Xgimi Titan Noir Pro Review

In the projector market, Xgimi has been making a sanction for itself with compelling manner projectors that connection competitory projection alongside stylish designs that amended blend successful with location decor than the disfigured integrative boxes coming from galore different brands. With the earlier Titan, Xgimi tested the prosumer waters. Now, the Titan Noir household finds a mediate ground, offering thing for enthusiasts who privation superb projection (and much surface size than a modular 4K TV) successful a surviving room-friendly package. The Titan Noir household includes the Titan Noir ($3,999), Noir Pro ($4,999) and Noir Max ($5,999) with the cardinal differences betwixt each exemplary being their brightness and opposition ratio. Xgimi sent implicit the mediate sibling for testing, and whether for watching movies oregon gaming connected the large screen, it downrights rocks.

Xgimi Titan Noir Pro – Design and Features

The Xgimi Titan Noir Pro is simply a looker. Xgimi has shown a knack for reasonably elegant-looking manner projectors that measurement distant from the dated designs that look much astatine location successful an office. The Titan Noir Pro follows that trend, combining creaseless metallic and stylish grilles. It looks little astatine location connected a java array than immoderate of Xgimi’s different models, but it’s inactive somewhat tame for a high-end location theatre projector.

It’s besides shockingly tiny and airy for a projector delivering arsenic overmuch arsenic it does. I’ve tested models similar the Epson LS12000 and Sony Bravia Projector 7, and those things were big units that took up a immense swathe of my mantle and took immoderate attraction to heft up there. By contrast, the Titan Noir Pro is lone 9.1 inches tall, 11.3 inches deep, and 14.9 inches wide, and immoderate of that size comes from the metallic legs it stands on. It’s besides conscionable 16.75 pounds, and that frankly feels astir excessively airy for a projector aiming to supply truthful overmuch brightness.

Aside from the legs that the Titan Noir Pro stands on, it’s a tame design. It’s truly conscionable a container with assorted vents for aerial intake and exhaust, a mates of speakers straight successful the front. The lens sits disconnected to 1 broadside astatine the beforehand flanked by a fewer other sensors for handling things similar autofocus, car keystone, and an eye-protection instrumentality that dims the output erstwhile idiosyncratic is successful beforehand of the laser projection. That past diagnostic is useful, and this exemplary has a peculiar mentation that tries to lone dim the airy astir wherever it detects a person’s head, though it doesn’t bash a large occupation compensating erstwhile lens displacement has been utilized connected the projection.

One large vantage for the Titan Noir Pro is its optical system. The optics of the projector connection zoom and lens displacement to a sizeable grade (throw ratios scope from 0.98:1 to 2.0:1, and the projection tin displacement 50% horizontally oregon 130% vertically successful either direction). This makes it imaginable to acceptable the projector successful 1 spot and shrink and determination the projection to wherever it fits rather easy without sacrificing a azygous pixel. By contrast, galore projectors advertise convenient automatic surface alignment but bash truthful digitally, cropping the projection to acceptable and lowering the solution you spot arsenic a result.

On the backmost of the Titan Noir Pro are astir of the ports you’ll need. There are 3 HDMI ports. One of them offers eARC for audio, though there’s besides a 3.5mm and an optical audio output port. There are 2 USB-A ports for section media oregon powering streaming sticks. The projector includes a LAN larboard and Wi-Fi connectivity, though you mightiness not get overmuch usage retired of either due to the fact that the projector lacks Google TV oregon the like.

Xgimi does see a ample styrofoam carrying lawsuit that’s adjuvant for protecting the projector connected the spell and keeping its distant and powerfulness ceramic each together. That powerfulness ceramic is unluckily precise ample and heavy. It would person been convenient to person the powerfulness proviso integrated into the projector, but I’ve begun to fishy immoderate brands support them outer connected premium products similar this truthful they’re easier to regenerate successful the lawsuit of failure.

The distant included is besides helpful. It provides elemental controls for casual navigation of the settings and offers backlighting connected a fewer of the superior buttons. The distant besides includes 4 customizable shortcut buttons that fto you rapidly entree circumstantial settings you’ll usage often. The measurement buttons are casual capable to consciousness retired successful the acheronian of a location theater, but some the measurement and shortcut controls don’t get immoderate backlighting.

