One minute review
The Xgimi Elfin brings the renowned Xgimi experience in a smaller package. It's no slouch in terms of features or image quality from some of its siblings, but it does skip being
a true portable projector by ditching the internal battery and instead focusing on its small size. It's a strange position.
an incredibly portable Xgimi projector, but also one of the few that you can not use while traveling.
This model weighs just under 2 pounds and is less than 2 inches thick. Despite this size, it delivers bright images with bold colors. It even has surprisingly powerful speakers. And these speakers have more room to shine given the projector's quiet operation. We would have expected a larger fan in that space to keep the projector cool, but we almost never hear the fan blow while watching, and that's with the projector just a few feet from our heads. Image quality is good, although some issues do occur in the darker parts of the image. Noticeable dithering in large dark, monochrome areas is annoying and makes the projector a poor choice for gaming and cartoons. But the high light levels help with visibility if you're not always in a dark room and want to view brighter content.
The projector comes equipped with Android TV 10.0, but it has a distinct lack of built-in support for the Netflix app. Between the built-in streaming software, speakers, and projector, it's a powerful all-in-one package.
Prices and availability
The Xgimi Elfin is available for €649 from Xgimi and Amazon, and €649 from Xgimi in the UK. At this price, the Elfin can offer a compelling alternative to mid-range 4K TVs, offering a much wider picture while also being much easier to move from room to room or even travel with. In terms of competition, the Anker Nebula Solar Portable is a close competitor that brings a battery for added functionality, but the Elfin is brighter and therefore less expensive.
more suitable for home theater use. That said, while portability isn't the key, the Optoma HD39HDR and BenQ TH585 offer brighter pictures, more powerful speakers, and enhanced gaming experiences for the same price as Elfin, though they're not quite as compact.
The Xgimi Halo is also an audio upgrade and packs a hefty battery for just €150 more.
(Image credit: Mark Knapp)
Integrated
The Xgimi Elfin sums up the other Xgimi projectors in a more compact package that doesn't make huge sacrifices to get there.
Although
the Xgimi Elfin weighs only 1,98 pounds and is only 1,97 inches thick, is capable of reaching 800 ANSI lumens. The design is reminiscent of Apple's Mac Mini, but in white plastic instead of silver metal. The chassis has a bare top and sides, leaving the front, rear, and bottom to accommodate important parts. You'll find the projector lens behind a hard glass shield on the front along with sensors to handle keystone distortion and automatic image framing.
The Xgimi Elfin has the ability to frame the image within the confines of a projection screen or automatically shrink it to avoid obstacles such as paintings or other wall art. You can quickly handle horizontal and vertical keystone adjustments as well as focus, which can save you a lot of trouble during setup.
The rear of the Xgimi Elfin features an HDMI 2.0 port, a USB 2.0 port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a power button. There is also a vent for exhaust. There is even more ventilation on the ground floor. Noticeably absent from the design are any sort of control buttons beyond power. There's no HDMI source switching, volume control, or focus control without the remote.
(Image credit: Mark Knapp)
Features
Speaking of which,
the included remote controls the entire interface with the Android TV 10.0 operating system installed, and the remote does a good job, though the system can be a bit slow to respond to Google Assistant commands. The interface is quite intuitive,
but Xgimi still doesn't support Netflix.
Another annoyance is that running Xgimi requires a logged-in Android account before you can do anything with the projector, even if you plan to use it 100% with an external HDMI device.
The Xgimi Elfin has built-in 3W stereo speakers, allowing you to manage your video and audio together. The speakers deliver surprisingly powerful sound for their size. They can be loud enough for a modest living room, say 200 square feet, fine. However, don't consider letting your friends talk over the loudspeakers because they could be successful.
Unlike other Xgimi projectors, this one doesn't run on battery, so you'll always have to keep it plugged in to enjoy content.
(Image credit: Mark Knapp)
Image quality
The Xgimi Elfin breaks no record for image quality, but it's a pretty good show for a projector of its size. Even keeping noise levels almost imperceptible, the Xgimi Elfin is capable of projecting an image of up to 800 ANSI Lumens. Even with the overhead lights on, the image can become bright enough to be clearly visible, so it can be useful for brighter content such as children's cartoons or sports. However,
the Elfin is still just a 1080p projector, so it's a bit short for extreme projection sizes. Jagged edges of text and simple geometric shapes are quite noticeable at large sizes, and sometimes these jagged edges can appear even on straight vertical or horizontal images due to contortions from keystone correction. However,
in action, the images are quite sharp. The Elfin also provides an image with vibrant colors. Maybe it's because it's a bit oversaturated, especially when yellows are predominant in a scene, but the image never looked garish. But,
the Elfin suffers in the same way as the Xgimi Halo when it comes to darker content. It does not provide much detail in the dark, making it difficult to see. And, for static areas in the dark, there's the same smearing issue we've seen before, where we see a color rapidly changing between tones to simulate a color, but not changing fast enough to go unnoticed. Again, it shows more in darker shades of a color that fill a large area. This is bad news for anime fans, but it won't always show its head in live-action content where fine textures and details eschew flat colors that run into dithering. Fortunately, it's even easier to forget if you keep the image smaller. We clearly notice this when the screen is stretched out to 80 inches, but it will hide better if your lens is a more 50 or 60-inch projection like a TV.
While the Elfin boasts of HDR10 + images, the low shadow detail makes the promise of any kind of HDR sleeper.
Should you buy the Xgimi Elfin mini projector?
(Image credit: Mark Knapp)
Buy it if...
You want a big screen from a small projector
The clutter the Xgimi Elfin will take up in your bedroom or living room is so minimal that you can easily set it and forget about it. Fortunately, it's still bright and sharp enough to provide a still nice big picture.
You like the simplicity
The Elfin simplifies installation. It fits the projection with your wall, frames it in a blank area and automatically focuses. You don't even need to connect the speakers.
you have a small room
Between brightness levels, speaker volume and compact size,
Elfin is ideal for users with limited space who want to enjoy a big screen no need to leave room for a larger TV or projector.
Don't buy it if...
You are a fan of games or anime.
Xgimi Elfin's poor performance with shadow detail can make it very difficult to pick up detail in the dark, two things you need to do a bit of in gaming and anime. (well that the brighter caricatures are not a problem).
You want a projector that you can install anywhere
The Elfin is incredibly portable thanks to its size and built-in speakers, but it lacks the battery power that made the Xgimi Halo a great option for video on the go.
You have room for a larger projector
Xgimi Eflin's small size is its biggest advantage. But, if you have storage space or a ceiling mount that easily fits a slightly larger projector, BenQ and Optoma can dramatically increase image quality and volume.