Best Portable Monitors for Your Laptop

Is it worth buying one? Well, we recently took six models out for a spin with a Windows laptop, a MacBook, an Android phone, an iPad, and a Nintendo Switch for a firsthand look at the user experience—and we can say that none of them are perfect. While you could technically use a portable monitor as a svelte substitute for the traditional monitor now perched on your desk, most can’t match the brightness or picture quality of those desk-bound models. I’m not an expert technician with the equipment found in CR’s labs, but to my eyes, it’s obvious that the Retina display on my MacBook Pro is superior to the monitors I reviewed. 

The Lepow Z1 Gamut is a bargain, considering that its advertised peak brightness level is second only to that of the ViewSonic VP16-OLED, below, which costs $200 more. The model connected quickly and easily to my Mac, Windows, Android, iPad, and Switch devices, a feat matched only by the KYY Portable Monitor. The KYY is less expensive, but the Lepow looks better to my eye.

The model is lighter and thinner than you might expect for a 15.6-inch monitor, and the magnetic, leatherlike folio cover functions much like the smart covers made for tablets like the iPad. I’d prefer a stand that’s sturdier and offers more viewing angles, but for the price, it’s hard to complain.

To access the onscreen display settings (OSD), there’s a tiny scroll wheel on the right side of the monitor. It takes some time to get used to pressing and scrolling to navigate the interface, but you do get several adjustment options, including brightness, contrast, black level, sharpness, and color temperature.

The Z1 Gamut is a fine display, on a par with many of the pricier monitors on this list, although at the default settings, the colors run warm. While watching cooking competitions on the Food Network, I noted redder/ruddier skin tones on the chefs compared with what I saw on my MacBook. The food looked good—just not as good as the morsels on my main display.

The ViewSonic VP16-OLED, as you may have guessed, is a portable screen for people willing to pay for a better display. It’s the brightest (as stated by the manufacturer) and best-looking portable monitor of the bunch.

That’s no surprise given that it’s an OLED model, which can generate more levels of black and more precise colors than the LCD technology in the other monitors. The model came closest to matching my MacBook’s display while on the default settings, and it comes with a color calibration report that certifies that it’s been factory-calibrated and Pantone Validated.

The VP16-OLED’s stand is both sturdy and versatile. You can raise the screen to about eye height, place it level with a laptop on a desktop, or extend the stand out to support the monitor in portrait mode.

The model also boasts the easiest-to-use OSD controls. At the base of the stand, you’ll find a power button plus large, dedicated up and down buttons for navigating the interface. The VP16-OLED offers many settings—including hue, saturation, and color temperature—which is a boon for those who want the extra control but can be overwhelming for people not used to making adjustments at that level.

If I have to nitpick, the VP16-OLED is slightly thicker and heavier than the other portable monitors, as well. At 2.2 pounds and 0.8-inch thick, it will add some heft to your laptop bag or backpack load, but it’s still portable.

It doesn’t have the highest brightness or 100 percent sRGB color coverage, but the ViewSonic TD1655 is one of the least expensive touchscreen models available. And if you’re a Mac user who longs for tap controls or the ability to annotate a slideshow with a stylus, your wish is granted. 

The model isn’t fully compatible with all Windows laptops, though, so before buying it, consult your laptop’s manual to see if it supports DisplayPort 1.2 Alt Mode over USB-C. The laptop I used to evaluate the monitors, an Asus VivoBook F513, did not, so I could evaluate the video output only over the laptop’s HDMI port.

The touchscreen feature isn’t plug and play; you have to install software first. It’s a bit of a hassle, but once done, the touchscreen is responsive and works well. The TD1655 comes with a stylus, but it’s not as precise as Apple’s Pencil on the iPad or Samsung’s S Pen on a Galaxy tablet or Ultra phone. It can come in handy, though, for drawing big arrows on a presentation slide or scribbling an indecipherable signature.

Despite the 250-nits rating, the screen looked pretty bright to me, although the colors were noticeably washed out.

