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Comparison

AH500ST vs TK710STi

Short answer

Pick by room, not resolution: the AH500ST's fixed 0.499 throw fills a 10-ft screen from 5 ft and adds a sealed engine, Golf Mode and 4,000 lumens; the TK710STi gives you true 4K but needs the extra distance of a 0.69–0.83 throw.

BenQ AH500STBenQAH500ST
$1,999
Buy at Amazon · $1,999, AH500STCompare 5 retailers
vs
BenQ TK710STiBenQTK710STi
$1,999
Buy at Amazon · $1,965, TK710STiCompare 6 retailers

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By buyer

Which one for you

Low ceiling or a shallow stall
BenQ AH500ST. The 0.499 throw is the tightest in BenQ's golf line; the TK710STi cannot get a full image that close.
The room doubles for movies and gaming
BenQ TK710STi. True 4K, HDR and 4.2 ms gaming lag, if you have about 7 ft of throw distance for a 10-ft-wide image.
Dusty garage or a PC built for 1080p
BenQ AH500ST. Sealed laser engine, more lumens, and nothing lost to a resolution the PC can't feed.

Also worth a look

More comparisons with the AH500ST and TK710STi

Bottom line

The longer answer

Price rarely settles this one. The AH500ST is $1,999 everywhere we track; the TK710STi is $1,999 at Amazon, where BenQ's own store sells it, and $2,199 at the golf retailers. What separates them is the room and what you want the screen to do.

Throw first. The AH500ST has a fixed 0.499 ratio, so it fills a 10-ft-wide screen from about 5 ft away — the dedicated answer for low ceilings and shallow garage stalls. The TK710STi's 0.69–0.83 zoom needs roughly 7 ft or more for the same image, and its zoom and focus are manual, so a ceiling install means a ladder for every adjustment.

Image second. The TK710STi is true 4K with HDR10 and HLG, 3,200 ANSI lumens, and gaming-grade input lag (4.2 ms at 1080p/240Hz, 16.7 ms at 4K/60Hz); it is the better movie and gaming projector. It has no Golf Mode and no sealed engine; BenQ rates its fan at 31 dB, or 28 dB in eco mode. The AH500ST is 1080p but brighter at 4,000 ANSI lumens, with BenQ's IP5X-sealed laser engine, a Golf Mode color preset and 16.7 ms input lag at 1080p/120Hz (33.4 ms at 60Hz). Both lasers are rated for 20,000 hours.

One more cost hides in the 4K choice: the sim PC has to drive it. If your computer is built for 1080p, the TK710STi's resolution is mostly unused, and the AH500ST's brightness and sealed engine are the better spend.

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Full specificationsEvery spec for both, line by line

Specifications

The numbers, lined up.

Image

  • Resolution
    AH500ST1080p Full HD
    TK710STi4K UHD (3840×2160); BenQ calls it True 4K (DLP, 8.3 million pixels on screen)
  • Lumens
    AH500ST4,000 ANSI
    TK710STi3,200 ANSI
  • HDR
    AH500STHDR10, HLG
    TK710STiHDR10 + HLG
  • Color
    AH500ST83% Rec. 709; Golf picture mode
    TK710STi95% Rec. 709

Hardware

  • Light Source
    AH500STLaser, IP5X sealed (20,000 hours normal, 38,000 eco)
    TK710STiLaser (20,000 hours)
  • Throw Ratio
    AH500ST0.499 (fixed, very short)
    TK710STi0.69–0.83 (1.2× zoom)
  • Fan Noise
    AH500ST—
    TK710STi31/28 dB (normal/eco, BenQ spec)

Performance

  • Input Lag
    AH500ST33.4 ms (1080p/60Hz); 16.7 ms (1080p/120Hz)
    TK710STi4.2 ms @ 1080p/240Hz; 8.3 ms @ 1080p/120Hz; 16.7 ms @ 4K/60Hz

Software

  • Includes
    AH500ST—
    TK710STiAndroid TV dongle

Room planner

See each one in your sim room.

The planner draws each unit to scale with your room and your swing: where it mounts, the throw it needs, and whether your shadow crosses the light. Put in your room once, then switch units in the planner to compare.

See the AH500ST in your sim room →See the TK710STi in your sim room →
Persona fitWho each one is better for

Who each one is better for

Honest persona fit, side by side.

Better for AH500ST

  • Space-Constrained

    0.499 throw, among the tightest in BenQ's golf line (the LK830ST is 0.496): a 10-ft-wide image from about 5 ft, which suits a low or shallow room.

  • Cost-Effective Buyer

    Golf-dedicated laser features (Golf Mode, IP5X seal, 4,000 lumens) at $1,999 — strong dollar-per-feature when the room geometry needs the tight throw anyway.

Better for TK710STi

  • Recreational Player

    True 4K with laser life and HDR — the courses look genuinely impressive and the projector lasts the life of the room.

  • Performance Seeker

    16.7ms input lag at 4K is well under the 30ms tolerance threshold; 95% Rec. 709 color and laser stability support serious data review.

  • Family Setup

    4.2 ms gaming lag at 1080p/240Hz makes this a legitimately great gaming projector in addition to a sim and movie projector — best multi-use mid pick.

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We ask about your budget, your room, and how you’ll use it. We return a complete build — launch monitor, mat, enclosure, projector, software, PC — with the reasoning behind every pick and the alternatives we considered.

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