Xgimi’s Titan Noir Max, a $5,999 long-throw home theater projector now being sold through Kickstarter, has picked up a strong early assessment from WIRED reviewer John Brandon. The short version for home-cinema obsessives with normal ceilings and abnormal tolerance for projector menus: this thing appears to punch above its price, but it is still an unreleased crowdfunded product.
Brandon reported that Xgimi’s new model beat or matched several projectors he has tested in the same price band, including Epson’s Pro Cinema LS9000 and Leica’s Cine Play 1 in many viewing scenarios. He said it struggled more in sunlit rooms, especially during dark night scenes in films such as Awake and Tron: Ares.
Xgimi is pitching the Titan Noir Max as a high-end home theater unit without the five-figure price that often comes with premium projector installs. According to the company’s listed specifications cited by WIRED, the projector supports IMAX Enhanced mode, uses triple-laser RGB projection, reaches 7,000 lumens, and has a 10,000:1 native contrast ratio. It also uses a dual intelligent iris system that changes the image scene by scene.
That iris is the main trick. Instead of leaving brightness and contrast fixed, the projector can mechanically adjust how much light passes through, while software features such as Dynamic Black Level Enhancement reduce brightness to make black levels appear richer. Brandon said the system helped dark scenes in The Creator avoid the gray, washed-out look that weaker projectors produce.
A Kickstarter product with real caveats
The review also came with a warning that should not be buried under the spec sheet. WIRED noted that the Titan Noir Max is available only through Kickstarter for now, is officially unreleased, and may change before delivery. The usual crowdfunding risk applies: backers may receive something different from the tested unit, or nothing at all.
Xgimi has already raised $19 million through the campaign, according to WIRED. That is not the same thing as retail availability, warranty reality, or long-term reliability. It is a very large preorder pile with Kickstarter paperwork stapled to it.
Setup favors living rooms over installers
Brandon described the projector as easier to place than traditional high-end models that often end up ceiling-mounted by professionals. The Titan Noir Max sits on a table and has four adjustable legs, allowing users to tilt and level the image from more positions than the usual two-front-leg setup.
The projector ships in a hard-shell case and has a black body with silver accents. Xgimi sells a $399 stand, though Brandon tested it on a small table. He said basic setup, including keystone correction and focus, took less than five minutes.
The software situation is deliberately sparse. WIRED said the Titan Noir Max runs a basic version of Android for setup, but does not include a full streaming platform. Users are expected to connect their own streamer, AV receiver, game console, or 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player. Brandon used a Google TV streamer, Xbox Series X, and an AV receiver, though he said Dolby Atmos passthrough did not work with his Onkyo TX-RZ50.
Ports include digital optical audio, two USB ports, three HDMI ports including one with eARC, a 3.5 mm audio jack, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi 6, according to the review.
Gaming looked unusually strong
For games, Brandon said the projector felt responsive, including PC tests and Xbox controller input. The Titan Noir Max supports 240 Hz at 1080p, though he had to enable game mode and disable motion processing to get there. He tested titles including 007: First Light, Crimson Desert, NTE, and Forza Horizon 6.
The reviewer’s main reservation was ambient light. In a dark room, he found the projector’s contrast, color, and black levels highly competitive with pricier-feeling home theater hardware. In a bright room, dark material lost impact. Projector physics remains undefeated, even when the marketing department says “absolute black.”
This story draws on original reporting from WIRED.
