Hands-on review: XGIMI MoGo 2 Pro Smart Projector

The XGIMI MoGo 2 Pro is a home projector which packs a considerable punch despite its compact design.

The projector is super easy to set up, comes loaded with Android TV, and even allows you to watch your favourite shows on the go by connecting it to your power bank via USB-C.

First impressions and setup
The first thing you notice when removing the MoGo 2 Pro from its box is just how small it is. The projector measures 161mm x 119mm x 108mm, so can be comfortably lifted with just one hand. It's also relatively light – weighing in at around 1.1kg.

XGIMI has done a great job ensuring that the MoGo 2 Pro looks the part, despite a small footprint. The four sides of the projector are nicely rounded, and the device has a neutral grey finish with some 'Mocha Gold' accents. 

Thankfully, there isn't much in the way of physical inputs – just one each of the standard USB-C (used for power), USB-A, and HDMI 2.0 ports. There's also the welcomed inclusion of a 3.5mm AUX output should you want to plug an external speaker or headphones into the device.

The top of the MoGo 2 Pro houses the all-important power button, but all other user inputs must be done via the slimline remote control (which sadly doesn't follow the projector's enviable colour scheme). It's also worth noting that there is an attachment point underneath the device should you want to attach the projector to a tripod.

When it comes to setting up the MoGo 2 Pro, it is straightforward. Once you've put it onto a flat surface aiming towards your desired 'screen', the device uses XGIMI's Intelligent Screen Adaption (ISA) 2.0 technology to automatically detect where it thinks you want your screen to appear and adjusts itself accordingly. If you have an obstacle in the way, for instance, a cabinet or wall insert, the projector can work around this and shrink the screen size so it's tailored to your space. After this process is complete, you can then use manual keystone adjusting to finetune your viewing experience. 

Features
Android TV 11.0 is intuitive enough to use, and thanks to the Google Play Store integration, you have more than 5,000 apps at your disposal, including YouTube, Prime Video and Disney+. The inclusion of Google Assistant, activated via the remote, is a welcomed feature which gives you an alternative to navigating through the menus manually. The system runs off 2GB of RAM, with a storage capacity of 16GB.

There is an elephant in the room that needs addressing, however – the lack of a standalone Netflix app. XGIMI pre-emptively acknowledges this by including a 'Netflix Installation Guidelines' pamphlet in the box, which demonstrates a workaround via the downloadable 'Desktop Launcher' app.

The overall user experience of the MoGo 2 Pro is fine, although some of the settings menus could be adjusted to make them slightly easier to navigate. 

There's a built-in Google Chromecast, too, although it sometimes didn't run quite as smoothly as an external Chromecast for some reason, although this tended to be an issue more when watching live sport than anything else.

The MoGo 2 Pro supports HDR10 and a 1080P resolution. It uses Wifi 5 Dual-band 2.4/5GHz and Bluetooth 5.0

There are also various viewing modes, including one for gaming that lowers input lag. However, this mode cannot be used efficiently if you choose to reduce your screen size via keystone correction and image displacement. 

An LED bulb is the projector's light source and has a 'theoretical' lifespan of 25,000 hours.

Performance
After a couple of months of using the projector in various environments, the MoGo 2 Pro performed very well almost all the time.

For the best viewing experience, it's favourable to use to projector in low-light conditions – sometimes the colours and contrast were quite hard to see if there's quite a lot of natural light coming into the room. The HDR10 support certainly helps with this. You're also able to flick between different output modes: Performance, Vivid, Cinema and Bright to assist even further. The colours can also be manually calibrated.

In a dark room, the picture is impressive. Across a multitude of different movies and TV shows with various lighting and visuals, the MoGo 2 Pro handled everything thrown at it.
The internal dual 8W speakers with Dolby Audio really pop and create cinema-like acoustics, particularly if the MoGo 2 Pro is set up behind you. The bass is impressive, and you can flick through different sound settings depending on what you're watching or listening to. If for some reason the internal speakers don't quite cut it for you, you've always got the option of connecting to an external speaker or soundbar for some extra 'oomph'. 

Even when the speakers turned down, the fans within the MoGo Pro 2 remain pretty quiet over most of the output modes, and it doesn't get ridiculously hot, either, like some other projectors on the market.

Verdict
XGIMI's MoGo Pro 2 is a great choice if you're on the lookout for a good-looking, compact, and portable 1080P projector. 

The ease in which you can set up the projector is great, but it's important that you navigate the settings menus after the initial setup to ensure you're getting the optimum picture for the room you're watching in. 

Once you're optimised the projector to your surroundings it performs impressively, in terms of both picture and sound quality. 
If you're looking to replace your TV or buy a projector to enhance your living room entertainment, you should put the XGIMI MoGo Pro 2 on your shortlist.