Although there are a few compromises.
A short-throw projector that allows you to enjoy a huge image even in a small room. XGIMI's Aura, which was released this time, can enjoy 150-inch 4K images at 44 cm from the wall, and 120-inch 4K images at 30 cm. Gizmodo's Andrew Liszewski has just reviewed it, so check it out below!
Even though the coronavirus situation has calmed down a bit, the safest place to watch movies is at home. It seems that the time when you want to strengthen your home theater will continue. Modern projectors are getting cheaper and more capable, but they're not one size fits all. For example, the Jimmy Aura is great for viewing large images in a small room, but there are some compromises in terms of usability.
We reviewed the $1,700 Jimmy Horizon Pro in July of this year, and it has decent-sounding 8W speakers built-in, making it the easiest (relatively ) seemed a cheap way. Google TV is also included, so you can use almost any streaming service right out of the box. The only downside, which is common with traditional projectors, is that you have to project across the room to see a large image, whether you use it on a wall or a screen. So if someone goes to the restroom or picks up snacks in the middle of the show, they will cross the projected beam, and the image will be disturbed, and the person who is moving will be dazzled.
Short-throw projectors, as the name suggests, can create huge images at a short distance from a wall or screen. Doing so requires clever optical tricks, such as custom lenses that correct for distortion in images projected from low angles. It's great that most of the problems with conventional projectors are eliminated, but there is a lot of work involved in installing it, as I'll explain later.
XGIMI Aura
What is this? : Short-focus 4K laser projector that can project a 150-inch (approximately 3.8m diagonally) image at a distance of 17.3 inches (approximately 44cm) from the wall
Price: $2,500 (approximately 285,000 yen)
What I like: Large images can be projected even in a small room, there is no need to avoid the beam even if you move while watching, Google TV is installed
What I don't like: Too big than Horizon Pro, lacks useful features like automatic keystone correction and focus tools
First of all, the box is huge
Comparing the performance specs, there is not much difference between Horizon Pro and Aura. Both are 4K, the Horizon Pro has 2,200 lumens of brightness, and the Aura has a slightly better 2,400 lumens. However, the Aura is so huge that when I saw the box delivered to my house, I thought, "Did I buy four projectors?"
Horizon Pro looks small when you look at Aura. The Horizon Pro is also compact for an all-in-one projector, but it's not "small".
As such a heavyweight, the Aura isn't the type to be mounted on a tripod. It weighs nearly 33 pounds (approximately 15 kg) and measures 606 x 401 x 139.5 mm, giving it the image of an old VCR twice the size. If you don't have a TV stand to put your Aura on or a mini table you're not using, you'll have to consider the cost of buying one.
On the side is a power switch, an easily accessible USB port, and a solid fan for cooling. It's a lot louder than the Horizon Pro's fan, but since the Aura sits close to the wall, it's pretty far from the viewer and the fan noise is almost imperceptible. The only time you'll hear it is when it cools down quickly after powering down.
Other ports are found on the back, including two USB 2.0 ports, three HDMI ports (one of which supports ARC), a headphone jack, an optical digital output port, a LAN port, and a microUSB port for debugging. one each. The power cable is a common one, and there is no square adapter that often comes with this type of cable, and that part is built into the main unit.
Big box, big sound
If there's an advantage to this size, it's the space for a powerful enough internal speaker.
The Horizon Pro came with a sideways 8W Harman/Kardon speaker, but it could barely fill the room and became uncomfortably loud above 75% volume. . It's convenient to have a home theater with one unit, but since it's placed side by side with the people watching it, it's not even stereo, let alone surround sound, and it can't be helped that it's noisy for people sitting near the projector. That's right.
On that point, Aura's sound situation has improved considerably. Four 15W Harman/Kardon speakers (one pair of tweeters and one pair of subwoofers) are built into the front of the projector, inside the fabric screen, for a more immersive and satisfying home theater experience. Even though it's not surround, the bass performance is noticeably better than the Horizon Pro, and the sound comes from the front of the room, so everyone can enjoy it at the same volume.
The remote is great
Aura's wireless remote isn't particularly groundbreaking, it's exactly the same as the one that came with the Horizon Pro, but the Horizon Pro's remote is great. Aura's is good because it's good.
