XGIMI Horizon S Max 2024 New 4K Projector, IMAX Enhanced Portable Projector, Dolby Vision, 3100 ISO Lumens, 110% BT.2020, Built-in Flexible Stand, Intelligent Screen Adaption, 2 x 12W Harman Kardon

I have been researching extensively the new line of lifestyle projectors that use the new triple laser technology and decided on the XGIMI (pron. Ex-Jimmy) Horizon S-MAX, coming in at just under the 2K dollar range. Not the most expensive, not the cheapest. I read up on them and decided to lay down my hard earned dollars, and I am glad that I did.First and foremost is the ability to reproduce accurate color, that jumps out at you when it is supposed to and at the same time looks real, not like a cartoon. For instance, I like to see a football field look like a football field, with grass that actually looks like grass, and neon lights that jump out of the screen. I like to see the deep greens of a forest and the yellows of autumn. The deep blues of the ocean and the black of space! I have finally found the projector that can deliver on that wish.Additionally, XGIMI seems to have found a way to eliminate the dreaded " laser speckle " that pops up on almost every other projector available and is quite annoying, by combining a laser with a led light source, I have yet to see the slightest aberration.The quality of the image has actually earned a I-Max certification, so yes, you can tell your friends that you have a I-max theater at home. It also provides Dolby Vision support.Playing 4k content is amazing and the native resolution is 2160, real, not pixel shifted.I am a 3D addict, and this gives the most amazing 3D experience you could imagine. It is like a ride to another world. There is no drop-off in color , brightness and the image is impeccable.It is portable, although I have it mounted up on a shelf on my ceiling in my home theater. I find the separate power brick, and YES, it is a brick, to be a great engineering idea, keeping the power source and its extra heat and potential to induce 60 cycle hum into the internal audio speakers, isolated from the main board. It is easy to mount separate from the projector itself and is equipped with a pretty long power cord. The internal speakers are Harman-Kardon and sound quite good like a good Bluetooth speaker although I have it fed through a AVR with multiple HDMI inputs for 7.1 Dolby, which makes the single HDMI input a non-issue. I also have Netflix available through multiple devices which makes the lack of Netflix support also a non-issue with me.The set up was about 5 minutes, and the color out of the box is amazing. It's pretty much plug and play, as opposed to my last projector, which took about 4 months to dial in a picture which is in no way as good as this ! I have owned many projectors but never any as good as this . I suppose you can spend 5 to 6 K on a projector and it will be as good or better BUT, it will weigh 5 times more and will be 4 times as big !! This one weighs in at about 10 pounds, and looks like a cool little Bluetooth speaker.So, if you are considering this projector, I would say go for it , before the price goes up, you will be amazed. I was, and honestly, I am hard to please !I am an actual guy who bought this projector and happen to think it is pretty awesome. I am not getting anything in return for writing this, This is my actual honest take on this product. I Love it !!!I highly recommend !!

I recently purchased the XGIMI Horizon S Max projector, and it has completely exceeded my expectations! From its stunning visuals to its user-friendly features, this device has quickly become the centerpiece of my home entertainment setup.The XGIMI Horizon S Max projector is an absolute game-changer for home entertainment! Its stunning 4K resolution, vibrant HDR10 colors, and exceptional brightness deliver a true cinematic experience, even in well-lit rooms. The Harman Kardon speakers provide rich, immersive sound, and the Android TV integration makes streaming effortless. Setup is a breeze with smart autofocus and keystone correction, and its sleek, portable design fits any space beautifully. Whether watching movies, gaming, or hosting outdoor movie nights, this projector offers incredible performance and value. Highly recommended!

