Xgimi Aura 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector Review

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Xgimi Aura delivers sharp images and high sound quality, a doubtlessly enormous picture, and extra bang for the buck than any of its closest competitors.

PROS

• 4K (3,840 by 2,160) decision utilizing fast-shift pixel shifting
• Extremely-short throw (UST); fills as much as a 150-inch diagonal display from inches away
• Rated at 2,400 ANSI lumens
• Laser-phosphor gentle supply lasts the lifetime of the projector
• Glorious sound
• Built-in Android TV 10
• Full HD 3D help
• Few rainbow artefacts

CONS

• Doesn’t maintain shadow element properly
• Restricted choices for tweaking picture high quality

XGIMI AURA 4K ULTRA SHORT THROW PROJECTOR SPECS

At a $2,499 checklist, the Xgimi Aura is not low cost; however, it’s a discount for a 4K home-entertainment projector. Its options embody HDR10 and HLG help, a 2,400-ANSI-lumen laser-phosphor gentle supply rated at 25,000 hours, and an ultra-short-throw (UST) lens that allows you to put the projector simply inches from the display to get a 150-inch diagonal picture. You will not discover even a 110-inch TV for that value. The Aura itself is a brilliant TV with a built-in Android TV 10. It is also properly designed, with a good-looking silver-and-black case that can look nice on a credenza under a wall-mounted display in your loved one’s room. The mix makes our Editors’ Selection choose a 4K UST projector in its value and efficiency class and reasonably appropriate for changing a TV.

The Advantages of an Extremely-Quick Throw

The Aura shares many critical options with the $1,699 Xgimi Horizon Pro. Everyone is constructed around a gentle solid-state supply meant to final for the complete lifetime of the projector, and everyone is paired with a single 1,920-by-1,080 DLP chip that uses TI’s fast-shift pixel shifting to place 3,840 by 2,160 pixels on display. However, the Horizon Professional uses an LED gentle supply, the Aura upgrades to brighter laser-phosphor. Each has unusually high-quality sound for projectors, utilising Harman Kardon sound techniques. However, the Aura raises the ante for each quantity and high quality, with two 15-watt woofers and two 15-watt tweeters.

The crucial distinction between the 2 is the selection of lens. The Horizon Professional’s standard-throw lens requires putting the projector comparatively removed from the display. By comparability, you may place the Aura simply inches from a wall-mounted display, eliminating the necessity to snake energy, information, and audio cables by way of partitions, flooring, or ceilings and making the cables as simple to attach as with a flat display TV. The one downside is that UST lenses are dear, which is a crucial purpose, together with the laser-phosphor engine, why the Aura prices $800 greater than the Horizon Professional for, in any other case, comparable capabilities.

Large and Heavy, However Setup Is Simple

The Aura is a pretty big beast, at 5.5 by 23.9 by 15: eight inches (HWD) and a hefty 24.25 kilos. However, as soon as it is in place, the setup is simple. Merely join the facility twine and optionally enter an Ethernet cable and HDMI cables to several video sources. Connectors on the panel going through the display embody three HDMI 2. Zero ports in addition to the LAN port. You, too, can use Wi-Fi to connect with your community for those who want.

As with most UST fashions, there is no optical zoom, so it is advisable to alter the place to match the picture dimension to your display. It is also greatest to keep away from utilising the eight-point keystone adjustment for those who can since digital changes can introduce artefacts and decrease picture brightness. Focusing is simple because of a powered computerised focus that reliably gives a sharp deal with command. The Android TV setup is customary.

As already talked about, the Harman Kardon sound system, which helps each Dolby and DTS audio, delivers excessive audio high quality for a projector. It additionally gives ample quantity to fill a big household room. For higher audio, you may join an external system to the three.5mm audio out, the S/PDIF optical audio out, or the one HDMI port that helps ARC. You may hook up with a Bluetooth speaker; however, there is no such thing as an audio lag setting to regulate for a potential lack of sync between the audio and the video. The Aura may also function as a Bluetooth speaker.

Xgimi says the Aura’s lens can throw a 150-inch diagonal picture without distortion at simply 17.Three inches from the display. I used a 110-inch collection in my assessments without issues and measured the space to the show at 9.5 inches. Xgimi’s minimal, beneficial display dimension is 80 inches.

