I Dream of XGIMI

A SELF-DESCRIBED purveyor of “smart projectors and laser TVs,” mentioned in answer to a man-on-thestreet projector query. Though Internet have done much to espouse Xgimi’s evolutionary stable of products, I am willing to wager that the name still escapes a majority of S&V readers.

- Michael P. Hamilton

Although it was only a start-up in 2013, by 2019, Xgimi had remarkably established itself as China’s largest projector maker. Since then, it has actively pursued steady global expansion opportunities, focusing primarily on the European, Japanese, and North American markets. According to the latest data from mid-2023, Xgimi still occupied that top position.

The Horizon Ultra, reviewed here, represents Xgimi’s price successor to its previous top model, the Horizon Pro. Still, an amalgamation of disparate, carefully composited, internal light-launching technologies distances this new machine from a direct comparison with its predecessor.

Insofar as I am aware, fanfare alone does not singularly propel a company into market disruptor status. It must be abetted by achievements relating to performance and consumer acceptance. Conjuring a new range-topping model in this fast-evolving marketplace fraught with high-tech quicksand is a vexing task, requiring hyper-meticulous mechanical and engineering alchemy. So grab a lab coat, and together, we will discover whether Xgimi has successfully bested past efforts or if this is a mere doff of the hat in passing.

(UN)BOXING DAY

Xgimi impressively and safely double-boxes the Horizon Ultra. Inner packaging strongly emulates Apple; it is shrouded in materials suggesting a grander, more upscale purchase (not that the $1,699 should be considered pocket change).

Accompanying the unit is its colormatched, 300-watt, street paver-sized large. Obviously, none have laid eyes on a Barco Freya+. Still, most fail to point out the size of its power supply, for inconspicuous, it is not. Concerned with and diminish its presence.