Xgimi Horizon 20 Max

Pros

• New brightest PJ
• Accurate color
• Relatively small and gimbaled

Cons

• Pricey
• How bright do you really need?
• Fans are quite loud when running full throttle
• It's easy to bump out of alignment

It only took a few months to dethrone the brightest projector I'd ever tested. The Xgimi Horizon 20 Max is the new king of brightness, an accolade I suspect soon will be meaningless, but more on that later. With lots of luscious lumens, the 20 Max can fill as big a screen, or wall, as you can find. Its colors are also surprisingly accurate and it has a decent contrast ratio. 

It's also very expensive. With an MSRP of $3,000, it's practically a dollar a lumen. For that price, it does have a few issues, including an underwhelming zoom range and some production flaws that shouldn't exist in a product with that price tag.

Overall, though, the Horizon 20 Max is a great projector that delivers an excellent image with the gimbal-style design that seems to be all the rage. I'm not sure its price is fully justified, but if you want to blind passing spacecraft, pop 140 tons of popcorn or simply create an ultrabright, wall-sized image, it's an impressive little machine.

Specs and such

• Resolution: 4K 
• Lumens spec: 5,700 (ISO)
• Zoom: 1.2-1.5:1
• Lens shift: ±120% vertical, ±45% horizontal
• Light source type and life: RGB laser (life not specified but lasers typically last the life of the projector)

The Horizon 20 Max is an evolution of the Xgimi Horizon S Max and Xgimi Horizon Ultra. It's a little larger and has the former's pivot frame and lazy Susan-style base. Yet, I wish there were a way to lock the alignment in place, as any bump to whatever its sitting on can send it off target. 

Unlike most cheaper DLP projectors, the 20 Max has both horizontal and vertical lens shift, as well as a motorized zoom. The vertical shift has an impressive downward extension, letting you project with no upward throw. I don't think most people need this, but if you want to mount or place the projector fairly high, it can sit at the same height as the center of the screen without needing keystone correction. The zoom is welcome but fairly unimpressive, offering a range of about 3 feet between its minimum and maximum throw. That wasn't quite enough to place the projector either behind or in front of my couch -- though I may be the only one with that issue. Even so, I'd 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 would cost more and could introduce its own optical drawbacks.

Speaking of optical issues, my unit appeared to have dust or another problem in the optical path, resulting in two bright circles in the upper left of the image. That's borderline unacceptable for a $3,000 projector. The issue was noticeable enough that, had I purchased this projector myself, I would have returned or replaced it.

The Horizon 20 Max sure doesn't have a problem with throwing a LOT of light. Only six months after crowning the Anker Nebula X1 the brightest projector I'd tested, and only a few weeks after finding the second brightest in the Valerion VisionMaster Pro2, this is the new king of light. In its most accurate mode, I measured 2,699 lumens, about 15% better than the X1's 2,383. In the Xgimi Horizon 20 Max's brightest, and very green, High Power mode, I measured a remarkable 4,850 lumens. This is so much brighter than any projector I've tested; I'm amazed and a little blinded by the light.

Light output is important, but if the resulting image is trash it'd be useless. The contrast ratio, the most important aspect of picture quality, was a very decent 1,367:1. That's well above average, and while not quite as good as the Anker Nebula X1, it's better than the majority of the 4K projectors I've tested. Color was also quite accurate, though with a few quirks I'll discuss below.

Connections

• HDMI inputs: 2
• USB port: 2
• Audio: eARC, optical, 3.5mm analog, Bluetooth, 2x12W speakers
• Internet: Wi-Fi
• Streaming interface: Google TV
• Remote: Backlit (and motion sensitive)

The Horizon 20 Max sits somewhere between the dedicated streaming projectors, with their single HDMI inputs, and traditional projectors with lots of connectivity. Two HDMI connections is nice, but it's the optical and analog audio output that's notable in a projector like this. Manufacturers making it easier to connect better audio is always welcome.

The Xgimi's interface is standard Google TV, letting you install just about any streaming service you'd want to watch. Unlike some Google TV projectors I've reviewed, this one includes all the picture settings you'd expect -- and need -- to dial in the image for your specific screen and room.

The dual, 12-watt speakers have Harman/Kardon branding and sound surprisingly good. They play fairly loud with a decent amount of bass, though the low end can sound a bit boomy. There are multiple EQ presets and, more usefully, a seven-band custom EQ that lets you dial in a sound profile that works best for your room. Overall, it's some of the better audio I've heard from a projector, though the forward-facing speakers can sound slightly muffled if the unit is positioned in front of you. Fortunately, the multiple audio-out options make it easy to add external speakers, a good idea with any projector. And thanks to its onboard wireless, the 20 Max can also double as a Bluetooth speaker.

