The Xgimi MoGo 4 ($499) is similar to the MoGo 4 Laser—our Editors' Choice pick for a high-end mini projector. Shared features include the same resolution, the same 2.9-pound weight, and integrated Google TV for streaming. Differences include an LED light source for the MoGo 4 instead of a laser, a lower rated brightness (but similar brightness in real-world use), and a $300 lower list price. The differences make it a less impressive projector, but it's a perfectly reasonable choice for the price.

Design: Battery Included

The MoGo 4 gets its 1080p resolution from a 960-by-540-pixel DLP chip that's equipped with TI's XPR fast-switch pixel shifting to boost the resolution displayed on the screen to 1,920 by 1,080 pixels. It's paired with a red, green, and blue LED light source, which delivers a smaller color gamut (range of colors) than the lasers in the MoGo 4 Laser offer. As a practical matter, that means it can't match its laser-based near-twin for color quality, which is a big part of overall image quality. For casual viewing, however, even most people with a trained eye will consider the MoGo 4's color reproduction to be more than acceptable.

Xgimi describes the projector as being the size of a coffee thermos. I'd call the shape more of a match to a shorter-than-typical insulated water bottle, at 8.2 inches high and 3.8 inches in diameter. The projector itself is connected to a small base by a vertical arm along the side, which adds about half an inch to the diameter over a span of about an inch. When the projector's not in use, the base covers and protects the lens. For viewing, you pull the projector section up from the base—it can move by about half an inch—then pivot it on the connecting arm. It can rotate a full 360 degrees to point anywhere from straight up to straight down.

(Credit: M. David Stone)

The one HDMI port and the USB-A port are also protected in the storage position, hiding behind the arm. A USB-C port—for power only—sits 180 degrees around the circumference, just above the power button. Nothing covers it, so you can charge the battery easily even with the projector in storage position.

Xgimi rates the built-in battery at 2.5 hours in its Eco mode, which the projector automatically switches to when using battery power. There's no battery life rating for higher brightness levels, but you can switch to them manually if you like. If you plan to take advantage of that capability, note that the $129 PowerBase stand adds a second battery that doubles the battery life. The stand weighs 1.8 pounds, and breaks into two pieces—the longest is 17 inches—that are easy to take apart and put back together.

(Credit: M. David Stone)

For streaming, the MoGo 4 offers fully integrated Google TV along with Wi-Fi for connecting to your internet-connected network. It also supports mirroring via DLNA or Google Cast, but only from sources connected to the same network.

The onboard audio system supports Dolby Audio, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Digital Plus, and it offers a pair of 6-watt Harman Kardon speakers. In our tests, it delivered good sound quality for this size projector at high enough volume to fill a family room. If you need higher volume or better quality, you can connect an external sound system by Bluetooth or to the one HDMI port, which supports ARC. You can also use the projector as a Bluetooth speaker for other audio sources.

(Credit: M. David Stone)

One unusual touch is that, in addition to a full-size remote, the projector comes with a mini remote that's tied to the side. It only has a few critical buttons on it, but you have the choice of leaving it on the projector as a semi-attached control panel or removing it to use as a second remote.

Two other extras are the Ambient Light mode and the Creative Filter. Ambient Light Mode offers mood lighting with your choice of color when you're not using the projector as a projector. The optical creative filter attaches over the lens magnetically and adds visual effects to the image for decorative purposes—basically, the projector equivalent of a lava lamp. Note that the MoGo 4 comes with only one filter, as opposed to the four that the laser version comes with, but if you find this feature appealing, you can buy the other three filters as a $99 option.

Image Quality: Tweaking Recommended

Straight out of the box, the MoGo 4's image quality is a little marginal, but I was able to improve it significantly with some tweaking. One issue is that the autofocus consistently leaves the image softer than the lens is capable of delivering, so it is well worth taking the time to add manual adjustment after each autofocus attempt. Even after doing that, focus was still a little soft, but not by enough to matter for casual viewing.

A second issue is that all four predefined picture modes for SDR, as well as the four for HDR, lose significant shadow detail with the default settings because the Brightness setting (which sets the black level) is too low. For SDR input, adjusting it properly for each mode largely solves the problem without hurting black level or washing out brighter scenes. Bright areas, including clouds in bright scenes, are also blown out with the default settings. The standard fix would be to adjust the contrast setting to make the different high-brightness levels more visibly distinct. When I tried that, however, the overall image brightness dropped significantly, leaving me with the choice between blown-out highlights and a dark overall image. For my tastes, the blown highlights were the preferred compromise.

(Credit: M. David Stone)

All the modes offer essentially the same settings, but they can be adjusted to achieve similar color accuracy. I picked User mode as my starting point for SDR input. In addition to adjusting the Brightness setting, I also set the Gamma to Bright, which improved shadow detail even more without any other noticeable effect, and I raised the color saturation setting just a tad to improve color quality. The final result was a highly watchable picture, with good color, good contrast except for clouds and other bright areas, a dark-enough black to give dark scenes an appropriately dramatic effect, and good enough shadow detail to make out almost everything I know to look for in our darkest test clips.

For HDR input, the User and Standard HDR modes immediately stood out for the best image quality among the four. There was little difference between the two, so I chose User, which was the default, for my viewing tests. As with SDR, the HDR User mode default settings lost significant shadow detail and needed brightness adjusted. I didn't see a need for any other changes. Image quality for HDR was similar to SDR in general description, but not quite as good in subtle ways. I could see what was happening in dark scenes well enough, for example, but shadow detail was a little harder to make out. (Note that Xgimi's online specs at this writing mistakenly say that the HDMI port doesn’t support HDR10. Xgimi says it plans to fix the error.)

(Credit: M. David Stone)

For those concerned about rainbow artifacts (the red/green/blue flashes that single-chip DLP projectors tend to show), the good news is that the MoGo 4 shows few of them. I saw a total of one in my SDR viewing tests, and only a few with HDR input. That said, keep in mind that how easily you see these flashes varies from one person to the next. If you consider them a problem, be sure to buy from a dealer that offers easy returns so you can test them out for yourself.

There's also good news for gamers, but bad news for 3D aficionados. The MoGo 4's input lag is short enough for all but the most serious gaming. I measured it with my Bodnar 4K Lag Tester at 22.2 milliseconds for 1080p/60Hz input. The bad news? There's no 3D support, which can be a deal killer for some.

(Credit: M. David Stone)

The rated 450 ISO lumens for the MoGo 4 is based on using the Performance setting for power and brightness, which raises fan noise to a potentially annoying level and gives the image a noticeable green tint. For my viewing tests, using the picture mode settings I described above, and the Standard power setting—the default for AC power—the image brightness for both SDR and HDR was close to what I expect from about 400 lumens. In a dark room, the image was easily bright enough to fill my 90-inch, 1.0-gain screen. In my family room on an overcast day, it delivered a watchable but washed-out image at roughly 55 inches.