A short throw projector solves one problem: the room is not deep enough. A typical home projector with a 1.5:1 lens needs about eleven feet of clear air to fill a 100-inch screen. The six machines below do it from somewhere between three and a half and six feet. That puts the projector on a coffee table, a low shelf or a ceiling mount above the sofa instead of behind it, and in a golf bay it keeps the lens out of the swing.
This is a different category from ultra short throw, where the projector sits a few inches from the wall on a TV stand. Short throw machines are built like ordinary projectors with wide-angle lenses, which is why they cost less than UST models of similar brightness. If the distinction is new to you, our explainer on short throw versus long throw covers the basics.
Every price below is the Amazon price we checked in September 2026. The throw distances are our own calculation from each maker’s published throw ratio, for a 100-inch 16:9 image.
| Model | Price | Resolution | Brightness | Throw ratio | 100-inch image from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BenQ TK710STi | $2,149.99 | 4K UHD | 3,200 ANSI lm (laser) | 0.69-0.83 | 5.0-6.0 ft |
| Optoma UHZ35ST | $1,499 | 4K UHD | 3,500 lm (laser) | 0.496 | 3.6 ft |
| BenQ X500i | $1,499 | 4K UHD | 2,200 ANSI lm (4LED) | 0.69-0.83 | 5.0-6.0 ft |
| BenQ X300G | $1,799 | 4K UHD | 2,000 lm (3LED) | 0.69-0.83 | 5.0-6.0 ft |
| Optoma GT2100HDR | $1,499 | 1080p | 4,200 lm (laser) | 0.496 | 3.6 ft |
| Optoma GT2000HDR | $999 | 1080p | 3,500 lm (laser) | 0.496 | 3.6 ft |
The TK710STi is the one to buy if the room gets used for films and games in equal measure and you only want to buy once. It has a laser light source rated at 3,200 ANSI lumens and 20,000 hours, 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) output, and BenQ’s claimed 95 percent coverage of Rec.709. Input lag is 16 milliseconds at 4K/60Hz and 4 milliseconds at 1080p/240Hz, fast enough for competitive shooters on a PC or a current console.
Two small hardware details put it ahead of the others here. The 1.2x zoom gives you roughly a foot of latitude in where the projector can sit, and a vertical lens shift of up to 10 percent lets you move the image up or down without the keystone correction softening it. Lens shift is rare on short throw projectors, and none of the other five here has it. On a ceiling mount it is the difference between placing the bracket where a joist runs and placing it where the geometry insists. Streaming comes from BenQ’s QS02 Android TV dongle, which ships in the box, and HDMI eARC passes Dolby Atmos to a soundbar. Owners on Amazon rate it 4.4 out of 5 from 40 ratings, which is a small sample for a machine at this price.
The UHZ35ST has a 0.496:1 lens, so it fills 100 inches from about three feet seven inches, and Optoma rates it at 3,500 lumens. At $1,499 in September it offers more light for less money than the BenQ above. Its input lag figures are nearly as good, at 4.4 milliseconds at 1080p/240Hz and 16 milliseconds at 4K/60Hz. The optical engine is sealed to IP6X and the laser is rated for 30,000 hours, and that pairing is why it keeps appearing in golf simulator builds, where dust and constant use wear projectors out.
The savings come from what it leaves out. The lens is fixed, with no zoom, so image size is set entirely by distance, and the only correction available is ±15 degrees of keystone. There is no streaming platform on board either, so budget for a stick. Amazon shows 3.7 stars from only 13 ratings, too few to support any conclusion.
At $1,499 the X500i costs exactly what the UHZ35ST does and makes a different trade. It is rated at 2,200 ANSI lumens from a 4LED light source, well short of the Optoma. In return BenQ claims 84 percent of the DCI-P3 colour space, and it includes a 1.2x zoom and automatic keystone correction to ±30 degrees. Its lag figures match the rest of BenQ’s gaming line, at 4.16 milliseconds at 1080p/240Hz and 16 milliseconds at 4K/60Hz.
It is also the easier machine to live with. The Android TV dongle ships in the box, the listing confirms AirPlay and Chromecast casting from phones, and eARC supports Atmos passthrough. In a room you can darken, where 2,200 lumens is plenty, it is the better everyday projector. In a room with windows, the Optoma’s extra light does more for the picture. It holds 4.2 stars from 51 Amazon ratings.
The X300G is a short throw projector built as a portable cube. It is rated at 2,000 lumens from a 3LED engine and uses the same 0.69-0.83 throw range as BenQ’s larger models. Unlike those models, it has autofocus, real-time automatic 3D keystone and a motorised zoom, so moving it between rooms or out to a patio does not mean setting it up again from scratch. Android TV is included, the two 8-watt speakers are usable without a soundbar, and a USB-C port accepts DisplayPort video from a laptop or handheld console with 18W of power delivery back. Lag is 4.16 milliseconds at 1080p/240Hz, 8 milliseconds at 1440p/120Hz and 16 milliseconds at 4K/60Hz.
The price gives it away. At $1,799 in September it costs $300 more than the X500i and is 200 lumens dimmer. You are paying for portability and automatic setup, not for picture quality. It is also the lowest-rated machine here, at 3.8 stars from 12 ratings. For people who want a projector that moves around the house, our portable projector guide covers cheaper options that are not short throw.
The GT2100HDR is rated at 4,200 lumens, the highest figure here, from a laser with a 30,000-hour life. It has the same 0.496:1 throw ratio as the UHZ35ST, which puts a 120-inch image four feet four inches from the lens, and the same IP6X dust rating. Native resolution is 1080p. It accepts 4K HDR signals but shows them at 1080p, and its best input lag is 8.6 milliseconds at 1080p/120Hz.
The problem showed up during our price check. In September Amazon had it at $1,499, the same as the 4K UHZ35ST, which gives up only 700 lumens. For almost anyone, that makes the UHZ35ST the better buy. The GT2100HDR still makes sense in one situation: a bright room or a golf bay where those extra 700 lumens really are the constraint, and where a hitting screen ten feet away hides the difference between 1080p and 4K. It has the second-largest review base on this list, 4.0 stars from 97 ratings.
At $999 the GT2000HDR is the cheapest machine here and the most straightforward. It is the GT2100HDR with 3,500 lumens instead of 4,200: the same 0.496:1 lens, the same 1080p panel with 4K HDR input, and the same 30,000-hour laser and 15-watt speaker. Input lag is 8.6 milliseconds at 1080p/120Hz and 17 milliseconds with a 4K signal. It also has the most owner feedback on the list, 4.1 stars from 126 Amazon ratings.
For a first projector in a small room, particularly one that will mostly show sport and games at 1080p, it gets you the short throw geometry and a laser that needs no maintenance for about half the price of the BenQ at the top of the list. For more on which modes and refresh rates matter for play, see our gaming projector picks for 2026.
We looked for a short throw model under $500 and found nothing we could recommend. None of the major-brand short throw models we could price-check this month came in below the GT2000HDR’s $999. BenQ’s older lamp-based TK700STi is still listed at about $1,700. At that price, $450 more buys the laser TK710STi, and the Amazon listing we checked mixed laser specifications into the description of a lamp projector. That is reason enough to confirm exactly what you are ordering before you buy one. ViewSonic’s X10-4KE came off the list for the same reason: the listing under its name now describes a different ViewSonic model.
One practical note applies to all six. A short lens makes the projector’s position unforgiving, so measure before you buy. Take the distance from the lens to the screen and divide by the image width you want. If the result falls inside a model’s throw ratio range, it will fit without keystone correction. If you have never had to think about throw ratios, start with what a short throw projector actually is.