Xgimi Titan Noir Pro – Software

Many of Xgimi’s projectors travel with a built-in streaming OS similar Android TV oregon Google TV, but not the Titan Noir Pro. It somewhat feels similar it has Google TV built-in, due to the fact that a batch of the menus are similar, but that’s each the operating strategy handles: settings menus. This means you’ll request to link video sources (or a USB drive) to get thing retired of the projector, but it besides makes for a precise responsive strategy that allows for speedy changes to settings and faster bootup.

It mightiness person been bully to spot a fuller operating strategy baked in, but successful a clip erstwhile LG monitors are delivering adware and operating systems are plugging ample banner ads connected startup, I’m starting to deliberation that possibly the amended default is really to not include one. Xgimi could person astatine slightest supply a landing screen, possibly with previews of each HDMI input source, which tin beryllium adjuvant erstwhile you – similar maine – ne'er retrieve which instrumentality is connected to which HDMI port.

One mounting I privation the projector supported is the enactment to skip HDMI 1 arsenic an input source. That larboard handles eARC audio output, truthful there’s a bully accidental it volition beryllium utilized for audio output exclusively successful galore setups, but the projector inactive lets you prime it was an input root adjacent erstwhile it’s handling eARC (sure, immoderate eARC audio devices tin besides walk done video, but I don’t deliberation astir are utilized successful that way), Since HDMI 1 is the archetypal input root the projector boots, too, it won’t beryllium utile astatine each for folks who conscionable person that connected to their dependable system.

Xgimi Titan Noir Pro – Gaming and Performance

The Xgimi Titan Noir Pro is simply brilliant. I’ve been utilizing and investigating projectors for a agelong time, and the Titan Noir Pro whitethorn beryllium the astir well-rounded and susceptible exemplary I’ve enactment my hands on.

To start, its adjustable optics marque a perfectly crisp representation casual to get without having to fuss overmuch with wherever the projector is positioned. Whether debased connected a java table, mid-way up the country connected a desk, oregon perched precocious connected a mantle, I could easy get the projector images squared distant connected my partition oregon projection surface utilizing the zoom and lens displacement controls. From there, autofocus tin sharpen the representation rapidly and effectively.

Not needing keystone adjustments is huge, arsenic these not lone chopped into the usable representation but besides present latency, and for gaming, that’s conscionable unacceptable.

That said, the out-of-the-box defaults aren’t precisely the best. I’m ever amazed to spot high-end projectors similar this travel moving dense question interpolation by default, and the Titan Noir Pro is nary exception. It introduces unsightly artifacts and awkward question successful a batch of cases. If you’re gaming, the projector volition apt automatically power to crippled mode that disables this, but with a streaming instrumentality connected, it doesn't.

The projection itself is simply stunning, though. The Titan Noir Pro is fantastically bright. I played done respective 007 First Light challenges, including immoderate that took spot astatine night, adjacent portion airy came successful from extracurricular my surviving room. I was contented watching movies and TV without adjacent turning disconnected each the lights, too.

Of course, the Titan Noir Pro looks adjacent amended successful a acheronian space. It’s usually excessively agleam to really usage successful a acheronian country (think lights retired and blackout curtains successful place). But it features a dual-iris strategy that tin clamp down to trim the wide airy output portion ramping up contrast. The effect is simply a representation that inactive tin dazzle with highlights portion showing disconnected a heavy achromatic floor. On a batch of projectors I’ve tested, I tin spot achromatic letterboxes nary substance what’s on-screen, but with the Titan Noir Pro, I could astir ne'er spot the letterboxes.

All the brightness and opposition comes by mode of an RGB laser airy root that simply dazzles erstwhile it comes to colour output. While a projector whitethorn ne'er lucifer an OLED show successful presumption of contrast, RGB laser airy sources connection simply staggering colour gamut. The colorful scenery, costumes, and bending effects successful the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender amusement are stunning to spot connected the Titan Noir Pro. With enactment for HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, the Titan Noir Pro has you covered for high-end formats. It’s excessively atrocious it’s a small aboriginal for Dolby Vision 2 support.

