The XGIMI AURA 2 is a 4k HDR ultra-short-throw (UST) projector. It's capable of projecting on large surfaces from a very short distance: it projects a 90" image at a distance of 5.4" and up to 150" at 15.3". It's a big projector but comes with full auto keystone technology and autofocus, making it quick to install. The projector uses a dual LED + laser light source and is rated to last at least 20,000 hours. It comes with Android TV 11, with Chromecast and Magicast built in, alongside three HDMI ports. One of its HDMI ports doubles as an eARC port, with support for DTS and Dolby advanced audio formats. It also supports Dolby Vision and is IMAX Enhanced-certified. Finally, it has a 60W Dolby Atmos Harman/Kardon sound system.
Our Verdict
The XGIMI AURA 2 is a great projector for watching movies. It's bright enough for rooms with a few lights and bright enough to project somewhat vibrant colors. Its contrast is also very good, so it excels in darker rooms, although its blacks are raised in very dark and very bright scenes. It's a fully featured projector with Dolby Vision, IMAX Enhanced certification, and Dolby Atmos support. It's also very accurate right out of the box, requiring few adjustments for an accurate image.
Great peak brightness, with bright and punchy colors.
Very good contrast for a solid dark room experience.
Ultra-short-throw capabilities, so you can place it very close to the wall or screen.
Packed with features, including Dolby Vision support.
Excellent pre-calibration accuracy.
Contrast is merely okay in very dark and very bright scenes.
The XGIMI AURA 2 is a good living-room gaming UST. Brightness is quite high for its class, and the LED-laser light source gives games very saturated color, so the image holds up even when some lights are on. Contrast is very good and looks best in a dim room; still, blacks lift a bit in very dark scenes. The projector is very accurate out of the box, so you don't need to get it calibrated if you care about your games looking as the artists intended. Plus, the unit supports Dolby Vision, a solid feature for Xbox gamers. Unfortunately, the unit is limited to 60Hz, so there are no high-refresh modes to reduce the latency further. Thankfully, latency is satisfactory at 60Hz; enough for slower game genres, but look elsewhere if you want to play fast-paced or competitive titles.
Great peak brightness, with bright and punchy colors.
Very good contrast for a solid dark room experience.
Ultra-short-throw capabilities, so you can place it very close to the wall or screen.
Packed with features, including Dolby Vision support.
Excellent pre-calibration accuracy.
Contrast is merely okay in very dark and very bright scenes.
No high refresh rate support; limited to 1080p or 4k @ 60Hz.
Changelog
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Updated Oct 03, 2025:
We made some minor adjustments before our official TBU 0.10 launch.
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Updated Oct 03, 2025:
We've added text to the Imaging, Optics, Noise, Supported Resolutions, HDR Format Support, 3D, Input Lag, and Audio Passthrough boxes as a result of our latest test bench. We've also added Gaming and Game Mode Responsiveness usages in the Verdict section.
- Updated Oct 03, 2025: We've converted the review to Test Bench 0.10, which updates our Design tests, and adds a whole new suite of Inputs tests. We also added new gaming-oriented usage scores in Our Verdict. See the 0.10 changelog.
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Updated Aug 28, 2025:
We mentioned the newly reviewed XGIMI Horizon S Max and added a mention of it in the Portability section.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We bought and tested the XGIMI AURA 2, which succeeds the XGIMI AURA. While they have similar feature sets, the AURA 2 is brighter, has more HDR formats, and has a more modern feature set. The table below shows the primary differences between the two units.
| Model | Luminance (Lumens) | HDR Formats | Light Source | Bluetooth | Smart OS | Auto Keystone/Autofocus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AURA 2 | 2400 | HDR10, Dolby Vision, IMAX Enhanced | LED + Laser | 5.2/BLE | Android TV 11 | Yes |
| AURA | 1800 | HDR10 | Laser | 5.0 | Android TV 10 | No |
Our unit was manufactured in August 2024.
Popular Projector Comparisons
The XGIMI AURA 2 is a great ultra-short-throw (UST) projector and is a noticeable improvement over its predecessor, the XGIMI AURA, as the newer model is significantly brighter and is much more accurate overall. Even though it's expensive, it's still one of the best UST options at its price point, with the obvious alternative being the Hisense PX3-PRO. While the Hisense is a bit better overall due to its much wider color gamut and full set of gaming features, the XGIMI is sold for a lower price and is just as good if you're only planning to watch movies with it.
Check out our recommendations for the best 4k projectors, the best projectors for home theater, and the best short-throw projectors. If you'd prefer to shop for a cheaper product, look up the best projectors under $1,000 instead.
The Hisense PX3-PRO and XGIMI AURA 2 are closely matched, with the Hisense having a slight edge overall. The XGIMI is a bit brighter and far more accurate out of the box, but the Hisense has slightly better contrast and a much wider color gamut. While they both have a ton of features, the Hisense has more features for gamers, alongside an option to game at high refresh rates.
It's very close, but the XGIMI Horizon S Max is a bit better than the XGIMI AURA 2. They're very similar in terms of image quality, but the Max has the edge in colors. Its biggest advantage over the AURA 2, however, is in portability: the AURA 2 is a massive unit, while the Max is smaller and has a fully rotating stand.
