At STH, we have recently received a handful of portable flat-panel monitors. One we were super excited to test was the MNN M156F01 15.6in Portable Monitor. Why? This portable flat-panel monitor, at the writing of this article, is under $50 on Amazon. That makes it one of the cheapest new displays you can buy. Let us get into the review of the unit.
Here is the Amazon affiliate link to where we purchased this unit.
MNN M156F01 Hardware Overview
The monitor has a 15.6″ IPS screen with a Full HD 1920x1080P display.
Here is a look at the rear of the panel and its stand. It is around 10″ (Width) x 1.3″ (Depth) x 10″ (Height) with the foldable stand. It weighs 1.5 pounds.
The MNN M156F01 15.6in Portable Monitor comes screwed into the foldable case/stand.
It is designed to give you easy viewing at 60 degrees and 80 degrees. The case makes carrying and traveling with the monitor a breeze. On the other hand, there are two options for viewing angles, so those need to work for you. Also, this case works as a stand and is portable, but it is not as sturdy as a desktop stand.
The monitor has two full-feature Type-C Ports. You have a few options with these. First, you could use them as a display-only connection. You could also use them as a power-only option, especially when using an HDMI input. You can also use them with adapter cables to go to a DisplayPort monitor, for example.
It comes with a USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable. If you have a compatible Type-C port, this can both power and provide the display connectivity for the monitor.
The MNN M156F01 15.6in Portable Monitor also has a Mini HDMI port. This can be used for display-only connections, so you will need to power it in another way. Also, and very important here, is that this is not a full-sized HDMI port. Which means if you have an average HDMI to HDMI or DisplayPort to HDMI cable laying around, it will not work here as-is.
Luckily, it comes with a Mini HDMI to HDMI cable so you can plug it in directly to an HDMI out port. Of course, you will still need power, so that is where you can use the Type-C ports as power-only ports.
On the other side, it has a power/back button and a track wheel where you can control monitor brightness.
Next, let us see how the $50 monitor performs.
MNN M156F01 Performance
We decided to use our Datacolor SpyderPro to see what kind of color performance we get with these monitors. This is not the fanciest test equipment by any means, but we just wanted to get some general sense of performance.
Above we have the Color Gamut, and below we have the Color Accuracy from a Datacolor SpyderPro.
So, let us get real here for a moment. This is not great color accuracy and coverage. Then again, this is a $50 portable monitor.
As a quick comparison point, here is what we saw from the Dell Pro 14 Plus Portable monitor:
Here is the Dell’s color accuracy:
That is a pretty huge difference in display quality, but the Dell also costs significantly more.
Power Consumption
In terms of power consumption, we generally saw around 6.2W running this monitor off of the 5V input, and it was showing up on our test tool as a PD3.0 15W device.
Final Words
There are a ton of portable monitors available today. The MNN M156F01 15.6in Portable Monitor is certainly not the fanciest or the one that offers the best at any one thing. However, I do not think anyone is expecting it to be a professional color quality monitor at the current price point.
Currently selling for under $50 (when publishing this article), this will offer a great value to many people. If you just need a display to get some extra space, this works well. It is also portable, so if you get a mini PC or a host of small systems that you need to walk a monitor around to, then it would work great as well. Also, at a $50 price point, even including the USB Type-C cable and the Mini HDMI to HDMI cable, along with a case, is a nice touch since you can easily spend $50 on two cables and a carrying case alone at a retailer. I would not recommend this if you are looking for the best portable monitor to game on (60Hz!) or one with the widest color gamut/color accuracy. This monitor works great if you are simply looking for another monitor to extend your current display, or you want something lightweight to travel with.
Where to Buy
If you just want to pick one of these up, here is the Amazon affiliate link to where we purchased this unit.
