ASUS ZenScreen 24” 1080P Portable USB Monitor (MB249C) - FHD, IPS, Type-C, Speaker, Multi-stand Design, Kickstand, C-clamp Arm, Partition Hook, Carrying Handle, Work From Home Monitor, 3-Year Warranty

I don't often write reviews for monitors because in general, they either work or don't work (and usually in the first 5 minutes of your most demanding purpose.. you either print out the return label or toss the box it came in).. but this is a TRAVEL monitor.. which carries a different set of rules.. (for the record, I ditched the box)Just for an understanding of who I am.. I'm a person that travels a lot and basically keeps a mobile desk.. Laptops, additional screens, tablets, multiple phones, peripherals up the wazoo, and so many cables/adapters that if I could trade them for money, I would be a millionaire (small).So now that we have established the player.. on to the show.The simple, It's a monitor. And unlike its MB16AHP brother, this one lacks a speaker.. but this monitor is geared towards being an extension of a tablet/phone rather than a computer so that's not really a negative.. But it's a touch screen monitor. I use this with my mac and windows laptops.. (Windows recognizes this as a touch screen and loads appropriately.. sadly with OSX, you have to get a 3rd party driver (Using the Touch Base driver (it only supports 9 points vs. the monitor can do 10).. I wish Asus would include this somehow, but as the driver is about 150 dollars for a single install.. not sure if that's feasible.. but tis the price we Mac people pay.. *sniff*. Just something to think about Asus.The colours are rendered pretty accurately.. (primary monitor is Adobe 1998 colour calibrated.. and this after adjusting is pretty much on-par with the primary). Something I find is often an issue with monitors of different types/brands (especially travel ones)No flicker was detected even with some games (tested with Battlefront, and Witcher 3).. Low light is pretty solid (I tend to do a lot on airplanes at night, so a monitor that is solid in low/no light is important and this little baby is perfect with that.The battery life isn't bad (rated for 4 hours, I got about 3 hours and 35 minutes of use out of it (might have gotten a little more if I drop the brightness down.. but still 3.5 hours for a 15 inch screen is pretty good.. my macbook pro 15 does about the same with all the bells turned on.. so it matches with my primary use case well) .. (you can switch between using the onboard battery with phones/tablets) or cable charging (from a computer/desktop).. The screen doesn't "auto-rotate" but it can be rotated in software (via driver) or in the setup (via local controls). About the only thing am not so keen on is I wish the bezel was thinner.. but as it is, its pretty good.. When traveling, I use it vertically.. and when "local", horizontally.. when vertical its perfect as the screen clips don't take up any screen real estate, but horizontally... I'm taking up space and a half-inch on a 15" screen matters.. (especially if gaming). (but that's more when I want it mounted the way I have it in the picture.. otherwise I would just use the included cover/stand. (a la apple tablet)Some suggestion for purchasers.While this is geared toward tablet/phone purchasers.. Apple users will need a lightening to HDMI adapter (until apple starts supporting Type C like everyone else). so plan accordingly. For laptop/Desktop people its a little easier.Also take the time to go on Asus support site to get an explanation of all the options (I wish they would have included a printed book, but then again, I remember that had they did that, I would have tossed it away and gone to their site when I needed it.. so makes sense.. save a few trees because most of us won't really read the book until we NEED to).Yes, its a little more expensive than most of the other ones out there.. But I honestly found this one to be worth the money (and I don't say that lightly.. I have 4 mouths to feed, and a wife that believes tech = drugs (ie: both should be avoided whenever possible) so anything I spend has to be worth it (near term and long term). (its thin, light, has a battery (most don't.. only wish it would flow OUT to use as a secondary power source/battery pack) good resolution (1600x900 max).. and no ghosting for gaming.. (a lot of the cheap ones are fine for "work" (word processing, a few excel spreadsheets, or other graphically undemanding tasks.. but the second you put something with a high refresh rate.. you start seeing ghosting so bad you think the meds have kicked in (or worn off) then its not the one to get.In other words.. very nice Asus.. keep it up.

I prefer working on a larger screen and like to have 2 screens. This is an excellent 2nd monitor for my laptop. It's easy to connect to the laptop, the screen quality great. I bought a case for it for safe, convenient storage (in my case I slide it between my desk and the wall). My only wish is that it could use the laptop's power supply without an additional cord, but at the end of the day it is not a big deal. Highly recommend.

I gave it four stars instead of 5 due to reliability.- ProsThe ZenScreen Touch is a sleek device, its small and slim 9mm profile, and fits easily into a backpack. It's great for road warrior on the who likes the convenience for a dual-screen work environment. It's also great for connecting it to your Phone (Not Compatible with all phones) to watch a movie or play a mobile game on a larger screen.The model with the built-in battery is great for when you are not close to a charging source.- ConsThere are only two ports on the ZenScreen Touch placed on the bottom left edge - a micro HDMI and a USB-C that supports DisplayPort and is the sole charging port. This means that if you use USB C as you primary connection, the source will be it's only the only option to power to the monitor. This is an issue when you have this connected to your laptop when you are not close to a power outlet. This will serverly impact your Laptop's battery life. There is an option built into the Monitor that will prevent the Zen screen drawing power from the laptop (the model with Battery option) which address this issue. If this is an issue, Asus does have a 17" ROG (Republic of Gamers) model that looks almost identical to this model with an additional dedicated USB-C charging port. (The ROG model also has high refresh hitting 144hz to 240hz.)This brings me to the biggest issue of the ZenScreen model with the internal battery. When I run the battery level down to 0%, The monitor will not turn on at all. Any electrical charged from the USB-C cable will be directed to charging the battery, so the monitor will be useless until it reaches a predetermined power level. This happened to me already, but I didn't take note of the minimal charge level before it could turn on. I think it is safe for me to say that it'll turn on around 5%-10% battery levels.Which brings up another issue. If you allow the battery to drop to 0% and forget to charge it, you may break your monitor. Lithium batteries tend to have minimal safe power levels. If the battery drops below that power level, it will disable itself and the battery is no longer useable. (This is actually a safety feature and is used in all devices using Lithium Batteries.)That means, your monitor will be stuck in the charging state and will not turn on again until the battery is replaced by Asus. Be very aware of this if you do not plan to use your Zenscreen for an extended amount of time. You should charge your device to 80% (not 100%) before storing it away.Although the battery model sounds convenient, I recommend buying the model without the battery.Final Advice. I'm an Asus Fanboy, particularly with their premium ROG lines of products. I feel that the Quality of Asus products has been dropping drastically. If Amazon gives you an option to purchase a protection plan for this monitor, I HIGHLY recommend buying it, and this is why;I've had my Zenscreen for almost 2 months, and now the Menu button is not working. I might have to RMA this.I've also purchased a $600 Asus ROG Motherboard, and it had two dead memory ports. Asus has issued an RMA for it under warranty. I'm planning to send it out later this month. I'm responsible for the shipping fee.I've purchased a $1000 Asus ROG Phone 2 in April and it was Dead in Box. I got it replaced by Amazon. Shipping paid by Amazon Prime.I've purchased a $300 Asus Twin View dock in May and it was dead inbox. Asus is issuing an RMA under warranty, I have to pay for shipping.Now I think my $300 Asus Ryojin AIO CPU cooler is malfunctioning, I am preparing to request for an RMA.