To the Society of Movement-Image and Tv Engineers (SMPTE), 2,400 lumens are vibrant enough to gently up a display more prominent than 150 inches in a darkish room. For average ambient gentle, it is appropriate for a 125-inch diagonal, 16:9 picture on a 1. Zero achieve display. You may alter the facility setting for smaller screens and decrease gentle ambient ranges to decrease picture brightness.

Testing the Xgimi Aura: Greatest When It is Brightest

The Aura’s picture high quality earns excessive marks for brightly lit scenes, which are the overwhelming majority of movie and video scenes. My assessments delivered properly saturated colouration, greater than acceptable colouration accuracy by most individuals’ requirements, functional element for the decision, and good distinction for each video and movie—so long as the scene was brightly lit. Nevertheless, darkish locations, and darkish areas, in any other case, brightly lit scenes, misplaced a large quantity of shadow element.

Darkish scenes in 4K HDR materials didn’t ship on HDR’s promised enhancement compared to SDR. After I, in contrast, 1080p SDR and 4K HDR variations of the identical films on disc, the 4K variations misplaced considerably extra shadow element, the black stage was nowhere close to as darkish, and distinction was a lot decrease. That stated, that is much less of an issue when viewing in ambient gentle, which tends to scrub out darkish blacks anyway, than when viewing in a darkish room. So whether or not you take into account this an issue or not will rely upon whether or not you propose to observe at midnight, in addition to how demanding you’re about picture high quality.

Most viewers will find it possible to deal with how good the brilliant scenes look and settle for occasional darkish locations without grievance. Video fans could complain; however, the Aura is not designed. The four predefined image modes have few or no adjustable settings. There’s additionally a Customized mode with primary settings; however, no colouration administration system that video fans would want for calibration. All methods besides Sport mode work with 3D enter in addition to 2D.

Most individuals will take into account any of the predefined modes usable for an informal viewing. However, all of them wander simply exterior the realm of good colouration, sometimes for reminiscence colours (colours that you simply are aware of, together with pores and skin colouration, blue sky, and customary fruits). Workplace delivered the most effective colouration accuracy in my assessments; however, I wound up utilising Customized mode, which was simple to tweak to enhance accuracy. Likewise, I benefited from the ability to alter brightness and distinction.

Customized, Soccer, and Film modes supply body interpolation. Most individuals discover it distracting for filmed materials due to including frames. It also provides a digital video impact (aka the cleaning soap opera impact) that makes films appear to dwell video. Nevertheless, it could improve the look of dwell or recorded video.

Sport mode is the only option for gaming because of its brief enter lag. I measured it with a Bodnar meter at 35ms for 1080p 60Hz enter and 34ms for 4K 60Hz enter, which is appropriate for casual gaming.

Like several single-chip projectors, the Aura can present rainbow artefacts (flashes of purple, inexperienced, and blue); however, I see these artefacts simply and sometimes notice them with the Aura. They should not be a problem until you each see them simply and are notably bothered by them. Our standard recommendation nonetheless applies: If you happen to discover rainbow artefacts bothersome, purchase the projector from a supplier that accepts returns without a restocking payment so that you may test it out for yourself.

Verdict: Meet the UST to Beat

In contrast with its closest competitors, the Xgimi Aura stands out a lot; it delivers value. For instance, it displayed higher colouration accuracy and fewer rainbow artefacts in my assessments than the $2,999.99 JMGO U2. It showed significantly better picture high quality for films on Blu-ray discs than the $2,699 Wemax Nova. And for players, it boasts a shorter lag time than both.

Video fans who demand higher colouration accuracy and a colouration administration system for calibration might want to consider costlier selections, together with the $3,499 BenQ V7050i. However, for many individuals, the enhanced picture high quality will not value the additional $1,000. Suppose you would like the comfort of an ultra-short-throw projector and do not see (or do not thoughts seeing) the occasional rainbow artefact. In that case, the Xgimi Aura delivers the most effective bang for the buck at this writing, making it our Editors’ Selection choice for entry-level 4K UST laser projectors.

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