XGIMI Halo+ review

One type of product that I’ve come to really enjoy over the last few years is a projector. Having always relied on televisions, I was familiar with the benefits and features of a projector but never spent any real time using one.

As the pandemic set in over 2020 I found myself checking out different projectors. The biggest reason I began to consider them is that I could take my binge watching or video game playing to different rooms of the house, or even outside. I liked the change of pace and always enjoy the opportunity to be outdoors.

XGIMI is a brand that I’ve come to better understand and appreciate, having been able to test a few of its products out. Here are my thoughts about the Halo+.

About the Halo+

As an upgrade to the existing Halo, the Halo+ is a compact unit that stands just under 7-inches and weighs around 3.5 pounds. Somewhat dense to be sure, it’s largely because of the internal battery which makes it a truly portable “go anywhere” device.

Also included in the box is also a power plug and adapter and a Bluetooth remote control; you’ll need to supply your own pair of AAA batteries.

The Halo+ houses 2GB RAM with 16GB internal storage. Powered by Android TV 10 with Chromecast and mirroring, it offers up a standard resolution of 1920 x 1080px but is compatible with 2K/4K sources.

It has a brightness of 900 ANSI lumens and projects an image up to 200 inches when measured diagonally. You’ll have to put the Halo+ about 16 feet from the screen or wall to something that big, but doing so can deliver a picture that’s nearly 17 feet.

The 1.2:1 throw ratio finds me getting around 110 inches from across a typical room. On the low end you’ll find that you can get a picture of around 30 inches if you don’t have much room to work with.

Around the back side of the XGIMI Halo+ you’ll find connections for power, a 3.5mm headphone jack, an HDMI port, and a USB Type-A. There is no TF card slot in this model if that’s what you’re used to using for content sources but a USB adapter can fill in the gap.

The top of the projector has soft buttons for volume as well as the play/pause button. And when it comes to sound, the two Harmon Kardon 5W speakers support Dolby Audio, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD, and DTS Studio Sound.

What’s it like to use the XGIMI Halo+ Projector?

Thanks to features like auto focus, obstacle avoidance, and automatic keystone adjustment, the experience is a pain-free one. Pretty much any time I placed the projector in a room or area it was able to adjust the picture size, orientation, and angles with little more than a press of a button.

If you’re in a room where the image might project over a stand with flowers, speakers, books, or something else, the picture will reposition itself. This way you’re not getting a broken or wonky few inches of image projected onto objects. It might reorient to a smaller picture, but it won’t be skewed or distorted.

The XGIMI Halo+ is particularly quiet when in use which I appreciated in quiet moments of a movie or when playing video games with tense settings. On the other hand, the speakers themselves are fantastic and put out a much louder sound than I anticipated.

The images produced by the projector are really bright, clear, and crisp. I found it worked better in daylight than other projectors I’ve used which makes me happy because I don’t like being relegated to using one only when it’s late in the day.

As someone who has used an NVIDIA Shield for TV over the last few years, I like the Android TV experience. There are a few apps and services preloaded on the Halo+ and the preloaded Play Store means you can get the others you might want. Also worth noting is that setup is a smooth process that takes just a couple of minutes.

I might like to see at least another half hour or more of battery life out of the Halo+. Many of the movies I like to enjoy hover around the limit of the projector; deciding on what to watch could chew up precious minutes when you’re dealing with multiple family members.

Brief Thoughts

• While many portable projectors compromise on resolution, the Halo+ doesn’t cut corners. It boasts native Full HD resolution (1920×1080 pixels) delivered through a 0.33-inch DLP imaging array.
• The Halo+ features a maintenance-free LED light engine with a rated lifetime of 25,000 hours (17 years+ of daily use at four hours a day).
• Under the hood, you’ll find a quad-core 1.5GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, a Mali G52 graphics accelerator, and 16GB of storage.
• Its Intelligent Screen Adaptation technology can automatically detect obstacles when projecting onto a wall, ensuring your image doesn’t spill onto unintended surfaces.
• X-VUE 2.0 Image Engine improves image quality by adjusting colors and clarity, reducing video noise, and supporting 4K signals, HDR10, HLG high dynamic range content, and even 1080p 3D with DLP-Link glasses.
• Low-latency Game Mode Boost, reducing input lag to a respectable 26.5 ms. It also includes frame interpolation with XGIMI’s MEMC feature, enhancing clarity for fast-moving action.

Conclusion

For $849, the XGIMI Halo+ portable projector is not exactly a cheap device but it is a well-rounded one. Moreover, it’s stylish and compact and doesn’t draw unwanted attention in a room.

There is far more to like about this one than to not. The setup is quick and easy with personal customization and loading of additional apps taking no time to install or configure.

Picture is always bright and clear and the sound is equally impressive. I’ve taken this unit to various rooms of my home over the last few weeks and it’s done well to serve my needs. And now that the weather looks to be breaking again, I look forward to testing it out on the back deck or in the driveway.