The XGIMI AURA 2 and NexiGo Aurora Pro are closely matched. While the XGIMI is a bit better overall, the NexiGo is an attractive alternative for those who prioritize image pop over accuracy; its pre-calibration accuracy is far worse than the XGIMI, but its contrast is noticeably better, and it has a far wider color gamut Still, the XGIMi is brighter, and has a fully functioning smart OS. In contrast, the NexiGo's smart OS is barebones, and the unit requires a smart dongle if you want to access any streaming apps.
The Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 and XGIMI AURA 2 are tightly matched when it comes to brightness and contrast. The main differences lie in accuracy and colors: the XGIMI is much more accurate right out of the box, but the Valerion has the far wider color gamut. Thus, if you prefer accuracy over pop, the XGIMI is the better option right out of the box, although the Valerion is the better choice post-calibration due to its edge in colors. The Valerion is also better for gamers due to its 240Hz and 120Hz capabilities at 1080p. If you'd rather place your projector very close to the screen or wall, then the XGIMI has the edge due to its UST capabilities; the Valerion is a traditional long-throw projector, although it does have an optical zoom.
We've independently bought and tested over 60 projectors, and we've published all the detailed results for each so you can decide which one to buy. These have all been tested under the same standardized methodology, allowing you to compare them side by side. We still have all these projects in our lab so we can continually go back and compare them to ensure our reviews are still accurate. All our test methodology is also public on our website, so you can validate the results yourself.
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Test Results
This projector's brightness is great. It's bright and very uniform, avoiding any obvious hotspots, with limited vignetting. It's also bright enough to make its colors pop. It's a clear improvement over the XGIMI AURA.
The XGIMI AURA 2 has very good native contrast, leading to deep blacks in a dark room. While it performs better in darker scenes, it does falter somewhat in almost entirely dark scenes, especially when compared to the XGIMI AURA. Overall, this projector has deep blacks, which is especially noticeable when viewed in a darker room.
Our XGIMI AURA 2's pre-calibration accuracy is excellent in the 'Custom: Recommended' Picture Mode, with Color Temperature set to 'Warm' and Picture Color Temperature set to 'Standard.' Blues and greens are very slightly overrepresented in most whites, and reds are slightly underrepresented in near blacks and bright whites, leading to an overly cool color temperature, but it's still close to the 6,500K target. As for gamma, the projector is too dark in darker scenes but is too bright in brighter ones. Color accuracy is also great, although all colors have minor color mapping issues.
The unit has a 'Professional Grade Color Accuracy' feature, but it reduces the projector's max brightness by about 50 nits. On our unit, the 'Custom' Recommended' Picture Mode was slightly more accurate while also being brighter.
After calibration, the projector's accuracy is almost identical to its pre-calibration state. Still, the unit's color temperature is now exactly on target, so it's still an improvement overall.
The XGIMI AURA 2 has a very good color gamut. It covers most of the Rec. 709 color space used with SDR content with minimal color deviations. It also does a decent job with the wider Rec. 2020 color space, although here, most colors are off-target, especially greens, cyans, and purples. If you're looking for a wider color gamut, especially in the Rec. 2020 color space, check out the AWOL Vision LTV-3000 Pro instead.
The XGIMI AURA 2 is a dual light source projector, using both an LED lamp and lasers. The projector's light source is rated to last for at least 20,000 hours. It's an ultra-short-throw (UST) projector, capable of projecting a 90" screen at a distance of 5.4" up to a 150" screen at a distance of 15.3". The projector doesn't do true 4k, as it uses pixel shifting to create a higher-resolution image. This offers better quality than 1080p but doesn't look as good as native 4k.
The SPD confirms a hybrid LED + laser engine: narrow laser spikes (blue/red) with a broader green "LED hump." In practice, you get vivid primaries, long light-source life, and stable color without lamp swaps, with less speckle than pure-laser designs.
This is an ultra-short-throw model with fixed optics and autofocus/auto-keystone. There's no lens shift. Here are a few common throw distances:
- 80″ → ~12.6″
- 90″ → ~14.1″
- 100″ → ~15.7″
- 120″ → ~18.8″
- 150″ → ~23.6″
The XGIMI AURA 2 projector isn't meant to be portable, as it doesn't have an integrated battery. It's also big and heavy, although not nearly as much as its predecessor, the XGIMI AURA. Unlike its predecessor, this projector has full auto keystone and autofocus, simplifying the setup process.
The AURA 2 is a big, hefty unit. If you'd prefer something smaller, consider the XGIMI Horizon S Max instead.
Fan noise is well-controlled for a bright UST. In normal viewing it’s easy to mask with a soundbar or AVR.
The projector has three HDMI ports, one of which doubles as the eARC port. It also has Bluetooth 5.2/BLE and Wi-Fi 6 support.
The projector supports a ton of resolutions at 60Hz, but it unfortunately doesn't support 120Hz or more at any resolution, so it's not optimal for fast-paced gaming.
With Game Mode and Ultra Low Latency enabled, the input lag is low enough for a satisfactory gaming experience with most games, outside of fast-paced games. Unfortunately, the projector doesn't support faster refresh rates, so there's no way to lower the input lag further for competitive titles.
The projector passes through a ton of different audio formats, although unfortunately, DTS-HD MA/DTS:X aren't supported over eARC on this unit, which is a bummer as they're often used as the audio tracks on a lot of Ultra HD discs. Thankfully, ARC and optical carry legacy Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1.
