XGIMI Horizon Ultra Review: A Premium 4K Laser Projector Like No Other

This thing is otherworldly.

Thanks to its competitive pricing and beginner-friendly products, XGIMI is now one of the best-known home projector brands. But its latest offering, the Horizon Ultra, toes the line between a convenient all-in-one unit and a hardcore enthusiast piece—it boasts a 4K 60FPS resolution with just 18ms of latency and an eye-searing 2,300 ISO lumens of brightness. XGIMI Horizon Ultra is a substantial upgrade over the Horizon Pro unit we reviewed last year, a fact that's reflected by its $1,700 price tag and heftier design.

I've spent about three weeks testing the XGIMI Horizon Ultra in my living room with a 120-inch screen. Throughout the testing period, I was constantly stunned by the projector's quality and ease of use. It's a joy to watch movies with the Horizon Ultra, and importantly, its $1,700 price tag actually seems reasonable and competitive. But there are a few things that I dislike about this projector. And because of its awkward size and weight, it may be a non-starter for some customers.

The Horizon Ultra is XGIMI's flagship home projector. It features an impressive 2,300 lumens ISO brightness, plus a 4K 60Hz resolution with a minimum 18ms input latency. Not to mention, Horizon Ultra makes ample use of XGIMI's excellent auto-framing technology, and it offers optical zoom for fine-tuning your image without a loss in quality. This is an enthusiast projector, though its large footprint and weight are best suited for placement on a coffee table, a strong tripod, or a bookshelf.

The average projector looks kind of dorky, but the XGIMI Horizon Ultra is pretty attractive. It's a big fat box, obviously, but it looks like a futuristic radio. XGIMI tells me that the design is supposed to blend into a modern home, hence the "misty gold" color scheme, motorized fabric lens cover, and PU leather detail. I've also heard the term "spouse-approval factor" tossed around, which makes sense, as this projector is an all-in-one unit with Android TV and decent built-in speakers. But for what it's worth, I suggest getting the thumbs-up from your spouse before bringing home a big $1,700 projector.

As for actual build quality, the XGIMI Horizon Ultra feels quite nice. The plastic chassis has a pleasant texture, and the video ports aren't loose or wobbly. Horizon Ultra weighs a little over 11 pounds (not unusual for a laser projector), though its weight is evenly distributed, so it shouldn't tip or lean when attached to a strong tripod. Notably, XGIMI uses a large external power supply (rather than an internal one) to keep Horizon Ultra at a reasonable weight.

The external power supply also offsets some of this projector's heat. But because the Horizon Ultra is a laser projector, it doesn't produce much heat in the first place. It's comfortable to use in a small room, and more importantly, its fans are extremely quiet. You won't find yourself cranking up the volume to hide the fan noise.

The projector's motorized lens cover is also a nice touch. Not only does it protect the lens from dust and greasy fingers (this unit is made to sit on a coffee table, after all), but it also provides a clear indication that the projector is turned off. And because the motor is silent, it isn't annoying. Unfortunately, I'm kind of a pessimist, and I'm always worried that fancy motorized things will break. I see the purpose of this feature, but I'm on the fence about it.

My only major complaint, at least in terms of build quality, is the lack of a proper mounting system. While most projectors have three or more mounting points (to facilitate a safe mounting system that can securely tilt up or down), the Horizon Ultra and other XGIMI projectors have just one shallow tripod mounting screw in their base. Unless you plan on setting this thing directly on a table or bookshelf, I suggest buying one of XGIMI's tripods or ceiling mounts, which are strong and reliable but costly.

Also, there aren't any buttons on the projector itself. There's just a power button. Even the cheapest, crappiest projectors have an assortment of buttons, so I'm not sure what XGIMI was thinking here.

The XGIMI Horizon Pro puts a lot of movie theaters to shame. Its image quality is jaw-droppingly good, with excellent sharpness, vibrant color, and surprisingly detailed contrast. The 4K resolution obviously contributes to this quality, as does the maximum 2,300 ISO lumens of brightness. Horizon Ultra is about 70% brighter than the Horizon Pro, so as you can imagine, this projector has no trouble operating during the daytime, even with the curtains open. And with support for screens up to 200 inches, plus optical zoom to fine-tune your projection without a drop in image quality, Horizon Ultra can accommodate some elaborate setups.

