Looking for one of the quickest and easiest ways to create a massive 200-inch screen that looks exceptional in virtually any room for under $2000? The XGIMI Horizon Ultra, recognized as the “first 4K long-throw projector with Dolby Vision”, combines impressive image quality with a very elegant design, and requires minimal effort to set up.
We had our first demo at IFA 2023 in Berlin a few months ago, and now, after getting to test it ourselves, we’re confident recommending this as a great choice for any home cinema.
XGIMI Horizon Ultra
The XGIMI Horizon Ultra is a versatile and aesthetically pleasing projector that elevates your home entertainment experience. Its elegant design, user-friendly setup, and exceptional picture quality make it a standout choice for those seeking a premium and accessible projection solution
As soon as its motorized front cover slides down, you’re greeted with a very futuristic viewing experience. With its upgraded automatic keystone correction, enhanced brightness, and intelligent wall color adaptation that seamlessly blends even with our brown-hued walls, the Horizon Ultra can be added to virtually any room.
Key Features
Enhanced Brightness
With 2,300 ISO lumens, the Horizon Ultra offers a 27% increase in brightness compared to its predecessor, the Horizon Pro. This improved brightness is particularly useful in well-lit environments, although it can lead to slightly washed-out colors in such conditions.
Dual Light Technology
The Horizon Ultra utilizes a 0.47-inch 4K DLP chipset with rapid pixel-shifting, supporting HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision HDR. This technology ensures high-quality visuals and precise color accuracy, achieving a wide 95.5% DCI-P3 color gamut.
Intelligent Screen Adaptation 3.0
The Horizon Ultra features enhanced Intelligent Screen Adaptation 3.0, enabling automatic recognition of picture frames and seamless adjustment of picture size and shape to fit a 16x9 area on the wall.
Wall Color Correction
The projector includes automated wall color correction, offering accurate color reproduction on differently-tinted surfaces. While the feature’s effectiveness may vary in different lighting conditions, it caters to users with lightly colored walls. We put this to the test with our brown walls and were very impressed!
Built-In Stereo Audio
The Horizon Ultra has dual 12W Harman Kardon speakers and DTS Studio Sound Technology, delivering satisfying audio quality. While not a substitute for a dedicated sound system, these speakers offer convenient audio solutions for a variety of setups without needing to install additional hardware.
A Unique Design for the Modern Home
Where many traditional projectors sport a dull, plastic, and bulkier design that could easily be mistaken for a relic from the past, the XGIMI Horizon Ultra stands out with a starkly different approach. Consider the likes of the$3000 BenQ HT4550i, that, unlike its impressive picture quality, follows the same bland and uninspiring all-plastic build that looks cheap. For many, the dated design of such projectors becomes a hurdle when deciding if they’re ready to try out a projector for their setup. Where do you place this cumbersome piece of plastic in your otherwise thoughtfully designed space?
XGIMI understood these concerns and made sure that the Horizon Ultra set new standards for what a premium projector should look like. Even when powered off, it serves as a conversation piece, not a “what’s that huge thing on your table?” The design combines elements of retro and modern esthetics, resembling classic Hi-Fi designs, very reminiscent of a 1958 Zenith Model B-723R AM/FM Vacuum Tube Radio. Its eggshell white body and light gray fabric finish give it that modern minimalist touch, but it retains its timeless and retro influence.
The XGIMI Horizon Ultra maintains a minimalist exterior with its only vents located at the rear, where you’ll also discover its input and output ports which include a DC port, HDMI with EARC support, two USB ports, LAN, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an optical port. For wireless connectivity, the Horizon Ultra uses WiFi 6 supporting dual-band 2.4/5GHz, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, and Bluetooth 5.2 with BLE compatibility. It’s worth mentioning that except for its power button, there aren’t any buttons on the projector itself. As nice as its included remote is, sometimes you want to make quick control changes on the projector itself without reaching for the remote.