The metal kickstand makes the monitor feel sturdy and well built. The joystick on the back of the monitor was easier for me to use than the tiny scroll wheel on lower-priced devices, although it still took some getting used to.

This portable monitor is designed for gamers. It has a high 144Hz refresh rate (vs. 60Hz on the other models) and a low 3-millisecond response time, which can reduce motion blur in games and videos. I didn’t test this feature, but the ROG Strix also has Nvidia G-Sync technology that can work in concert with the graphics card on a G-Sync-compatible device and reduce lag.

I couldn’t get the monitor to receive any signal from my iPad mini (6th generation), though.

On the default settings, the colors didn’t look as vibrant to me as they should, but the model does offer a myriad of settings adjustments to tweak the display, as well as impressive black levels. And getting to those settings and navigating the interface was relatively easy, thanks to three dedicated buttons on top of the monitor.

I found the kickstand, which folds out like the stand on a photo frame, to be sturdy, but it doesn’t allow you to adjust the angle of the screen.

The ROG Strix comes with just a USB-C cable to connect the device to your laptop, so you may need to bring along your laptop’s power adapter and cord to keep it powered. The model does have a built-in battery, though, which the manufacturer says can provide up to three hours’ worth of playtime.

Should you want a larger screen, Asus also makes the 17-inch ROG Strix XG17AHPE, which costs $120 more and has a higher 240Hz refresh rate.

The least expensive option on this menu, the monitor from KYY is very similar to the Lepow Z1 Gamut. It connected easily to my Mac, Windows, Android, iPad, and Switch devices and has the same scroll wheel device for accessing the OSD settings.

If you don’t mind spending $40 more, though, the Lepow monitor is brighter and delivers more vibrant colors. On the KYY, rich reds look brownish. The folio cover on the KYY doesn’t fold correctly, either, due to weak magnets.

Still, if you’re looking for a utilitarian device for extra desktop space and don’t want to spend a lot of money, the KYY Portable Monitor is worth considering.

This relatively inexpensive option has a sturdy foldout metal stand that takes up little space and allows for positioning the display at different angles. Unlike the other models on this list, however, the display settings, accessible via small buttons on the side of the monitor, are limited to adjusting the brightness and turning the blue light filter on and off. The monitor has a lower stated brightness and color gamut coverage than the competition.

The ThinkVision M15 also lacks an HDMI port, so I was unable to connect it to my Windows laptop, which doesn’t support DisplayPort 1.2 Alt Mode over USB-C. The lack of HDMI connectivity also means it won’t work with devices such as the Nintendo Switch that rely on that feature for video output.

On the plus side, this is the thinnest of the models I looked at, it has a VESA mount to be used with a monitor arm, and it comes with a nice felt sleeve.

Once I had all the monitors in my home office—CR buys everything we test at retail, so we’re getting the same products you would—I put each model through the same scrutiny. That included:

• Unpacking the device and taking note of the in-box accessories, such as cables and cases
• Reading the manual
• Evaluating the sturdiness and versatility of the stand
• Plugging the portable monitor into a wall outlet and connecting it to my MacBook Pro over USB-C
• Downloading and installing calibration software, if provided
• Fiddling with the OSD (onscreen display) controls and setting the monitor to the highest brightness level
• Comparing my MacBook’s screen with the portable monitor’s while watching cooking shows and the colorful dance scenes in the movie “La La Land,” looking at an image CR techs use to compare black and white levels, and looking at an image CR techs use to compare color, contrast, and clarity

I also connected my Windows laptop to each monitor over HDMI, when available, or USB-C when not, and repeated the same eyeballing exercise. I connected my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and my iPad mini to each monitor over USB-C and my Nintendo Switch over HDMI (via the Switch’s dock) to confirm connectivity.

Most of the portable monitors have built-in speakers, which I listened to, but I found that the speakers in my devices sound better, so I didn’t give that feature much weight in my evaluation.

After all of that, I had a clear understanding of where each monitor excelled and where it came up short.