The 12 Best Short Throw Projectors

Short throw projectors can output large images from short distances, with some products capable of producing a 100-inch diagonal display from just around 3-4 feet. They are much more suitable in a small or tight space, whether it’s a classroom, a conference room, or a bedroom. Since short throw projectors are mounted much closer to the screen than standard projectors, chances of someone walking across the projector light and casting a shadow on the screen are significantly reduced. Furthermore, you don’t need to worry about getting blinded by the light at every turn during a critical presentation.

When shopping for the best short throw projectors, there are two things to keep in mind. First, they are more expensive than standard projectors, so don’t be surprised to see the best ones selling for well over $600-700. And second, shopping for short throw projectors can be confusing due to the number of options – especially considering there are also ultra short throw projectors, which, as their name suggests, are capable of producing large images at even shorter distances.

We’re here to make things much easier for you. In this guide, we have compiled the top short throw projectors currently out. No need to spend weeks going through dozens of products on the market and narrowing down your list. We already got you covered with this list. Keep in mind that the products here are arranged according to price, in ascending order, so don’t think of it as a ranked list.

Asus S1Asus S1

If portability is the most important element for you, look no further than the Asus S1. It’s a compact short throw projector that you can easily hold in your hand. It has a 3-hour runtime when running on batteries alone and also serves as a power bank, which makes it an excellent travel companion. You can use it for home entertainment – but not for office presentations, as the low native resolution (854×480) is not good for texts. If you want a short throw projector for entertainment use, this unit is one of the most affordable on the market.

A well-built projector with a quiet cooling fan, the S1 is easy to use, with not much setup required every time you fire it up. It has decent-sounding speakers, with the option to connect external speakers via the audio out port. It produces a 41-inch display from just around 3 feet and can run up to 30,000 hours before it needs a light source replacement. While it has good brightness for its size, the S1 is best used in a dim or dark room for the best experience.

Purchase / $348

ViewSonic PS501WViewSonic PS501W

One of the more notable names when it comes to monitors, ViewSonic offers a good selection of projectors for both business and educational use. For those in the market for a short throw projector, the company offers a solution in the form of the PS501W. It’s a great projector for both educational and business use, capable of producing a 120-inch display from just around 4 feet. It has a native resolution of 1280×800, which makes it more suitable for text-heavy office presentations than the Asus S1.

Moreover, this short throw projector has better brightness and contrast and offers more connection options than Asus’ offering. It has a simple design, with all buttons neatly arranged on top. It’s easy to set up out of the box and is easy to mount on the ceiling or a tripod. If you want a good short throw projector for a home theater setup but don’t want to spend too much, the PS501W – which sells for about $530 – is a solid option.

Purchase / $677

Optoma GT750STOptoma GT750ST

The Optoma GT750ST is a compact projector designed for those who travel a lot. It’s an all-around projector that works well not only for business and educational use but also for gaming. It has limited input options, so don’t expect to find a lot of legacy ports. It has a card reader and a USB port, along with an audio out for your headphones or speakers.

Capable of producing a 50-inch display from less than 3 feet, the GT750ST boasts a good contrast ratio and a good picture quality overall. While not on the same level as monitors and TVs, this short throw projector has a low input lag, which makes it a good option for gamers who prefer a more portable setup. It’s good for RPGs, racing games, and platformers, but for fast-paced competitive games like Overwatch, it’s not recommended. If you want a good all-around short throw gaming projector that you can easily move around, this Optoma product is for you.

Purchase / $525

BenQ MW632STBenQ MW632ST

Known for its gaming monitors, BenQ is one of the first brands you should check out when shopping for the best short throw projectors. We have a number of BenQ projectors on this list, each of which is a solid option. First up is the MW632ST, a DLP projector with a native resolution of 1280×800, good connectivity options, and an integrated audio system. It can produce an 87-inch display from about 4.5 feet.

