A portable monitor for a laptop offers numerous features and advantages that can enhance your work, gaming, or general experience.
These days, portable monitors have become extremely common. Hence, the market offers plenty of good, reasonable options for you to choose from. For the perfect balance between reliability and affordability, you can check out the Mobile Pixels Duex Plus Portable Monitor for Laptops.
You’ve probably seen many portable monitors on TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook. Influencers, designers, photographers, gamers, and other people who work from home are sharing a glimpse into their tech setups, and portable monitors are common across the board. You can also be one of them.
Gone are the days when you could only dream of having a proper gaming or work setup at home. You can make this dream a reality now, and we can guide you through it.
What Is a Portable Monitor for A Laptop?
Portable monitors are plug-and-play devices that you can connect to your laptop instantly. You only need one cable to use the monitor, especially since USB C has become the industry standard.
The USB C port transfers data and provides power to the device simultaneously. You can also use a portable monitor for a laptop with smartphones, gaming consoles, and tablets.
Can They Replace Standard Monitors?
Standard monitors remain a cut above portable monitors in terms of higher luminosity and refresh rates. They still boast some technical advantages – at least for the foreseeable future.
However, given the pace at which technology progresses these days, we can very well expect better quality portable monitors to be rolled out for a lower price and additional advantages.
Regardless, the current advantages of standard monitors might not even matter for people who just want something basic to improve their workplace and gaming setup. In addition, the advantages of portable monitors, such as the ability to stow them away in the drawer, beats out the slight disadvantage of poorer picture quality.
Factors to Consider when Buying a Portable Monitor
There are two key features you should consider when browsing the market for portable monitors. We have explored this subject in more detail in our other blog posts, but for this article, we will keep it brief and concise:
Size and Portability
Your portable monitor should be lightweight. It is not worth the investment if it weighs as heavy as a brick or does not fit in your laptop bag. Luckily, most options available on the market are very light.
Ideally, the weight should not be more than 2 pounds. Some of the lightest options on the market weigh 1.3 pounds, while the heaviest might weigh 2.2 pounds. In addition, you have to assess the thickness of the screen. Most screens are thin and sleek and are less than an inch wide.
Furthermore, the screens might come with foldable cases that double as a monitor stand, or you can easily purchase something that does this job. It is best to start taking care of your device immediately to avoid quicker user experience deterioration.
The cases also allow users to view the screen from multiple angles while protecting it from getting scratched in the bag when they are traveling. It would be horrible to learn that a pen scratched your screen when you threw it in the bag in a hurry.
Generally, the screens measure between 12″ and 17″, almost like an A4 size paper. When purchasing, you need to consider the screen size because if you only need the monitor for reading tasks or simple web browsing, anything larger than 17″ might be too much.
Screen Resolution
The second most important feature on the list is screen resolution. If you need your screen for something routine like working with content management systems, reading spreadsheets, watching videos, or taking conference calls, you can easily opt for the standard 1080p HD resolution for your portable monitor.
On the other hand, there are some UHD 4K portable screens available on the market. However, a higher resolution isn’t as notable on smaller screens.
Choosing a monitor with an in-plane switching panel is also ideal, as that gives you a clearer image and an improved response time. If you do not have IPS, you might see a lag between your laptop and the portable monitor’s screen.
