The XGIMI HORIZON Pro is a 4k HDR10/HLG projector. The projector comes with a full suite of image correction technologies, including autofocus, intelligent screen adjustment, and auto keystone correction with object avoidance, so it compensates for any geometry errors in the image automatically and adjusts itself when it detects objects in the frame. It has Android TV with Chromecast and AirScreen built-in and supports Bluetooth 5.0/BLE and Wi-Fi. It has two HDMI ports, each capable of 4k @ 60Hz, and can passthrough advanced audio formats from DTS and Dolby through eARC. Finally, it has two integrated 8W Harman/Kardon speakers.
Our Verdict
The XGIMI HORIZON Pro 4k projector is alright for watching movies. It has passable contrast and adequate brightness, so it's alright, but not exceptional, in darker rooms. This projector's pre-calibration accuracy is inadequate, but luckily, its limited calibration options can greatly improve it. It has a wide color gamut, but sadly, the projector isn't bright enough to make its colors pop.
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Full suite of smart features and wireless connectivity options.
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Inadequate pre-calibration color accuracy, so you really need to calibrate it to get accurate colors.
- 6.6 Movies
- Updated Aug 07, 2024: Mentioned the newly-reviewed BenQ HT3560 in the Pre-Calibration Color Accuracy section of this review.
- Updated Aug 01, 2024: Updated text throughout the review according to Test Bench 0.9, mainly in the Verdict, Compared To Other Projectors and Contrast sections.
- Updated Jul 31, 2024: We've converted this review to Test Bench 0.9. We've overhauled our Contrast tests, as we now measure contrast at various average pixel levels (APL). You can see the full changelog here.
- Updated Feb 21, 2024: Review published.
- Updated Feb 17, 2024: Early access published.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We reviewed the XGIMI HORIZON Pro 4k. It is the mid-range model in XGIMI's HORIZON line of projectors, which also includes the XGIMI HORIZON and the XGIMI HORIZON Ultra. The Ultra is the only one of the three to use a hybrid Laser-LED Dual Light, with the other two projectors using a more traditional DLP lamp.
| Model | Light Source | Resolution | Speakers |
|---|---|---|---|
| XGIMI HORIZON Ultra | Hybrid Laser-LED | 4k (with pixel shift) | 2 x 12W Harman/Kardon |
| XGIMI HORIZON Pro | DLP lamp | 4k (with pixel shift) | 2 x 8W Harman/Kardon |
| XGIMI HORIZON | DLP lamp | 1080p | 2 x 8W Harman/Kardon |
Our unit was manufactured in February 2023; you can see the label here.
Compared To Other Projectors
The XGIMI HORIZON Pro 4k is adequate for watching movies, with a reasonable mix of image quality and smart features. However, it's expensive for the image quality that it provides. The XGIMI HORIZON Ultra is a bit more expensive but offers significantly better image quality with even more modern smart features. If you don't care about smart features, the Epson Home Cinema 3800 offers much better image quality for a similar price. Other projectors, like the BenQ TK700STi, offer slightly better image quality for a similar price point, making the XGIMI HORIZON Pro a poor value proposition overall.
Check out our recommendations for the best 4k projectors and the best projectors for home use. If you'd prefer to shop for a projector that you can place very close to your screen or wall, look up the best short-throw projectors instead.
The XGIMI HORIZON Pro is slightly better than the XGIMI HORIZON. The HORIZON Pro projects a sharper image due to its 4k pixel-shifting technology, although the HORIZON is brighter than the Pro. Both projectors are very inaccurate, but the Pro is more accurate pre-calibration than the HORIZON, and the Pro is also more accurate post-calibration.
The XGIMI HORIZON Pro is slightly better than the XGIMI Halo+, although the Halo+ is the more portable projector due to its lighter weight and integrated battery. Outside of portability, both projectors have similar characteristics, although the HORIZON Pro projects a sharper image due to its pixel-shifting technology. The HORIZON Pro is also brighter than the Halo+, but the Halo+ has slightly better contrast.
The XGIMI HORIZON Ultra is much better than the XGIMI HORIZON Pro. The Ultra is significantly brighter than the Pro and has better pre-calibration color accuracy. The Ultra also has more modern smart features, such as Android TV 11, Bluetooth 5.2, and Wi-Fi 6, as well as a more powerful integrated sound system.
