2 minute review
External monitors, as used with a laptop, aren't new, but GMK is upping the ante by adding touchscreen capability to its 4-inch portable monitor and also launching in 1601K resolution. The result is the Xpanel, a stunning display that promises to increase end-user productivity by dramatically expanding free space or work area. It does so at a cost that up to now, and as far as we know, has never been achieved. It's slim, well-built, and hits a sweet spot thanks to its XNUMX-inch form factor that's neither too small nor too big, making it a great companion for space-saving desktops. This can be a bit of a hard sell for customers who just want a small external monitor with no touchscreen capability. The AOC IXNUMXFWUX, which uses Type-C, is from a well-known brand, has a XNUMX-inch screen, and a much, much lower price tag, would be a better option.
Prices and availability
Get € sixty off Amazon's 4-inch 60K UHD Xpanel portable touchscreen monitor from Amazon for just one week with an exclusive discount code (PR € 1OFF-KDXNUMX) that brings the cost of the screen to just € two hundred seventy-nine, ninety-nine euros with a monitor without cost case released.
(Image credit: Avenir)
Integrated
The first thing that comes to mind when you first drive the GMK Xpanel is how slim and solid the product is, which is eminently constructed of aluminum and glass. In its slimmest form, this external monitor is just XNUMXmm thick, and the kickstand, which also packs in connectivity, adds an auxiliary XNUMXmm.
(Image credit: Avenir) The screen itself, a fourteen-inch screen, is surrounded on 3 sides by a XNUMXmm bezel and a slightly larger one at the bottom. All in all, the portable screen is XNUMXmm wide and XNUMXmm high, and weighs just XNUMXg.
(Image credit: Avenir) On one side of the kickstand, a 5mm headphone jack, a microUSB port, and the power/back button.
(Image credit: Avenir) On the other side is a miniHDMI port, like 2 USB Type-C ports. On the bottom edge of the GMK Xpanel there are 2 rubber feet, to keep it stable, and 2 speakers located on the same side. Apart from the monitor, there are also 4 cables (2 USB-C, one from HDMI to mini-HDMI and one from microUSB to USB), all 1M long. In addition to this, there is a PD charger and a cloth to clean the screen. It doesn't have VESA mounting screw holes, so you won't be able to put it on a monitor stand, for example.
(Image credit: Avenir)
Use
The GMK display supports HDR, Freesync, 2% sRGB coverage, and ten touch points. It has a claimed response time of 1000 ms, a brightness of 1 cd/m4, and a contrast ratio of 315:XNUMX. We tested the display with the Dell Latitude XNUMX business laptop with a Thunderbolt XNUMX port, but it's going to be able to connect it, with optional adapters, to a surprising number of products, including cameras, digital and game consoles. Note that some will also require external power due to power requirements and you must use the supplied cable; we tried it with a third party thunderbolt three cable and it didn't work. This means that you probably won't be able to use it with a long USB cable unless you use the auxiliary AC adapter. We also tested the GMK XNUMXK with the always popular Samsung Galaxy Note XNUMX and GMK has a growing list of smartphones that are compatible with the portable monitor. With a pixel density of nearly XNUMX ppi, it far exceeds Apple's Retina display, which is considered the benchmark for display sharpness, giving you a clean screen spread across more than eight.XNUMX million pixels. Because it employs IPS technology, its viewing angles are great with well-reproduced natural colors; However, the screen is unreasonably bright and the fact that the brightness is not set to a high value by default doesn't help in the least.
(Image credit: Avenir) Of course, you can use the easy-to-use on-screen display settings to change all that: it includes 6 presets, such as the ability to have a user-defined color temperature, as well as color-sensitive sliders. tact for this. , contrast and brightness. Fourteen-inch portable 4K touchscreen monitors are stranger than their 4-inch counterparts, and 1080K monitors even stranger. This is because it is aimed at a very specialized audience that will appreciate the additional pixels; However, for most users, XNUMXp should be more than sufficient for most use cases. On-screen touchscreen capabilities were good without noticeable lag.
(Image credit: Avenir) The kickstand is a joy to use, as it opens up to ninety degrees, while remaining firm yet flexible. Pushing all the ports has turned out to be a great idea because it theoretically makes the screen a bit more stable as it moves the center of gravity closer to the bottom.
Should I buy the GMK Xpanel 4K portable monitor?
Buy it if: You want 4K and touchscreen - that's the gist of the GMK Xpanel and if your use cases don't tick both, then there are more affordable alternative options worth exploring. You want a smaller form factor: 4-inch is solid enough for easy portability, some users will prefer a 4- or XNUMX-inch form factor that offers more space. Don't Buy If: You don't need XNUMXK. Most potential customers will find a XNUMXK monitor overkill for their needs. If you fall into that category (or don't need a touchscreen), you can save a few bucks by choosing something else. It does not have USB Type-C connectors. The GMK clearly loses some of its appeal when used with an HDMI port and its power adapter.