Part 1 of my challenge switching from a MacBook Pro (MBP) to a Mac Mini M2 and trying to find a 15" to 18" monitor that matches the quality of Apple’s Retina displays.
Background
My 6 year old Intel-based MacBook Pro (MBP) with maxed out specs has been overheating a lot lately and struggling to run AI tools or even Adobe Lightroom. Since I realized I do most of my productive work at my desk at home, I opted for a Mac Mini this time. The performance difference has been incredible! A video clip in Topaz AI that would take an hour to process on my old MBP takes just a few minutes on my new Mac Mini M2 🤯
The only problem… replicating the screen of the MacBook Pro that I love and that I’m so used to has been surprisingly difficult.
Prior to getting the Mac Mini, I already had the ASUS ZenScreen MB16AC which I occasionally used as an additional monitor for my MBP. It’s fine for office work or casual use, but when I had to use it as my primary monitor for the Mac Mini I realized how inadequate the MB16AC is for photo and video editing: the sharpness of images is not clear without zooming in, it lacks brightness (just ~200 nits), and it supports just 262,000 colors (vs 16.77 million in a MBP display).
I figured the solution would be simple: I’ll just buy a new portable monitor that has similar specs to the Retina display that I’m used to (2880x1800 resolution with 220 Pixels Per Inch and Display-P3 support)! Or maybe I’ll just use my iPad as the Mac Mini’s primary display?
Both ideas turned out to be much harder than expected…
Option 1: Use my iPad?
I already have a Retina display iPad that I barely use, so I thought I could put it to use as my Mac Mini’s primary display. Turns out it’s not so simple. 😕 Physically connecting your iPad to your Mac Mini will not do anything except charge it. The iPad will still run as an iPad, because the iPad has no video input functionality.
Sidecar
Most Apple devices have the “Sidecar” feature, but it only works to make an iPad a secondary display, requires an internet connection, and I found it frequently disconnects when there’s inactivity (even when “Automatically reconnect” is enabled in the settings) which can get frustrating.
Luna Display & Duet
I learned that the only way to make an iPad a primary display for a Mac Mini or any other computer is to use a 3rd-party service. The main ones are Luna Display and Duet.
Luna Display sells a wireless USB dongle but also allows connections via USB cable. The issue is that both devices need to have the Luna app installed which requests permissions to control your computer and allow for screen recording (which they claim to not save but who knows for sure 🤷♂️). For me this is a red line that I’m not willing to cross. Also if you use the dongle, you won’t be able to simultaneously charge the iPad.
Duet requires a monthly subscription so I didn’t even bother to try it, but I think it’s safe to assume that it will require similar permissions as Luna Display in order to work.
Result: no good options here ❌
Option 2: Buy a Retina quality portable display?
I was surprised to find that 7 years after buying the ZenScreen MB16AC, most portable monitors on the market are still just “Full HD” (1920x1080) — meaning their pixel density (Pixels Per Inch) will be far below that of Apple’s Retina displays. What have monitor manufacturers been working on for the past 7 years? 😅
I was able to find only six portable monitors from reputable brands with a resolution higher than FHD. Here’s how they compare to each other as well as to the display of the latest MacBook Pro 16":
Note: while there are many different resolutions possible above Full HD, for portable monitors I could only find 2.5K / WQXGA (2560x1600) and 4K (3840x2160).
4K Options
For a 15–18" screen size, 4K is needed to match or exceed Apple Retina’s pixel density. Until around Autumn 2023, no reputable brand had released a 4K portable monitor. Then suddenly these four models were launched within a couple of months of each other:
- ViewSonic VX1655–4K (15.6", IPS, no touch, $400)
- ViewSonic VX1655–4K-OLED (15.6", OLED, no touch, $500)
- ASUS ProArt PA169CDV (15.6" IPS, touch screen, $900)
- Espresso 17 Pro (17.3" IPS, touch screen, $800)
Update: new models as of 2024:
- Xencelabs Pen Display 16 (15.6" OLED, touch screen, $1000 USD)
- Huion Kamvas Pro 19 (18.4" IPS, touch screen, $1100 USD)
One pattern that you’ll start to notice: almost every single 4K display with Display-P3 support comes with a touch screen, and this is extremely frustrating as a photographer and video editor who needs 4K and Display-P3 but has no need for touch functionality. This is a significant gap in the market right now and it would be amazing if a manufacturer could fill it.
ViewSonic VX1655–4K (released Aug/Sep 2023)
The VX1655–4K is the only 4K monitor that doesn’t come with touch, and thanks to that it is able cut the price by around half! 🥳
It has two variations: the IPS version and the OLED version. The IPS version is the most affordable in an already expensive category, and so that’s why I decided to give it a try. You can read my review here.