Aside from the resolution and brightness, Horizon Ultra boasts a 95% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut, plus support for HDR10. The picture quality is extremely vibrant, yet it doesn't look artificial or over-saturated. That said, as with any projector, it's hard to achieve perfect color accuracy (especially in a lit room). XGIMI's image-correction technology automatically balances the color to compensate for environmental changes, though this can introduce a slight blue or orange tint to the projected image. I like to use the Horizon Ultra's Android TV settings page as a point of reference—sometimes, I notice that it has an orange-ish hue, while at other times, it's ever-so-slightly blue. But I'm not very picky about this stuff, and honestly, I'm just mentioning it to set some realistic expectations. If you're looking for perfectly accurate colors, this projector will get you very close to your goal, but you will need to calibrate some settings and optimize your room manually.

(I apologize for using my smartphone to shoot the photos shown above. Photos shot on my DSLR looked terrible, presumably because I couldn't find the right shutter speed. Anyway, most of these sample images were shot with some ambient lighting. The projector was set off-axis from my screen, which is why some space is illuminated above and to the left of the projected image. Please expand the photos to see them at a higher quality.)

Horizon Pro is also decently good at handling contrast, at least when compared to previous XGIMI projectors. There's a fair amount of detail in the blacks and grays. That said, extremely dark movie scenes (such as this sequence in the 2002 "Spider-Man") lack detail and clarity on the Horizon Ultra. I'm not surprised by this fact, and honestly, I'm happy with the Horizon Ultra's contrast. If you want to watch movies with amazingly detailed contrast, buy an OLED TV. (For those wondering about the HDR functionality—well, projectors don't support HDR in the same way that TVs do. You might notice a slight improvement in color or brightness when viewing some HDR content, but any difference in contrast is negligible. Projectors don't have local dimming zones!)

According to XGIMI, the Horizon Pro owes its picture quality to a new "Dual Light" projection system. The details kind of go over my head, but XGIMI effectively combined the brightness and sharpness of laser projection with the color accuracy and contrast of LED projection. The company claims that this "Dual Light" system reduces viewing fatigue, which is a common problem with very bright and sharp laser projectors. It should also avoid problems like speckle noise and color fringing (I didn't encounter these problems in my testing, so that's promising). You can read a long and detailed explanation of "Dual Light" projection at XGIMI's website.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, the Horizon Ultra is a solid choice for gaming. This projector features a minimum 18ms of latency and supports 4K 60Hz playback—a huge improvement from the Horizon Pro's 35ms of input lag and comparatively limited quality settings. You must enable "gaming" mode in the projector's input settings to enjoy these optimizations, although I found that this mode is automatically enabled when the projector recognizes a gaming source.

Manually setting up a projector can be a frustrating experience, especially for first-time owners. But the XGIMI Horizon Ultra does most of the work for you. It automatically frames the projected image to fit your screen or wall, with accurate auto-keystone and auto-focus to boot.

These setup processes are automatically triggered every time the projector moves, so if you accidentally bump it out of place, it only takes a few seconds to get going again. Also, unlike previous Horizon models, the Horizon Ultra offers optical zoom. If you place the projector too far from your projection surface, it's not a big deal, as the optical zoom will help you correctly fill the screen or wall without a reduction in image quality. (Other projectors use digital zoom, which can noticeably reduce picture quality.)

Of course, Horizon Ultra allows you to make fine adjustments on top of the auto-setup process. I had to make these manual adjustments when setting the projector in odd positions (diagonally from my projector screen, for instance). When projecting on a big empty wall, or from a position directly in front of a screen, manual adjustment isn't always necessary.

But even with a nearly automatic setup process, finding a good location for this projector can be difficult. After all, it's a laser projector—it's kinda big, it weighs a little over 11 pounds, and it's ridiculously bright. I wasn't comfortable hanging this monstrosity from my ceiling mount, partially because of the weight, but mainly because the Horizon Ultra has a single tripod screw instead of a standard mounting system (so, even if I installed it on my ceiling mount, angling it properly would be a pain). From what I can tell, XGIMI's articulated ceiling mount is the only good option for hanging this projector, unless you're willing to spend hundreds on a projector cage.

