Bringing the theater to your home
The XGIMI Aura is billed as one of the best ultra-short throw projectors on the market. With pretty good specs, and a pretty low price (in the world of UST projectors). The Aura is priced at $2,499, which is pretty affordable, and it’s also fairly bright at 2,400 ANSI Lumens. So the real question here is, is it worth the money? Let’s find out in our full review.
XGIMI Aura Review: Setup
Setting up the XGIMI Aura is pretty simple actually. Just take it out of the box, and set it where you want to place your projector. Plug it into the wall, and turn it on. During initial setup, you’ll be asked to sign into your Google account and adding the apps you use on Android TV.
XGIMI will also have you adjust the picture size during setup. This is so that it is not warped, and is straight on all of the sides. Now, you can of course do that, though I prefer to adjust the feet on the bottom of the Aura. All four feet are adjustable. So if your floors or the surface it is sitting on is not flat, you can still get a flat picture.
And that’s really all there is to setting up the XGIMI Aura, it’s pretty easy to do.
XGIMI Aura Review: Hardware
The Aura is probably the best built UST projector I’ve ever reviewed. While most of the competitors use plastic, XGIMI went for metal here, with some plastic too. Now, I definitely would have rather XGIMI go with an all black look here, so it doesn’t stand out as much, the look is rather unique though. Since the top is not flat, and kind of curves like a crescent.
It’s mostly the top that made of metal, while the rest of it is plastic. There’s also a nice speaker cover over the front that is for, well the speakers. I do wish it had an exposed speaker grille, as I think that looks better. But this is likely better for catching dust and such. Which, if you keep the Aura in your home for many months or even years, it’s going to get dusty. Speaking of which, it’s a good idea to dust the top of the Aura from time to time, so that the picture quality doesn’t suffer.
On the back of the Aura, you’ll find the ports. Which, I kind of like the layout of these ports. They are lined up across the entire back of the projector, instead of all in one corner. Making cable management a bit easier to handle.
As far as ports go, XGIMI was quite generous here. Providing 3 HDMI ports (with one being ARC), though none of them are HDMI 2.1. There’s also two USB-A ports here, an audio port, optical, Ethernet and a service port available. The port selection isn’t perfect, but having three HDMI ports is really nice to have. During my time with it, I had a Sonos Beam Gen 2 connected to the first HDMI port, and a Fire TV Cube connected to the second one.
XGIMI Aura Review: Sound quality
XGIMI has four 15W speakers inside, that are tuned by Harman Kardon. And they sound good. But I still prefer to use my Sonos Beam Gen 2 and Sub Mini setup with this projector. And luckily, you can do that, or stick with the built-in speakers. The built-in speakers are big enough to fill and entire room with sound, with ease.
You can also adjust the audio in the settings, if you want more bass, or less. Also depending on what you’re playing on the projector at the time.
XGIMI Aura Review: Picture quality
What really matters here is the picture quality. It’s the only thing you can’t fix, with products you might already have. You can fix the software by plugging in a streaming device. You can fix the audio by using a soundbar. But the picture quality, can’t be fixed that way. The good news is, it’s pretty darn good.
On the spec sheet, the Aura is rated at 2400 ANSI Lumens. Which, I’m not all that sure how accurate that rating is, as the last projector I reviewed was a bit dimmer at 2200ANSI Lumens, but it seemed brighter and clearer. However, if you are using an ALR screen for your projector, then you’ll be just fine here. It’ll be plenty bright in bright rooms.
This is a 4K projector, with support for HDR10 and HLG. It does not have Dolby Vision support here, which is a bit of a bummer, but likely another way that Aura was able to sell this projector for under $2500.
The colors are pretty accurate here. Fortunately, they are not super washed out, even at the brightest settings. It’s not as sharp as I would have expected from a 4K laser projector. But to be honest, if I had not used other projectors recently, I likely wouldn’t notice the difference.
All in all, the picture quality is quite good. Not perfect, but given the price here, it’s good.
XGIMI Aura Review: Software
There’s not a lot to say about the software here. It’s Android TV. If you’ve used Android TV, then you know what to expect from this. That means that there’s a ton of great apps available – YouTube, Hulu, Disney+ and much more. As well as Google Assistant and Cast available.
The biggest caveat here is that, Netflix is not available. This is something we’ve run into virtually every projector that we’ve reviewed over the last few years. And it’s not the manufacturer’s fault, it’s Netflix’s. To go a bit behind-the-scenes with how these things work, Netflix needs to certify devices for its app to work. Even though Netflix is on Android TV and this runs on Android TV, Netflix still needs to certify it. But here’s where things get tricky, Netflix won’t certify it until it has sold a million units. And most projectors aren’t going to sell that many units. So there’s workarounds for it.
XGIMI doesn’t actually provide a workaround here, while others will. Instead, XGIMI recommends using a streaming device to connect to Netflix. Which is why I have a Fire TV Cube connected here. It’s rather unfortunate, but on the flip side, it’s good that XGIMI did provide three HDMI ports here. So you can plug in a streaming device, a soundbar and a gaming system.
Should I buy the XGIMI Aura?
The XGIMI Aura is one of my favorite UST projectors I’ve used this year. The only real downside here is the size and the lack of HDMI 2.1. But of course, adding in HDMI 2.1 would definitely raise the price here. So I think XGIMI found the right balance for the Aura.
You should buy the XGIMI Aura if:
- You don’t have a lot of room for a big TV.
- You want a big TV that can easily be moved.
- You want a home theater at a decent price.
You shouldn’t buy the XGIMI Aura if:
- You want to game at 4K120.
