My review of the XGIMI H1

[screenlesscrazy]

My friend will be getting one extra H1 1100 lumens model.If any of your friends interested let me know.

 

[elangoas]

Bro base

Hi Elango i am not ready to go with DIY ...and ordered Elite 120"16:9 which fits my living room hopefully....Auto locking model cost 9.5k..I compared with other screen like insight, Elcor and other brandswhich is little costlier than Elite....

OK great.. Share some pics once the screen is hooked up..

 

[screenlesscrazy]

Sure Elango.yesterday nite Played a 480p YouTube video and taken screenshot using oneplus3..no screen .. projector kept ~ 12ft distance and hope the screen size is more than 100"..

 

[elangoas]

Sure Elango.yesterday nite Played a 480p YouTube video and taken screenshot using oneplus3..no screen .. projector kept ~ 12ft distance and hope the screen size is more than 100"..

Ok.. If you have high quality BR Rips (1080p), try playing it from USB port of the projector using Kodi media player..For a 12 feet distance, the diagonal screen must be > = 110"..

 

[screenlesscrazy]

Sure...Will get 1080p 4k and 3d videos and post

 

[screenlesscrazy]

What are the applications you have installed in it?I don't want anything unnecessarily to install.Please guide me..I am planning to use it daily and would like to replace my existing 40"LCD. Based on my friends review they are using daily to check the reliability.More than a year~ 8hrs daily usage..S9 far so good.

 

[elangoas]

Sure...Will get 1080p 4k and 3d videos and post

1080p should do..

What are the applications you have installed in it?I don't want anything unnecessarily to install.Please guide me..

I haven't installed any application other than hill climbing racing , which i tried playing using the wireless keyboard & mouse..

You can install some applications which you want to try & remove it as there is around 7 ~ 8 GB user space...

I am planning to use it daily and would like to replace my existing 40"LCD. Based on my friends review they are using daily to check the reliability.More than a year~ 8hrs daily usage..S9 far so good.

Yes.. you can use it comfortably for 8 hrs daily (replace your LCD).. I do the same here.. For regular 16:9 TV regional serials, and all media consumption for the last 2 ~ 3 months..

The best usage was when i used it for 16 hrs in a day with small breaks..No heat, nothing weird happened..

 

[screenlesscrazy]

Oh great..After watching it mind is not even thinking about a uhd tv.I was supposed to buy vu 65"uhd and finally dropped my plan.i did not want to restrict my screen size.tThen explored ...
How much u invested for a DIY screen?

 

[elangoas]

Oh great..After watching it mind is not even thinking about a uhd tv.I was supposed to buy vu 65"uhd and finally dropped my plan.i did not want to restrict my screen size.tThen explored ...

Xgimi H1 is excellent choice for a large screen experience without worrying abt using a Projector as TV replacement..

How much u invested for a DIY screen?

Think 5K INR max All inclusive for a 100 inch screen (wooden frame, screen material, labour)..

BTW am unable to respond to your chat messages (it is closed), which i think is because you haven't posted the minimum on the forum.. Please check with the moderators..

 

[screenlesscrazy]

K no prob...Got any no to discuss.wru from

 

[elangoas]

K no prob...Got any no to discuss.wru from

Have sent you my contact details via chat.. Am from Tiruvallur (Near Chennai)..

 

[Aurorasunil]

XGIMI H1

It has been a long time since I posted here, and I thought I should post this review of the now not so new but very popular XGIMI H1. Given the high prices of even entry-level offerings from big name projector manufacturers like BenQ, Epson and Optoma in India, the number of people who can actually experience the big screen in India continues to be quite limited.
This is where the XGIMI H1 really caught my eye. It sells for Rs. 64,000 online, add customs and 3D glasses and wall mount to it and the total package ended up to 70k, or pretty much the price of an entry level 4K TV these days. A full-fledged 4K system is still a dream to most, as buying the 4K screen is the easiest part, the cost of acquiring material and so on is still not reasonable.

What is the XGIMI H1

The XGIMI differs from other DLP 1080p projectors is that it uses the new .47" DMD from TI, which is specifically designed for LED lit pico projectors. So there you have it this is a native 1080p projector, which runs a surprisingly stable android-based OS, and has LED backlight which means it never needs a bulb change (Realistically the LEDs will fail over time but it should be no different than the replacement cycle of most TV's these days).

