Xgimi Aura

An entertaining short-throw projector with punchy colours and great sound

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Projector ₹3,50,000

If you are on the hunt for convenient and accessible home cinema solutions, ultra-short-throw (UST) projectors such as the Xgimi Aura can seem like an obvious choice. With built-in sound and streaming capabilities, these smart projectors can simplify a home theatre set-up, instantly eliminating extraneous cables, soundbars and streaming dongles.

Thanks to advanced lens technology that allows them to throw huge images from short distances, UST projectors remove the need for complicated installation or rear positioning, extending the possibility of giant cinema screens to those in smaller homes.

But with AV, as with just about everything from food to home working, convenience can be a double-edged sword, and what UST projectors give with one hand, they take away with the other.

Those specialised lenses are pricey and, unfortunately, don’t yet deliver the overall picture quality you would expect from an equivalently priced conventional long-throw model. And then there’s positioning which, while easy in theory (just plonk it on a sideboard near an empty wall and power socket), can actually be fairly involved in practice.

With all that in mind, it’s remarkable that the Xgimi Aura puts in a thoroughly entertaining big-screen performance that is more impressive than the sum of its parts.