1.Best Overall2.Best Value3.Best for Productivity4.Best for Gaming5.Best Small-Screen6.Best Dual Screen7.Best Wireless8.Shopping Tips9.Discounts
A portable monitor can provide an extra screen for your laptop when you travel, serve as a compact display for aRaspberry Piproject, help you test a desktop that’s still on your workbench, or even connect to a game console when you take it on vacation. Regarding the best portable monitors, I prioritize good image quality, lightweight chassis, strong usability, and many connectivity options.
With prices ranging from under $60 to well over $700, screen sizes ranging from 10.5 inches to 18.5+ inches and beyond, resolutions reaching as high as 4K, and options such as high refresh rates, wireless connectivity, and touch input, there are a ton of options to choose from. I’ve extensively tested various makes and models to help you find the best portable monitor for your needs.
Below are our top choices, followed by some portable monitor shopping tips and details on how we benchmark. If you’re looking for a screen that stays on your desk, check out our list of thebest gaming monitors.
The Best Portable Monitors You Can Buy Today
Why you can trust Tom’s HardwareOur expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
The ViewSonic TD1656-2K is the sweet sport when it comes to portable monitors. Not only does it have a large 16-inch IPS panel, but it also boasts a generous 2K (2560 x 1600) display. At this price point, you’re usually stuck with 1080p or 1200p panels, so the TD1656-2K is a cut above the rest.
The TD1656-2K also has multi-touch, which is natively supported inWindows 11. However, that support also extends to macOS thanks to ViewSonic’s vTouch software package. An active stylus pen is also included in the box to assist in taking notes or drawing images in macOS or Windows.
Beyond the excellent hardware features (including a premium-feeling aluminum chassis), the TD1656-2K was near the top of the class in DCI-P3 and sRGB coverage and topped all competitors in brightness (363 nits).
With a price tag of $299, the TD1656-2K is an easy pick as a versatile, do-everything portable monitor.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a race to the bottom with respect to portable monitor pricing. However, the steep decline in street prices doesn’t mean that you have to contend with extremely poor quality (as was once the case in this segment).
Enter the Arzopa A1, which is a value-priced, no-frills 15.6-inch portable monitor. It has a 1080p resolution, which is standard for this class, and an integrated kickstand (which we absolutely love for portable monitors).
The A1 features two USB-C ports and even includes a mini-HDMI port (which is sometimes left out to reach a lower price point). I was even surprised at the dual 1-watt speakers, which offer good clarity and output. This is almost unheard of in a portable monitor that costs well under $100.
you may’t have it all regarding a budget monitor, and the A1 does fall behind the competition in color performance. In addition, its maximum brightness (which we measured at 228 nits) was vastly outperformed by its competitors. However, the current street price for the A1 is $70, making it an easy pick for value-conscious consumers.
We’ve previously been impressed with theEspresso Displays 17 Pro, a 17-inch portable monitor that offers a remarkable picture, a high-quality chassis, and a trick magnetic stand. Now, the company has delivered a slightly smaller counterpart that still has all of those perks with a lower price tag.
The new 15 Pro features a 15.6-inch IPS panel (down from 17.3 inches), but still retains a 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution. Espresso Displays also managed to improve upon the 17 Pro by boosting the maximum brightness by over 50 percent in our testing.
The monitor ships with the Stand+, which is a versatile articulating stand that magnetically attaches to the back. Because of the magnets, you’re able to easily transition the 15 Pro from landscape to portrait mode. Likewise, you can adjust the height and tilt to suit your viewing preferences. There’s also an extra hinged “leg” at the bottom of the stand that allows you to position the 15 Pro above your laptop’s integrated display.
But the perks don’t end there. The 15 Pro also has multi-touch support, which works natively in Windows 11. However, that support extends to macOS when you install the free EspressFlow software. EspressoFlow also lets you configure virtual desktops for the 15 Pro.
With a price tag of $699, the 15 Pro isn’t cheap, but it offers a complete package for productivity warriors who crave some extra display resolution, flexibility with viewing modes, and a well-integrated software experience.
The Nexigo NG17FGQ achieves a feat that we don’t often see in the portable monitor realm: it offers a tantalizing 300Hz refresh rate in a 17.3-inch form factor and connects to a laptop or desktop via HDMI or USB-C (DisplayPort Alt-Mode).
