7 Best Portable Monitors of 2024

Most people will only need a few things from their portable monitor: a good-sized screen, good picture quality and ease of use. This model from ASUS has all three packed at a relatively affordable price. The 15.6-inch display has a 1080p resolution that provides a crisp screen for drafting emails or having videos run in the background. At less than 2 pounds, it’s light enough to pack in a backpack alongside a laptop without weighing you down.

It quickly connects to your laptop with a USB-C cable, but you can also get a USB-A-compatible dongle to hook it up to older laptops. You can use it in both landscape and portrait orientations thanks to the kickstand, and there’s the option to attach it to a tripod kickstand for a higher viewing.

At just over $100, this is one of the best portable monitors you’ll get for this price point. It doesn’t offer a ton of bells and whistles like a touchscreen or any software to connect wirelessly. But it does have a 15.6-inch display with 1080p resolution, two USB-C ports and weighs just 1.7 pounds. There’s also a mini HDMI port, allowing for connection with any PC, Mac, smartphone, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and PS5 for the ultimate work or gameplay setup on-the-go. Reviewers think the stand is a bit flimsy, but it should still work well if you’re not planning to jostle it around too much.

For designers and graphic artists, having a touchscreen as part of your portable monitor can be quite beneficial, essentially transforming it into a connected tablet that you can draw and create with a stylus.

The screen on the ASUS ProArt is a bit smaller at 14 inches, but that makes it easier to hold, and you can watch your creations come to life with the high-quality 1080p resolution. It integrates with Adobe products, making it a great control panel if you use Photoshop or Premiere Pro. It can connect to both PCs and Macs with the included two USB-C ports and one micro HDMI port.

While it’s great for creation, reviews do note that the built-in speaker isn’t that high quality, so you’ll likely have to use Bluetooth headphones for video editing and watching.

Gaming on-the-go couldn’t be easier with the ASUS ROG Strix. At 240 hertz, it has the highest refresh rate on the list, coupled with a large 17-inch screen and HD visuals for crisp details of whatever you’re playing.

With two USB-C ports and a micro-HDMI port, you can seamlessly connect it to game consoles, smartphones and laptops with up to three-hour battery life on max settings — but it should last longer otherwise. Despite its larger size, it still only weighs just over 2 pounds, and there’s an included cover to help protect it from dust and scratches.

As a bonus, you can prop the monitor either vertically or horizontally to best suit what you're playing.

An attachable monitor makes looking at two screens side by side that much easier and it can help save space at your workspace because it doesn’t need to physically sit on your desk.

The SideTrak Swivel boasts a 14-inch screen and 1080p resolution, and you can adjust it to your perfect viewing angle with a 360º swivel and 270º rotation. When you need to stash it away, the display slides into the frame on the back of your computer. However, when you do need to take it off, it can also stand on its own in a horizontal or vertical display using the included kickstand.

It connects to your laptop via a USB-C port or mini HDMI port, though at 3.25 pounds, it can feel a bit heavier than other monitors on this list.

PC users will appreciate that this ViewSonic will seamlessly connect to their laptop via a USB-C cable without much fuss. Like other top portable monitors, it has a generous 15.6-inch display and 1080p resolution that is ideal for typing away and viewing documents. While it can only be viewed horizontally, it has an adjustable riser so you can set the screen to match the height of your laptop’s display for a better ergonomic view, and it’s pretty lightweight at 1.5 pounds.

If you have to lug around a monitor alongside your laptop, you ideally want something as lightweight as possible. The Lenovo ThinkVision takes the cake at just 1.25 pounds, the lightest on this list. Although the screen is slightly shorter at 14 inches long, it has a solid 1080p resolution and won’t take up too much space in your bag. The sturdy, tiltable stand makes it easy to adjust the angle and pack it away, but it can only attach to laptops via a USB-C port rather than a micro HDMI port.