This is my review of the XGIMI Horizon S Max 2024 New 4k projector. I hope to save you time if you purchase the projector or are considering purchasing it.Here’s the SHORT review.Originally, I had planned to give this projector only a THREE Star review and near borderline TWO Star review. The serious lack of more than just basic instructions included with the projector and online. All the new HDMI Cables I had to buy. Along, with purchasing a new 4K Firestick to replace my 4K Roku. Adjusting the HDMI outputs on my Sony Blu-Ray player. Discovering certain settings that only work on YouTube. Spending nearly 48 hours working to get to the image to what it should be. I was almost to the point of returning this projector.However, as their email support was very responsive and helpful. Then “accidently” discovering why I couldn’t adjust the image displaying out of HDMI input. It changed everything for the positive. This is why I am giving a four-star review.The reason it’s not a five-star review. Is the lack of proper, more detailed instructions. If those instructions had been included, I could have had the projector configured in about two to four hours. Plus, the additional cost of having to buy new 8K HDMI Cables, connectors, the latest 4K Firestick, 150” screen and stand to put it on. Which meant spending an additional $250 on top of the cost of the projector. Now, the new screen is a must! You can NOT use just a “plain” white sheet or the one that comes “free” with a lot of the projector stands.Besides, I wanted to biggest possible screen I knew would fit in my home. This is my fault for not researching the projector screen at the same time as the projector. Without the right screen. You can have the best projector in the world. But guess what. The image will look 100% lousy. In my long review I’ll mention which screen I purchased and stand to support it. In addition, the remote really needs to be backlit when watching in totally dark room.In the end I sent my findings to the XGIMI Support team. From the way the support team responded to my emails. I feel they will pass on my findings and suggestions to their development team and leadership. I feel they will listen and improve future editions of this projector. (As of right now 3/24/25 this projector is a lighting deal. At that price point it more than makes up for extras that you'll need purchased to get this projector to 100%.)BIG DISCLAIMER!! BIG DISCLAIMER!!*The pictures I uploaded are NOT Color accurate. For whatever reason my phone see the color white as "magenta"*Please do NOT let my pictures discourage you from considering this projector!!*Once its properly setup and calibrated! Its AWESOME!!Now the LONG review.Get a cup of coffee or favorite beverage, make time. I promise to make this read worth while if you are considering buying this projector.I’ve always wanted a projector for my home theater. I currently own a Sony 86” XBR Bravia TV. But I still wanted the complete “Home Theater” experience that included a large projection screen. Obviously, over time projector technology, performance, pricing has improved and dropped. Which is had made them a feasible alternative to LED TVs.I had been looking for an excellent mid-level projector, either long throw or ultra-short throw for a few years now. I had been considering the AWOL Vision LTV-2500 or LTV-3000 USTs. The Hisense C1 4K projector, or an Optoma, even the brand new Valerion VisionMaster Pro2 Triple Laser Projector. If you follow the industry and online posts. The Valerion is the latest “wunderkid” and hit among the newest projectors. Also, it was crowdfunded, has some amazing features. There are many reviews touting its performance for the price point.The Valerion and both the AWOL LTV-3000 were at the high end of what I was willing to pay. Where as the AWOL LTV-2500 and this XGIMI were more along the price point I was willing to spend onAfter watching the prices, offers and reading reviews. I saw the XGIMI Horizon S Max 2024 New 4k projector in the list of Amazon’s suggested projector list. I added it to my list and kept checking and comparing the price and reviews against the other projectors. Finally, I decided to order this projector.If you see my unboxing video. It’s delivered well packaged and protected inside three boxes. The surprise was it was delivered by USPS on a Sunday not by Amazon.I already had a very inexpensive projector I’d use once in a while and it came with a “cheap” 120” inch screen. I setup the screen and placed the XGIMI on the stand I had bought for the inexpensive projector.I started it up and the picture was bright. It then ran thru the self-guided setup; including, paring the remote to the projector and connecting to my Wi-Fi. It downloaded its latest software updates and firmware. This process didn’t take more than 30 minutes. When it finally came up it uses Android/Google TV interface. Which is just like my Sony XBR so I was familiar with the setup. I downloaded my apps and installed them. The projector image was “passable” to me at this point. I completed the keystone adjustments manually along with the picture settings.I open the Fandango/Vudu native app on the projector. I started up TopGun: Maverick as it is UHD and has the IMAX scenes from the movie. The projector instantly switched and showed me two pop-ups. The first was the resolution switched to 2160p@24fps (Thumbs up) and the “IMAX ENHANCED Enabled”. (Another thumbs up)As soon as the movie started it was way too dark. It was not bright as I had expected. To be fair I expected the image to look as it did in the movie theater. It was far from. Again, I