The MW632ST has a well-designed case with responsive function buttons on top. It has an impressive selection of connection options, including two HDMI ports, analog ports, a mini USB, and a standard audio out for external speakers. As mentioned, it has a built-in sound system, which can get very loud and is surprisingly good. In terms of picture quality, the MW632ST is good for the price, featuring a good contrast ratio. It’s great for both office and home use and can get bright enough for usage in a moderately lit room.

Purchase / $628

BenQ i500BenQ i500

If you want a compact projector built for home entertainment, consider the BenQ i500. It’s a portable projector that packs a good number of features – including wireless connectivity, decent-sounding Bluetooth speakers, and the ability to directly read media and documents from a USB. While not as compact as the Asus S1, the i500 is a bit more portable than a standard projector. It has a stylish frame, with the speakers firing from the rear, where the well-secured connection ports are also found.

A short throw projector with a WXGA resolution, the i500 is good for watching movies, streaming Netflix shows, and casual gaming. It can produce a 75-inch display from 3.3 feet out, with the display size going up as you move it farther from the screen. It has good picture quality but can’t get bright enough to effectively fight off ambient light, which makes it unsuitable for usage in a room with lots of light sources. Like other projectors with a low brightness, this BenQ short throw projector is best used while in a dimly lit or dark room.

Purchase / $700

ViewSonic PX706HDViewSonic PX706HD

The ViewSonic PX706HD is an excellent projector for home entertainment, featuring a Full HD resolution (1920×1080) and a very low input lag. You can get it for around $600, a more than reasonable price point considering what the product brings to the table. In design, this projector is not that different from the PS501W, featuring a clean body with an all-white finish and multiple connection options. Connection ports include HDMI, VGA, USB-C, and mini USB, among others, all of which are neatly lined up at the rear.

Like the BenQ i500, the PX706HD has built-in speakers. While not comparable to external speakers, the built-in speakers are decent enough but don’t expect them to fill a large room. The PX706HD offers excellent picture quality, with good color reproduction, decent contrast, and enough brightness for usage in a room with moderate lighting. With around 16 milliseconds of input lag, this short throw projector is a great unit for gaming, even for fast-paced first-person shooters and fighting games. It can produce a 100-inch display from just under 5 feet, which is good for those who live in a cramped apartment.

Purchase / $780

BenQ TH671STBenQ TH671ST

Our third BenQ projector in this guide is the BenQ TH671ST, which is actually similar to the ViewSonic PX706HD in several aspects. It has a native 1920×1080 resolution, a remarkable input lag, decent speakers, and multiple input options. It goes for around $645 on a non-sale day, which makes it a bit more expensive than ViewSonic’s offering. Although BenQ specifically advertises it for home use, it also works well for business use.

A DLP short throw projector, the TH671ST is a fantastic option if you want a projector for media consumption and gaming. It has good color accuracy, a decent contrast ratio, and a brightness of 3,000 lumens, with the ability to produce a 100-inch display from just around 5 feet. It has a 16.67 milliseconds input lag, which is an excellent rating for serious gaming. You can use it to play slow-paced RPGs and adventure games as well as fast-paced first-person shooters. It’s easy to set up out of the box and even comes with a sensor that adjusts the image brightness based on the room’s lighting.

Here are some of the most reliable outdoor projectors on the market. Check them out.

Purchase / $849

Optoma W303STOptoma W303ST

The W303ST is another good offering from Optoma, a Taiwan-based outfit specializing in audiovisual solutions. It’s a short throw projector with a 1280×800 native resolution, a 16:10 aspect ratio, and a nice selection of connection options. You can connect it to a laptop, a desktop PC, and a gaming console, among other electronics. It has an HDMI port and legacy ports, along with audio in and out ports, all of which are at the rear.

Compared to the BenQ TH671ST and the ViewSonic PX706HD, this Optoma projector is more suitable for office use, with its resolution making text-heavy presentations look sharper. It has a good contrast ratio and can get bright enough to counter moderate ambient light. It’s got good color accuracy, too, which makes it a solid option for media consumption. An easy-to-use projector, the W303ST has weak speakers, so it’s best paired with external speakers, especially for business meetings. If you want a 1080p Optoma short throw projector, consider the other more expensive Optoma products on this list instead.

