Before we look at the things you need to consider when buying a new, portable monitor, let’s take a look at five best sellers!
HANNspree HT161HNB 15.6″ Multi Touch Monitor
With 10 point-touch Projective Capacitive technology the HANNspree HT161HNB delivers seamless and accurate touch response. Featuring LED-backlight LCD screen technology, it offers exceptional colour performance making it an excellent choice for a vast array of demanding interactive applications. A quality product at a great price. Click here.
BenQ GW2280 21.5″ Full HD Eye-Care Monitor
Designed for beautiful simplicity, the BenQ GW2280 21.5″ frameless monitor combines ultra slim bezels with hidden cable management. Complementing BenQ exclusive Eye-Care Technology with Low Blue Light Technology and Flicker-Free performance for extended viewing comfort, industry-leading Brightness Intelligence Technology delivers exquisite details in any ambient lighting environment. Superb value. Click here for price.
Acer KA222QA 21.5″ Full HD 1ms VA Monitor
Crisp, true-to-life colours come alive in Full HD 1080p resolution. Movies and games appear more real and dramatic, and small details and text are clear with1920x1080 resolution in a 16:9 aspect ratio. With a 21.5″ to 27″ FHD IPS display, you’ll want to see as much of it as possible. A popular, quality product. Click here for price.
ASUS ZenScreen MB16AC 15.6″ Portable USB Monitor
ASUS ZenScreen MB16AC Portable USB Monitor- 15.6 inch Full HD, Hybrid Signal Solutin, USB Type-C, Flicker Free, Blue Light Filter. It features a hybrid-signal solution that supports power and video transmission, and enables compatibility with any laptop with a USB Type-C or Type A port.
It can automatically sense its orientation and switch the monitor between landscape and portrait modes. At just 800g and only 8mm thin, it helps you get things done more efficiently when you’re on the go.
The foldable smart case can be turned into a stand to prop the monitor up in either portrait or landscape mode. Outstanding. Click here for the best price.
Lenovo ThinkVision M14 14″ Monitor
Boost on-the-go productivity and collaboration with the ultraportable ThinkVision M14 mobile display. This 14″ monitor weighs just 570g and is compatible with any device with an advanced USB-C port. Whether you’re presenting to clients or just want to get things done on the road, the ThinkVision M14 helps you make your good work, better.
At just 570g and 4.4mm, the ThinkVision M14 mobile display won’t weigh you down. And despite its ultraportable design, it delivers great visuals on its FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS display. Click here for the best price.
Things to consider when choosing a portable monitor
You could say that monitors have been portable for the last thirty years, as they’ve certainly been small enough and light enough to move around. Monitors that you can put into a carry case are a more recent invention, and monitors that you’d actually want to use are another thing altogether. The good news is that there is now a great selection of genuinely portable monitors out there to suit everyone and they’re now much more affordable than ever before.
The portable monitors of old were not only expensive, they also had dim displays, were not overly reliable and basically they just didn’t work very well. And of course, what the manufactures described as “portable” wasn’t what you or I really had in our minds.
Screen technology has now got much better, and USB C has helped to get rid of all those bulky cables and chargers. As is the way, competition has driven down prices making them much more available to the masses. They have also developed them, making them in different sizes and with a range of features to suit people’s needs.
We’d still suggest using a normal monitor if you work from the same space all the time, but, if you’re a laptop user who regularly travels and often find yourself working in a café or if you have to work in different rooms or spaces at home, then a portable version makes much more sense to fit in with your working requirements.
There are now lots of portable monitors on the market, but it’s important that you buy the one which is going to suit your needs the best. Do you know what features you’re looking for? Exactly what will it be used for? These questions need carefully consideration before you get out your bank card!
So why buy a portable monitor?
If you’ve already decided that you need a portable monitor, then the chances are that you already know exactly why you need one! For those who aren’t really sure why they might need one, let’s take a look at what you can do with them.
Generally, people use a monitor to increase the screen space they need to work with – for either work, entertainment or both. A portable monitor is an easy way to extend a laptop screen (a simple cable connection) and you can also link one to your smartphone to make it into a computer. How cool is that? As you would imagine, portable monitors are much more portable than a desktop monitor, so they’re great for packing in the car and ideal if you work from different offices.
If you’re working on a laptop and need an extra screen, then a monitor is the option you need to go for. There are several benefits to having an extended screen space when it comes to working on your laptop or even converting a smartphone into a computer. Have a look online and you’ll see exactly how to do this.
