The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max is a long-throw 4k XPR DLP projector built around an RGB triple-laser light engine. It supports Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HDR10, and adds XGIMI's latest ISA setup suite, including uninterrupted auto-keystone/autofocus, obstacle avoidance, screen alignment, wall-color adaptation, and eye-protection. It runs Android TV 11 with Google Cast and uses dual 12W Harman/Kardon speakers (24W total). The powered lens offers a 1.2–1.5:1 throw with motorized zoom, horizontal/vertical lens shift, and automatic keystone for easy placement across typical living-room distances. Connectivity is modern, featuring Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, two HDMI inputs with eARC on one port, plus USB 3.0/2.0, optical audio, and a 3.5 mm jack.
Our Verdict
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max is a fantastic pick for movie nights. It's very bright and uniform, so SDR looks punchy on a big screen in a dark room and still holds up with a bit of ambient light. Contrast is excellent, and more importantly, it remains competitive across dark, mid-tone, and bright scenes, allowing both shadow detail and highlights to come through cleanly. Out of the box, color is already accurate enough for casual viewing, and its wide gamut coverage means saturated titles look rich; if you calibrate, it can look reference-grade. Support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG helps with modern streaming movies, and eARC makes it easy to route high-quality audio to a soundbar or AVR.
Incredibly bright projector.
Excellent contrast for solid dark room performance.
Wide color gamut.
Supports both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision.
Accurate enough in SDR right out of the box.
Easy to place with its image correction features and swiveling stand.
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max is a fun, versatile gaming projector with one big caveat: latency. At 4k @ 60Hz, it can feel a bit sluggish, so it's better for slower single-player games than fast, twitchy titles at 4k60. If you bump the refresh rate, it gets much snappier. It also supports VRR across a very wide range, which can help smooth out stutter and reduce tearing when frame rates fluctuate. That said, VRR on a projector can be a bit finicky. Resolution support is otherwise strong, with clean 4k @ 60Hz and high-FPS 1080p, but there's no true 4k @ 120Hz support. Brightness, contrast, and a wide color gamut give games punchy visuals.
Incredibly bright projector.
Excellent contrast for solid dark room performance.
Wide color gamut.
Supports both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision.
Accurate enough in SDR right out of the box.
Supports a ton of different resolutions, with high-refresh-rate support.
Supports VRR.
Input lag is decidedly slower at 60Hz.
VRR feature causes artifacting in some content, or when the FPS fluctuates a lot.
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max is incredibly bright. It outputs enough light for a solid viewing experience on a very large screen, even with a few lights on, and it stays fairly vibrant instead of immediately washing out in brighter rooms, which is very impressive for a projector. One caveat is that, because it's a very bright DLP, rainbow artifacts can be more noticeable for viewers sensitive to RBE, so using a lower power setting can help if that bothers you.
Incredibly bright projector.
Fantastic brightness uniformity.
Very high color light output, for punchy images.
High brightness can make RBE more noticeable for sensitive viewers.
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max is a strong pick for dark-room movie watching and for content that alternates between dark and bright moments, as it maintains contrast depth without the image looking flat once the scene brightens. It's a bit weaker in near dark scenes, but it's still decent there. Overall, it's very punchy in almost all content.
Excellent depth in most real scenes.
Maintains its contrast extremely well as scenes get brighter.
A bit weaker in near-dark scenes, but still decent there.
Changelog
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Updated Jan 20, 2026:
We mentioned the newly reviewed XGIMI HORIZON 20 Pro in the Brightness section of this review.
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Updated Jan 14, 2026:
We retested the projector's FOFO contrast with Dynamic Contrast and found that its contrast is much higher on a 100% black screen versus screens with even just one pixel. We updated the Native Contrast text box with our findings.
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Updated Jan 14, 2026:
We updated the Native Contrast results after a recent adjustment to our testing. We also added some information in the Variable Refresh Rate section, and touched up Our Verdict.
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Updated Jan 14, 2026:
We mention the newly reviewed Valerion VisionMaster Max in the Native Contrast section of this review.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max sits at the top of XGIMI's long-throw Horizon line. Unlike the XGIMI HORIZON S Max's Dual Light 2.0 (laser+LED), the 20 Max uses an RGB triple-laser (laser-only) light engine with 4k XPR. It adds an HDMI 2.1 input (with eARC) and high-frame-rate support up to 1080p @ 240Hz. It supports Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, and IMAX Enhanced, runs Android TV 11 with ISA 5.0 (uninterrupted auto-keystone/autofocus, screen alignment, obstacle avoidance, wall-color adaptation), and includes dual 12W Harman/Kardon speakers. Versus older LED-only Horizons, you get broader HDR support, faster setup, and newer I/O (HDMI 2.1, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2).
