Portable monitors - any good?

I ordered the one you showed for 114 GBP delivered to Germany. It took some weeks, but it arrived. Works like a charm, I use it alongside with my Surface Book 3. Doesn't need a separate power supply when connected to it.

Quick question I purchased one of these plugged the switch in to it useing usb c but it won’t show it turns on but nothing shows up ?:)

These monitors are incredibly useful when setting up PCs, Raspberry Pi's etc. But, they're not all created equal and it's worth spending a little bit extra when choosing. A friend recently showed me his monitor - 'Corprit' brand, full HD, IPS panel - he got off eBay for £99. I thought the picture quality was terrible. I have a Samsung with the same spec. (on paper) but the picture is noticeably better - but then it cost over twice as much. I suppose it depends on what you want it for (and how fussy you are). It's definitely worth getting one with HDMI in. I actually like that the monitor I have doesn't have a battery - it's one less thing I need to keep remembering to charge up so the battery doesn't die if it isn't used for a few months..

Good man Matt, using a short adaptor cable over a small-to-large adaptor. I used to cringe when people plugged old-style 1/4" jack plug headphones into a device with a 3.5mm socket - I can't count how many 3.5mm sockets I've had to solder back onto the pcb after people have ripped them off..

I have a ViewSonic with similar specs but with a built-in metal stand (similar to a Microsoft Surface). It’s a good pair to my Mac Mini. One cable for both power and video. Sadly, mine has no dedicated volume button of any kind.

While I thoroughly enjoy the repair videos, I also enjoy these new tech reviews. Things I might not buy for myself, but now I know about them. Is there anything USB-C can't do?

Interesting that the £20 off voucher has now been replaced with an £30 off voucher!! BUT the price has increased by £10 so no gain, no loss either! (Took a screenshot but can't add to this comment) Tempted to get one as often need extra monitor when I'm on the road, setting up inverter and carrying round a desktop monitor just don't seem worth it... This, being USB powered, fits the bill. Thanks Mat, for showing us what they're like before we 'take the plunge'!

You might try the Panasonic UN-19FB10. It isn't waterproof like the smaller ones, but it has Netflix built in, and a HDMI input for use as a monitor.

My brain was scrambled when I heard the audio test, and for a second thought Mat was gonna return with an Aussie accent. (Dankpods, anyone?) Anyway, awesome video. I hoped it would be a comparison of a few monitors, though they probably all share the same internals. Thanks for that!

User Manuel? Que?

Now I just want to use one of those to make a small virtual pinball table...

I just looked at one of these as they seem to be useful for hot desking, but the problem is the lack of a stand. You could get quite bad neck strain staring down at the screen, so it's not something I would consider. Great video though.

My wife an I have a couple of these because we work remote and often work while travelling. As you mention, they're great as a second screen paired with a work laptop, and sound isn't an issue when you're using Excel or checking email.

What is the game at 7:00 please? It looks like Geometry Wars and I’d really like something like that for the Switch. I’ve done several searches in the Nintendo store but I can’t find anything that resembles this game.

Mat, I’m super impressed with how you were able to get the colors and contrast looking so rich on the display. I do overhead filming of me drawing on my Wacom Cintiq for my Instagram Reels and the colors on my display are always blown out on video, especially if I’m trying to get not only a good picture of my display, but of my hands and skin tone in the same frame. Care to share the recipe for this?

Can't say I'm tempted to buy one of these - wouldn't really have a use for it - but it's great to see it playing "The Best of Techmoan". Those clips look spectacularly good on that display!

Good video as always, Mat. I used several similar such monitors for a while - but a problem I found with them is some makes have a small colour gamut - some of them don't even support sRGB - which could be a problem if you wanted to use one to show your wares in their correct colours to potential customers. I noticed that when you showed the specs on the box, the colour gamut spec (eg sRGB or Adobe RGB 1998 for better quality monitors) isn't even mentioned - a bad sign! Have a great weekend.

