The Best Portable Monitors In 2025

3 weeks ago

Whether you're moving connected nan go, gaming distant from your table aliases conscionable want a 2nd surface to boost your productivity, a portable show tin beryllium a useful solution. These lightweight displays are cleanable for adding much surface abstraction to your setup without taking up overmuch room — particularly useful if you're utilizing a compact laptop aliases walking often.

Many of nan champion portable monitors now support USB Type-C connections for easy plug-and-play setups, and immoderate moreover tally wholly connected USB power, truthful you don’t request to transportation other chargers. You’ll besides find models pinch useful extras for illustration built-in speakers, touchscreen support and wide compatibility pinch Windows laptops and tablets. Whether you’re aft a laptop surface extender aliases a imaginative companion for photograph editing connected nan go, there’s a portable show retired location for you.

Best portable monitors for 2025

Not only does nan Espresso 17 Pro characteristic beardown brightness (450 nits) and a ace premium design, but what really elevates this 2nd show are each of its accessories and companion apps. Espresso’s Stand Pro add-on feels downright bulletproof, while besides providing a ace beardown magnetic attachment strategy truthful you don’t request to interest astir kickstands aliases tripods. Meanwhile, for group who request other juice while retired and about, there’s a charging position pinch a immense 32,000 mAh battery. Alternatively, Espresso’s Jot package makes it easy to tie and markup docs pinch a stylus, which useful awesome pinch nan company’s surface protector and adds a much textured aboveground for amended feedback while drawing.

Its standout characteristic is plug-and-play touchscreen support erstwhile connected to a Mac, helping you unleash your creativity. Additionally, pinch 10-bit colour accuracy, 100 percent DCI-P3 sum and dual USB-C connections pinch powerfulness passthrough, this show is packed pinch features. It moreover includes HDR support for enhanced ocular depth. The only downside is nan value — starting astatine $799 — but aft testing it, we deliberation it’s worthy it, offering amended image value than galore machine monitors successful nan aforesaid size range.

$800 astatine B&H Photo

Read our afloat Espresso 15 Pro review

With nan 15 Pro, Espresso has made a smaller type of its flagship 4K portable show that's not only much compact, it besides has higher brightness than before. And arsenic you'd expect, it supports each of its bigger sibling's champion features, including a sleek design, single-cord setup (with 2 built-in USB-C ports) and moreover nan expertise to adhd touchscreen support to Macs. Plus, there's a wealthiness of accessories to take from, making nan 15 Pro an incredibly versatile, though somewhat pricey, prime for predominant travelers aliases anyone who conscionable wants a bully portable show astatine home.

$699 astatine Espresso

At conscionable $200, Plugable’s 15.6-inch portable monitor delivers everything you request successful a fund show and more. That’s because while it doesn’t person HDMI aliases DisplayPort, it features not 1 but 3 USB-C connections on pinch hub functionality acknowledgment to 2 10Gbps connections and 85-watt passthrough charging. And because nan show itself has a debased powerfulness draw, you astir apt won’t moreover request to usage nan included ceramic erstwhile connected to a laptop.

While nan sheet doesn’t boast higher solution specs, its opposition ratio and colour accuracy are coagulated for nan price. The 1 mini drawback is that image value goes down erstwhile viewed from acute angles, though that shouldn’t beryllium a immense woody because, from caput on, colors and sharpness are supra mean for nan money. Finally, while we don’t expect a ton of freebies to travel bundled pinch fund gadgets, Plugable does see a folding magnetic screen that doubles arsenic a kickstand and a USB-C 3.2 cable, which is simply a bully touch.

$240 astatine Amazon

Even though nan ROG Strix XG17AHP has been connected nan market for a while, it’s sewage awesome specs including a 17.3-inch show pinch an anti-reflective coating and afloat HD resolution, a wealthiness of ports and a blazing accelerated 240Hz refresh complaint (make it 1 of nan champion gaming show options successful nan portable space) — nan second of which is beautiful overmuch arsenic precocious you tin get from portable monitors today. I admit that its 7,800 mAh built-in artillery makes it easy to group up for short sessions without worrying astir a powerfulness source. This exemplary besides comes pinch a boatload of accessories including a recreation bag, folding cover, a ton of cables and more. It besides features a speedy disconnect strategy for attaching its included tripod, which is awesome erstwhile utilizing it astatine location aliases successful much semi-permanent configurations. Though if you for illustration to recreation moreover lighter, there’s a somewhat cheaper type that only comes pinch a kickstand alternatively of a tripod.

