Best Portable Monitors 2021

If you’ve got one at home or at work, you’ll know that once you’re used to a multi-monitor setup it’s difficult to go back to a single monitor. Unfortunately, when you’re on the go, your second monitor can’t really fit in your back with your laptop. Thankfully, there are now more and more options in the portable monitor category.

These monitors are designed to be small, lightweight, and protected from small bumps and scratches. They’re pretty much the same size as a laptop so they’re easy enough to carry around. Some also support HDMI input and so can be used with other devices like games consoles.

To save you the time of researching everything on your own, we’ve drawn up a list of the best portable monitors in 2021.

The MSI Optix MAG161V is a 1080p 60Hz “gaming” monitor. While this is certainly enough to play games on, it isn’t really the high resolution or high-refresh-rate that many gamers would look for. The IPS panel offers good contrast, solid viewing angles, and has an anti-glare coating. The built-in speakers give you an audio option that many portable monitors don’t.

It’s light at 895 grams, and ultra-slim with most of the body being just 5mm thick, while the portion with the ports is 11mm thick. The backlight leaves a fair amount to be desired only putting out 180 nits of light. The magnetic cover doubles as a folding stand, but can be quite fiddly to properly support the monitor. Connectivity is strong with two USB Type-C ports, one mini-HDMI port, and a 3.5mm audio-out jack.

The Wacom Cintiq 16 is a 1080p 16-inch graphics tablet. It covers 96% of the sRGB colour space and 72% of the NTSC colour space. While these stats and the lack of multi-touch support are relatively weak for a graphics tablet aimed at artists, it’s also less than half the price of the comparable Cintiq Pro 16 at just $649 making it a solid introductory model.

The included Wacom Pro Pen 2 is powered wirelessly, so you never need to worry about recharging it, it also has 8192 pressure tiers. While the monitor itself is heave at almost 2kg, that shouldn’t matter much as it will likely stay in one place most of the time.

The Asus ZenScreen Touch MB16AMT is another 15.6-inch 1080p 60Hz monitor. One of the big standout features is the included battery which can support up to 4 hours of operation at the maximum brightness setting. The screen itself is a touch screen, supporting 10-point multi-touch and gestures. the metal screen cover also doubles as a stand that can work in both portrait and vertical orientations.

A stylus comes included, although you need to be careful which end you use as the other end is an actual pen. The monitor has two ports, a micro-HDMI port and a USB Type-C port that supports DisplayPort over USB-C. You don’t even have to buy any cables as it comes with an HDMI to micro-HDMI cable, DisplayPort over USB-C cable, and USB Type-A to USB Type-C adaptor. One of the few downsides is that some colours appear quite dull. It’s not even that heavy at 0.9kg or wide at 9mm, including the metal stand cover. While it is relatively expensive, (although not compared to a graphics tablet) the touch capabilities and battery are pretty big selling points.

The ViewSonic TD1655 offers a similar feature set to the Asus ZenScreen Touch above. The main difference is the lack of battery and the noticeably cheaper price. One feature the TD1655 has is USB-C power pass-through thanks to its dual USB Type-C ports, this allows it to charge other devices it is connected to.

The narrow top and side bezels give the 1080p 75Hz multi-touch screen a clean edge. Rather than using a combined cover and folding stand, the ViewSonic has a built-in hinged stand and a separate screen cover. The main weak points are the dull colours and the glossy screen that can result in screen glare.

The Lenovo ThinkVision M14 has a 14-inch 1080p 60Hz display whose 72% NTSC gamut rating means it covers almost 100% of the sRGB colour space. The screen is supported by ThinkPad style hinges that allow it to tilt between -5° to 90°. The dual USB Type-C ports are placed one on either side, so you can choose where to connect the cable to the driving computer.

The DisplayPort over USB-C and Power Distribution over USB-C allows the computer to power and send data to the ThinkVision with a single cable. Alternatively, with the charger plugged into the other USB Type-C port, the ThinkVision can also pass power through to laptops, allowing them to charge while connected. The limit to only USB-C connections will restrict what devices can connect. The Kensington lock could be useful, but it seems a bit counter-productive to lock down a “portable” monitor. The lock port is also pretty close to a USB-C port which could get damaged if you’re not careful and try to jam it in the wrong slot.

That was our selection of the best portable monitors in 2021. Have you bought a portable monitor and want to recommend something else or agree with us? If so, leave a comment down below.