clicked on the settings button, went to “PICTURE SETTNGS” and “PICTURE MODE”. I tried to change the picture settings. When I did, I got a pop-up saying “This feature is currently disabled. IMAX ENHANCED enabled.”I scrolled thru the picture settings found the “IMAX ENHANCED” setting (along with the Dolby Vision setting, too.) The IMAX Setting was set to AUTO. I clicked on it and changed it from “AUTO” (default setting) to OFF. The image instantly became brighter and clearer by 100%. However, it was now washed out. The whites where to white and the colors were way off. (Keep this in mind.)I went back to the “Picture settings” > “Picture Mode” menu, clicked on it, now it was accessible. There are FIVE settings in this menu. “Standard”, “Movie”, “Sport”, “Brilliant”, “Custom”, “High Power”. I went thru each setting looking for the “Brightness and Contrast settings”, including the colors. They are only accessible in the “CUSTOM” setting. The rest of the settings only have ONE or THREE minimal settings that you can adjust. (Nowhere do the instructions mention this. Again, remember this.)Once I changed the brightness, contrast, and gamma settings the picture improved even further. Yet, the picture was too “RED”. I went back to the “CUSTOM” settings and turned down the red. I was able to make the changes as the movie was playing. I thought “Great! Now let me re-enable the IMAX Enhanced feature.”Soon as I did. The picture went dark again. “Ugh” I wasn’t pleased about this. I went to the Prime Video native app on the projector and tried playing Maverick, there. Again, the projector gave me the two pop-ups. I brought the indicator bar on the Prime app and saw the image change from 1080p, to HD 1080p, HDR UHD. I knew it wasn’t my Wi-Fi connection to the projector. This time I decided to try a different movie “Oppenheimer”. But the same result with the IMAX Feature enabled it was way to dark.I decided to email XGIMI support with my issue looking for some help. I figured they would answer in 24 hours. I took the opportunity to connect my Roku 4K stick to the projector. Here is something that I don’t like about the projector. It has only ONE HDMI input and three USB inputs. I have 4k HDMI switch I figure I could use. (More on this in a bit.) I connected the Roku 4K stick to the projector. Fired up the projector again, changed the input to HDMI. The Roku began to display. I went into the ROKU settings and set it to display at 4K HDR10.I ran thru the same tests. But the images were very dark. It was only turning off the IMAX Enhanced feature did they display “brightly”. But the colors where way off. I tried to get to the projector settings but they wouldn’t come up. The image was as before completely washed out. When I changed the Roku settings from 4K HDR10 to just 4K. The image and colors improved to a more normal level. But I couldn’t get to the settings.Things weren’t looking good for the projector so far. I decided to test my Sony blu-ray player. I connected it to the projector. The players “HOME” screen displayed in 1080p@60fps. I have “Maverick” on 4K UHD blu-ray. I popped in the disc, loaded it, hit play. The screen went black, I got a pop-up saying “2160p@24fps”. The picture flashed up pink and then went black. I waited a few minutes expecting the movie to pop-up. Nothing.Now, I was becoming really, really disappointed with this projector. I went online and did some Google searches on how to “fix” the image on this projector. As it’s still a relatively new projector and there are few reviews on Amazon as it is. There was hardly anything posted about this projector. But a lot on their previous models.12 hours later XGIMI support answered my email for help. They provided some additional steps for me to try. One of those was to keep the IMAX feature off. Which I thought defeated the purpose as this was one of the reasons I had bought this projector. (Another reason closer to returning this monitor.) They also mentioned to check the Roku for any software updates and to turn off the HDR setting. In addition, they also stated to turn off the HDR setting under the “PICTURE SETTINGS” > “PICTURE MODE”. I thought okay. I’d do it. I did it both on the Roku and projector. (I also checked the Roku for updates but it didn’t have any) The picture was more like that of my Sony XBR TV. I had to go back in and reset the RED to default on the projector. The image was now closer to what I was expecting.I had sent a 2nd email about the issue with blu-ray player. Again, they responded within 12 hours. They suggested I change the settings on my blu-ray and even switch HDMI cables. Interestingly enough I loaded a standard DVD and guess what, I displayed correctly.This time I got the pop-up saying 1080p@60fps. I thought maybe it is the cables. I bit the bullet and ordered four new 8K HDMI cables from Amazon. (Additional unexpected cost.) I saw the Amazon 4K Firestick was also in sale. I bought it as well along with the matching USB power hub for it. (Additional expense) I decided to buy a set of 8K couplers as well on a whim. (3rd additional unexpected cost). Fortunately, the cables where available to be delivered the same day including the Firestick.Now for my next test. I connected the 4K HDMI Switch I have to my Blu-ray player, Roku, Comcast box to it. I use this in order to connect an Optical TOS link cable to connect it to my old school legendary Yamaha DSP-A1 amp. This amp has both DTS and Dolby Digital audio capabilities. Plus, a ton of DSP sound fields that I use depending if I am watching a movie, TV show, Concert Video, or even listening to my CDs.But nothing would display no