The innovative folks over at XGIMI are always coming out with some of the most revolutionary and forward-thinking projectors on the market. Their MoGo Pro Portable Projector was a huge success in our eyes and their Elfin Mini LED Home Projector was as top-notch as I would have hoped for, netting a solid 10/10 score from us. Their latest portable projector, the Halo+ FHD Portable Projector takes what we loved about the MoGo Pro and amps it up even more. You have a bigger soundscape, a better picture, and a few other bells and whistles to boot. But does the Halo+ outdo the Elfin or even the MoGo?

What’s In The Box

As always, XGIMI provides a sleek unboxing that rids itself of the frivolous packaging as you only get the essentials. You have the Halo+ projector, its remote, power cables, and instruction manual. That’s all that shows up with this $849.00 projector but it’s really all you need.

Aesthetics and Build Quality

As far as aesthetics go, it definitely retains the same design overall as the MoGo with the exception of the lens’ location and the color of the device. XGIMI has outfitted this line of portable projectors with a graphite and black color pallet which gives it a “late-night” feel and matches the “+” version of their MoGo Pro. I really like this color scheme overall but I wish that the remote matched it as it still has the white/black look that is included in every projector of theirs.

When it comes to the build quality, this thing is quite a beast. It’s heavy, sturdy, and even has a neat little kickstand so that you can get better viewing angles without much hassle. I’d say my big complaint about how it’s constructed is an echo of my complaints about the MoGo Pro; the metal housing is still a bit soft and can easily dent or bend. I loved the plastic design of the Elfin and would have liked to have seen something similar used here.

Specs and Special Features

1080p Super-Bright Image - Enjoy remarkable 1080p FHD and bright 900 ANSI lumens for your family game nights or backyard movies.

Auto Focus & Keystone Correction - Rest easy knowing Halo+ auto-adjusts your display and keeps it clear, hassle-free.

Fully Portable Design - Halo+’s built-in 59W battery provides you 2hrs of spectacular big-screen entertainment on the go.

Intelligent Screen Adaption - Our industry-leading ISA technology simplifies usability and optimizes setup for any user.

Top of the Line Sound - 10W Harman Kardon and Dolby audio combo emit distortion-free Hi-Fi sound for a true cinematic experience.

This is definitely an upgrade when it comes to its cheaper peer, the MoGo Pro. With 900 ANSI lumens and a bigger set of speakers, this thing is a force to be reckoned with. It is absolutely the clearest and loudest of any of the XGIMI projectors I’ve tested thus far and I was blown away by the cinema experience it delivers. Watching Star Wars: The Last Jedi on this took me back to my first viewing of it in the theater, and it was amazing.

Functionality

When it came to gaming on the Halo+ I felt sort of let down. I enjoyed playing games on the Elfin because it really felt lag-free. When it comes to this device, the lag is just ever so slightly noticeable. It makes doing things in-game feel a bit weighty and very noticeable to me. This is still better than the MoGo Pro which was basically unplayable but I’d still say that this isn’t the best choice if you’re solely using it for gaming purposes.

Another area where there’s a swing and a miss is in its integrated games via the Play Store. It doesn’t really run them all that well. As always, I tested out Odd World: New and Tasty but unlike the Elfin, the Halo just can’t keep the game running smoothly. You can change visual settings but it really doesn’t improve the experience overall.

What It Could Have Done Better

While I really loved the experience that the Halo+ provides in the grand scheme of things, there are a bunch of hiccups that make its large price tag look like a bit of a reach. Besides its dingable framing, the other hardware quality issue I noticed is that the speakers don’t sound as balanced as in their other models. It could be due to the largeness of them but unless you change the settings in the menus, this sound is a bit pitchy at default.

Besides that, I did notice some issues with a couple of other things like the picture going out every once in a while and then coming back. It did this natively while just streaming stuff as well as when plugged into my Switch dock via HDMI. I couldn’t find a cause for it though. I also noticed that just navigating the menus was also a pretty aggravating task. It constantly lags behind and/or closes out of menus because of this.

Verdict

What should have been the clear winner amongst XGIMI’s line of projectors really seemed to fall short in a bunch of places. When it works, the Halo+ provides the truest cinematic experience available for consumers but because of its irritating issues with both hardware and software, I’d advise you to proceed with a bit of caution. Had this projector been cheaper, it could have redeemed itself a bit because of how stellar it is most of the time. Unfortunately, the Halo+ just isn’t the most consistent device that XGIMI offers.