The XGIMI Horizon lineup comprises older LED-based models and newer Dual Light (laser+LED) flagships, as well as the Horizon 20 Max, which utilizes an RGB triple-laser (laser-only) engine. Key differences are the light source, peak brightness, supported HDR formats, ISA features, and I/O (e.g., eARC). The table below highlights the main specs and features.
| Model | Light Source | Resolution | HDR Formats | Setup / OS | Ports (highlights) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horizon 20 Max | RGB triple-laser (laser-only) | 4k (XPR) | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, IMAX Enhanced | ISA 5.0; Android TV 11 | HDMI 2.1 (eARC)×1 + HDMI×1, USB×2, Wi-Fi 6, BT 5.2 |
| Horizon S Max | Dual Light 2.0 (RGB laser+LED) | 4k (XPR) | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG, IMAX Enhanced | ISA 5.0; Android TV 11 | HDMI (eARC)×1, USB×2, Wi-Fi 5 |
| Horizon S Pro | Dual Light 2.0 | 4k (XPR) | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG | ISA 5.0; Android TV 11 | HDMI (eARC)×1, USB×2, Wi-Fi 5 |
| Horizon Ultra | Dual Light (laser+LED) | 4k (XPR) | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG | ISA 3.0; Android TV 11 | HDMI×2 (1×eARC), USB×2, LAN, optical out, Wi-Fi 6 |
| Horizon Pro | LED | 4k (XPR) | HDR10, HLG | ISA (earlier gen); Android TV 10 | HDMI×2, USB×2, LAN, optical out, Wi-Fi 5 |
| Horizon | LED | 1080p | HDR10, HLG | ISA (earlier gen); Android TV 10 | HDMI×2, USB×2, LAN, optical out, Wi-Fi 5 |
Popular Projector Comparisons
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max is a top-tier "do-it-all" projector: it's extremely bright, has excellent native contrast, and supports high refresh rates, so it works equally well for movies, sports, and gaming in rooms both bright and dark. If you're chasing the very best dark-room black levels above all else, you might want to consider UST options like the NexiGo Aurora Pro or Formovie THEATER. However, overall, the XGIMI is one of the best all-around projectors on the market if you want it all.
Check out our recommendations for the best 4k projectors and the best projectors for home theater. If you'd prefer to shop for a projector that you can use outdoors, check the best outdoor projectors instead.
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max is better than the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2. The Valerion is a solid performer, but the XGIMI has it beat in almost every facet: brightness, contrast, and out-of-the-box color accuracy. The XGIMI also has lower input lag, making it a better pick for gamers. The one advantage of the Valerion is that it's less noisy under load.
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max is a bit better and cheaper than the Valerion VisionMaster Max, although the Valerion is a bit better for gaming. The XGIMI is incredibly bright, giving it a very striking image. Still, the Valerion has tricks up its sleeve: a solid dynamic contrast option and an RBE reduction feature that truly works, at the cost of more audible noise from the unit. For gaming, they're both solid, but the Valerion has much lower input lag at 60Hz, which makes it better for console gamers who like to game at 4k/60. For 120Hz and 240Hz gaming, the XGIMI has a very small edge, but they're very close.
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max is a bit better than the Hisense C2 Ultra. The XGIMI is brighter, has better contrast, and runs a bit quieter. Both are excellent for gaming, but their strengths are slightly different: the Hisense is clearly faster at 60Hz, which is great if you mostly play 60fps console games, while the XGIMI is just a touch quicker at 120Hz and 240Hz, though that small difference is hard to notice in practice.
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max is a step up from the XGIMI HORIZON S Max. The 20 Max is brighter, has deeper contrast, and offers 120Hz and 240Hz support at 1080p. The S Max, for its part, is limited to 60Hz, with no high-refresh-rate support. Still, its input lag at 60Hz is much lower than the 20 Max's input lag at 60Hz, giving the former the edge for single-player titles played at 4k @ 60Hz.
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.
Throw Calculator
Global Controls
Test Results
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max is extremely bright after calibration, with extremely strong white and color light output, so it holds up well on bigger screens and even in rooms with some ambient light. Brightness uniformity is also fantastic, so the image looks consistent across the screen. The projector is decidedly brighter than the cheaper XGIMI HORIZON 20 Pro.
As you can see in the table, most picture modes sit in a very similar brightness range, but the 'High Power' mode is the exception: it can push much higher white light output, while color brightness doesn't increase nearly as much, so it's not as balanced and accurate even if it is brighter.
| Picture Mode | WLO | CLO |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 2678 lm | 2693 lm |
| Vivid | 2693 lm | 2695 lm |
| Game | 2724 lm | 2810 lm |
| Sports | 2677 lm | 2686 lm |
| High Power | 4610 lm | 2704 lm |
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max has excellent native contrast overall, so movies and games have convincing depth in a dark room, with letterbox bars and darker scenes looking satisfyingly dark for a projector. More importantly, it stays comparatively strong in the brighter, mixed-content scenes that make up a lot of real viewing. Still, if you care about achieving the best contrast possible from your projector, consider the Valerion VisionMaster Max as an alternative.
One thing to keep in mind is that its dynamic contrast performance depends heavily on what's actually on-screen. Its Full-On/Full-Off contrast is much higher when displaying a completely black 100% slide (22,411:1 with Dynamic Contrast), but as soon as there's even a single pixel on screen, it doesn't maintain that same level of contrast, and it dips to what is shown in our results.