Anyway, I tried placing the projector on my coffee table, which is something you'll see in a lot of XGIMI's marketing materials. But this placement wasn't ideal for me. Horizon Ultra doesn't have a built-in kickstand or height-adjustable legs, so I had to stack it on a box to get it to the correct height (clearly, I should have asked for one of XGIMI's tripods). Also, the projector radiates heat from its rear, so sitting behind it is a bit uncomfortable (but not nearly as bad as sitting behind a bulb projector). And because my projector screen is in the middle of a living room, people walk in front of it pretty often. This triggers Horizon Ultra's obstacle warning screen—a somewhat annoying safety feature that dims the projector when an obstacle is detected. You can disable this feature, as I did, but I suggest leaving it on if you have children.

I ended up setting the Horizon Ultra on a bookshelf, off-axis from my projector screen and well above anybody's head. But I had to flip it upside-down and shove some cardboard underneath it to get a good projection angle (the lens projects at an upward angle to accommodate coffee table placements). To my surprise, this odd placement didn't have any major effect on the video quality.

The Horizon Ultra is clearly an enthusiast projector, which is why I'm so puzzled by the lack of a proper mounting system or kickstand. I'm speaking as someone who already has a ceiling mount and a screen—if I were to buy myself a fancy new $1,700 projector, why would I pick one that only has a single (and shallow) mounting point? And even if I wanted to place this projector on a coffee table, a built-in kickstand or adjustable legs (the kind that screw in and out) would greatly improve its flexibility.

This may sound a bit weird, but when I unboxed the XGIMI Horizon Ultra, the first thing that stood out to me was its remote control. It's a slim, stylish little remote with aluminum detail and a minimal button selection—navigation and volume keys, a Google Assistant shortcut, and an auto-focus shortcut. The remote's spring-loaded AAA battery tray is also quite nice, as is the integrated LED that flickers every time you press a button.

But the remote is a bit too thin and flat. Using it to navigate through the Android TV interface isn't such a big deal, but when you need to type anything, it's just uncomfortable. A slightly thicker remote, or one that has a sort of triangular shape (like the NVIDIA Shield remote), would be a huge improvement. I've tried to rely more on Google Assistant to avoid typing, but as any Android TV user will tell you, Google Assistant only gets things right about half of the time.

Also, there isn't an input selector button on the remote, which doesn't make any sense to me at all. And the buttons aren't backlit. To be fair, the button layout is simple enough to memorize, but these buttons are impossible to see in the dark.

I've got just one last complaint about the remote—replacements cost $65. If this were a smart TV or a streaming stick, I probably wouldn't worry about the price of the remote control. But this is a projector that's made to sit on a coffee table. Many customers will use the Horizon Ultra for parties, film classes, and summer camps. And, if they forget to bring the remote, or if they lose the remote, they will be very disappointed to realize that Horizon Ultra doesn't have any built-in volume or navigation buttons.

Yes, you can control this projector with the Android TV app on a smartphone. An Xbox controller or some other Bluetooth gamepad will also work, though with some limitations. If you're afraid you'll lose the remote, take these steps when you first set up the projector.

Like other XGIMI projectors, the Horizon Ultra runs on Android TV. You don't need to buy a streaming stick to watch movies or shows—all you need is a Wi-Fi connection. In my testing, Android TV worked almost flawlessly and felt very responsive. I'm sure that most people will appreciate its inclusion in this projector.

That said, I wish that XGIMI had simply included a streaming stick in the box, rather than building Android TV into the projector. The Horizon Ultra is rated for 25,000 hours of use, meaning that it should last for well over a decade. By that time, the Android TV interface will be outdated, yet you'll be greeted by Android TV every time you turn on the projector. (If you can't tell, I really miss "dumb" TVs.)

