The 5 Best Portable Monitors in 2025

It’s hard to believe that any portable monitor can come packing all the features you need for a quality gaming setup from anywhere, but the Asus ROG Strix XG16AHPE may be just that. Like some of our favorite gaming monitors, this portable option boasts a 240Hz refresh rate with Nvidia G-Sync compatibility and low input lag, so you’re in for smooth, tear-free gameplay. You also get a plenty bright 17.3-inch 1080p display featuring an IPS panel for easy viewing from any angle.

This is a display that is custom tuned for gaming. Its 240Hz refresh rate means that you can enjoy improved motion clarity and lower input latency. Asus has also dedicated effort to response time, in particular offering 3ms of responsiveness compared to 6ms or higher found on others like the Espresso Pro 17 found later in this guide. Because it supports Adaptive Sync (Variable Refresh Rate), you can be confident that your gameplay will be buttery smooth and free of any tearing to detract from the experience.

It's not just gaming, though. It's gaming on the go. The XG16AHPE has tons of portability features that allow you to use it anywhere. It has two USB Type-C ports, one for video input and one to quick charge its massive 7,800mAh battery. It also features speakers so you can hear your games or YouTube videos on the go. Though they're a bit clearer than most portable monitors I've tested, a dedicated gaming headset will still provide an improved audio experience.

Though the focus is clearly on gaming, and, let's be honest, you're paying a bit of a premium for that, it's also excellent as a normal second screen for your laptop or PC. With 17.3 inches of screen real estate, it's spacious enough to be usable for watching videos, browsing the web, or even getting work done. The built-in battery also comes in handy here, saving the need for extra cables. Running the display at a productivity and entertainment-centered 60Hz instead of its native rapid refresh rate (designed for competitive gaming) also extends battery life significantly, getting you closer to a full work day of intermittent use.

The Asus ROG Strix XG16AHPE is an outstanding portable monitor that's packed with useful features no matter what your use case may be.

I have a confession to make: When I first looked at the Arzopa Z1 FC 144Hz portable gaming monitor, I assumed it would be like the multitude of others around this price point (in fairness, there are a lot of "me too" budget monitors out there). It's anything but. For around $100, it offers a lot for a little and has definitely left me impressed.

This monitor features a pretty standard 1080p resolution but an expanded screen size of 16.1 inches. It comes with an IPS panel for rich color reproduction and slightly-better-than-average contrast with a 1200:1 ratio (1000:1 is most common). It covers 100% of the sRGB color space, so everythign should look just as you expect it to, whether you're using this display alongside a laptop or a console – though the color temperature is a bit cool, so I'd still recommend visiting the settings menu.

More than most other monitors on this list, you might actually want to use it with a console a bit more beefy than the Nintendo Switch, like the Steam Deck or Asus ROG Ally, or even your PS5 or Xbox. That's because it's able to run all the way up to 144Hz, more than doubling the refresh rate of many competing monitors and lowering its input latency for more responsive gameplay.

You won't need to worry about connectivity either. This monitor supports USB Type-C video or mini-HDMI and includes all the cables you'll need to get up and running. It also features a USB Type-A port for connecting a controller or other accessory. When it's time to pack things up or take it on the go, it also comes with a folio cover to protect the screen.

At 300 nits of peak brightness, it's noticeably brighter than many other monitors around this price and, though I wouldn't recommend it for most portable monitors, at least one fan reports that he can easily use it outdoors and dozens of others have shared how impressive they find it. That's a testament to the "extra" Arzopa has baked into this display.

At this price, there's almost always a caveat. That's true here too, but honestly, it's pretty minor. The speakers just aren't great. They don't get loud enough and have the same tinny quality I've reported on dozens of times with gaming laptops. I would definitely use this monitor with headphones if I needed audio. But overall, the Arzopa Z1FC is a great budget pick that shows "affordable" doesn't have to mean "bland."

The Espresso Pro 17 is a premium high-performance portable monitor for anyone that needs a full 4K experience on the go. Hailing from the Land Down Under, Espresso has made its name on developing elegant – some would even say "Apple-esque" – products that are simple to use, easy to carry, and consistently high quality.