Unfortunately, the VX1655–4K comes out of the box poorly configured, and you’ll need to use a calibration tool like the Calibrite Display Pro HL ($280 USD) if you want to ensure accurate photo and video editing. But even after calibration, it has a warmer / greener tint than other calibrated displays. Also, it lacks support for Display-P3 (it’s sRGB only) and is capable of only 16.77 million colors (other displays are now at 1 billion colors).
In hindsight, I wish I had paid extra to try the OLED version which has 100% Display-P3 coverage and 1 billion colors. However, the OLED version lacks burn-in protection features and even exempts burn-in from the warranty. These are two big red flags. 🚩🚩
ASUS ProArt PA169CDV (released Sep 2023)
The ASUS ProArt PA169CDV takes color accuracy the most seriously. It is the only model that includes the Delta E value in tech specs, and the only model that is Pantone validated and Calman verified. This ensures it is color accurate and ready to use out of the box. No calibration needed (though it never hurts to double-check the calibration).
However, one concern is that they don’t publish what percent of Display-P3 is covered. It just says “DCI-P3 supported.” Presumably this means 99% or 100%? And if that’s the case, they should just say that directly.
Update: after talking with their customer support, it turns out that it covers only 91% of DCI-P3. This explains why the number is not included in the tech specs.
Another issue is that this monitor is only available with a touch screen (which most of us don’t need), and this makes it double the cost of non-touch 4K displays. The silver lining is that a touch screen is more durable and safer to travel with.
Note: the touch pen apparently only works when connected to a Windows computer. Only the Espresso 17 Pro is known to work with touch pens on macOS.
Espresso 17 Pro (released Oct 2023)
At 17.3", the Espresso 17 Pro is the second largest 4K portable monitor. What’s particularly impressive is that it has a pixel density of 254 PPI which is on par with the latest MacBook Pro displays! It also covers 100% of Display-P3, supports 1 billion colors, and comes with a cool portable magnetic stand. Perhaps best of all, it is designed and engineered by an Australian startup with a super responsive customer support team and with macOS compatibility as the first priority (all the other companies focus on Windows first).
After all my research and trying two other monitors, the Espresso 17 Pro ended up being the primary monitor for my Mac Mini. You can read my review here.
Huion Kamvas Pro 19 (released Jan 2024)
At 18.4", the Huion Kamvas Pro 19 the biggest of the 4K portable monitors. The issue with this monitor is that it is heavily tailored for digital artists, comes bundled with a lot of unnecessary accessories, can only do 220 nits of brightness, and even sacrifices image sharpness in favor of textured glass for pen users. As for color space support, Teoh on Tech got a measurement of just 93% for Adobe RGB and 88% for Display P3 — both of which are less than the official advertised values.
Xencelabs Pen Display 16 (released May 2024)
The Xencelabs Pen Display 16 is the newest and most promising 4K portable monitor. It’s the first to offer a proper OLED display with burn-in protection included (unlike the ViewSonic VX1655–4K-OLED)!
It also appears to be hardware-calibrated and has the ability to toggle between all the major color spaces like DCI-P3 (98%), Adobe RGB (98%), and sRGB (99%). This is the monitor I’m planning to buy next and to use as my secondary monitor.
The only thing preventing me from replacing my Espresso 17 Pro with it is the smaller screen size.
Other brands
There seem be a few random Chinese brands (“uPerfect”, “Intehill”, “Innocn”, “InnoView”, “KYY”, “Magedok”, etc) on Amazon offering 4K portable monitors with amazing specs at suspiciously low prices. They feel too good to be true and I really wanted them to be true, but after some research I managed to resist the temptation.
One of the more prominent of these brands that I considered is “uPerfect.” Their website even seems legit and professional. But then when shopping you start to notice the same model names being presented with differing specs. No version numbers are mentioned anywhere on the product listings or even on the packaging. As a consumer this made it very difficult for me to research and compare their models. Their own manufacturer seems to be confused as well. In one unboxing video, you can see that the manual included in the box is for a different variation of the monitor with different ports and specs.
The reviews for these generic brand monitors are mixed and don’t instil confidence. Many users seem to have an initial good impression but then report that the monitors stop working after just weeks or months of use and customer support is not honoring the warranty or getting users to ship the defective monitors to China which can be expensive.