The BenQ X3000i is much better than the XGIMI HORIZON Pro. The BenQ is brighter, has deeper contrast, and is much more accurate than the XGIMI. They're both capable of projecting up to 4k @ 60Hz, but the BenQ is better for gamers due to its 1080p @ 240Hz capabilities. The XGIMI is, however, the smaller and lighter product with a full suite of image correction features and two full USB data ports. The BenQ is limited to keystone correction on the vertical axis and has no data USB ports, making the XGIMI easier to move around.
The BenQ TK700STi is better than the XGIMI HORIZON Pro. The BenQ is a bit brighter, with better contrast, so it looks better than the XGIMI when a few lights are on. It's also slightly more accurate pre-calibration than the XGIMI, although you can improve the XGIMI significantly more with calibration. The XGIMI has a wider color gamut than the BenQ, but it's not bright enough to make its colors pop. The BenQ is particularly interesting to gamers as it can play games at both 4k @ 60Hz or 1080p @ 240Hz, while the XGIMI is limited to 60Hz at both 4k and 1080p.
The Epson Home Cinema 3800 is much better than the XGIMI HORIZON Pro. The Epson is significantly brighter and is vastly more accurate pre and post-calibration. The XGIMI has a wider color gamut but isn't bright enough to make its colors pop. The XGIMI has more features than the Epson, as it has a full set of automatic image correction features, Wi-Fi support, and integrated Android TV smart OS with full casting capability.
The Optoma UHD35 has better image quality than the XGIMI HORIZON Pro, but the XGIMI has more features. The Optoma has better contrast and pre-calibration accuracy, although you can't improve its accuracy with calibration like you can with the XGIMI. The Optoma's feature set is dry when compared to the XGIMI as the XGIMI has eARC, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, an Android TV smart OS, and two USB data ports, while the Optoma has no USB data ports, no smart OS, and no wireless integration of any sort.
The BenQ HT3560 is a bit better than the XGIMI HORIZON Pro, although the XGIMI comes with a smart OS and wireless features, while the BenQ doesn't. Still, the BenQ has slightly better contrast, is vastly more accurate, and has 1080p @ 240Hz support for gamers, making it somewhat more well-rounded; just make sure you get a streaming dongle if you care about watching content from streaming apps.
Test Results
The XGIMI HORIZON Pro 4k projector isn't designed to be portable, as you need to plug it into an outlet, but it's still somewhat lightweight. This unit does have full auto keystone correction with intelligent screen alignment and obstacle avoidance, so it detects if there are objects in the frame and adjusts it correspondingly. It also has autofocus, so you don't need to do manual image corrections on this projector, making it easy to set up. It has two 8W Harmon/Kardon speakers, so you won't need to worry about connecting it to a soundbar if you move it.
This DLP projector uses an LED bulb as its light source, and it's rated for up to 30,000 hours by the manufacturer, so you likely won't ever have to worry about replacing it. It doesn't do true 4k as it uses pixel shifting to create a higher resolution image. This offers better quality than 1080p but doesn't look as good as native 4k.
The XGIMI HORIZON Pro's peak brightness is adequate. It's bright enough to look good in a dark room, but the image isn't nearly as pleasant when a few lights are on. It has great brightness uniformity, so the sides of the projection don't show any noticeable differences in brightness when compared to the center. If you're not satisfied with this level of brightness, this projector's higher-tier model, the XGIMI HORIZON Ultra, is significantly brighter.
The projector has passable native contrast. Blacks look raised no matter how bright the scene is, but it's still acceptable overall when watched in a dark room.
This projector's out-of-the-box color accuracy is inadequate. All colors show inaccuracy errors, especially blues and cyans. Blues and sometimes reds are overrepresented in all shades of gray and bright whites. Thankfully, the projector's color temperature is excellent, even if it's slightly on the cold side. If you'd prefer a more accurate projector, look up the BenQ HT3560 instead.
The XGIMI HORIZON Pro has limited calibration options as it only has 1-point white balance calibration, but it's enough to improve the projector's color accuracy significantly. Colors still show many accuracy errors, but they're now passable. The white balance is now excellent, and the color temperature is now very close to target, even if just a tad on the warm side.
The projector has a wide color gamut. It has fantastic coverage of the Rec. 709 color space used with SDR content, although its blues are noticeably inaccurate. It does a decent job with the wider Rec. 2020 color space.