Thanks for great video. Just out of interest is the switch showing mario golf, any good? Must admit im tempted with this screen for switch playing

I'm probably one of the prime use cases for these things. My desk is quite small and I have had a need for a second monitor due to working from home more. I've also been blessed with nearsightedness and some of the highest resolution vision people seem to have, and thus can put up with a screen that is both tiny and incredibly high resolution. I ended up getting some 11 inch displays at a res of 2560x1600. The amount of real estate has been a real godsend, and they've fit me exactly.

Kinda wish they would make an affordable e-ink picture display device you can just hang on the wall for album art or just art in general. Great little review though as I've been wondering what these little screens are like for the basic models as the YouTubers that do reviews tend to be paid and also review the expensive ones. The picture looks amazing on my TV where you're showing the players on the screen on the workbench, looks like they are there.

Thanks for the review! I actually even didn't know that something like this existed, good to know! And just as with everything: it seems to me like a cheaper model, works fine and for most tasks, if you need better, you can pay more and get better.

I had a USB one ( some odd app that was supposed to be universal ) for site visits. Then I bought a little 7" 12v one with HDMI/BNC/VGA just too bulky and wouldn't run off batteries properly. Just ordered one of these for that time I may need a second screen, or CCTV installs, or other on-site stuff

The other style of stand is just as bad, btw. I use little iPad stands for mine.

Now this would be interesting to hook up to my normally headless Pi stuff for diagonsitics and the like...

Not a category of product I have come across, but interesting to know about. Thanks, Mat.

Interesting. I wonder how well this would work with a Mac Mini, Raspberry Pi or other small computer to make it portable.

I bought the Pixio PX160 and I'm very happy with it. I work in multiple locations and it's nice to have a second screen without having to lug around a full size monitor.

Like a lot of electronic devices now, there is a over-burden of choice between Chinese branded models - and it's hard to even trust the reviews since there's a degree of payola going on there. So, glad to see a review of one of these pop up on your channel .

Hey Mat! Great video! It's weird to see you review something I have after I bought it. I agree with everything you said! The sound as you said, is the worst part. Its one of those things that when you are just using it with low volume, you kind of get used to it. But comparing it to the Switch or the Vita's speakers, its night and day. But using it to grind some levels in Persona 3, it works great. In regards to the stand, I really wish they'd just copied the Windows Surface. I mean, even Nintendo with the new OLED have ripped off the surface back, it works so well. Are you gonna get the OLED? Since it seems you have a switch OG and a lite?

Quite popular where I work with those who use a laptop for providing a second screen, and also useful for around the table demos where you can have the second screen mirroring to let everyone get a look. Pretty reasonable given the price, I shudder at once spending over a £1000 on a 15" LCD monitor back in the day.

I bought an Auzai 15.6 inch USB-C portable monitor on the recommendation of Perifractic and have not been disappointed. I used it for work while in quarantine and also for my Raspberry Pi 400.

I recently bought the UPerfect one you scrolled past in the video. I'm very happy with it! The sound is, well, it's got speakers. But the panel is pretty good. They're probably all the same. I got it for a portable MiSTer setup and it hasn't disappointed. Pixel refresh is not that great, but it'll do. But it is VERY forgiving as to what signals it will display, which was extremely important to me. It is a FreeSync screen, so maybe that's why. Mine syncs to anything from 38-66 Hz (70 would have been nice for VGA, but what can you expect). Scaling isn't bad either, there's no integer option, but at least it's crisp, it's possible to reduce the interpolation to almost nothing. More importantly though, there's a 4:3 aspect option in the menu. I'm really pleased with it overall. There are very few options that do what I need them to do, and thankfully this one does it well enough.

I know it’s the world’s worst sin commenting before watching the video, but I have a couple of these things. They’re pretty ropey quality and the picture cuts every so often, but great for playing little usb console games and stuff - I use one for the Densha de Go usb game I got after seeing your video.