- You want a smaller projector.
The XGIMI Aura is billed as one of the best ultra-short throw projectors on the market. With pretty good specs, and a pretty low price (in the world of UST projectors). The Aura is priced at $2,499, which is pretty affordable, and it’s also fairly bright at 2,400 ANSI Lumens. So the real question here is, is it worth the money? Let’s find out in our full review.
XGIMI Aura Review: Setup
Setting up the XGIMI Aura is pretty simple actually. Just take it out of the box, and set it where you want to place your projector. Plug it into the wall, and turn it on. During initial setup, you’ll be asked to sign into your Google account and adding the apps you use on Android TV.
XGIMI will also have you adjust the picture size during setup. This is so that it is not warped, and is straight on all of the sides. Now, you can of course do that, though I prefer to adjust the feet on the bottom of the Aura. All four feet are adjustable. So if your floors or the surface it is sitting on is not flat, you can still get a flat picture.
And that’s really all there is to setting up the XGIMI Aura, it’s pretty easy to do.
XGIMI Aura Review: Hardware
The Aura is probably the best built UST projector I’ve ever reviewed. While most of the competitors use plastic, XGIMI went for metal here, with some plastic too. Now, I definitely would have rather XGIMI go with an all black look here, so it doesn’t stand out as much, the look is rather unique though. Since the top is not flat, and kind of curves like a crescent.
It’s mostly the top that made of metal, while the rest of it is plastic. There’s also a nice speaker cover over the front that is for, well the speakers. I do wish it had an exposed speaker grille, as I think that looks better. But this is likely better for catching dust and such. Which, if you keep the Aura in your home for many months or even years, it’s going to get dusty. Speaking of which, it’s a good idea to dust the top of the Aura from time to time, so that the picture quality doesn’t suffer.
On the back of the Aura, you’ll find the ports. Which, I kind of like the layout of these ports. They are lined up across the entire back of the projector, instead of all in one corner. Making cable management a bit easier to handle.
As far as ports go, XGIMI was quite generous here. Providing 3 HDMI ports (with one being ARC), though none of them are HDMI 2.1. There’s also two USB-A ports here, an audio port, optical, Ethernet and a service port available. The port selection isn’t perfect, but having three HDMI ports is really nice to have. During my time with it, I had a Sonos Beam Gen 2 connected to the first HDMI port, and a Fire TV Cube connected to the second one.
XGIMI Aura Review: Sound quality
XGIMI has four 15W speakers inside, that are tuned by Harman Kardon. And they sound good. But I still prefer to use my Sonos Beam Gen 2 and Sub Mini setup with this projector. And luckily, you can do that, or stick with the built-in speakers. The built-in speakers are big enough to fill and entire room with sound, with ease.
You can also adjust the audio in the settings, if you want more bass, or less. Also depending on what you’re playing on the projector at the time.
XGIMI Aura Review: Picture quality
What really matters here is the picture quality. It’s the only thing you can’t fix, with products you might already have. You can fix the software by plugging in a streaming device. You can fix the audio by using a soundbar. But the picture quality, can’t be fixed that way. The good news is, it’s pretty darn good.
On the spec sheet, the Aura is rated at 2400 ANSI Lumens. Which, I’m not all that sure how accurate that rating is, as the last projector I reviewed was a bit dimmer at 2200ANSI Lumens, but it seemed brighter and clearer. However, if you are using an ALR screen for your projector, then you’ll be just fine here. It’ll be plenty bright in bright rooms.
This is a 4K projector, with support for HDR10 and HLG. It does not have Dolby Vision support here, which is a bit of a bummer, but likely another way that Aura was able to sell this projector for under $2500.
The colors are pretty accurate here. Fortunately, they are not super washed out, even at the brightest settings. It’s not as sharp as I would have expected from a 4K laser projector. But to be honest, if I had not used other projectors recently, I likely wouldn’t notice the difference.
All in all, the picture quality is quite good. Not perfect, but given the price here, it’s good.
XGIMI Aura Review: Software
There’s not a lot to say about the software here. It’s Android TV. If you’ve used Android TV, then you know what to expect from this. That means that there’s a ton of great apps available – YouTube, Hulu, Disney+ and much more. As well as Google Assistant and Cast available.
The biggest caveat here is that, Netflix is not available. This is something we’ve run into virtually every projector that we’ve reviewed over the last few years. And it’s not the manufacturer’s fault, it’s Netflix’s. To go a bit behind-the-scenes with how these things work, Netflix needs to certify devices for its app to work. Even though Netflix is on Android TV and this runs on Android TV, Netflix still needs to certify it. But here’s where things get tricky, Netflix won’t certify it until it has sold a million units. And most projectors aren’t going to sell that many units. So there’s workarounds for it.
XGIMI doesn’t actually provide a workaround here, while others will. Instead, XGIMI recommends using a streaming device to connect to Netflix. Which is why I have a Fire TV Cube connected here. It’s rather unfortunate, but on the flip side, it’s good that XGIMI did provide three HDMI ports here. So you can plug in a streaming device, a soundbar and a gaming system.
Should I buy the XGIMI Aura?
The XGIMI Aura is one of my favorite UST projectors I’ve used this year. The only real downside here is the size and the lack of HDMI 2.1. But of course, adding in HDMI 2.1 would definitely raise the price here. So I think XGIMI found the right balance for the Aura.
You should buy the XGIMI Aura if:
- You don’t have a lot of room for a big TV.
- You want a big TV that can easily be moved.
- You want a home theater at a decent price.
You shouldn’t buy the XGIMI Aura if:
- You want to game at 4K120.
- You want a smaller projector.
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