The magic of the Horizon Ultra lies in its ability to conceal its true identity until it’s powered on. When it’s off, it appears as an unassuming, compact speaker. In fact, upon unboxing, you might find yourself wondering where its actual lens is hidden. Is it built into the fabric? What is this voodoo? Measuring 10.24 x 8.86 x 6.69 inches and weighing 11.46 pounds (5.2kg), the Horizon Ultra is significantly more lightweight and compact than most of the competition and is rather easy to move from room to room.
Things get exciting when you power it on. The front fabric cover smoothly slides down to reveal its lens, creating a striking first impression. When you turn it off, the cover silently slides back up, akin to the secret bookcase passage in a classic mystery novel. Beyond protecting the lens when not in use, it helps the Horizon Ultra blend into any room, looking more like a traditional, elegant speaker. I’m sure we will see other brands incorporate this into their future releases over the next few years. However, it’s essential to consider that this motorized component, while innovative, may introduce a potential point of failure. Time will tell how well it holds up.
To maintain its small footprint, XGIMI chose to keep the power adapter external. Its matching color and premium plastic casing add to the projector’s overall positive first impressions. However, there is one notable drawback: the fixed cable running from the adapter that plugs into the back of the projector is relatively short, measuring about four feet. This limitation can be a challenge, especially if you’re planning to mount the Horizon Ultra at a higher position, such as on a tripod or on the ceiling. In such cases, accommodating the short cable becomes a point of consideration.
Beyond this, while many projectors offer additional mounting points for more security, the Horizon Ultra has a single shallow 1/4" tripod mounting point underneath. As we tested, it does the job if you just want to elevate it off the ground by a few feet, but we’d recommend that you invest in one of XGIMI’s dedicated tripods or ceiling mounts for additional stability.
Who Is the XGIMI Horizon Ultra For?
While projectors have been a staple for office or school presentations, their transformation into a home cinema-grade experience might seem like uncharted territory for many. For those who haven’t delved into the world of home projection, they might ask: What kind of projector should I get? Where should I place it? How do I adjust focus or correct its alignment? What kind of rooms are they best suited for, and do I need a dedicated screen?
Building off the success of its predecessors, including the Horizon Pro and theMoGo 2 Pro, the XGIMI Horizon Ultra is packed with even more automated smart tech that aims to simplify this journey as much as possible without compromising on image quality.
For starters, the Ultra is relatively compact, easy to move around, and can be adapted to various setups effortlessly. Whether you want it on a side table, mounted on a stand, or installed on your ceiling, it includes some of the best and fastest auto-keystoning features we’ve tested. Whether you don’t have the room to install it directly straight on, or maybe you simply prefer having it off to the side, even if you’re working with challenging angles, this projector has all the automatic and manual adjusts to give you the largest and most impressive image with minimal effort or previous understanding of projector settings.
To truly put this flexibility to the test, I knew my small NYC apartment wouldn’t do justice to the screen sizes the Horizon Ultra can achieve. Instead, I enlisted the help of my parents who had the space to see what this projector could really do.
Their basement has several expansive empty walls, eagerly waiting for something to project onto. There was just one concern: the walls were painted in a light tannish/brown shade. Certainly not my first color choice, but hey… beggars can’t be choosers. While the Horizon Ultra’s Intelligent Wall Color Adaption promises to adjust its colors and white balance for lighter-colored walls, would it pass the test on these darker walls?
Up until this point, my parents had been content with a 48" 4K Samsung smart TV from a few years ago. It still runs great, but for as large of an open sitting area as they have in their basement, it felt very small.
With a few minutes of setup, we had the new projector ready to go, with a massive 150" viewing experience filling nearly the entire height of their 9-foot ceilings. The Intelligent Screen Adaptation 3.0 worked well for the most part, though it did take it a few tries to recognize the rather unique shape of our wall which includes a slight drop down which it often did not fully avoid.
