Hey everyone, if you’ve followed my setup for a while, you know I’ve been rocking the original XGIMI Horizon projector since back in 2021. Got it with the early bird deal, and honestly, that 1080p projector has been a workhorse, used nearly every single night on my 100-inch screen. It served me well, but I was itching for that 4K goodness. Enter the XGIMI Horizon S Pro. I’ve spent some quality time with it, and here are my thoughts on this 4K, 1800 ISO lumen, Harman Kardon-equipped upgrade.
(First Impressions & Design) Right out of the box, the Horizon S Pro looks premium. It’s got this sleek design that genuinely looks good just sitting there. A cool feature is the integrated stand – it feels really solid and lets you tilt the projector up or down quite a bit. Plus, when you turn it on, the lens cover automatically slides up, which is a nice touch to keep dust off. The back panel houses the essentials: power button, an HDMI port (with eARC support), and two USB 2.0 ports. The power brick even matches the projector’s color! One slightly quirky but useful feature is the base – it rotates like a lazy susan, making small adjustments easy. It definitely has some heft to it, which speaks to the build quality.
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(Setup: Smooth Sailing with ISA 5.0) Setting up the Horizon S Pro was ridiculously simple, thanks mainly to XGIMI’s ISA 5.0 (Intelligent Screen Adaption) technology. It runs Android TV 11.0, so the interface is familiar if you’ve used Android TV before. The magic really happens when you move the projector. Point it roughly at your screen, and the uninterrupted auto keystone correction and autofocus just work. Within seconds, I had a perfectly square, sharp image without fiddling with menus. You can turn these features off if you have a permanent setup and prefer manual control (which includes digital zoom, screen shift, etc.), but for quick setups or moving it around, it’s fantastic.
(Picture Quality: 4K Brightness That Shines) Okay, the main event: picture quality. This is a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) projector using DLP tech and XGIMI’s Dual Light 2.0 source, rated at 1800 ISO lumens. I tested it on my 100-inch screen from about 9 feet away. Even during the day with some sunlight sneaking past my blinds, the image was impressively bright and watchable. I measured around 590 lux near the center, dropping a bit towards the corners, which is pretty solid performance.
Colors looked vibrant and accurate straight out of the box (it supports HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision). I tried the different picture modes (including Game Mode and Dolby Vision modes) but found the standard settings quite pleasing. Close up, the 4K resolution is evident – no visible pixels, just sharp, clean detail. Nighttime viewing, as expected, is where it truly excels, offering that immersive, cinematic feel that’s hard to beat. For a projector, the brightness holds up surprisingly well in less-than-ideal lighting conditions.
(Sound: Harman Kardon Steps Up) Built-in projector speakers are often an afterthought, but the dual 12W Harman Kardon speakers in the Horizon S Pro are genuinely good. Compared to my old Horizon, the difference is night and day. There’s actual bass presence, which adds a lot of punch to movies and music. Dialogue clarity is excellent, and the overall sound profile is well-balanced. I cranked the volume pretty high, and there was no noticeable distortion. Honestly, while I have a soundbar, the onboard audio here is good enough that I might not even bother hooking it up for casual viewing. It supports DTS-Virtual:X and various Dolby formats too.
(Performance: Quiet and Cool Operator) One of the biggest annoyances with some projectors is fan noise, especially during quiet movie scenes. I’m happy to report the Horizon S Pro is impressively quiet. Even running at max brightness for a while, the fan noise was minimal. I measured it at around 41.5 dB standing right next to it (in a room with ~37 dB ambient noise). From viewing distance, it’s barely audible. This seems linked to how cool it runs. Using a thermal camera, I saw temps staying mostly below 40°C, even the hottest spots were around 37°C. That’s great thermal management.
(Pros and Cons)
- Pros:
- Excellent 4K picture quality – sharp and detailed.
- Impressive brightness (1800 ISO lumens), handles some ambient light well.
- Fantastic built-in Harman Kardon speakers with good bass.
- Super quiet operation, stays cool.
- Very effective and fast auto keystone and autofocus (ISA 5.0).
- Premium design and build quality with integrated stand.
- Supports Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG.
- Built-in Android TV 11.0 is convenient.
- Cons:
- Digital zoom only (no optical zoom).
- Auto screen features might need disabling for fixed installations if minor adjustments occur.
- Price point is an investment (though competitive for its features).
(Conclusion: A Definite Upgrade) Coming from the already solid original XGIMI Horizon, the Horizon S Pro feels like a significant and worthwhile upgrade across the board. The jump to a bright, sharp 4K image, the drastically improved and genuinely usable built-in audio, and the incredibly quiet operation make it a fantastic all-in-one home cinema solution. The ease of setup with the ISA 5.0 features is just icing on the cake.
If you’re in the market for a high-performance, user-friendly 4K projector that looks as good as it performs, the XGIMI Horizon S Pro should absolutely be on your shortlist. It handles movies, TV shows, and likely gaming (thanks to the low latency mode) beautifully, delivering that big-screen experience without the usual projector hassles.