Also, for some reason, XGIMI projectors cannot install the Netflix app through Google Play. The Horizon Ultra comes with a small pamphlet explaining how to install Netflix, and while the process is fairly straightforward, I wish that Netflix came preinstalled. I also dislike the fact that XGIMI's workaround relies on a third-party app.

Normally, I don't suggest using a projector's built-in speakers. But I'm willing to make an exception for the Horizon Ultra. It contains a pair of 12-watt Harmon/Kardon speakers that sound pretty solid, especially in terms of voice clarity and bass. I had no trouble hearing dialog when using this projector's speakers, and the overall sound quality is a lot closer to a Bluetooth speaker than a typical projector.

I'm also impressed by how loud the Horizon Ultra's speakers can get. In my experience, a projector's speakers will usually rattle or distort at anything close to a high volume. But the Horizon Ultra sounds fine when it's cranked up, which is greatly appreciated, as it seems that most people will place this projector on a table or tripod (where it may be difficult to wire up a speaker system). The built-in speakers should also fare well outdoors, so long as you're relatively close to the projector.

These speakers definitely feed into XGIMI's "spouse-approval" philosophy, as they reduce (or eliminate) the need for messy external speakers. Plus, you can take this thing to a summer camp, film class, or outdoor picnic and know that the sound quality won't be a problem.

That said, external speakers will greatly enhance your experience with this projector. Even a cheap soundbar and subwoofer combo is a noticeable upgrade over the Horizon Ultra's built-in speakers.

The Horizon Ultra has both a 3.5mm headphone jack and an optical output, though I relied on the projector's HDMI-eARC port, which I connected to my AVR (a soundbar would work just as well). Bluetooth audio is also an option, but if you end up using a wireless speaker, you may need to dig through the Android TV settings and manually adjust for audio latency. (Using a Bluetooth speaker while gaming will introduce unavoidable audio latency. If you want to game with external speakers, a wired connection. If you're hooked up to an AVR or soundbar over HDMI-eARC, plug your game console into the Horizon Ultra's extra HDMI to ensure maximum video quality.)

The XGIMI Horizon Ultra carries a $1,700 price tag. I believe that this is a pretty competitive price for a 4K laser projector that's capable of shining at 2,300 ISO lumens (about 70% brighter than the Horizon Pro). This pricing certainly lines up with the BenQ TK700STi and other super-bright 4K projectors. But it's still a ton of money. And in an era where decent projectors start at a little over $300, the Horizon Ultra is clearly an enthusiast-level item, or a convenient all-in-one package for those who don't want to set up external speakers and other accessories (again, this is a great option for summer camps or film classes).

That said, there's always the old adage of "buy once, cry once." If you end up with an XGIMI Horizon Ultra, I don't think that you'll be disappointed—the picture quality is mind-blowing, and TVs with a comparable screen size cost several thousand dollars. Not to mention, this is a laser projector. It doesn't need costly bulb replacements, and it's rated for 25,000 hours of use, so it should last for anywhere between 10 and 25 years. (If you use the projector for five hours each day, for example, it will take you 13 years to hit the 25,000-hour mark.)

Just know that this is a long-throw projector. It requires a projection distance of about 10 feet to produce a 115-inch image, though shorter distances can be accommodated by the optical zoom function. In any case, if you're in a smallish room, or if you've never installed a projector before, use a projector calculator to see what you're working with. Note that XGIMI also sells the Aura, an excellent ultra short-throw projector that sits against your wall or screen (rather than projecting from across the room).

The Horizon Ultra is XGIMI's flagship home projector. It features an impressive 2,300 lumens ISO brightness, plus a 4K 60Hz resolution with a minimum 18ms input latency. Not to mention, Horizon Ultra makes ample use of XGIMI's excellent auto-framing technology, and it offers optical zoom for fine-tuning your image without a loss in quality. This is an enthusiast projector, though its large footprint and weight are best suited for placement on a coffee table, a strong tripod, or a bookshelf.

Andrew Heinzman has written about technology for more than half a decade. He originally joined the How-To Geek team in 2018 and served as News Editor of its former sister site, Review Geek.Outside of work, Andrew enjoys music, good food, and spending time with his cats.