The 6 Best Portable Monitors - Fall 2023 Reviews

The espresso Display 15 Touch is the best portable monitor we've tested. Overall, it's a decent portable monitor with a few neat features to improve your workflow. You can connect to it via one of its two USB-C ports, and it works with various devices, including smartphones that support external displays. It has a responsive touchscreen that works well with Windows and macOS PCs, letting you easily complete work that requires touch movements. It also has a few extra features, like a rotation lock that adjusts the image into portrait mode when you turn the display.

What makes this better than most portable monitors is that it's available with different accessories. One of those is its stand, which offers decent ergonomics, letting you place the screen in a few different ways. You can also get a case with a kickstand if you prefer. On top of that, it has great color accuracy and displays a wide range of colors in SDR, meaning the picture quality is good enough for a portable display.

Although portable gaming monitors are less common than portable monitors for work, you can still find some options if you want a high refresh rate for gaming on the go. The ASUS ROG Strix XG16AHPE is a great choice for mobile gaming or if you need something on the side of your main monitor. It's better than the espresso Display 15 Touch for gaming because it has a faster response time, resulting in crystal-clear motion with almost no noticeable blur behind fast-moving objects. It even has a 7800 mAh battery, lasting nearly three hours of gaming.

It supports FreeSync variable refresh rate technology with G-SYNC compatibility, ensuring a nearly tear-free gaming experience from almost any source. It has a 144Hz refresh rate, which is high enough for casual gaming, but if you want something with a higher 240Hz refresh rate, the ASUS ROG Strix XG17AHPE is a good alternative. However, it costs more, so only consider it if you're going to take full advantage of the display.

If you don't want the ASUS ROG Strix XG16AHPE for gaming and don't need all the espresso Display 15 Touch's high-end features, check out an upper mid-range option like the ASUS ProArt PA148CTV. It performs similarly to the espresso monitor, but there are some trade-offs for the cheaper price tag. While it has a touchscreen like the espresso monitor, it isn't as responsive and doesn't work with macOS devices, meaning you can't use the touchscreen if you want to connect to your MacBook. It also has a slightly worse SDR color gamut and volume, but the overall accuracy is still excellent.

Like the espresso monitor, it has two USB-C ports that you can use to connect your devices, and it also has a Micro HDMI port, which is helpful if you have an older laptop with HDMI but not USB-C. It has a few advantages over the espresso, especially if you want to use it in a well-lit environment, as it has decent peak brightness and much better reflection handling.

If you're looking for something at a lower cost, the Lenovo ThinkVision M14 is a good mid-range option. It's very similar to the ASUS ProArt PA148CTV, but it doesn't get as bright and doesn't have a Micro HDMI port, the two main downsides to getting something cheaper. If you want something brighter, the Dell C1422H is another good option, but it can be harder to find. The Lenovo is still a decent office monitor with a 14-inch screen and 1080p resolution, and the text clarity is excellent.

It's well-built and has a foldable kickstand, so you can adjust the angle of the screen to your liking, and it even has two screw holes on the stand so that you can mount it. It also displays a wider range of colors than the ASUS and has decent accuracy, so the picture quality is good enough for a portable monitor.

When getting into budget portable monitors, you can't expect good performance and picture quality, as these displays are really meant to give you extra screen real estate more than anything else. If that's what you want, the ViewSonic VG1655 is an alright, budget-friendly portable monitor with a much more narrow color gamut than the Lenovo ThinkVision M14. This means it doesn't display as many colors, and while it's fine for browsing through the web or reading documents, you won't get life-like images when watching videos.

Besides that, it has a slightly larger 15.6-inch screen than the Lenovo, and with a 1080p resolution and high pixel density, it displays sharp text. It has one Mini HDMI port and two USB-C ports, and they even support power delivery up to 60W with a power source connected to the monitor. This means you can even use it to charge smaller laptops while displaying an image and only have one cable to power up both devices.

If you need a simple and cheap portable monitor, the Lepow Z1 is a decent choice. It's similar to the ViewSonic VG1655 because it also displays a narrow color gamut in SDR, so its picture quality isn't anything special. Still, only one of its USB-C ports supports DisplayPort Alt Mode, as opposed to both ports supporting it on the Lenovo. It supports HDR as well, which the Lenovo monitor doesn't support, but that doesn't add much because of its limited picture quality in HDR.

It gets slightly brighter and has better reflection handling than the Lenovo, which is nice, but it still isn't bright enough to use in a well-lit environment. It comes with a foldable stand that lets you adjust it to three different angles, and it doubles as a protective case for the screen when carrying it around. Despite being a low-cost portable monitor, it still has okay build quality with a solid frame that doesn't flex easily.