If you’re the nomadic type or someone who’s rarely within casting distance of a television, you probably consume media on a portable rectangle with crappy speakers and a tiny screen that’s hard to share. I’m here to tell you there’s a better way.
Xgimi’s new MoGo 2 Pro smart projector not only runs Android TV version 11.0 to stream all your favorite videos over fast Wi-Fi, but it also doubles as a Bluetooth speaker when you turn on the reasonably bright LED light (and fan). off. It has everything you need in a compact little projector – everything except a battery that you have to get separately for true portability.
I’ve been living with a MoGo 2 Pro for the past month, with the little guy in a motorhome across Europe, in a tiny off-grid home on a mud-soaked field, and in a surf shack buffeted by the North Sea breeze. In all cases, it has proven to be a customizable all-in-one source of shareable entertainment that rarely disappoints.
One of the best things about the MoGo 2 Pro is how easy it is to set up, both initially and whenever you want to use it.
The MoGo 2 Pro supports Android Quick Start, which made it dead easy to copy my Google account and Wi-Fi settings from my Android phone. Android TV then made it easy to log into each of my streaming services by offering QR codes that can be quickly verified by my Android phone without me having to enter a bunch of passwords.
I’m glad the initial setup was quick as I had to factory reset the MoGo 2 Pro once after upgrading to firmware version 2.8.147. It takes about 10 minutes to go from factory reset to entering my credentials in six media services. Netflix must be installed via a workaround as only the media giant officially supports a handful of projectors. While it’s relatively easy to do the basic hack, most people won’t feel comfortable installing the app from outside the Google Play Store. There’s also the option to just cast Netflix from your phone, as the projector has Chromecast built-in.
Xgimi’s little projector has otherwise been perfectly stable, if floundering, as the UX often lags when pressing the Bluetooth remote. But it’s not often I find a $500 projector with a fast interface.
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In normal use, the MoGo 2 Pro boots from standby in less than five seconds. But plug the power source back in and it boots from zero to Android TV in about 50 seconds, then takes about another 10 seconds to run through all of the automated screen adjustments (which can be turned off if desired).
The MoGo 2 Pro has a built-in time-of-flight sensor that can find a flat, obstacle-free surface to project the image onto. It then autofocuses the image and corrects the keystone to create a well-aligned rectangle. It’s not perfect, but it usually finds the surface I’m aiming at, just with a smaller image than I want. Fortunately, Xgimi gives you the option to quickly jump into manual adjustment mode to fine-tune the view if you want to – no hunting through menus.
While Xgimi’s second-generation screen customization technology isn’t as good as its marketing promotions suggest, it’s an improvement over the previous version. It was so useful on the MoGo 2 Pro that I checked the setting to automatically adjust the keystone every time the device was moved – and I moved it many times. This way I could avoid the cumbersome manual adjustments and just nudge the projector until it delivered the desired results.
The projected image is about what you’d expect in this price range: a modest 400 ANSI lumens spread across a 1920 x 1080 image that looks better at 30 inches (when all that light is concentrated) than at 200 inches. And while HDR10 is supported, it serves more as a bullet point on a spec sheet than anything you’ll notice while viewing.
If you’re not too picky, you can watch some casual YouTube videos in a room saturated with ambient light, but the MoGo 2 Pro is best viewed in the darkest possible room. Only then can you see the bright, rich and sharp image that Xgimi’s latest portable projector is capable of producing.
This is how it looks in medium to low light:
For use as a Bluetooth speaker, it is recommended that you first press and hold the power button on the remote and select ‘Display off’ to turn off the lamp and fan. It then silently waits for a Bluetooth connection to transform the projection box into a reasonable music speaker with balanced sound from a pair of 8W side-firing speaker drivers.
For its size, the projected image and sound produced are quite good. I was impressed.
The MoGo 2 Pro always starts up in Eco Mode (less bright, less loud), which can be annoying if you’re always near an outlet. When connected to a 10,000 mAh (40 Wh) battery, the MoGo 2 Pro was able to power up the projector and play the first 40 minutes Babylon when set to the “bright” and “film” presets. When connected to a power meter, I could see that the power consumption averages around 40W in Eco mode, which increases to an average of about 48W when Eco mode is off. Xgimi lists the power requirement for the MoGo 2 Pro at 65W.
I do find it odd that a projector designed for all-in-one portability doesn’t have onboard controls beyond a simple power button. More than once I lost the Bluetooth remote, requiring me to grab my Apple or Android device to launch the Google Home app remote. It worked fine, but I sat so close to the MoGo 2 Pro most of the time that the built-in playback and volume controls would have been more convenient.
Photographer Chase Jarvis is credited with saying “the best camera is the one that’s with you,” a sentiment that can be applied to screens, speakers, and media streamers. The MoGo 2 Pro may not be the brightest video projector, best-sounding Bluetooth speaker, or most powerful media streamer, but it’s so small and compact that you can easily throw it in your luggage or backpack to take with you wherever you go.
Yes, the MoGo 2 Pro has replaced the original MoGo Pro’s internal battery with a better speaker. But it can still be powered by a battery pack you may already own. For most people, I think Xgimi made the right decision.
At $599/€599, the Xgimi MoGo 2 Pro undercuts Samsung’s disappointing Freestyle portable projector by nearly $300. The original MoGo Pro was already one of the best portable projectors, and the MoGo 2 Pro improves on that in almost every way by.
Photography by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
