XGIMI Horizon vs Horizon Pro difference – price & review

XGIMI Horizon vs Horizon Pro difference

How good in sound quality in XGIMI Horizon or Horizon Pro? With a comprehensive user interface, using your home projector is a breeze. Stream content directly from Disney+, HBO Max, Prime Video, and many other apps. You can also project your favorite videos, apps, or games through Horizon and Horizon Pro from any mobile device. With 2200 ANSI lumens and innovative brightness technology, they deliver an outstanding display, even in brightly lit environments. Which is better for watching Netflix – XGIMI Horizon vs Horizon Pro?

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Pros & Cons – XGIMI Horizon vs Horizon Pro

XGIMI Horizon

Pros

  • Quality HD picture with HDR
  • Loud and powerful speakers
  • Android TV is smooth to use
  • Great price

Cons

  • No native Netflix support

XGIMI Horizon Pro

Pros

  • Great 4K performance
  • Sleek, premium design
  • Excellent detail with the auto focus feature
  • Useful auto keystone features for easy setup
  • Fast boot time
  • Excellent image quality for an all-in-one portable projector
  • Android TV on the go
  • Functions as a decent Bluetooth speaker

Cons

  • Upscaling issues
  • Lapses in streaming support
  • HDR performance isn’t much of a boost over SDR
  • Mediocre Contrast
  • 3D is not currently enabled
  • Netflix not officially supported
  • Works best in very dark rooms
  • Bulky compared to most portable projectors and lacks a lens cover

Specs – XGIMI Horizon vs Horizon Pro

XGIMI Horizon

  • Brightness: 2,200 ANSI Lumens
  • Resolution: 1920×1080
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (HD)
  • Display Type: 0.47″ DLP x 1
  • Video Modes: 720p, 1080i, 1080p/60
  • Data Modes: MAX 4096×2160
  • Lamp Type: LED
  • Lamp Life: 25,000 hours
  • Included Lens: Fixed focal length , Powered focus
  • Optional Lenses: No
  • Lens Shift: No
  • Throw Distance: 2.6′ – 26.2′ Calculate Throw Distance
  • Image Size: 30.06″ – 300.03″
  • Throw Ratio: 1.20:1 (D:W)
  • Projector Placement: For a100 ” diagonal screen, place the projector lens 8′-9″ from the screen.
  • Digital Keystone: Horizontal & Vertical
  • Projector Size: 8.19″ x 8.58″ x 5.35″ (HxWxD)
  • Weight: 6.4 lbs
  • Audible Noise: 30 dB
  • Internal Speakers: 8.0 Watts × 2
  • Power: 200 Watts 100V – 240V

XGIMI Horizon Pro

  • 4K (3840×2160) resolution
  • 2,200 ANSI lumens brightness
  • LED light source with up to 25,000 hours of life
  • As low as six second boot up time out of standby
  • Auto Keystone that can sense obstacles and adjust image
  • Auto focus
  • Android TV 10.0
  • Google Assistant built-in
  • HDR10 and HLG support
  • 2 x 8 watt Harmon/Kardon speaker system
  • 3D capable

XGIMI Horizon vs Horizon Pro Price

I’ve been using the $1,699 Xgimi Horizon Pro for a few weeks now. the Horizon Pro for $1,699 (there is also the Horizon, a 1080p version that costs $1,099); They have features that few projectors have, such as booming speakers and excellent keystone correction.