matter what setting I would use. Honestly, I was now 50/50 on the fence about returning the projector. I figured I’d wait for the new cables. I chose the 8K cables as I wanted to make sure there would be no doubt about the signal transmitting between the blu-ray and projector would be correct or sufficient.The cables and fire stick arrived several hours later. I started with the firestick first. Connected it to the projector. I turned both on. The image came on and I ran thru the setup. Downloaded the apps as I did on the projector. Now, here it where it gets interesting.This firestick has additional display settings on it that are not available on my Roku stick. Well, guess I did need to upgrade my streaming stick. The firestick has the ability to turn the HDR feature on and off. It also features to ability to set the video out signal to 4k ULTRA HD, Match Frame Rate, Color Depth, Color Format, Dynamic Range Settings (HDR) along with one other.It’s the one that began to “unlock” the projectors settings. It’s called “AUDIO AND VIDEO DIAGNOSTICS”. When you click it. It opens a screen that shows you exactly what both the Audio and Video capacities of the TV or Projector the fire stick is connected to. Along with an option to play both Dolby and Vision content “test”.I know you are probably thinking “I thought I was reading a review about the projector not the firestick.” But stay with me. I clicked on “Play Dolby Atmos and Vision Content”“WOW!! OMG!!!” Now the projector was displaying the image I was expecting!! The one that was advertised.I went back and started from the beginning. Ran Maverick and Oppenheimer from the projector’s native apps. The image was not what the firesticks Dolby demo displayed. I went to the firestick and did the same test. The same result. A poor image. Now I’m 60/40 on returning the projector.Time to test the bu-ray player again, but this time with the new cables. But I had a thought. I went into the blu-ray player settings I went into its settings and turned off the HDR setting and this also disabled the Dolby Vision setting. I thought “Fine. I need to know if it will display now.” I connected the blu-ray to the projector with the new 8k cables and changed settings. I put on Maverick again.“YES!! Now, the blu-ray image was coming thru!” I thought “Well was it indeed the cables, the settings or both.” I re-connected the original HDMI cables to the blu-ray player and to the projector. I also kept the same display settings on the blu-ray. Sure enough. No image. It was indeed the cables. I did the same with the HDMI switch. No image with either the new 8K cables or the changed settings. The HDMI switcher I have is no good now. Luckly, the blu-ray player has a coaxial optical audio output. Which is how I now connect it to my Yamaha amp. (Audio problem resolved with the blu-ray player)I emailed XGIMI support to let them know it was the cables and setting issue on my blu-ray player. But I still couldn’t set the brightness, contrast, or colors on the projector while using the HDMI imput on the projector.While waiting for their response and watching some YouTube videos. I grabbed the projector remote and accidently swiped the “SETTINGS” button on the remote.Guess what! The settings screen popped-up!! Finally, I could set the brightness, colors and everything else! As an old acquaintance used to say. “Now we are cooking with gas!!”Now I wanted to see what type of image the projector was capable of. Did it live up to the advertising. Starting with the Amazon Firestick. I set the HDR feature back on. Set the Color Depth to Max Up to 12 bits, Color Format YCbCR. I ran thru the video tests again thru the apps. What a difference!! The only catch was I needed to keep the IMAX Enhanced feature off.How noticeable was the difference. My wife sat down and started watching “Oppenheimer” with me. Granted we’ve seen it a ton of times. The same with “Maverick”. The few TV shows we watch, now felt like we were watching them in a movie theater!When I loaded “Maverick” on the blu-ray player. I set the same display settings. But the set the color format to YCbCR & 4:2:2. I loaded “Maverick” once more. “YES!!! The movie looked like it did when we saw it in IMAX!” I even went in and enabled on the projector “IMAX Enhanced”. The image got a bit darker. But it was acceptable, now. It wasn’t so dark anymore.Finally, I had a thought. I knew there were 4K, 8K, 12K. 8, 12, 16 bit, HDR and Dolby Vision videos on YouTube. I loaded one up from the firestick. The projector was displaying at 110% (I’d set the display to BT2020 as well on the projector.) I went to projectors native YouTube app and ran the same video. Both images knocked my socks off completely. Even with the “IMAX Enhanced” feature on as well.For the last settings. I found some 4K calibration videos on YouTube as well for the brightness and contrast. I found the best one and used it.Now I am a 100% satisfied with this projector! All of this could have been avoided had XGIMI provided a much more detailed set of instructions. With how to access and setup the image on the projector.Final thought. Get a projector screen with black backing. This will keep the light from bleeding thru and give you a considerably much better image. So much so my wife can’t wait to see the latest and next episodes of the TV shows we watch.During the day. It will display a good image in a partially sunlit room. I’ve attached pictures. In a completely dark room. It is AWESOME.So is this projector worth the price. You bet! Once its setup correctly, of course.Thanks for taking the time to read my review and hope it helps you out!