XGIMI Horizon Pro 4K projector review: Glorious but flawed

❘ Updated: 2022-10-26T18:01:45

Dexerto

The XGIMI Horizon Pro 2200 is astoundingly good value, but Android TV and its odd restrictions make let it down.

XGIMI is a relatively new company, but one that has made more than a stamp as a decent option to go for.

The Horizon Pro is a wonderful little box and something that we’ve used every night to catch up on the latest anime, movies, and even some gaming. What we loved about it, is that it’s entirely self-contained.

Almost every aspect of it is excellent, it just falters due to what we’re presuming is out of XGIMI’s complete control. Google’s Android TV and the work needed to ensure that certain apps are available cause its all-in-one nature to become a little questionable at times.

Key specs

Resolution: 3840×2160 (4K)
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Image size: 40-200″
Throw: 1.2:1
Brightness: 2200 lumens
Ports: 2x HDMI (one ARC), 2x USB 2.0, Optical audio out
Wi-Fi 5, Ethernet
OS: Android TV 10
Price: $1500
Where to buy: B&H

Included in the box: XGIMI Horizon Pro 4K Projector, remote control, power connector

Design

The Horizon Pro is a squat little grey box that is appreciated, as it lurks in the background or wherever it happens to be placed. It doesn’t try to be the star of the show, with the only physical signaling that it’s on standby being a tiny red, but dull, LED.

Around it is a dotted grill, which houses stupendous speakers. Underneath, a small thread to mount on the ceiling, and the built-in gyroscope will automatically alter the image to match its new position.

It comes with a remote control included, which we initially thought was broken. However, it opts for a subtle approach to its design. The cartridge to place your batteries is popped out with a press of the button, but none are included. We would have preferred a rechargeable remote, but the sacrifice of two Duracell batteries is worthy of such a great device.

Features

XGIMI has fitted the Horizon Pro with a 2200-lumen bulb, which if we’re honest, is where we suspect they’ve managed to cut costs in comparison to other 4K projectors.

This means that the projector has to be in controlled conditions even more so than its competitors. The brightness cannot beat daytime English autumnal weather, and we doubt it could last a fraction of a second in the harshness of late summer evenings when the sun won’t go away.

Image quality

However, once placed in the right conditions, the Horizon Pro is near perfect. The crisp 4K image means that almost every movie we threw at it looked phenomenal, and playing games either through the Steam Deck or Xbox Series S, neither of which can natively do 4K, still looked excellent.

There’s little input lag too, for those concerned. We thought there might be, but it was just the Uncharted 4 PC port acting strangely.

The throw on the image (the distance to the surface you’d be displaying on) is also great, with our stress test seeing it only fail once we pointed it seven floors below. Beaming the image across your bog-standard room will never be an issue.

Easy setup

What makes the Horizon Pro feel great to use is that outside of a few big issues with the software, everything just works as intended. It even comes with an HDMI ARC port, so that your favorite speakers already embedded in the home entertainment system don’t have to be torn apart to suit it. A quick HDMI cable and you’re away.

The speakers embedded in the system mean that anyone without a soundbar or surround sound setup won’t be disappointed. Even though we’ve positioned the Horizon onto a bookshelf in the corner of the room, it fills the entirety of the room with this deep, rich sound. It has plenty of bass, but not enough that it distorts the sound either.

When setting up the projector for the first time – or after a few tweaks, after each bootup – it will attempt to readjust the image to better suit you. This felt like a trip, as we tested the device at an angle in a tight space.

After flooding the wall with a bright white light and some markers, the projector took the odd angle and produced a smaller, but completely flat image with no way to tell that it was actually at an angle.

Of course, for best results, straight-on is always preferred. However, the fact it’ll play ball with any angle and is usually, if not always, accurate, is astonishing.

What isn’t astonishing is the Android TV baked into the device. The all-in-one dream is so close, but so far in some respects.

Android TV and XGIMI

We know that this is an official build of Android TV, and for the most part, it functions just fine. We don’t particularly like how it dumps us at an app-less wall each session, instead recommending a Doctor Who clips, or other YouTube shows as it can’t seem to pull the data in from other apps.

Then there’s the fact that you can certainly browse the Google Play Store, but the apps you’d want to access aren’t on it. BBC iPlayer, for instance, was nowhere to be found. Netflix could be installed, but not played, as XGIMI hasn’t done the legwork to get the projector on an approved list – something we didn’t know existed until this review.

In other apps like Crunchyroll, we couldn’t tell if they were poorly made, or if there was a hiccup in the system. After testing the app on another Android device, we’re still unsure as browsing for the latest episodes of Chainsaw Man and Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid was a chore. An unusual lag between pressing the button and it figuring out what to do next.

It’s weird to see a $1500 device do so much so well, only to tumble at the very thing it’s supposed to do. Plugging in a laptop or casting over to it with our phones didn’t make for such a pleasant compromise.

Is the XGIMI Horizon Pro 2200 good for gaming?

Absolutely it is. In the right room conditions, this might be our preferred way to play the latest spectacles. We’re looking forward to filling our wall with Bayonetta 3, and seeing how the HDR works in the darker areas of Modern Warfare 2.

We also tested the pre-installed Steam Link and yes, this is totally a viable way to play your PC games on the couch. Not only do you get a wonderful image to stare at, but the room-filling sound is always a plus.

Should you buy it?

We were apprehensive about such a finicky product being brought in for review. Having to rearrange the room around it, or suffering from various issues that usually plague projectors slowly melted away.

8/10

Smart design and an excellent image make this absolutely worthy of its $1500 price tag, something we never thought we’d say.

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