This is the Horizon Ultra. It’s XGIMI’s latest, high-end 4K projector
that recently became the latest addition to my studio and gaming setup. In my world, that’s a huge honor so you
can kind of guess right off the bat how I’m feeling about this projector. The Horizon Ultra features a unique premium
design with a fabric sliding front and a leather finish all around it. It's got 2300 lumens of brightness, sharp
and vibrant 4K image quality, the ability to cast a huge 100+ inch image from not too
f
ar away, it’s got dual 12W Harmon Kardon speakers and built-in Android TV 11 for the
ability to start streaming right out of the box. You may recall, a few months ago, I reviewed
the XGIMI Halo+ portable projector and that little thing took me by surprise. For its small size, it performed incredibly
well so when I got this opportunity to check out essentially the high-end version of it
in the Horizon Ultra, I was very curious what it was capable of. To sum it up, it did not disappoint. Before we
continue on with this review, let’s
rewind to a quick unboxing and setup so I can show you what all of that is like. So when you get the Horizon Ultra, it’s
going to arrive in a very nice package that matches the premium aesthetics of it. Inside, you’ll find the projector itself
right on top, which we’ll talk more about in a minute, some documentation, a large power
brick along with a power cable and an aluminum remote that feels so, so nice. It has a surprising amount of weight to it. One thin
g I would like to applaud is the overall
design of the Horizon Ultra. It’s a beautiful looking projector in that
misty gold color and it’s certainly going to add a touch of elegance to any space that
it goes in. The leather and aluminum combo is stunning. The Horizon Ultra is big enough to be a permanent
fixture in your home theater yet it’s also small enough where you can easily take it
outside or anywhere you go. Setting it up is extremely easy. It’s got auto focus and auto keystone features
s
o aligning it to your screen or wall won’t be that big of a problem. Auto focusing in particular works really well
and delivers a sharp image every time. The one thing I noticed is that everything
here is pretty much auto and there aren’t any manual physical controls to fine tune
things. It doesn’t have a lens shift knob, a manual
focus ring, a zoom ring or anything like that. Instead, you’ll find most of those things
baked into the settings. After you get it aligned, you just have to
setup Andr
oid TV and you’re ready to start watching and gaming on the big screen. Another thing I wanted to applaud is the versatility
of the Horizon Ultra. Around the back of it, there’s a variety
of different ports to connect all of your devices. There’s even an Ethernet port to hardwire
it for a more stable connection. It’s pretty amazing. When it comes to picture quality, as you’ve
been seeing throughout this video, the Horizon Ultra looks so, so good. No matter if I played my Xbox, Switch or streamed
with the built-in Android TV, I was mind blown by how good everything looked. The colors are bright and vibrant, the blacks
and shadows are deep and the 4K quality is razor sharp and packed with detail. I would say the picture quality is comparable
if not better than some of the more expensive projectors that I’ve used. It’s seriously impressive. What’s interesting is that the Horizon Ultra
also supports Dolby Vision, which is pretty rare for a projector. This is part of the reason why everythi
ng
looks extra bright and vibrant here. I think the thing that took me by surprise
most is that this is not a dedicated gaming projector yet it’s excellent for it. I extensively tested both my Nintendo Switch
and Xbox Series S playing a variety of different games and it has been a joy. There’s little to no input lag or delay
and games are buttery smooth on the big screen. Even under heavy loads and being on for long
periods of time, the Horizon Ultra runs cool and whisper silent. Though I doubt
you’d be able to hear it
anyway under the booming built in speakers. Speaking of, that’s a good transition to
the next category in this review, audio. The Horizon Ultra features dual 12W Harmon
Kardon speakers that get very loud. The sound out of this projector is crisp,
clear and it’s punchy with the bass. It can easily fill a medium to large room
with clear, booming sound. I don't think many will find a need to go
out and get an external pair of speakers. If you do though, you can wire them up
to
the projector or connect them over Bluetooth. What’s cool is that the Horizon Ultra can
also double as a Bluetooth speaker itself so if you're entertaining a crowd, you can
use it that way to play music and things like that. So you can get an idea how the built-in speakers
sound, here's a quick sample from when I was playing Splatoon 3. [XGIMI Horizon Ultra Speaker Test] So what do I love most about the Horizon Ultra? I would say above all it’s the well-roundedness
of it. I’ve used many, man
y projectors over the
years and few pack looks, performance and great sound into a beautiful, compact package
like this. Like I mentioned earlier, this could be a
permanent fixture in your home, you can take it outdoors if you want or anywhere you go. It does have a surprising amount of portability
too. As great as everything is though with it,
this projector is not perfect. It doesn’t have physical controls for more
versatility in setting it up, it’s a long-throw projector so it will likely sit
smack dab
in the middle of your room, not a bad thing just something worth mentioning, the refresh
rate is good for gaming but it isn’t as high as a dedicated gaming projector and the
power brick is ginormous. It’s almost half as big as the projector
itself. To start closing this video out, the XGIMI
Horizon Ultra is a phenomenal home theater projector that looks as good as it performs. From its premium design to the crisp and vibrant
4K image quality that it delivers, it’s just all around impr
essive. I kind of had a feeling this projector would
be good going in but it exceeded all of my expectations. Sure it has its quirks like anything else
but the Horizon Ultra surprised me with its versatility and how it handles everything
from watching movies to playing games. If you’re looking to add a projector to
your home or upgrade from an older one, this thing is a great all around option to consider! So that’s about all I got for this video
my friends! I hope you enjoyed it and found out h
elpful. If you did and you liked what you saw, you
know the drill, be sure to give it a thumbs up and hit that subscribe button because it
always helps out the channel. Also, don’t forget to follow @raystrazdas
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later. Peace!
Comments
Wow this is an amazing projector, I currently use a 1080p.