Those ocular chops travel on for gaming, too. I played done hours of 007 First Light connected the Titan Noir Pro, and it kept up brilliantly. The communicative beats were each rendered with cinematic flair, the projector making it look each that overmuch much similar a movie. Latency was negligible portion moving astatine 4K/60Hz, but the projector tin besides driblet down to 1080p/240Hz and alteration VRR (AMD FreeSync Premium). In that setting, I smashed done the fast-paced enactment setpieces of the crippled with imperceptible input lag, making it casual to dash for screen and drawback to force targets. I usually crippled connected accelerated OLED monitors with keyboard and mouse, and gaming connected the Titan Noir Pro didn’t consciousness similar it held maine backmost 1 bit. The Xgimi Horizon 20 Max has immoderate akin capabilities astatine a little terms and volition apt enactment good if you’re mostly aft brightness, but the Titan Noir Pro’s achromatic levels are connected different level.

Alongside the large ocular performance, the Titan Noir Pro is amazingly quiet. Though it has a bully woody of powerfulness to contend with, I ne'er heard its cooling strategy adjacent from a fewer feet away.

Impressive though the visuals whitethorn be, audio from the projector is thing to get excited about. The speakers tin enactment retired a spot of volume, but they don’t make a consciousness of space, don’t person heavy sub-bass, and are excessively focused successful the mids, creating a harsh dependable astatine precocious volume. They tin bash successful a pinch, but you’ll perfectly privation to brace the projector with speakers to get the astir retired of it.

Xgimi Titan Noir Pro – Testing

Analyzing a projector is simply a small much hard than a display, since you can’t simply acceptable up a colorimeter connected the lens, and anyplace other the colorimeter volition either artifact the airy it’s meant to measurement oregon seizure ambient lighting arsenic well. That doesn’t marque it intolerable to evaluate, but little precise. Still, with my colorimeter acceptable up a ft successful beforehand of a 1.1-gain achromatic projector screen, it measured the Titan Noir Pro astatine 93% sum of the DCI-P3 colour abstraction and 85% of the BT.2020 colour space. Having seen my just stock of ultra-colorful displays, I’d accidental those measurements are connected the debased broadside of what I’m really seeing from the Titan Noir Pro.

Brightness is simply a small much nonstop to measure. I displayed a afloat achromatic surface and averaged the brightness crossed 9 points to find the Titan Noir Pro putting retired 4,375 lumens. That was with the Standard representation mounting and iris afloat open, which thankfully doesn’t pb to a representation that’s overly bluish oregon greenish arsenic immoderate projectors successful their highest brightness modes do.

Contrast is much hard to measurement but not impossible. Switching to a trial signifier for measuring opposition with 2 agleam achromatic squares successful other corners and achromatic everyplace else, I measured an mean 4,870 lux for the achromatic areas and conscionable 5 lux for the achromatic space, coming retired to a 974:1 opposition ratio. That’s already unthinkable for a projector, but the Titan Noir Pro inactive has immoderate moves to bust out.

With its iris unopen down arsenic acold arsenic possible, its brightness goes down considerably, but its opposition jumps. The aforesaid trial produced an mean 1,238 lux successful the corners and 0.77 lux successful the halfway for a 1,608:1 opposition ratio. Here is wherever we get to the situation for epic projectors similar this: you request to optimize the viewing country arsenic well. A batch of airy volition bounce disconnected your partition oregon screen, bespeak passim the room, and onshore close backmost connected the screen, elevating the achromatic levels. By blocking retired astir of the projection with a achromatic velvet cloth that absorbed astir of the airy but had a halfway spread to let immoderate of the projected airy through, I was capable to measurement the achromatic halfway constituent astatine an adjacent little 0.19 lux with each settings different the aforesaid arsenic above. This would enactment the opposition astatine an exceptional 6,518:1 successful a thoroughly light-controlled room.

Mark Knapp is simply a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything electronics and gaming hardware. He has implicit 10 years of acquisition successful the tech manufacture with bylines astatine PCMag, Reviewed, CNET, and more. Find Mark connected Twitter @Techn0Mark oregon BlueSky astatine @Techn0Mark.