The XGIMI HORIZON Ultra Offers 4K Long-Throw Projection, Dolby Vision, and More Features Than You’d Think Possible for Under $1700

If you’ve considered upgrading your home theater setup and want the most bang for your buck, the new flagship 4K XGIMI HORIZON Ultra should pique your interest. It’s the world’s first and only long-throw home projector sporting Dolby Vision. The HORIZON Ultra sports a hybrid laser and LED system, which are hardware-level computing optics usually only seen on luxury projectors costing thousands of dollars; it also offers low-latency gaming modes, and it doesn’t look like the usual box that you’d want to hide somewhere — because it’s not ugly!

The XGIMI HORIZON Ultra Offers 4K Long-Throw Projection, Dolby Vision, and More Features Than You'd Think Possible for Under $1700

More of us than ever are streaming shows and movies at home or trying to find ways to make our gaming experiences more immersive. For many, that might mean buying one of the many mega-sized smart TVs now available, assuming you have the wall space to mount or display an 86″ or larger television.

If you have a wall that can accommodate such a massive television, you can expect to spend at least $1400 for a budget model, going up to thousands of dollars by the time you get one with all the bells and whistles.

But when the television isn’t turned on, you’re left with a massive black screen that takes up a lot of wall space and is now the room’s focal point, whether it is turned on or left off and whether or not you want it to be.

That’s one of the reasons why a home projector system can be an attractive option.

Not only can a high-end projector rival the detail you’d see at a movie theater, but you can even install a large, motorized screen that comes down when needed and tucks away when it’s not, meaning that you can still hang art on the wall to be enjoyed when you’re not watching.

Most projectors use laser or LED, which can be decent, but there’s always a bit of a compromise because each type of light has strengths and shortcomings.

By using a dual light system, the XGIMI HORIZON Ultra combines the best features of laser and LED technology — without any compromises — so you can enjoy entertainment that looks like it should — natural, with an “ultra-wide color gamut, ultra-high brightness, and ultra-accurate colormetry.”

A group of people watching images projected by the XGIMI HORIZON Ultra

The HORIZON Ultra puts out 2300 ISO Lumens, so it’s not only XGIMI’s brightest yet, but the projector’s color gamut coverage reproduces colors so that they are more accurate; so accurate that the HORIZON Ultra has been certified by two major institutions – SGS in Switzerland and TÜV Süd.

What this means for you is that you’ll get an excellent viewing experience with an incredibly clear picture free of the usual color fringing and speckles that other projectors can, well, project. Pun intended.

The addition of Dolby Vision means that when using the XGIMI HORIZON Ultra, you’ll be able to enjoy all of your favorite shows, movies, and games in brighter, more richly colored detail — projected at up to 200″ — than you’d even think possible from a projector that costs just under $1700.

With the HORIZON Ultra, you’ll get Intelligent Screen Adaption technology 3.0 (ISA 3.0), which is an upgraded software and hardware-level computing optics system; it’s the same type that’s incorporated into the projectors that are used in movie theaters or the projectors that are considered luxury market items.

Because the XGIMI HORIZON Ultra has new ISA 3.0 technology, it is about to make dynamic adjustments using both software and hardware. You’ll get the best picture possible, even if your lighting, wall, or projector placement isn’t quite ideal.

The components that make up the XGIMI Horizon Pro optical technology

The ISA 3.0 hardware includes a Dynamic Iris, which adjusts brightness & contrast, a Dynamic, a Color Adjustment Module, and an automatic optical zoom module to manage screen scaling. These three things together create a precision optical processing system that can change in real time.

The optical zoom on the XGIMI HORIZON Ultra

No matter what time of day or night you want to watch a show or play a game, the optical processing system will automatically adjust the brightness, autofocus, and keystone correction to suit the ambient light and ensure the picture has the correct distortion-free alignment. ISA 3.0 even has the latest Wall Color Adaption to optimize the brightness and colors so you’ll get the best picture on any color wall if you aren’t using a screen.

XGIMI HORIZON Ultra also features enhanced eye protection, so if someone is detected to be in front of the projected image, the projector will automatically dim to protect their eyes.

XGIMI HORIZON Ultra Specifications

Finally, if you’re a gamer, the HORIZON Ultra has an all-new gaming mode, which offers professional-grade low latency (18 ms) and supports 4K at 60Hz for smooth and responsive gaming with low input lag.

And since the HORIZON Ultra runs Android TV 11, you’ll have built-in access to your favorite streaming apps, Google Assistant, Chromecast, and thousands of apps in Google Play.

As if that wasn’t enough, the XGIMI HORIZON Ultra has an aesthetically pleasing design; the elegant and refined exterior is a subdued beige tone with subtle brushed metallic embellishments that XGIMI calls Misty Gold.

The upper surface and sides have a leather-like texture, and in the front, there is a mesh fabric cover with a harman/kardon logo, which also serves as a lens cap. When the projector is turned on, it will slide down; when turned off, the cover will slide up to protect the lens from dust and make the projector even less obtrusive.

The cover on the XGIMI HORIZON Ultra sliding down

If this sounds like the solution you’ve been waiting for, it’s available for purchase starting today for $1699 from XGIMI and Amazon, with other authorized retailers coming soon.

You can learn more about the XGIMI HORIZON Ultra by clicking here.

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About the Author

Judie Lipsett Stanford
Judie is the co-owner and Editor-in-Chief of Gear Diary, which she founded in September 2006. She started in 1999 writing software reviews at the now-defunct smaller.com; from mid-2000 through 2006, she wrote hardware reviews for and co-edited at The Gadgeteer. A recipient of the Sigma Kappa Colby Award for Technology, Judie is best known for her device-agnostic approach, deep-dive reviews, and enjoyment of exploring the latest tech, gadgets, and gear.