Xgimi Horizon 20 Max review: The projector is so bright, you should wear shades

It only took a few months for him to be overthrown The brightest projector I’ve ever tested. The Xgimi Horizon 20 Max is the new king of brightness, an accolade that I think will soon be meaningless, but more on that later. With so many impressive lumens, the 20 Max can fill as large a screen or wall as you can find. Its colors are also surprisingly accurate and have a good contrast ratio.

It is also very expensive. With an MSRP of $3,000, that’s practically $1 per lumen. For this price, it has some issues, including a disappointing zoom range and some production flaws that shouldn’t be present in a product at this price.

Overall, though, the Horizon 20 Max is a great projector that delivers an excellent image in a gimbal-style design that seems to be very popular. I’m not sure the price is completely justified, but if you want to blind passing spacecraft, Pop 140 tons of popcorn Or simply create a super-bright, wall-sized image, it’s an impressive little machine.

Specifications and so on

• Resolution: 4K
• Lumen Specifications: 5,700 (ISO)
• Magnification: 1.2-1.5:1
• Lens shift: ±120% vertically, ±45% horizontally
• Light source type and lifespan: RGB laser (lifespan not specified but lasers typically last the life of the projector)

Horizon 20 Max is an evolution of Exgeme Horizon S Max and Exgeme Horizon Ultra. It is slightly larger and has the former pivot frame and slow susan style base. However, I wish there was a way to hold the alignment in place, as any collision with anything it sits on could throw it off target.

Unlike most cheaper DLP projectors, the 20 Max features horizontal and vertical lens shift, as well as motorized zoom. The vertical shift has an impressive downward extension, allowing you to view without any upward throw. I don’t think most people need this, but if you want to mount or place the projector at a fairly high height, it can sit at the same height as the center of the screen without needing keystone correction. Magnification is welcome but somewhat unimpressive, offering a range of about 3 feet between minimum and maximum throw. It wasn’t enough to place the projector behind or in front of my sofa — though I may be the only one with this problem. However, I always prefer a wider zoom range for greater flexibility in placement and screen size. As with any product, there are trade-offs: a better lens will cost more and can introduce its own optical drawbacks.

Speaking of optical issues, my unit appears to have dust or some other issue with the optical path, resulting in two bright circles in the upper left portion of the image. This is unacceptable for a $3,000 projector. The problem was noticeable enough that if I had purchased this monitor myself I would have returned or replaced it.

The Horizon 20 Max certainly has no problem throwing a lot of light. Only six months after his coronation Anchor Nebula X1 The brightest projector I’ve ever tested, and just a few weeks after finding the second brightest projector in Valerion Vision Master Pro2This is the new King of Light. In the most accurate mode, I measured 2699 lumens, about 15% better than the X1’s 2383. In the Xgimi Horizon 20 Max’s brighter, very green high-power mode, I measured an impressive 4850 lumens. That’s brighter than any projector I’ve tested; I’m surprised and a little bit Blinded by light.

Light output is important, but if the resulting image is trash, it’s useless. Contrast ratio, the most important aspect of image quality, was a very good 1,367:1. That’s well above average, and while it’s not as good as the Anker Nebula X1, it’s better than the majority of 4K projectors I’ve tested. Color was also quite accurate, although there were a few quibbles which I’ll discuss below.

communication

• HDMI inputs: 2
• USB port: 2
• Audio: eARC, optical, 3.5mm analog, Bluetooth, 2 x 12W speakers
• Internet: Wi-Fi
• Streaming interface: Google TV
• Remote control: Backlit (motion sensitive)

The Horizon 20 Max falls somewhere between dedicated streaming projectors, with their individual HDMI inputs, and traditional projectors with lots of connectivity. The two HDMI connections are nice, but it’s the optical and analogue audio output that’s what’s most noticeable in a projector like this. Manufacturers who facilitate better sound delivery are always welcome.

Xgimi’s interface is the standard Google TV interface, allowing you to install any streaming service you want to watch. Unlike some Google TV projectors I’ve reviewed, this one includes all the picture settings you’d expect—and need—to display the picture on your specific screen and room.

The dual 12-watt speakers feature Harman/Kardon branding and sound surprisingly good. They play fairly loud with a fair amount of bass, although the low end can seem a bit boomy. There are several EQ presets, and what’s most useful is the seven-band custom EQ that lets you dial in the sound profile that best suits your room. Overall, this is some of the best sound I’ve heard from a projector, although the front speakers can sound a little muffled if the unit is placed in front of you. Fortunately, the multiple audio output options make it easy to add external speakers, which is a good idea with any projector. And thanks to built-in wireless connectivity, the 20 Max can also function as a Bluetooth speaker.

The remote has an enter button, which is not available these days. Better yet, the switch buttons light up when they sense movement, which is a welcome thing in a dark room.

Image quality comparisons

Anchor Nebula X1

BenQ W4100i

I’ve gathered three of the best projectors I’ve reviewed recently to compare them against each other. They all look great, exceptionally bright and very expensive. I connected them to a 1×4 distribution amplifier (It is also known as an HDMI splitter) and displayed side by side on a 1.0 gain monitor. This was, without a doubt, the most light ever reflected off my screen.

