The best portable monitors enable you to add a second display to your laptop or notebook, even when you're on the move. Small, light and easy to carry, they're a great way to create extra screen real-estate, whether you're doing design work, giving a presentation, enjoying TV entertainment or gaming. But with so many models on the market right now, often with very similar names, it's easy to get confused about which one to buy.
To help you out, we've brought together the very best portable monitors available today in one easy to read article. While each of these models has their own strengths and weaknesses, which we'll explain along the way, they all offer excellent value.
More specifically, they also all offer a 16:9 screen ratio and full HD 1080p resolution. We haven't included any 4K models, though, because quite frankly, there aren't any portable ones we feel comfortable recommending yet. However, we do have a more general selection of the best 4K monitors and the best 5K and 8K monitors if that's what you're interested in. Or or more options you could check out the best tablets for video editing, or the excellent Dell offerings in our best Dell monitors roundup. Want to mount your displays? Don't miss our roundup of the best monitor arms available now.
For now though, you can find the best portable monitors below.
The best portable monitors in 2021
Super-slim and lightweight, the 15.6in Asus MB16AC monitor is nothing if not portable. But its makers have sacrificed nothing in terms of functionality to make it so: indeed, quite the reverse.
Its screen offers pin-sharp, vibrant colour reproduction in 1080p, along with Asus' proprietary flicker-free and low blue light technologies, ensuring you get a comfortable and high-quality viewing experience. Like most of the best portable monitors, it also switches between portrait and landscape orientation automatically.
The MB16AC can be connected to your laptop in two different ways: via USB-C, or by USB-A using the DisplayLink driver. Plus you get a lovely foldable case and ZenScreen pen into the bargain. This might not be the cheapest model on our list, but overall its high-quality screen performance, versatility and cool freebies make it our number one choice.
A close runner-up in our selection of the best portable monitors, the HP EliteDisplay S14 is another good choice for working, gaming or watching entertainment while on the move. Slim, compact and light, it's easy to connect to your laptop via the included USB-C cable.
The screen, which features on-screen controls and a low blue light mode, provides impressive picture performance. HP's anti-glare tech will save you from getting headaches even in bright ambient light, and the screen automatically switches between portrait and landscape modes. You also get a useful cover, which doubles as a stand. In short, this is one of the best portable monitors around, and even though it's a little expensive, it offers excellent value overall.
If the first two portable monitors on our list are out of your price range, then here's a cheaper, yet still very decent alternative: the AOC I1659FWUX. For a very nice price indeed, you get an IPS (in-plane switching) panel that offers a great 1080p picture with accurate colours, dark blacks and and rich detail. It comes also with a nifty foldable stand, which doubles as a magnetic screen cover.
Admittedly, it's the heaviest of the portable monitors on our list, at 1.2kg, and you connect via the included USB 3.0 cable, rather than a more modern USB-C one, but we think those compromises are well worth making for the cost saving. That said, if you want to upgrade to the USB-C version, it still comes in at a pretty low price.
Even the best portable monitors usually draw their power directly from your laptop, which can drain its battery quickly. If you work on the move a lot, you might prefer to get a portable monitor with its own built-in battery, and here's our favourite.
The Asus ZenScreen GO MB16AP offers up to four hours' battery life under its own steam, and comes with a power adapter too. It automatically switches between landscape and portrait modes, and the picture quality is sharp and colour-accurate. It's also very light and portable at just 848g and 8mm thick. It can connect to your laptop via either USB-C or USB-A (using the included adapter).
Beyond that, the MB16AP comes with a foldable case that doubles as a stand, and a Zen screen pen to boot. So while this is the most expensive power monitor on this list, we feel it still represents very good value.
Weighing less than half a kilo and with a dinky 11.6in screen, the Gechic On-Lap 1101P is perfect for anyone travelling light. But its target audience is photographers, as it can be used as the second screen to not only a laptop but also a digital camera or tripod, using the included mount kit.
The bright and sharp screen makes the most of the 1080p display, which supports 16.7 million colours and can tweaked using the included colour temperature controls. And there's support for connections via VGA, micro HDMI аnd mini DisplаyPort. In short, this is a great choice for previewing pictures while you're out shooting, along with general use as a second laptop screen, albeit a small one.
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