Features of portable monitors
All monitors are not created equal, of course. But there are features that you really shouldn’t go without when searching for the perfect monitor. Firstly, size is important. Many are bigger than standard laptops, and that’s a good thing if you want to work effectively, but they still need to be relatively compact to fit in a car if it’s going to be easily portable.
Are you looking for a second screen so that your children can also watch it in the car? Do you need to be able to do photo or video editing? If so, you’ll probably need a bigger, higher quality monitor in order for it to work effectively. But the bigger the monitor, the more it’s likely to weigh. A pound or two here and there might not seem much, but if the monitor is being carried in your backpack or laptop bag for a couple of hours, it could easily feel like more!
Screen quality could be a very important factor when choosing your new monitor. If you’re buying a monitor primarily for the kids, watching YouTube, Netflix and the other streamers, then you probably don’t need 4K quality. But if your job requires you to code, or edit images and footage then a high-resolution monitor is a must-have.
Another thing to consider is: Do you need your monitor to be versatile enough to change from landscape to portrait format? This option makes it much easier if you’re working on more intense tasks. However, perhaps the important feature you need to look for is connectivity. Having the correct HDMI and DisplayPorts and making sure it has a USB-C connection to transfer large amounts of data.
Some monitors have a touch-screen facility, and this does make life much easier (and enables you to work quicker). It’s great if you are involved in creative work and for collaboration. When combined with digital whiteboarding software, your portable monitor can become a multi-purpose tool for creating, modifying, and presenting content yourself or as part of a team. Once you’ve used a touch-screen monitor, it’s quite difficult to go back to a standard one.
What exactly can you do with a portable monitor?
Your portable monitor can do more or less everything a standard desktop monitor can do except that you’re not stuck to one location. However, there are a few specific uses where only a portable monitor can provide the solution. Let’s take a look at a few now.
Improve your productivity
Let’s presume you’re using a laptop and a portable monitor. You can save lots of time which was previously wasted on switching tasks. Opening and closing windows is one of those annoying things that most of us do, but how much easier is it when you have two screens? People who use two screens will tell you that they couldn’t imagine going back to working in single screen. Many people use one screen for actually working on documents and letters etc, whilst using the second screen for communication and research: Emails, Slack, Zoom, Google and so on.
Use your portable monitor as a preview screen
If you’re an amateur or professional photographer, it’s not always easy to look at your photos on your camera’s tiny LCD screen. Linking a portable monitor to a camera is easy and gives you the chance to look at your images of footage straight away on a much larger and higher-quality screen. Of course, you need to make sure your devices have the right connection ports before you make your purchase.
Make your meetings more personal
It’s always a good idea to be prepared for meetings and using a portable monitor, especially a touch-screen one, is going to put you on the front foot! With a larger, portable screen, you can show presentations and interact with your presentation. You are your colleagues can now produce content together and work as a team interacting with presentations.
Make your mobile mightier!
Most of us spend a lot of time our mobile phones, but sometimes the small screens are just too small for you to see what you need to see! You can link a portable monitor to your mobile so you get a full-size experience from your tiny device. Imagine you’re travelling and stopping in a hotel or at friends for the evening. You can make your mobile feel like a computer.
Add a Bluetooth keyboard along with apps such as Google Docs or Microsoft Word and you’ve got a productivity hub, wherever you are. Tech companies can see the potential here and they are already taking things further. Samsung have launched the DeX which turns the phone into a fully functioning computer when it’s plugged into a USB-C monitor. From an entertainment point of view, you can watch movies from your mobile on a larger monitor. Let’s look at leisure activities!
Entertainment wherever you are
In this article, we’re primarily looking at how your work can be improved by using a portable monitor, but an equally popular use for them is entertainment. Even though we constantly see people watching movies, videos, news clips and more on their mobiles, the experience can be vastly improved by using a portable monitor. They are just the job for road trips, train journeys (don’t forget your headphones), camping, or even on aeroplanes when the in-flight movies aren’t to your liking!
Better quality displays
It’s only natural that we expect each next wave of technology to be of a higher quality than the last – and we expect better and clearer displays on all our devices. Grainy pictures and dull colours just won’t cut it anymore. With the right adaptors, there’s no reason why you can’t immediately upgrade everything by using a portable monitor and touchscreen display. It updates your older devices and looks great, too!
Finally
Portable monitors are compact (although you can get them whatever size you like), and they are perfect for work whilst on the go or for entertainment use when you clock-off. They’re versatile devices and are competitively priced. If your needs don’t call for the typical monitor uses, most people can benefit from an additional computer screen. They are easy to connect to other devices and have the advantage of being thin and lightweight for easy transportation.
Take a look at Ebuyer’s huge range of portable and desktop monitors by all the leading brands.