Not surprisingly, there are no bad options here. All three have their pros and cons, of course, but they’re all great projectors. To fit all three images onto my 2.35:1 screen, I moved the projectors closer together to create a TV-sized image, and a bright one, too. The differences in light output are the most noticeable between models. While all are impressive in this regard, the Xgimi is noticeably brighter than the others, even more so than the previous brightness king, the Nebula X1. Although the BenQ “only” puts out 1,683 lumens, it manages to hold its own, but it’s definitely dull. But do you feel like this projector is dark in your home? no.

As I’ve said countless times before, brightness is just one aspect of image quality. It’s certainly important, but just because it’s bright doesn’t mean it’s the best projector. Contrast ratio is the real key. here. The Anker seems a little more powerful than the Xgimi, which itself seems a little better than the BenQ. But the differences are not huge. I measured the Anker at 1,544:1, the Xgimi at 1,367:1 and the BenQ at 975:1. This is enough to notice the difference on a personal level, but barely between Anker and Xgimi. Between Anker and BenQ, it’s more pronounced, but still fairly close.

Where BenQ wins is color. All three of these projectors are quite accurate, but the BenQ looks the most natural. It has the best skin tones overall and is simply a pleasure to look at. Color doesn’t make the headlines in terms of brightness and contrast ratio, but when done right, it really catches the eye. The image looks a little more natural, and less like on-screen technology.

As I mentioned in previous reviews, all RGB laser projectors have a problem. If you wear glasses you may notice Chromatic aberration, or color fringingalong the edges of bright objects, most notably white objects on a dark background. The image will appear pixelated with a single-colored “ghost” on either side. This is separate from the DLP rainbows that some people see with certain DLP projectors. But this problem will not affect everyone who wears glasses, and it certainly will not affect everyone who does not wear glasses. I’ve noticed this and find it annoying enough that I personally wouldn’t buy an RGB laser projector. BenQ uses LEDs and does not have this problem.

I’m not going to come out and say “everyone is a winner here.” However, choosing one is a challenge. Like I said before, they all have pros and cons, so I think the real answer is that each is ideal for a specific use. The Nebula X1 appears to be a portable projector. It has a built-in handle and its highly adjustable lens is definitely designed for less-than-ideal placement. It could definitely work in a dedicated space, but I think others here might be better for it. The BenQ is definitely the best choice for a traditional, proven home theater situation. It’s wide, allowing it to sit unobtrusively close to the ceiling, and streaming is done via an included dongle that you can choose not to install. While the BenQ is still plenty bright, it’s a bit darker than the other two devices here and better suited to light-controlled rooms.

That leaves the Xgimi: it’s not as portable as the X1, but it’s definitely intended for home use that’s not permanently installed. Lens shift, zoom, and pivoting make setup quick and easy for impromptu movie watching on almost any flat surface, and the internal speakers sound good for a small projector. In other words, if you don’t want to mount it (BenQ is better) but also don’t need to move it around a lot (Anker is better), this device fits the bill. Yes, that’s a narrow niche. You can also buy it if you just want to burn your neighbor’s retinas – even with the curtains closed.

The new normal?

It seems we’re entering a new era in home projectors. The demise of UHP lamps led to the development of LED and laser light sources that have now greatly surpassed their predecessor technology. It used to be a given that projectors would get brighter every year, but what was once incremental has taken off significantly in the past few years. When I first started reviewing projectors in the ancient dark ages of the early 2000s, an exceptionally bright projector could manage perhaps 900 lumens. now middle The projector I’m reviewing can do this quite easily. The nearly 5,000 lumens that the Horizon 20 Max puts out is more than many TVs from a few years ago.

At some point, arguably now with the Xgimi Horizon 20 Max, we’ll have to have a discussion about what’s too bright in a projector. Such talk would have been laughable just a few years ago. I’ll admit that this is laughable now too, but the reality is that regular homes have screen size limited by the floor and ceiling. If that wall-sized picture results in a TV-level drop in brightness, at what point does it become too much and you need to turn it down? I often joke about photos being “teary to the eyes,” but many people actually find super-bright photos uncomfortable when viewed in a dark room. Since projectors need a dark room anyway – any ambient light will affect the contrast ratio – there is a natural upper limit to comfortable brightness.

So, if your projector is bright enough that you routinely turn it off, the question becomes: why spend extra money on that level of brightness in the first place?

As I said, this argument is now purely academic. The fact is that you can refuse it. The Horizon 20 Max also shows that extreme brightness, for the most part, no longer comes with significant sacrifices beyond cost. Contrast and color remain constant even at these lumen levels. It used to be that pushing brightness would give up one or both, but with modern LED and laser light sources, that trade-off is largely no longer viable.

So, if you don’t mind that sticker price, you can have as big a screen as you want in your home and create a picture with TV level brightness. This is really impressive.