Purchase / $685

Optoma W303STOptoma GT1080Darbee

Often considered one of the top two or three short throw projectors currently out, the Optoma GT1080Darbee is a highly recommended projector for home entertainment. It boasts a 1920×1080 native resolution, a very low input lag, and an excellent native contrast ratio. After initially selling for well over $1,000, the GT1080Darbee is now more affordable, going for around $700 a pop. While clearly marketed for home entertainment, it’s also a good short throw projector for business and educational use. It’s easy to set up, has much better speakers than the W303ST, and comes with a quiet cooling fan.

Capable of producing a 100-inch display from just 3.5 feet, the GT1080Darbee boasts good color accuracy and enough brightness to work well in a room with moderate ambient light. If you love to watch sci-fi and action movies, you’re going to love this projector. And as mentioned, it has a very low input lag – but only when set in gaming mode. Whether you prefer fast-paced games such as Battlefield 1, Overwatch, and Rocket League or mainly play games such as Persona 5 and Final Fantasy XV, the GT1080Darbee will prove to be an excellent gaming projector.

You may also be interested in some of the top-rated portable mini projectors from our list. Check them out.

Purchase / $816

BenQ HT2150STBenQ HT2150ST

The BenQ HT2150ST is easily the best among the BenQ projectors on this list, offering an all-around package that includes excellent color accuracy, great-sounding speakers, and a very low input lag. Like the Optoma projector above, it’s designed for home entertainment and works really well when used for gaming. You can get it for around $800, which makes it one of the more expensive short throw projectors on the market, but you definitely get what you pay for.

A DLP projector with a Full HD (1920×1080) resolution, the HT2150ST can produce a 100-inch display from around 5 feet. It has a fast response time and excellent coverage for the Rec. 709 color space. It has an input lag of 16.67 milliseconds, which makes it suitable for games in which quick reactions are crucial, such as fighting games and first-person shooters. While not as good as the GT1080Darbee concerning brightness, the HT2150ST is still good when used in a room with moderate ambient light. If you want the best viewing experience, we recommend running it in a dimly lit or dark room, especially when watching movies such as Blade Runner 2049, Thor: Ragnarok, and Mad Max: Fury Road.

Our guide to the best-selling star projectors offers more cool devices like this. Be sure to check them out.

Purchase / $720

Optoma EH200STOptoma EH200ST

The Optoma EH200ST is a good 1080p short throw projector for all-around use, featuring good picture quality, mobile connectivity, and a good throw ratio. It produces a 100-inch display from 3.5 feet, which makes it an excellent projector for usage in a tight space, whether it’s for business, educational, or home entertainment. It works well even in a relatively bright room and looks great when used in a dark room, especially when watching movies.

A well-built projector with a native 16:9 aspect ratio, the EH200ST is housed in a clean case with a simple all-white finish. It has easy-to-use function buttons on top, with the input ports located on the side instead of at the rear. Unlike some of the projectors on this list, it has limited connectivity, with the main input option being HDMI. On the upside, you can use it to directly display media from compatible smartphones and tablets. It has decent speakers, too, but if you want to use it strictly for home entertainment, we recommend pairing it with more powerful speakers instead.

Purchase / $750

Epson PowerLite 535WEpson PowerLite 535W

When it comes to projectors, Epson is one of the best in the business, offering a good selection of products, from standard projectors to short throw projectors. The PowerLite 535W is one of the best in the lineup, capable of producing a 106-inch display at just around 2.3 feet, which is incredible. It has a native resolution of 1280×800, with an aspect ratio of 16:10.

For office and classroom use, the PowerLite 535W is an excellent projector. It produces sharp and clear texts and has enough brightness to work well in a room with moderate ambient light. It has a decent-sounding speaker, too, but don’t expect too much, especially regarding bass. For gaming, this Epson projector is not a recommended option if you mainly play fast-paced games that require quick reactions. On the other hand, it’s decent enough for slow-paced games like turn-based RPGs, so feel free to use it for games such as World of Final Fantasy, Persona 5, and Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth.

Purchase / $1025