View attachment 23047
Mounted to the rear wall

View attachment 23048
Remote Control


Notable features

• Built in Harmon Kardon speakers with passive radiators on the bottom or I guess it would be the top if you ceiling mount it.
• DLNA, Airplay and screen mirroring
• A build in app store called APTOiDE rather than google play (apparently this is due to some licensing issue)
• Youtube, Netflix, amazon prime and a few other streaming services can be found in the store along with a plethora of android apps
• A Bluetooth remote with multi-axis gyros
• 4K input compatibility (this is still a 1080p projector however)
• Optical zoom (1.1x)
• Motorized focus
• DLP link 3D
• Dynamic backlight adjustment
• The projector can be controlled through an app on your phone as long as they're on the same Wi-Fi network

Setting it up

The remote being Bluetooth you cannot just point and expect it to work, you need to pair it first which is a bit annoying. This is a bit annoying as the screen is out of focus during setup however; there are audio instructions from the projector on what to do. Since the focus is motorized, it can be done from the remote, which is very convenient. The colours out of the box are terrible as is expected from most displays, they are over saturated and contrasty killing all shadow details. As I said this was not surprising at all, what was surprising is the controls to calibrate the colours. This is my first LED projector so I was completely confused, to add to the confusion there are two sets of menus with different labels, what is shown as brightness in one menu is Luminance in the other. There is no Gamma control. And most annoying off all some setting will show up differently in two different menus, for example I set up a custiom colour temperature profile, while it shows "user" in one menu the other displays "cold". Further the projector has separate RGB LEDs so you can adjust the intensity of the each colour separately under menu called LED luminance.. So yes there is a bit of a learning curve to get the colours just right. It doesnt have a dynamic iris to change brightness between scenes (I am not a big fan of these), however it has dynamic backlight colour. This is like the ambient light senor on a smart phone it reduces the brightness of the LED when the room get dark, this feature I really like as matching the brightness of the LED with the ambient light ensures the black floor is kept as low as possible.

Performance

All evaluation was done on a screen painted with black widow ultra screen paint. With the screen size under 80 inch this projector screen combination is bright enough to fight ambient light with ease. However I prefer running it a big larger 98 inches to be precise and at this size it does need some help, particularly if u have large windows like my house has. So despite its 900 ANSI lumen rating it is as bright as a 2000 lumen conventional projector. The science behind this eludes me.
To start I started playing a few videos on the built in youtube app. I immediately notices micro shudder, the image isnt as smooth as you expect it to be. However this was not noticeable by any of my friends but it's definitely there. This wasnt a good sign at all. So I immediately switched over to a HDMI source setting the screen to 16:9 input and played a simple overscan test image, ahhh the horror it was overscanning the image as the extreme edges were cut off. After diving through the various options I chose point to point as the ratio (this is pixel to pixel mapping). Now with a 1080p or 1080i image source there was no overscan, however if you feed it anything other than a 1080p or 1080i source you can not use this point to point to point mode and will have to use the 16:9 scaler which overscans. This is a big flaw in the onboard scaler, I havent seen any digital projector in recent times which is this bad at scaling. So unless you have external scaler like any HDMI compatible AVR this is no good, perhaps this can be fixed with a firmware update.

View attachment 23052
HDMI overscan

View attachment 23053
View attachment 23054
Dual picture setting menus


Next I played youtube videos through my Play Station to see if it still studders, happily this micro studder problem doesnt exist through HDMI. Playing through a few blue rays and watching satellite TV it was obvious that TI has done an amazing job on miniaturizing their 1080p DMD the image quality is as good as the bigger DMD's used in conventional projectors.
Sadly I do not own any 3D blueray movies so I couldnt test the 3D, I did try you tube SBS 3D videos they looked good. The only annoyance is that 3D doesnt automatically turn on when a SBS video is played it must be turned on manually. And if you leave the back LED backlight in dynamic it doesnt not automatically increase the screen brightness to compensate for the light lost by wearing 3D glasses.

