Image credit: XGIMI
XGIMI has announced the AURA 3 Series, a pair of ultra-short-throw laser projectors the company says are the first that can display true 4K at 120Hz, ahead of IFA 2026 in Berlin this week. The projectors are up for pre-order now and will launch on October 20, with Kickstarter pricing set at $2,399 for the AURA 3 Max and $2,199 for the AURA 3 Pro.
There are two models. The AURA 3 Max is the flagship at 5,700 ISO lumens, the industry's brightness rating for projectors. The AURA 3 Pro comes in at 4,100. Everything else on the spec sheet is shared between them: three lasers (one per primary color), 8,000:1 native contrast, 4K at 120Hz, 80 watts of Harman Kardon speakers, and Google TV built in.
What true 4K 120Hz gets you
XGIMI's world-first claim appears to hold up. Hisense's PX3-Pro will accept a 4K 120Hz signal through its two HDMI 2.1 ports, but its high-refresh mode is 1080p at 240Hz, and Hisense doesn't claim it can put 4K on screen at 120Hz. The AURA 3 can draw every frame at 120Hz in full 4K, using two image controllers running in parallel, according to XGIMI. You get that on two of the three HDMI ports, with 1ms of input lag and variable refresh rate for smoother gaming.
In practice, that means you can plug in your Xbox Series X or PS5 and see the full 4K 120Hz output the consoles are capable of, which other ultra-short-throw projectors will only show you at a lower resolution or frame rate. A gaming PC will get you there over HDMI as well. The projectors also support auto low-latency mode, which will switch them into their fastest game settings on their own the moment you start playing, so you won't have to dig through a settings menu first. Combined with the brightness on offer, the AURA 3 should be able to properly replace a TV in a high-quality home theater setup, gaming included.
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What the brightness jump means for your usage
An ultra-short-throw projector sits on the console right under the wall and throws the picture up at it, so you don't need the ceiling mount and the cable running across the room. XGIMI says the AURA 3 will fill a 120-inch screen from about 8 inches away and can stretch to 200 inches. You get a picture bigger than most TVs from a box that's more or less the size of a soundbar.
I have the current generation AURA 2 at home. Brightness is the one thing I'd improve. Its 2,300 ISO lumens are plenty with the blinds down, but in a lit room the brightness falls short. I notice it more because my other XGIMI projectors, the HORIZON 20 Max and the Titan, don't have that problem. The AURA 3 Max claims about two and a half times the AURA 2's brightness, and the Pro nearly double. If the numbers hold up, the daytime problem should mostly go away.
Image credit: XGIMI
Contrast, meaning how dark the black parts of the picture get next to the bright parts, gets an even bigger jump in the specs. The AURA 2 is rated at 1,400:1. XGIMI puts the AURA 3 Series at 8,000:1 and credits its Dual Iris system, which uses two physical shutters in the light path that close down for dark scenes. It's the same system the company put in the Titan Noir series earlier this year. XGIMI says this is the first time it has gone into an ultra-short-throw model.
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How the pricing compares
XGIMI has set Kickstarter-exclusive pricing at $2,399 for the AURA 3 Max and $2,199 for the AURA 3 Pro. That undercuts the AURA 2, XGIMI's own previous model, which launched at $2,699 and sells for $2,239. The pricing looks excellent to me. Most of the tech I cover has been getting pricier, so a flagship that undercuts its predecessor is a nice change. The closest rival, Hisense's PX3-Pro, is $2,499.99 on sale from $3,499.99, with 3,000 lumens and 3,000:1 contrast. XGIMI's own Titan Noir projectors, which share the dual iris but aren't ultra-short-throw, went on Kickstarter starting at $2,499.99 and you can buy the Titan Noir now for $3,999 and the Titan Noir Pro for $4,999. A ship date for the Aura 3 is still to come, and the company hasn't said what the projectors will cost at retail after the campaign.
The AURA 3 Series is launching through a Kickstarter campaign on October 20, and you can put down a $50 deposit at xgimi.com now. On launch day, XGIMI will email you a link to pledge with an extra $200 off, which will bring the Max down to $2,199 and the Pro to $1,999. The company hasn't said whether the deposit is refundable if you decide not to pledge. I would put the deposit down. I've tested about ten XGIMI projectors at this point, and the brand has been pretty good across the board. Fifty dollars is a small amount to pay to claim a $200 discount on a projector that, on paper, fixes my one complaint about the AURA 2 and a bunch of other UST projectors you can get right now. If you would rather wait for the retail launch, that's fine too, but remember that that will likely mean you pay more.