The remote has an input button, which is not a given these days. Even better, key buttons light up when they sense movement, something that's welcome in a dark room.

Picture quality comparisons

Anker Nebula X1

BenQ W4100i

I collected three of the top projectors I've reviewed recently to compare against one another. All look great, are exceptionally bright and very expensive. I connected them to a 1 x 4 distribution amplifier (aka an HDMI splitter) and viewed them side-by-side on a 1.0-gain screen. This was, without question, 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 all are fantastic projectors. To fit all three images on my 2.35:1 screen, I moved the projectors closer to create a TV-sized image, and one that's TV- bright as well. The differences in light output are the most obvious between the 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. The BenQ, despite putting out "only" 1,683 lumens, manages to hold its own, but it's definitely dimmer. But would you feel that this projector is dim in your home? Nope. 

As I've said countless times before, brightness is just one aspect of picture quality. It's an important one, for sure, but just being bright doesn't mean it's the best projector. Contrast ratio is the true key. Here. the Anker looks a little punchier than the Xgimi, which itself looks a little better than the BenQ. The differences aren't massive, though. I measured the Anker at 1,544:1, the Xgimi at 1,367:1 and the BenQ at 975:1. That's enough to notice the difference in person, but only barely between the Anker and Xgimi. Between the Anker and BenQ it's more noticeable, but is still fairly close. 

Where the 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 really pleasing to look at. Color doesn't get the headlines of brightness and contrast ratio but when it's done right, it really catches the eye. The image looks a little more natural, less like technology shining on a screen.

As I've mentioned in previous reviews, all RGB laser projectors have an issue. If you wear glasses you may notice chromatic aberration, or color fringing, along the edges of bright objects, most noticeably white objects against a dark background. The image will seem to split with a single-color "ghost" on either side. This is separate from the DLP rainbows some people see with certain DLP projectors. But this issue won't affect everyone who wears glasses, and it certainly won't affect those who don't wear glasses. I do notice it and find it annoying enough that I personally wouldn't buy an RGB laser projector. The BenQ uses LEDs and doesn't have this issue. 

I'm not going to cop out and say "everyone's a winner here." Picking one is a challenge, however. As I said earlier, they all have their pros and cons, so I think the real answer is that each is ideal for a specific use. The Nebula X1 is ostensibly a portable projector. It has a built-in handle and its highly adjustable lens is definitely intended for less-than-ideal placement. It can absolutely work in a dedicated space, but I think the others here might be better for that. The BenQ is definitely the best option for more traditional, mounted, home theater placement. It's wide, which allows it to sit closer and more unobtrusively to the ceiling, and the streaming is via an included dongle that you can choose not to install. While the BenQ is still plenty bright, it is slightly dimmer than the other two here and more suited for light-controlled rooms. 

This leaves the Xgimi: It's not as easily portable as the X1, but it's definitely intended for non-permanently mounted home use. The lens shift, zoom and gimbal make setup fast and easy for an impromptu movie night on just about any flat surface, and the internal speakers sound good for a small-ish projector. In other words, if you don't want to mount it (BenQ is better) but also don't need to move it very often (Anker is better), this one fits the bill. Yes, that's a narrow niche. You could also buy it if you just want to burn out your neighbor's retinas -- even with the blinds closed.

The new normal?

We seem to be entering a new era in home projectors. The demise of UHP lamps has forced development of LED and laser light sources that have now wildly exceeded their predecessor tech. Projectors getting brighter every year was a given, but what was once gradual has taken off significantly in the last few years. When I first started reviewing projectors in Ye Olde Dark Ages of the early 2000s, an exceptionally bright projector could manage maybe 900 lumens. Now the average projector I review can do that quite easily. The nearly 5,000 lumens 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're going to 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 concede it's pretty risible now, too, but the fact is that normal homes have a screen size that's limited by the floor and ceiling. If that wall-sized image is blasting out TV-level brightness, at what point does it become too much and need to be turned down? I often joke about images being "eye-watering," but many people genuinely find ultra-bright images uncomfortable to watch in a dark room. And since projectors need a dark room anyway -- any ambient light will nuke the contrast ratio -- there's a natural upper limit to comfortable brightness.

So if a projector is bright enough that you're routinely turning it down, the question becomes: Why spend extra money on that level of brightness in the first place?

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

So if you don't mind that sticker price, you can get as big of a screen as you want in your house and create an image with TV-levels of brightness. That's impressive indeed.