This projector covers all of Rec. 709, so SDR looks fully saturated without pushing colors out of bounds. It also reaches very wide coverage of Rec. 2020 for a projector, which means HDR titles can show richer reds and greens than most competing DLPs.
Out of the box, the projector is quite accurate in SDR in its 'Movie' Picture Mode, but it's far from perfect. Grayscale is a touch cool, as it has too much blue in most whites, and not enough reds, and is noticeable on whites and skin tones as they veer slightly blue. Outside of that, colors are very accurate, as they track closely to the Rec. 709 standard without obvious oversaturation, and gamma is close to the 2.2 target, but most scenes are a bit too bright.
After calibration with the projector's 11-point white balance and color calibration settings, the XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max is extremely accurate. Grayscale lands right on the D65 white point, with a neutral balance, neither too cool nor too warm. Colors are mostly exactly as they should be outside of pure whites, which still lean a bit blue. Gamma is also now right on the 2.2 target.
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max uses a single-chip 0.47-inch DMD with XPR pixel-shifting, so it isn't native 4k, but it still looks noticeably sharper than a standard 1080p projector. It's driven by an RGB (tri-laser) light engine with an expected ~20,000-hour lifespan. XGIMI doesn't list a user-replaceable laser module for this model, and the manual advises against disassembling or attempting to repair it yourself.
This single-chip DLP design uses color-sequential primaries, so some viewers may see rainbow artifacts (RBE), especially on high-contrast edges and subtitles. Because the 20 Max is very bright, the effect can be more noticeable than average. There's no true fix beyond lowering brightness/contrast.
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max boasts numerous features to simplify setup and operation. You get a motorized 1.25× zoom with autofocus, plus a wide lens-shift range of up to ±120% vertical and ±45% horizontal, allowing you to center the image without tilting the chassis. Auto keystone is also available. For exact screen sizes and distances, use our Throw Calculator.
Although the XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max isn't a travel projector, it's easy to place. The rotating base and swivel body let you aim the image up or down quickly, and setup is mostly hands-off thanks to autofocus, auto-keystone with obstacle avoidance, and smart screen alignment. The motorized zoom also helps you fine-tune framing without nudging the chassis. That said, it's a chunky home-theater unit (about 11 lbs) with no built-in battery, so it's best for moving room to room rather than true portable use.
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max projector is reasonably quiet in its regular picture modes, with a steady, low-pitched fan whoosh. Flip on Luminance Boost or High Power, though, and the fan ramps up a lot; you'll hear it clearly even from the couch during quiet scenes. If you're sensitive to noise, stick to the standard lamp settings, without Luminance Boost or High Power.
This projector features a straightforward I/O layout, consisting of two HDMI inputs (one HDMI 2.1 and one 2.0), with eARC support on the 2.1 port for sending audio to a soundbar/AVR. There are also USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports for local media, a 3.5 mm jack, and an optical output for compatibility with older audio gear. Wireless is modern, with dual-band Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, but there's no Ethernet jack.
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max accepts 4k signals up to 60Hz, and it will take 4k120 and 1440p signals but scales them internally. For true high-refresh gaming, run it at 1080p, as 120Hz works properly, and it also supports ultra-high refresh rates up to 240Hz. To unlock the higher refresh modes, enable Projector Super Frame in Picture → Advanced Settings, with the HDMI EDID Version set to 'EDID 2.1.'
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max supports VRR, with a very wide range that can go as low as under 20Hz, up to 240Hz at 1080p and 120Hz at 4k. That said, it comes with quirks: with VRR enabled, you may notice more color-separation artifacts in some content or when your frame rate is bouncing around. If that becomes distracting, the simplest fix is to cap your frame rate for steadier pacing, or disable VRR to return to the more typical presentation.
The projector's latency feels quite snappy at 120Hz, and even more so at 240Hz. Unfortunately, it feels noticeably slower at 60Hz, although it's still good enough for most slower single-player titles. Still, for the best experience, stick to 4k/1080p @ 120Hz, or 1080p @ 240Hz for PC gamers. Just remember that the unit downscales 4k @ 120Hz to 1080p @ 120Hz.
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max offers a ton of audio passthrough options. With eARC, it passes Dolby Atmos (both DD+ from apps and TrueHD from discs), DTS:X, DTS-HD MA, Dolby Digital Plus, and up to 7.1 LPCM. Over regular ARC (and optical), you're limited to Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1, so there's no lossless formats or multichannel LPCM. Overall, you won't have any issues passing through your audio format of choice when watching content.
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max supports 3D, including Side-by-Side, Top-and-Bottom, and Frame Packing formats.
- Power supply
- Power cable
- Remote control
- 2x AAA batteries
- User documentation
- Carrying case
The XGIMI HORIZON 20 Max runs an Android TV smart platform with Google Play app support and built-in Chromecast. There's a built-in 2 × 12W Harman Kardon speaker system (24W total), so you can watch without an AVR or soundbar, and ARC/eARC on HDMI makes it easy to hand audio off to a better setup later.