$428 astatine Amazon

For group who are perpetually connected nan go, Lenovo’s M14t Gen2 Mobile Monitor makes it easy to bring a bully 2nd show anyplace you want. Its 14-inch sheet features a higher solution 1440p show pinch a 100 percent sRGB colour gamut and a 16:10 facet ratio for a small other vertical surface space. It besides supports USB-C powerfulness pass-through (up to 65 watts) truthful it tin conveniently stock juice pinch a connected instrumentality for illustration a telephone aliases laptop. You besides get sketching support acknowledgment to Lenovo’s included stylus.

But nan champion portion is its built-in stand, which offers a unchangeable tilting characteristic that goes from zero to 90 degrees, truthful it’s easy adjustable moreover successful tight spaces. And weighing successful astatine conscionable 1.5 pounds, it won’t adhd a ton of other heft to your bag. Lenovo moreover tossed successful a bully carrying sleeve to guarantee nan sheet doesn’t get damaged successful transit.

Just cognize that location are a fewer different versions of nan M14t monitor; you tin prime 1 up for arsenic debased arsenic $284 straight from Lenovo. If you're looking to prevention a fewer dollars, publication nan spec database of nan exemplary you're reasoning of buying earlier pulling nan trigger.

$399 astatine CDW

Things to see earlier buying a portable monitor

Before you commencement looking astatine circumstantial products, it’s ace important to deliberation astir really and wherever you scheme connected utilizing a 2nd show arsenic a portable display. Larger panels are awesome for location usage wherever you whitethorn only request to move it aliases put it distant erstwhile you person institution over. Meanwhile, smaller screens are awesome for recreation and whipping retired astatine a java shop aliases shared workspace. But if you spell excessively small, you whitethorn beryllium adding other weight to your container without providing a ton of other utility, particularly if it lacks a bully USB-C cablegram aliases mini HDMI for connectivity. Screen size and compatibility pinch your existing devices should beryllium apical considerations.

It’s besides important to see your emblematic workload, arsenic artists whitethorn get other worth retired of monitors pinch higher maximum brightness, HDR, wider colour accuracy and a higher opposition ratio. Those who walk each time looking astatine spreadsheets won’t get arsenic overmuch worth from much vibrant displays aliases FHD displays pinch precocious refresh rates, but they whitethorn still use from having a basal plug-and-play 2nd show for multitasking.

What to look for successful a portable monitor

Aside from value and surface size, immoderate of nan astir important specs successful a portable show see sheet type, pixels per inch, brightness, refresh complaint and connectivity. Most portable monitors usage IPS LCD displays, which mostly connection bully viewing angles, beardown brightness and bully powerfulness efficiency. However, immoderate higher solution models now characteristic OLED screens that support wider colour gamuts, amended colour accuracy and opposition ratio, which tin beryllium a awesome use for artists and contented creators. Some fund models whitethorn usage TN panels, arsenic that tin thief trim costs and trim power consumption. That said, we mostly effort to enactment distant from those arsenic they often person worse image value compared to IPS screens.

For brightness, 300 nits is nan lowest we urge — thing little tin make nan show difficult to usage moreover successful immoderate indoor environments. Ideally, we look for screens that are person to 350 aliases 400 nits and supra for amended accuracy and visibility.

Connectivity is besides important because if you can’t easy hook your phone, gaming console, aliases laptop to a monitor, it becomes an oversized paperweight. Most recreation displays see an HDMI larboard aliases USB-C port(or both), which screen nan ample mostly of devices. It’s uncommon to find a portable show these days pinch only USB-A, since nan mostly of devices person moved complete to USB-C. However, we besides for illustration models that support passthrough powerfulness complete USB-C connections, which reduces nan complexity of your setup and decreases nan number of cords and adapters you person to transportation around.

Finally, astir portable monitors characteristic 60Hz refresh rates, which is good for astir usage cases. However, if you’re looking for a gaming monitor, location are models pinch 120Hz aliases moreover 240Hz refresh rates. These are fantabulous choices for gamers looking to support soft fps while playing connected nan go.

Portable show FAQs

What are nan disadvantages of a portable monitor?

The main disadvantage of a portable show successful comparison to a regular show is size. Most portable monitors beryllium successful nan 14- to 17-inch scope to let them to beryllium arsenic portable arsenic their sanction suggests. While you tin find immoderate portable monitors sized astatine 20 inches aliases larger, they go little and little convenient to return connected nan spell nan larger they get.

What is nan quality betwixt a tablet and a portable monitor?

A tablet is fundamentally a portable machine that tin tally apps, games and much without a supporting device. Portable monitors are so supportive devices designed to grow your surface existent estate; successful bid for them to person immoderate use, they must beryllium connected to a laptop aliases tablet.

What ports should I look for successful a portable monitor?

The astir important larboard to look for connected a portable show is nan 1 pinch which you'll link nan show to your computer. Most portable monitors will person either an HDMI aliases USB-C larboard to do this. After that, it's useful for a portable show to person different connectors specified arsenic a USB-A port, other USB-C ports and others for you to hook up further accessories.