Compare XGIMI Horizon vs Horizon Pro

HorizonHorizon Pro
Display Chip0.47″ DMD0.47″ DMD
Resolution1920 x 1080 (1080P)3840 x 2160 (4K)
Brightness2200 ANSI Lumens2200 ANSI Lumens
SpeakerDual 8W Harman / Kardon SpeakersDual 8W Harman / Kardon Speakers
Operating SystemAndroid TV 10.0Android TV 10.0
Auto Focus
Keystone Correction±40 Degrees Auto Keystone Correction (Horizontal & Vertical)±40 Degrees Auto Keystone Correction (Horizontal & Vertical)
Image Size30”-300” (300 in @ 25.9ft; 200 in @17.3ft; 150 in @13.1ft ; 100 in @8.7ft; 80 in @7.1ft; 60 in @5.2ft; 30 in @2.6ft)30”-300” (300 in @ 25.9ft; 200 in @17.3ft; 150 in @13.1ft ; 100 in @8.7ft; 80 in @7.1ft; 60 in @5.2ft; 30 in @2.6ft)
Auto Screen Alignment
Obstacle Avoidance

XGIMI Horizon vs Horizon Pro review

Build

XGIMI Horizon has a nice shape and has a somewhat elegant metal grate exterior. It looks like a high-end kitchen gadget more than anything else. The metal siding is curved and keeps the XGIMI Horizon Pro projector from looking too boxy. There are only four buttons on the top of the projector—power, volume up, volume down, and play

Design

XGIMI Horizon

The Horizon is a little bulky, but is easier to carry around than many other projectors thanks to its boxy frame. At around six and a half pounds the projector isn’t exactly lightweight, but it’s certainly manageable to move around easily enough.

Measuring 208 x 218 x 136mm, the XGIMI Horizon is quite small by home cinema projector standards – but it’s larger than the portable projectors in XGIMI’s lineup, such as the XGIMI Halo. It weighs 2.9kg, which makes it small enough that you can transport it in a car or move it around your home, but a little large for general travelling.

XGIMI Horizon Pro

The Xgimi Horizon Pro measures just 8.2 x 8.6 x 5.4 inches / 6.6 pounds (208.4 x 218.4 x 136.2mm / 2.9kg), making it a fairly portable party box. And Xgimi’s “no advertising” pitch is refreshing at a time when ads are increasingly polluting the television viewing experience.

Ports

XGIMI Horizon

This projector is supposed to be your entertainment hub with two HDMI, 2 USBs, an optical and 3.5mm audio port, and even an ethernet port for the best connectivity.

XGIMI Horizon Pro

On the back are two HDMI 2.0 ports, two USB 2.0, an Ethernet port (although I used the included dual-band 2.4/5Ghz wireless connection and had no issues with streaming content to the projector), an optical audio out for connecting to a home speaker system, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. There’s also the DC power jack that connects to an external power brick. 

Display

XGIMI Horizon

Generally, the 2200 lumens brightness is good enough to watch during the day, where you can get around a 60-inch picture (you need to put the projector around 5ft away). This also means you can watch outside when the full sun has gone, starting at around a 30-inch picture. When it gets fully dark, you can go as big as the projector will allow (300 inches).

XGIMI Horizon Pro

The fixed zoom lens has a throw ratio of 1.2:1 and can project an image from as small as 30 inches up to 300. For a 100-inch diagonal, it needs to be 8 feet 9 inches from the screen 

Brightness

XGIMI Horizon

As good as HDR is, the projector’s maximum brightness of 2200 ANSI lumens means that there isn’t enough brightness to present a true HDR experience. You miss out on the searing highlights that more expensive projectors or the best TVs bring.

XGIMI Horizon Pro

Brightness, measured in ANSI lumens, is one of the most critical measurements of any projector, especially one capable of 4K (3840 x 2160) HDR. Xgimi lists the Horizon Pro at 2200 ANSI lumens, which is bright, especially for a portable DLP projector.

It’s in darkened rooms where the Horizon Pro really comes alive. Here, those 2200 lumens provide enough contrast to make 4K HDR content pop.

Resolution

XGIMI Horizon

Officially, the Horizon can display at 1080p at a minimum of around 40 inches up to a whopping 300 inches. Compared to the biggest home TV screens out there, the Horizon can make a screen over triple the size. The Horizon’s specs sheet doesn’t mention what framerate it displays at, but it looks to be higher than the standard 24 frames per second.

