At IFA, Xgimi unveiled its latest product. The Horizon Ultra is the perfect fusion of compactness, high definition and technological advancements, raising the bar even higher for the competition.
During the IFA, the Chinese brand Xgimi, already well known to aficionados of compact video projectors, did well. His latest, theHorizon Ultraseems to be the perfect synthesis between compactness, performance and technological innovation.
Between compactness and state-of-the-art technology
The Horizon Ultra is cleverly positioned halfway between small video projectors and more classic models. It is an all-in-one proposition of an Ultra HD video projector running on Android TV 11. Its native definition Ultra HD is 3840 x 2160 pixelsmade possible thanks to the technology of “ wobbling “.
What is wobulation? This is an image processing technique that doubles the displayed definition by causing the DLP’s micro-mirrors to “oscillate” very quickly. In other words, each pixel is displayed twice in slightly different positions, thus making it possible to obtain an image of twice the effective resolution without increasing the number of micro-mirrors.
But the Horizon Ultra doesn’t stop there. Compatible with the Dolby Visionthe projector promises surgically accurate colors with impressive coverage of 95% of DCI-P3 color space. To achieve this, Xgimi cleverly combines an LED light source and a laser sourcethus achieving a light output of 2,300 ANSI lumens.
In practice, this translates to an ability to project up to a 200-inch diagonal image that should be as bright as regular large 4K projectors.
Connectivity and practicality at the rendezvous
Under the hood, the Horizon Ultra turns thanks to a SoC MediaTek MT55 Cortex-A9612, backed by a Mali-G52 GPU and backed up by 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Its connectivity is also rich: two HDMI 2.0 ports, two USB ports, an RJ-45 port, an analog jack and an optical audio port. In terms of wireless connectivity, it is at the forefront with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2.
Another major asset is its ability to configure quickly. The projector takes into account the distance from the projection surface, its alignment and even the trapezoidal angle. Even better, it is able to recognize an installed screen and adjust its image accordingly.
In terms of sound, the Horizon Ultra features stereo speakers developed with Harman Kardon. Despite a limitation inherent in the proximity of the two speakers, the sound reproduction should be of high quality. He has to eARC to HDMI and an optical audio jack. In addition, the device can also be used as a Bluetooth speaker.
Compact, it weighs just over 5 kg (6 kg with power supply), but can be mounted on a tripod or suspended from the ceiling. The manufacturer advertises a lifespan of 25,000 hours for its non-replaceable light sources.
At 1,899 euros, Xgimi’s Horizon Ultra doesn’t just make an impression. It is a bold statement that comes to shake up the traditional tenors of the sector. One more proof that Chinese manufacturers now have all the cards in hand to redefine market standards. Our test should not take too long.
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