However, you’ll need to connect the monitor to a PC with a USB-C cable to reach that 300Hz threshold. Connecting via an HDMI cable limits you to 240Hz, which is still not bad for a portable monitor.
Thanks to its good build quality, excellent color representation, and great performance while gaming, the NG17FGQ is hard to beat for mobile gamers looking for a step up in performance. If that wasn’t enough, a remote is included in the box to make it easier to navigate the OSD (instead of fumbling with sometimes poorly-placed physical buttons on the actual monitor) along with built-in speakers.
Feelworld may not be a name familiar to the general public, but the company’s DH101 portable monitor is a real winner. Portable monitors typically measure 13.3 to 17.3 inches in size. However, the DH101 bucks that trend with a relatively small 10.1-inch diagonal.
Despite its small size, Feelworld has infused the DH101 with plenty of features, including a robust and adjustable kickstand. All of the monitor’s ports are located on the kickstand, which prevents cables from hanging off the display, which is a huge plus. In addition, the monitor supports touch, which is a nice bonus for this value-priced offering. Other features include integrated speakers and an extra USB-C port to connect low-power devices like keyboards, mice, and USB sticks.
It’s hard to find any significant deficit with the Feelworld DH101, other than the speakers being a bit disappointing inaudioquality. However, with a price tag of around $130, it easy to overlook that flaw.
Limink truly has a standout product with its LK14 portable monitor. While we’re used to seeing single-screen portable monitors in various sizes, the LK14 bucks that trend with dual screens. You get multiple screens flanking your laptops, and the whole unit is built with high-quality materials and precision.
Each 14-inch monitor offers a 1920 x 1200 resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, and a maximum brightness of 400 nits. In addition to providing excellent overall image quality, the LK14 is also actually useful as an everyday accessory for your laptop. You get a huge increase in available screen real estate for your daily productivity needs.
Even though Limink bills the LK14 as a portable monitor, its 3.22-pound weight blunts its effectiveness there. However, the unit at least folds up into an easily transportable package and slips into a nice, book-style pleather case.
However, the Limink LK14 doesn’t come cheap, given its $700 MSRP. However, regular sales see the LK14 dip below $600 for those who can truly take advantage of its capabilities.
ViewSonic has a vast portfolio of portable monitors, many of which I’ve reviewed for Tom’s Hardware. However, one of the company’s most impressive entries is the VG1656N, a feature-packed entry retailing for less than $300.
The monitor measures a relatively large 16 inches across with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 (16:10). If you’re looking for HDMI connectivity, you won’t find it here. However, the VG1656N does include two USB-C ports with DisplayPort Alt Mode support. More importantly, the VG1656N also supports wireless connectivity via the ViewSonic VG19948 USB-C dongle.
You can use the dongle with smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other computing devices. For example, the VG1656N shows up as an AirPlay display on Apple devices, allowing me to enjoy iOS games on the 16-inch display instead of my iPhone 16 Pro’s built-in 6.3-inch display. Bolstering this wireless support is a built-in battery for true “wireless” connectivity.
From a performance perspective, the VG1656N is among the top performers in terms of color but is mid-pack in brightness.
With a price tag of $299, the VG1656N isn’t an impulse buy for a portable monitor. However, it offers plenty of enticing features that make it a perfect fit for mobile warriors.
More:ViewSonic VG1656N review
Shopping Tips for Best Portable Monitors
For more guidance picking a monitor of any resolution – gaming or otherwise – check out ourPC Monitor Buying Guideand list of theBest Computer Monitors.
Discounts on the Best Portable Monitors
Whether you’re shopping for one of the screens that made our list of best portable monitors above or something else, you may find savings by checking out ourbest monitor deals page, along with our lists ofDell coupon codes,Lenovo coupon codes,LG coupon codes,HP coupon codes,Monoprice coupon codesandNewegg promo codes.
MORE:All Monitor Content
MORE:HDMI vs. DisplayPort: Which Is Better For Gaming?
Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Brandon Hill is a senior editor at Tom’s Hardware. He has written about PC and Mac tech since the late 1990s with bylines at AnandTech, DailyTech, and Hot Hardware. When he is not consuming copious amounts of tech news, he can be found enjoying the NC mountains or the beach with his wife and two sons.