From watching live baseball, movies, shows, news, and of course your random YouTube video, everything looked sharp, vibrant, and surprisingly bright. Let’s just say, it quickly became my dad’s new favorite thing. To little surprise, when asked if I could keep the projector over for a few more days of testing, there wasn’t any pushback.
What was most impressive? With the lights turned off you’d completely forget that the walls were brown in the first place, and we didn’t even need to use a screen or repaint the walls to achieve it.
When switching back and forth between its Intelligent Wall Color Adaption on and off, it’s shocking to see how it handles these colored walls.
Viewing Experience
Picture Quality and Versatility
The Horizon Ultra supports image sizes between 40” and 200” and has a flexible throw ratio of 1.2-1.5:1, allowing for various placement options. Unlike many traditional projectors with 2:1 throw ratios that require two feet of distance for every foot of image width, the Horizon Ultra can be positioned much closer to the screen, offering increased flexibility, especially those in smaller spaces.
The projector’s picture quality is attributed to its “Dual Light” projection system, which combines the brightness and sharpness of laser projection with the color accuracy and contrast of LED projection. This is supposed to reduce viewing fatigue commonly associated with overly bright and sharp laser projectors.
Beyond resolution and brightness, the Horizon Ultra shines with its 95% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut and support for HDR10. The image quality is vibrant without appearing overly saturated. Cinephiles and those with extensive experience with other projectors will probably be able to nitpick and identify shortcomings, but to my rather untrained eye, I thought everything looked great.
The Horizon Ultra also excels in contrast performance, especially when compared to previous XGIMI models. It delivers impressive detail in darker scenes without muddying the visuals. While this won’t fool anyone into thinking that it’s an OLED TV, it offers remarkably deep blacks, providing an incredible cinematic viewing experience.
In movies like Interstellar, details are brought to life with stunning clarity, from the pores on Matthew McConaughey’s face and the individual hair strands on Anne Hathaway to the subtle film grain throughout.
We also watched a mix of other content including the Minnesota Twins vs the Chicago White Sox, Fionna and Cake, and some Dolby content demos, where everything simply looked “wow”.
Gaming Experience
Although lacking 120Hz support, for gamers, the Horizon Ultra is still a solid choice, boasting a minimum latency of 18ms at 4K 60Hz—a significant improvement over its predecessor the Horizon Pro’s 35ms input lag. The Gaming mode can be enabled in the projector’s input settings but it’s automatically activated when the projector detects a gaming source like an Xbox or Playstation. In our test with Forza Motorsport on an Xbox Series X, the immersion reached a new level, making it an excellent choice for racing sims.
Audio Performance and Considerations
Even the most budget bookshelf speakers can help you achieve a more comprehensive audio setup, but as a built-in solution, the speakers here are still great. The dual 12W speakers offer good bass and high-definition audio, providing plenty of power to fill a large room. However, consider that the projector’s placement flexibility may lead to the speakers being off to the side rather than in the center.
Remote and User-Friendly Interface
The remote control is a blend of aluminum and plastic, delivering a premium feel and comfortable grip. It uses a built-in microphone for Google Assistant to control or search for content.
The remote features dedicated buttons for power, settings, and navigation, creating a streamlined and user-friendly interface. It keeps things minimal with back and home buttons, volume control, and a button for initiating the auto keystoning feature. Despite the projector’s cinematic approach, it was a letdown to see that the remote lacks any backlighting, making it very difficult to use in dimly lit environments.
Elegance at its Best
The XGIMI Horizon Ultra stands out for its impressive features, elegant design, and user-friendly setup. It breaks free from the traditional, uninspiring projector aesthetic, offering a fresh and attractive addition to any room. While it may not encompass all the high-end features of some competitors, its well-rounded nature ensures an excellent viewing experience for various content.
Despite some minor quirks with the remote and power adapter, the Horizon Ultra feels meticulously designed and is poised to set a new standard for future releases in the industry.