2.5K (WQXGA) Options
The next level down from 4K is WQXGA (2560x1600), also sometimes known as “2.5K” or “2K QHD”. The two main options here are:
- ASUS ZenScreen MB16QHG
- LG Gram +view 16MR70 (not to be confused with the older 16MQ70 version which lacks power passthrough and has a worse cover/stand)
- Bonus: SOTSU FlipAction Pro 16" (its the LG 16MR70 repackaged inside of a custom frame with a portable stand and travel case)
- Update: ViewSonic recently launched the VG1656–2K, but it only supports a narrow color gamut (sRGB) which is not acceptable in 2024.
The WQXGA resolution (2560x1600) with 189 PPI seemed close enough to the WQXGA+ resolution (2880x1800) with 220 PPI that I’m used to on my 2018 MacBook Pro. So I ended up buying the LG 16MR70 before any of the more expensive 4K options. Unfortunately, when I received the LG I learned that the WQXGA resolution is too small.
When trying to use a WQXGA display with HiDPI mode (i.e. what Apple calls the “Retina” effect), the monitor scales down to 1280x800. A WQXGA+ display scales down to 1680x1050.
The issue with 1280x800 is that everything looks too big and many applications (like Lightroom, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, etc) become a pain to use. If you increase the resolution even a little bit to 1600x1000 to get things down to a more normal and usable size, you start to see significant pixilation which defeats the whole purpose of paying extra for a high resolution display.
Conclusion
I tried the two most budget friendly displays:
- one in the 4K category (ViewSonic VX1655–4K IPS version)
- one in the 2.5K / WQXGA category (LG Gram +view 16MR70)
… and was disappointed by both, as detailed in the reviews for each.
After lots of trial and error, here’s how I would do things differently based on various budget ranges:
Unlimited budget ($1,800 USD)
If budget wouldn’t be an issue, the dream combination of monitors would be:
- Primary: Espresso 17 Pro due to it’s larger size, solid specs (like 100% Display-P3 coverage), and amazing team.
- Secondary: Xencelabs Pen Display 16 for being an OLED with burn-in protection and for being hardware-calibrated for, and compatible with, multiple different color spaces (sRGB, Adobe RGB, and Display-P3).
Unfortunately, all of these displays have touch screens and are crazy expensive as a result. But even if you don’t plan to use the touch screen, the the benefit is that it makes the displays stronger and safer to travel with.
High budget ($1,300 USD)
If you want to pay less upfront in exchange for a greater risk of paying more later, then get the ViewSonic instead of the Xencelabs.
- Primary: Espresso 17 Pro due to it’s larger size, solid specs (like 100% Display-P3 coverage), and amazing team.
- Secondary: ViewSonicVX1655–4K-OLED due to it’s true blacks and 100% Display-P3 coverage. But be super careful how you use it due to the lack of burn-in protection and the warranty exclusion for burn-in.
Mid budget ($900 USD)
If you don’t want any of the pricy touch screen options and are ok having one monitor that is not 4K:
- Primary: ViewSonicVX1655–4K-OLED as the best non-touch 4K option.
- Secondary: Asus ZenScreen MB16QHG as the best WQXGA option (it blows the LG 16MR70 out of the water in almost every metric for just a tiny difference in price).
Low budget
If you can buy just one monitor, I’d recommend them in the following order:
- $1000 — Xencelabs Pen Display 16 for the best image quality (thanks to OLED) while having burn-in protection and a quick toggle for pre-calibrated color spaces (sRGB, Display-P3, Adobe RGB).
- $900 — ASUS ProArt PA169CDV if you only work with sRGB, color accuracy is important to your work, and you don’t already have a calibration tool.
- $800 — Espresso 17 Pro if you work with Display-P3, prefer a large screen, and plan to use touch on a macOS. This is the best option for most people looking for a comparable display to the MacBook Pro.
- $500 — ViewSonicVX1655–4K-OLED if you work with Display-P3 and don’t need touch, and you’re ok risking burn-in on a display that doesn’t have burn-in protection and excludes burn-in issues from warranty.
- $400 — ViewSonicVX1655–4K (IPS) if you only work with sRGB and you don’t need touch. But note that you’ll need to use a calibration tool like the Calibrite Display Pro HL ($280 USD) if you want to accurate colors (the color accuracy is horrible out of the box).
- $350 — Asus ZenScreen MB16QHG if you work with Display-P3, don’t need touch, and are fine with 2K resolution instead of 4K.
The End
I hope this guide was helpful! 😌 Searching for the best portable monitors became an unexpected passion project of mine. 🙈
I’m new to writing on Medium so please share any feedback in the comments, don’t be shy to ask questions, and let me know if there are any other awesome portable monitors that I might have missed! 🙏