This remote has a great use of matte metal from the back to the bottom front, and has all the buttons you want to use. There are also Google TV operation buttons, shortcuts to Google Assistant, settings buttons for Aura itself, and focus buttons. The only thing you have to be careful about is that if you lose this remote control, the Aura itself will only have a power button, so you won't be able to operate it at all.
Setup is (relatively) easy
The Aura is easy to set up, but if you've used a traditional XGIMI projector like the Horizon Pro, you'd think it would be automatic. You'll notice that some of the features that were previously mentioned are missing.
Like any projector, the size of the image Aura produces varies depending on the distance from the wall or screen. In the case of Aura, a 150-inch (approximately 3.8m diagonal) image can be projected at a distance of 17.3 inches (approximately 44cm), but in order to project a clear image, the surface of the projector must be perfectly parallel to the wall or screen. I have. That's why the Aura comes with adjustable feet to keep the unit firmly level and at the correct angle.
However, in the case of the Horizon Pro I reviewed last time, it automatically draws a nice rectangular picture and even avoids obstacles like light switches on the wall. On the other hand, with Aura, that fine-tuning has to be done manually.
Although it says manual, there is a keystone correction tool to support it. One by one, the 8 dots (in Horizon Pro it was 4) are put together to form a perfect rectangle with all straight sides. Still, compared to other XGIMI projectors, it takes more time to adjust the placement of the Aura itself and to make corrections using tools.
The same thing is true for focus. With the Horizon Pro, a double-tap on the focus button on the remote kicked off the auto-focus feature and produced a sharp image. On the Aura, pressing that button just brings up the manual focus options, which are adjusted using the left and right buttons on the remote control. The final subtlety is that you have to use your own eyes to determine whether or not you are fully focused.
Watching Netflix requires some effort
It's nice and convenient that Aura's OS is Google TV, but it's not an official Netflix device. So, Disney+ and Amazon Prime can be downloaded from the Google Play Store and used normally, but with the Netflix app, an error occurs immediately and you can't watch it.
However, this problem can be solved with a little effort. For example, downloading an app that allows you to access Netflix is one thing, casting from another device like your phone, or even using a Netflix-approved dongle like Chromecast.
The image quality doesn't disappoint
Not only is the Aura brighter than the Horizon Pro, but since you don't have to project across the room, it's less likely to lose brightness.
So the Aura produces very bright and vivid images, and it looks great on my beige wall. Visibility in bright daylight was slightly better than the Horizon Pro, but the brightness and contrast of the LCD and OLED displays weren't quite there. A completely dark room is still the best place to use a projector, so it's best to close the curtains or blinds when using the Aura during the day.
In a very dark room, the brightness and contrast are great, the picture is bigger, and definitely better than Horizon Pro. Even with very careful focus adjustments, the Aura's image isn't quite as sharp as XGIMI's traditional projectors with autofocus. This is partly a shortcoming of the short-throw projector construction, but overall it's pretty sharp, and I don't think you'll complain unless you compare it side-by-side with an auto-focused projector picture.
Another side effect of the short focal length is that the projection surface must be as flat, smooth, and homogeneous as possible. I thought the wall in my video room was fine, but as you can see in the image above, it's not perfectly flat, and it's clearly visible in the projected video. The words "Yoga for Mental Health" in the middle are distorted. This part could not be corrected no matter how much Aura's position was changed or keystone correction was performed.
With Horizon Pro, I didn't see these minor issues. On the other hand, when I looked at Aura, the traces of the hooks used to decorate the paintings were especially clear, and looked like black holes. The same place was filled with light properly with Horizon Pro.
Is it worth the compromise?
Aura costs $2,500, which is $800 more than the $1,700 Horizon Pro. The Aura sounds better, has better brightness and contrast, doesn't have to cross the front of the beam, and all sorts of good things, but it's also hard to miss what it gives up in return. It was quite a struggle until I was satisfied with the projection, and it seems like I have to buy a solid screen, which is a burden.
For most people looking for a 4K projector, the Horizon Pro is a great all-in-one choice that is easy to set up and calibrate. The sound was not good enough, but if you want to improve it, you can simply buy a speaker separately and solve it. But to get a big picture, the Horizon Pro needs to be at least 12 feet away from the wall, which means you need a fairly large room. On the other hand, Aura can have a movie theater experience at home with 44 cm, or even 30 cm. If you live in a small room, this may be the only thing that really matters.