One of the things I loved about this monitor when I tested it is how close it gets to offering a full computer monitor experience. This is in large part because it comes with a magnetic folding stand that offers both height and tilt adjustments. It can connect to your laptop or computer with a single high bandwidth USB-C cable, so it's literally as simple as unfolding the stand, sticking the display to its panel, and plugging it in.

The real selling point here is its screen. It's incredible. It covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color space, and with its 450 nits of brightness and 4K resolution, offers a crisp, colorful, and accurate viewing experience. You could easily use this display for creative work without worrying about investing in calibration after the fact. It also features an accelerometer and can automatically switch between portrait and landscape modes simply by rotating it to the orientation you would prefer.

The Espresso 17 Pro doesn't come cheap, but across all of the portable monitors I've tested, it certainly feels the most premium. From the unboxing experience to the fit and finish of its design, there's the sense that you're getting something boutique and made to last. It's built around simplicity, but you're not forced into sacrifices for the privilege.

With that praise in mind, there are a couple of critiques to be made here outside of its subjective value. It doesn't come with a case, which it really should at this price point. If you're a gamer, it's also not the best fit. While it will work for gaming, it's locked to 60Hz, so it can't take full advantage of your Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5. It also features a 9ms response time, so ghosting is possible even though I didn't perceive any in actual gameplay. The Espresso 17 Pro is truly a standout pick in the 4K market.

The best OLED monitors are known for their high contrast and brightness, and the ViewSonic ColorPro VP16-OLED packs that technology into a lightweight, ultra-thin full HD monitor. This portable monitor is all about professional quality. Its display is Pantone-validated, so you can edit photos, videos, and create digital art knowing that your work will be industry standard and ready for submission. At $399, this monitor isn't the cheapest, but when you look at everything it offers, it's a heck of a value.

Sticking with the screen for a minute, its 15.6-inch span is spacious enough to match most laptops' screen real estate and offers similar, if not better, brightness than many at 400 nits of peak output. Because it uses an OLED panel, it's able to offer infinite contrast for true blacks and a wider dynamic range. Its color coverage is also fantastic, including 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. It only runs at 60Hz, so it doesn't feel as fluid as a dedicated gaming monitor, but it can still work well for gaming due to its high-quality screen.

It's well equipped outside of the display too. It comes with two USB-C ports on its versatile folding stand. It can receive both power and video through one of these ports, so you can connect it with a single cable if you'd like, but it also supports passthrough charging so you can connect a GaN charger to power your laptop at the same time. It also features a micro HDMI port for easy compatibility with a wide range of Windows computers while also supporting Mac.

If all of that weren't enough, it's also very portable, weighing only 2.2lbs and able to fold down to 0.8 inches in thickness. You can easily slide this into a bag alongside a laptop without feeling overly weighed down or cramped on additional space.

All in all, the ViewSonic ColorPro VP16-OLED is a killer monitor at a very good price. It should be at the top of your list if you are a creative professional looking to enhance your productivity on the go.

If you're a digital artist ready to take your craft to the next level without spending thousands of dollars on a monitor, the choice is obvious: the Wacom Cintiq Pro 16. This monitor may be a few years old now, but its performance is still top of the line, and that time in the field has only proven its mark as a mainstay of the digital art community.

The appeal of the Cintiq lies in its display and pen experience. It uses a bright 4K resolution screen with wide color gamut support (up to 98% of Adobe RGB). Its etched screen gives a sense of tactility when using the pen similar to drawing with pencil and paper. The pen itself features 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and is fully customizable with integrated buttons and an eraser on the opposite end.

The Cintiq Pro can also enhance your workflow with its eight programmable Express Keys that can be mapped to different commands in Wacom's software. The display also supports multi-touch and gesture support for easy navigation and control of your PC.

The only downside is its price. Since its release in 2021, competition has exploded. But to this day, it's still hard to find anything that competes with its quality, reliability, and feature set, making this a fantastic pick for any artist.