The XGIMI Horizon Ultra is one of the best dumb projectors I've ever played with, while also being a familiar and frustrating smart projector. The device itself and the images it can project on the wall are great, but there are definite issues with the Android TV and streaming capabilities.

However, it is capable of delivering wonderfully bright and vivid images, and with XGIMI claiming to be the world's first long-throw Dolby Vision home projector, one would hope that it is. I have been using the older XGIMI Horizon Pro for a while, which is a great 4K beamer in its own right, but when it comes to image quality, this Horizon Ultra absolutely beats it.

First, it's much brighter; the Ultra delivers 2300 ISO lumens, the Pro 1500 ISO lumens. Both are great daytime beam sources if you draw the curtains and avoid direct sunlight, but the extra lamp light really makes the Horizon Ultra's Dolby Vision HDR experience stand out.

That said, the Ultra's HDR performance is superior to the pros, and frankly, it's not that much more expensive. Frankly, the price isn't that much higher either. The Horizon Pro is a $1,500 projector, and this Ultra version is $1,700, a projection quality that not long ago could only realistically be obtained with a $5,000+ beamer.

The appearance has also improved. In terms of design, the Ultra embodies a certain modern home aesthetic, with a cream-colored surround and a material mesh front that hides the lens from prying eyes (and curious little fingers). The mesh front is also quite satisfying, as when the projector is turned on, it slowly shifts downward to reveal its powerful beam.

But no matter what XGIMI says about its Android 11 implementation "for endless entertainment," there is a limit to the streaming enjoyment you can get from Google's inconsistent OS. Frankly, it would be better to treat the Horizon Ultra as a dumb projector and connect a secondary device, be it a laptop or another streaming box.

That's what I did.

Netflix is the obvious service that XGIMI has never used, at least not in the UK where I live. iPlayer and ITVX are not available, and trying to use the built-in Chromecast feature is always frustrating. BBC streams. I can get it to accept it, but the separate apps for the major UK channels don't even recognize it as a castable device. The older Horizon Pro is compatible.

Let's see what I have to say about the discrepancy.

But there is no discrepancy in image quality. This is true even in an image that has been reduced in optical zoom and keystoned to fit in the chimney breast of my room. Still sharp, still bright, still responsive.

The keystone correction is really impressive, and the autofocus feature is as good as the existing Horizon Pro, but the automatic brightness adjustment is a new feature and can be adjusted based on the ambient brightness of the room. Peak brightness can be a bit harsh in a pitch-dark room, so automatically adjusting the beamer can save your eyes. [Horizon Ultra's color calibration feature is also excellent. It takes into account the actual hue of the surface being projected and calibrates the device's color output accordingly. And it makes a real difference. The purple wall will not suddenly become the ideal projection surface, but the magnolia wall will no longer affect the visual experience.

And if you are not going to build a dedicated home theater system, with dedicated screens and surround sound Dolby Atmos speakers in every corner of the room, the twin 12W Harman Kardon speakers built into the Horizon Ultra do an admirable job; they have a higher power level than the Pro's 8W speakers and provide a genuinely impressive, surprisingly deep and warm aural experience. Special wiring will be required if you want a proper surround sound setup, but for most people, the Ultra's audio capabilities will suffice.

However, 4K output only operates at 60 Hz, which may seem a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to gaming performance. However, the standard game mode (available only with HDMI connection) adds only the same ~17ms latency as the Horizon Pro, which is nothing to sneeze at.

However, this was not the case when I first tried the Ultra. Game mode could only be run at fully boosted levels and had to be run without keystoning.

Then after one or two updates, I got a standard game mode that also runs with keystoning and provides an excellent experience. And we got even better HDR: I'm connected to Horizon Ultra via GeForce Now (which finally supports HDR on BG3) and a Shield device, and I'm playing Baldur's Gate 3 on Blitz and it looks amazingly clean.

As an ultra-large-screen gaming display, its relatively low refresh rate is absolutely forgivable, given how sharp, vivid, and bright these visuals are. Gaming on a projector is always a special experience, and with such excellent image quality, it is not just the scale that makes the spectacle possible.

And proper HDR video also plays its part: playback of Amazon Prime's UHD HDR content or actual Dolby Vision video will give you a sense of its magnificence.

So while I still have concerns about its innate streaming capabilities and am frustrated by its limitations, this is an outstanding gaming beamer and one that offers a great 4K HDR experience with almost any kind of media you want to throw at it. Sure, the $1,700 price tag is steep, but a projection of this quality would have cost three times that not long ago.