED light engine. HDR: Auto My screen is 108". Dog Soldiers & Flatliners 4K, Black Phone, RRR & Mad God on digital, plus 4K + Movie/TV News. The cars are all rolling billboards and I had no trouble reading the text and logos emblazoned on them. I calibrated the Horizon Pro 4K before watching any content and noticed a few things. While this isnt the first time Ive seen one on a compact projector, its the first time I took advantage of it. HDR10 and HLG playback are supported, in addition to wide colour. 1 Home Entertainment Tech Community & Resource. After calibration in SDR mode, I measured a peak white level of 171.6011 nits, a black level of .3662 nit, and a contrast of 468.6:1. Video performance is good, but not great, but thats probably to be expected given the do-it-all ethos and price point. Environmental Adaptation: Off XGIMI doesnt officially state any contrast ratio figures for the Horizon Pro, but using my own tools I was able to measure a native on/off contrast ratio of about 550:1. That may deter some Apple-centric households, but does ensure that the projector can run a wide range of Android apps for streaming music and video. Its one of the best contrast enhancers Ive seen on any projector at any price, and it really makes a positive impact on image quality with no apparent downside. Theres craggy detail aplenty in Costners weather-beaten face, and the interiors of his M ntana home have texture and depth. Brightness is rated at a punchy 2,200 Lumens from an LED light source that should give you years of moviewatching entertainment. The Horizon Pro 4K is a bright and colorful display but it looks about the same showing all content. The Horizon Pro 4K automatically detects HDR signals and switches to its HDR mode though no indication is made when this occurs. While its image quality has some catching up to do with non-portable dumb projectors of similar price, the Horizon Pro acts as a more literal home theater in a box system that anybody can use. They cover enough of the spectrum to produce clear and uncolored dialog which is ultimately the most important thing in any soundtrack. You can also connect external speakers using either the optical or 3.5mm outputs. Connections are all found around the back. Its seriously expensive, of course, and the reliance on Android and Google technologiesand lack of Apple tech such as AirPlaycould well be a deal-breaker for some people. The main goal of this site is to provide quality reviews about Tvs, Receivers, Speakers, Turntable, Projectors,.. XGIMIs innovative HORIZON Pro a compact, easily portable 4K HDR model with Android TV smart talents offers a plug-and-play user experience and the ability to be installed almost anywhere. The XGIMI Horizon Pro 4K is very bright for a compact projector. Most projectors, including the Horizon Pro, simply dont offer enough dynamic range to give the format an edge in picture quality over its SDR version; they require sacrifices in either blacks or highlights, or complete dynamic tone mapping, to look their best. With MEMC (Motion Estimation and Motion Compensation), the projector delivers low latency with least image blur aided by proprietary 60Hz motion compensation technology, making it ideal for gaming too. If they could get another driver in there for some bass, it would be better. Our magazine, which began with the publication of the SECRETS Primer, is available exclusively on-line and offers to our readers an extensive information resource about home theater and high-end audio. Gamma is a bit light but tracks straight which is a good thing since theres no way to alter it. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.