XGIMI Horizon Pro

The Horizon Pro does a good job with 1080p and 720p content in my testing. And let’s face it, the majority of legacy content viewed on this 4K projector will require upscaling long into the future.

The Horizon Pro comes with four optimized Image Modes. Movie mode includes 60Hz MEMC motion compensation, which I promptly disabled. Football mode is designed for fast-paced sports. Office mode is optimized for presentations, and Game mode is meant to reduce lag for consoles connected to the Horizon Pro’s two HDMI inputs. There’s also a Custom mode where every setting can be tweaked at will. I noticed very little difference between Movie and Sports modes, so I left the projector in Movie mode for most of my testing. 

Keystone

XGIMI Horizon

This projector includes automatic focus and keystone correction. Place the projector where you want it, and it will automatically configure the screen to get you a square, in-focus picture. There’s no lens-shift, so if you want to avoid keystone correction, you should use a tripod to get the Horizon at the correct height.

XGIMI Horizon Pro

The Horizon Pro drops you into a manual keystone mode after every automatic attempt in order to position the screen exactly where you want it, even at some fairly extreme angles. The Horizon Pro can level the picture when tilted on its side by as much as 45 degrees, with a keystone correction of ±40 degrees on the horizontal and vertical axis.

Audio

XGIMI Horizon

The XGIMI Horizon has a built-in Harman Kardon-tuned speaker that is capable of both booming, loud sounds and softer, quieter sounds. The speaker on the Horizon wraps around to three sides of the projector, but does not include the back.

XGIMI Horizon Pro

The sound produced by the Horizon Pro is good — not just compared to what you’d normally get from projector speakers but also in relation to the Bluetooth speaker you’d typically want to use with portable beamers. I easily preferred the sound produced by the two integrated 8W Harman Kardon speakers over my trusty (4W) Jawbone Big Jambox Bluetooth speaker when listening side-by-side. The audio from the Horizon Pro sounded fuller by comparison. 

Similarities -XGIMI Horizon vs Horizon Pro

Remote

Xgimi’s brushed aluminum remote control is a joy to use. The tubular remote looks as good as its weighted mass feels in the hand. It includes only a minimal set of controls, but I didn’t miss anything. From the top down, you’ll find a built-in mic and buttons for power, settings, and a dedicated Google Assistant button. Below the D-pad are buttons for back, menu, home, volume down and up, and focus. 

Gaming

Regarding gaming, the Xgimi Horizon Pro won’t help you bring home any professional titles. Its input latency hovers around 35ms, which is above the 25ms that Rtings generally considers acceptable on TVs, and its HDMI ports are version 2.0, so you don’t get HDMI 2.1’s gaming-focused features like support for variable refresh rates. But those specs should be more than good enough if you just want to project a 300-inch Nintendo Switch screen onto your wall for an evening of Mario Kart.

Setup

To start, the Horizon Pro’s integrated AI makes setup a breeze. Turn it on and point the lens at a wall or projector screen, and Xgimi’s spatial algorithms will detect any obstacles and calculate what it thinks is the ideal picture size, location, and image brightness. The whole detection process takes less than 15 seconds upon first boot. The automatic screen adaption is close to magical at times and simplifies a process that can be laborious on other projectors even when Xgimi gets things wrong.

Android TV interface

the Horizon Pro uses Android TV 10.0. It’s a relatively smooth interface that can be easily navigated with the remote (there were a few times that the button response could be slightly sluggish, although not overtly so). Since it’s an Android-based platform, the Google Play Store is included for downloading a whole slew of apps, as is Google Assistant that can be accessed via the remote.

Apps

using it to stream media from Disney Plus, YouTube, Apple TV Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Plex, and HBO Max, to name just a few of the Android TV integrations available on the Google Play Store. The notable omission is Netflix, which isn’t officially supported on the Horizon Pro. While I did manage to install the app via a hacky workaround, it’s not something most people would be willing or even capable of doing. And because Netflix is used by over 200 million people around the world, the lack of official support is a big deal.

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