Going back to the projectors smart features screen mirroring worked well from my iPhone, the touch pad interface on the phone app makes browsing and inputting test a breeze, the Bluetooth remote it comes with becomes a motion activated remote you have to shake it vigorously to get it in and out of this mode.

View attachment 23049
Picture with the lights on

Conclusion

If you have been waiting for the big screen experience in your living room and things such as lamp replacement and ambient light have been stopping you, this projector has a lot of promise. It is sad that it does need further refinements in its firmware, but all is not lost if you have to time to tweak it then it does project some great images.

Hi. Very nice review. I am interested in buying xgimi h1 projector in Delhi. Could you kindly suggest or let me know about your buying experience and from where to buy. The quote I got from IndiaMart is if 82k and you mentioned it approx 60k. And how is your long term usage with the projector till date. Thanks and looking forward to your further guidance. Sunil

 

[danielnaveen2003]

Hi. Very nice review. I am interested in buying xgimi h1 projector in Delhi. Could you kindly suggest or let me know about your buying experience and from where to buy. The quote I got from IndiaMart is if 82k and you mentioned it approx 60k. And how is your long term usage with the projector till date. Thanks and looking forward to your further guidance. Sunil

I bought the projector for 60k from eBay India. The prices got jacked up after that maybe due to increased demand, not completely sure. I've been using it for a year now it runs 6 to 8 hours everyday and is still as good as new. But then I use it in a air-conditioned room with HEPA air filters and a online ups.

 

[tomonpublic]

Does anyone have experience buying projectors from aliexpress? There are H1 projectors for sale. But unsure whether its advisable to buy or not.

 

[elangoas]

Does anyone have experience buying projectors from aliexpress? There are H1 projectors for sale. But unsure whether its advisable to buy or not.

If you want it to be safe bet, then buying locally would be best option.. There are some sellers from ebay.in.. But a FM @ItsMe recently placed the order and the seller didn't have stock to ship it..

So check the seller ratings, speak to seller get clarity and then use your discretion to buy it locally..

 

[ItsMe]

If you want it to be safe bet, then buying locally would be best option.. There are some sellers from ebay.in.. But a FM @ItsMe recently placed the order and the seller didn't have stock to ship it..

So check the seller ratings, speak to seller get clarity and then use your discretion to buy it locally..

+1 to it...
If not local you can safely purchase online as well, but ensure you pay through the online portal ebay/amazon etc, and never do a direct payment even if the deal for direct payment is too sweet to resist. Ebay/amazon/flipkart etc safeguard your money in case the seller backs out, but if you do direct payment you are at the seller's mercy

 

[nandyslm]

I like to buy Xgimi H1 projector.
My room size is 16x17ft,
1. Where i want to place the projector if i need 120 inch wide screen.
2. What screen colors is suitable for H1 proj.

 

[elangoas]

I like to buy Xgimi H1 projector.
My room size is 16x17ft,
1. Where i want to place the projector if i need 120 inch wide screen.

If you want only 120 inch screen, then you will need to place the projector approx 12 feet away from the screen.. Either on table (or) you can hang them from ceiling..

However, you can get 150 ~ 160 inch diagonal screen, if you were to mount the projector on either 16 ft (or) 17 feet wall..

2. What screen colors is suitable for H1 proj.

One member uses his wall as a screen painted with DIY grey paint.. Most inexpensive way of a big screen experience..

I use it with a 100 inch DIY matte white screen, made of fabric (spandex, Lycra).. Didn't cost more than 5K INR..Happy with it..

 

[nandyslm]

If you want only 120 inch screen, then you will need to place the projector approx 12 feet away from the screen.. Either on table (or) you can hang them from ceiling..

However, you can get 150 ~ 160 inch diagonal screen, if you were to mount the projector on either 16 ft (or) 17 feet wall..



One member uses his wall as a screen painted with DIY grey paint.. Most inexpensive way of a big screen experience..

I use it with a 100 inch DIY matte white screen, made of fabric (spandex, Lycra).. Didn't cost more than 5K INR..Happy with it..

Thanks for your feedback....

 

[ItsMe]

Finally got xgimi H1 in hand. Just checked and confirmed that its working and not impacted due to the transit. Will find some time over the weekend to set it up, and start hunting for a screen
@elangoas - thank you for the recommendation