
BenQ X500i
Gaming · DLP · 4K pixel-shift
- Brightness
- 2,200lumensANSI
- Screen at 10 ft
- 166–200 in
- Input lag
- 8 ms
- 2,200 ANSI lumens
- 0.69 short throw
- 4.2 ms at 240 Hz
Best for: A small room where the projector has to sit close to the screen
Gaming~$2,199BenQ
The laser answer to the X500i: the same 0.69 short throw and the same 4.2 ms gaming path, but with a 20,000-hour laser-phosphor engine pushing 3,200 ANSI lumens instead of 2,200. At 6.8 lb it is the lightest projector here that is bright enough to use with the lights on.
Approx. price
~$2,199
snapshot, not a live price
Best for: A bright small room that needs short throw, laser brightness and low lag at once
The two lists above are read off manufacturer specifications and published measurements, not from owner reports. Where owner discussion has been collected it appears separately below, so the two are never mistaken for each other.
This projector arrived into a specific gap and owners recognised it immediately: a genuinely short throw ratio with a laser light source, at a time when the short-throw category was all LED and comparatively dim. Owners shopping that category had been weighing two LED models against each other and describe this as the brighter third option they were hoping for.
The throw ratio matters more than the brightness for some owners. It matches BenQ's older short-throw lamp projectors, which means owners replacing one can put this in the same mount position — a detail that decides the purchase when the ceiling is plastered and the mount cannot move.
The complaint is price. Owners following the launch expected it to land near the LED competition and it did not, and several concluded the cheaper standard-throw sibling was the better buy for any room that could take the longer distance. Owners also note that short throw is a vague term and advise checking a throw calculator against a specific screen size and distance rather than shopping by category label.
0.69 to 0.83, which puts a 100-inch image up from roughly six feet. Owners note it matches BenQ's older short-throw lamp models, so a mount positioned for one of those will work for this.
It is brighter — 3,200 ANSI lumens against roughly 2,200 for the LED alternatives — and it costs more. Owners in rooms they can darken generally found the LED models bright enough; owners with any ambient light picked this one.
Owners are consistent: if the room can take the longer throw, the standard-throw sibling costs less and is the better buy. The short-throw premium only makes sense when the distance genuinely is not available.
Experienced owners say no, and put it bluntly — short throw is as vague as hot or cold. The useful approach is to take your actual screen size and your actual lens-to-screen distance and check them against a throw calculator for each specific model.
It is a single 5 W mono driver and owners treat it as a placeholder. Budget for a soundbar or a receiver.

Gaming · DLP · 4K pixel-shift
Best for: A small room where the projector has to sit close to the screen

Gaming · DLP · 4K pixel-shift
Best for: A console gaming room that also has to work as a movie room

Home theater · DLP · 4K pixel-shift
Best for: A bright media room that wants wide-gamut color without a lamp