Xgimi Halo Plus Portable Projector Review: Big Picture, Will Travel

Xgimi Halo Plus is not your typical dim, cheap Portable Mini Projector. Its sleek, understated design combines with a surprisingly good picture.This little beauty is bright and decent for its size Comparedfairly accurate color and Android TV stream media built in. There’s even a battery that claims 2.5 hours of playtime.

However, it is a bit pricey and can easily be bigger projector Batteries are missing, like the BenQ HT2050A.So if you don’t totally need cordless movie nightyou can get better images or save money compared to Halo Plus.

If you’re looking for some wireless fun, the Halo Plus delivers a better, brighter image than many competing projectors. The simplicity of the built-in Android TV interface and its myriad streaming options make it easier to use than many of our favorite previous portable projectors. You have to pay a lot for this ease of use and performance, though.

1080p resolution in a small box

• Native resolution: 1,920×1,080 pixels
• HDR Compatible: Yes
• 4K Compatible: Yes
• 3D Compatible: Yes
• Lumen Specifications: 900
• Zoom: no
• Lens Shift: No
• LED life: 25,000 hours

Halo Plus is a 1080p projectorBut it can accept 4K and HDR Signal.like most projectors Little impact on HDR, but the feature doesn’t hurt.As is typical for this type of projector, no Lens shift or zoom. If you want a larger image, you must move the projector further away from the screen.

Brightness specs are more inflated than usual. i measured That’s about 284 lumens compared to its specs of 900. It’s actually not that bad, but it’s a far cry from what Xgimi claims. It’s one of the brighter portable projectors we’ve tested, but it’s a far cry from cheaper, non-battery projectors. So it all depends on how you approach Halo Plus. If the inclusion of a battery is all that matters, this is pretty good for its class. If you just want something small and not too expensive, there are other brighter/better options.

The battery claims a runtime of 2.5 hours. Using a battery roughly reduces the light output in half, similar to what happens with most battery powered PJs.

I have to mention another weird place because it’s driving me nuts. When you turn off the Halo Plus, you have two options, basically standby and complete shutdown. If you choose to shut down completely, it’s logical if you don’t want the battery to drain, if only The way to turn the projector back on is to press the power button… twice. There was a little warning about this before the screen went black, but it was missed in the blink of an eye. To me, this design is very counterintuitive. I can’t think of another product that requires you to press the power button twice to activate. I seriously think the projector is dead in my review.

Input and Streaming: Check and Check

• HDMI input: 1
• USB port: 1
• Audio output: headphone output and bluetooth
• Internet: 2.4/5GHz, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
• Remote control: no backlight

On the back is a fairly standard connection kit for a projector of this size. HDMI and USB, and analog headphone output.

There’s full Android TV inside, which is a nice change from the more common Android-lite and Aptoide stores.it means you already have all Major Streaming Apps, and the full version of the above application. Many portable projectors use crippled versions of many applications, making them even more annoying to use.

Flanked by two 5W speakers tuned by Harman Kardon. Their size is quite loud. This was one of the first projectors of this size and I didn’t need to run it at 100% to hear through the air conditioner.

Image quality comparison

For comparison, I compared the Xgimi to two similar (essentially) portable projectors, Anker Mars II Pro and BenQ GS50The Anker Mars II Pro offers some similar specs in roughly similar sizes, but costs $550. The BenQ is 80% more physically bulky than the Xgimi, but both are still easily considered portable. It’s priced at $800. I hooked them up to a Monoprice 1×4 distribution amp and viewed them side by side on a 102″ 1.0 gain screen.

Compared to the XGIMI, the Anker looks a bit washed out, even though their contrast is basically the same. This may be due to the lack of picture settings controls on the Mars II Pro. The non-adjustable brightness setting is too high, raising shadows and making the image appear washed out. On its own, it’s not that noticeable, and the image is still good overall, but compared to the XGIMI, it lags behind.

While the Mars II Pro is also BenQ and Xgimi’s 1080p at 720p, it’s not as big as you might think. Of course, the other two are sharper, but Anker holds its own. Overall, if you want something that’s nearly as good, but you want to save money, the Mars II Pro is the way to go.

The GS50 looks good on its own, but it has one important downside: brightness. The Xgimi is almost twice as bright as the BenQ. Both are still dim at 100 inches compared to a “real” home theater projector, but they look more impressive if you’re projecting a larger image size. However, eyes were immediately drawn to XGIMI. It’s just a lot brighter. It also has better contrast, around 50 percent. This, combined with the added light, only makes the image more appealing.

However, the BenQ’s colors are much better. Grass, sky, skin tones all look more natural on BenQ. The Xgimi’s colors aren’t as bad as the ones I’ve tested recently, they’re just not as realistic as the BenQ’s. While color is a key component of overall picture quality, it can’t match the XGIMI’s better brightness and contrast in this case.

How about it Xiaomi Mi Smart Projector 2? I measured half the lumens compared to XGIMI and Anker, about the same as the BenQ. Since it’s basically the same price as XGIMI, but without the battery, XGIMI is the clear winner.

silver jar

The design of the Halo Plus is understated yet elegant. Outside is a suit, inside is an athlete. It outperformed its most direct competitor.However, as with any of these portable projectors, you really need to consider How will you use it. Is it a good addition on the battery side, or will you be using it that way a lot? Because if you’re not going to use batteries, a traditional home theater projector like the BenQ HT2050A looks much better than the Halo Plus for the same price.

On the other hand, if you’re going to be using it frequently away from electrical outlets, the Halo Plus offers a brighter and generally better image than several other portable projectors we like. The Anker Mars II Pro is a better deal, but lacks the contrast, detail and ease of use of a full Android TV interface. The industrial design of the BenQ GS50 is more playful, but it cannot compete with XGIMI in terms of brightness.

So, if you plan to use it unplugged and don’t mind the rather high price, the Xgimi Halo Plus is a great option.