Being able to separate a screen from the device that controls it has many advantages. Critically, if either the drive or the display fails, the active part can still be used.
On PC and Mac, a second screen can be used to extend the desktop or provide customer-oriented results of the service. And, if used as well as a mobile platform, it can effectively transform a phone or tablet into the equivalent of a laptop.
All of these capabilities seem useful to many technology users, but there is a financial threshold at which technology changes from being a good to have to something in which service customers will invest.
Today we are going to take a look at the Xpanel SE, a portable monitor for those who want an extra screen for any purpose.
Prices and availability
GMKTEC now concludes a Black Friday offer on the product that will reduce the price to €XNUMX, plus the standard price for cell phones free in the EU is €XNUMX and two hundred nineteen ninety-nine € aux États-Unis et in the Japanese country.
Depending on where you are located, the monitor can be shipped from the US, Japan or China, and those locations outside the US and Japan are supplied from China.
Integrated
Unless they have unique quirks, like the Nexdock XNUMX, most portable monitors are closely related, being an LCD panel supported by a kickstand.
The Xpanel SE does not paint outside these lines, and in this sense, new users will understand how to configure it without asking any documentation.
The stand leaves up to ninety degrees of tilt and can be bent if required.
On the left side of the edge of the bracket are the inputs, with a mini-HDMI and 2 USB-C ports, and on the right are the power button, a three with five mm audio jack for headphones and a small wheel to operate the OSD. menu.
Nutrition and charging is via USB-C, although a nutrition source is not included in the box. The GMKTEC site lists a source of nutrition as part of the package, which could be a fault with our package.
What we got with the Xpanel was a quality one meter USB-C cable, a USB-A to USB-C cable, and an HDMI to Mini-HDMI line.
There is also a single-sheet instruction booklet in English and Chinese, such as a cleaning cloth for the screen.
The six-inch fifteen-inch LCD panel has five-mm partially narrow borders on the top and sides, plus a more substantial stripe at the bottom where GMKTEC has placed its logo.
Since this is not a touch screen, the panel coating is not hard but rather soft and thank goodness GMKTEC makes a soft cover to protect it while traveling. Build quality is generally passable, but the documentation describes the screen as "flimsy" and they only offer a one-year warranty on this material.
Technically, we suspect that it is an IPS panel, although GMKTEC does not particularly state this in its documentation. Either way, the design offers great viewing angles, such as FreeSync and HDR functionality.
What we can say with more certainty is that the display's natural resolution is 1080p, not the 4K that the exact same company offers in an alternative fourteen-inch Xpanel product.
A slight disappointment compared to certain competing products, such as the Nexdock XNUMX, is that the Xpanel has no internal battery.
It is possible to monitor the screen from a phone, but it will significantly reduce the battery life of this device.
Use
The user experience of this product changes from reasonably good to frustrating, depending on what you try to achieve.
What works well is the umbrella term for a plug and play monitor for anyone with a computer or device that accepts HDMI or DisplayPort over USB-C.
We tested it using the exact same Huawei P30 Pro that we incorporated in the Nexdock XNUMX review, and it let the phone run in desktop mode for a Chromebook-like experience.
Together with Huawei, Samsung and Motorola are making phones that offer this phone-like-computer functionality. Google is also adding this technology to Android, so future mobile devices are likely to include this feature.
However, there is a weakness in the port design that could have served this purpose better, and that is the option to supply 2 USB-C ports. Although having 2 USB-C ports allows the Xpanel to be powered and connected to a phone, an auxiliary USB-A port could have been useful for connecting a mouse or keyboard.
This is still possible using a USB-C hub or using Bluetooth devices, but this is an auxiliary expense for the user.
Where the Xpanel is not great is when it comes to the OSD or the on-screen display. Not only is this menu impressively small compared to the screen, but navigating it with a curiously small side-scrolling device is devilishly clumsy. Perhaps the size of the tester's hand is a drawback, but we think that many users will find it quite difficult to master this counterintuitive control.
For those who can navigate their way, the menu contains the frequent suspects of brightness, contrast, and color temperature controls, such as the option to enable HDR and FreeSync.
You can also adjust the volume of the speakerphone, although setting them to XNUMX% did not produce the volume level we expected.
Unless you are in a totally stealthy space, the sound output is not sufficient to use the Xpanel to watch movies unless you are using headphones.
Performance
Most people will not consider this monitor to work in color, but we decided to do a screen analysis to understand the restrictions of this panel.
This found that the range of this display is only sixty-nine% sRGB and fifty-one% P3, unfortunately.
It is close to a static contrast ratio of 1000: 1, but the highest brightness was two hundred and thirty-one with six cd / m2, much less than what is required for HDR content.
Gloss uniformity isn't great either, but color uniformity is acceptable and the colors it can produce are rendered with reasonable precision.
Overall, it's not that great, but there is nothing to highlight other than acceptable contrast levels.
Competitors
Some of Xpanel's competing devices run on batteries, giving them a significant portability advantage over this solution.
Those of the exact same AC power selection include the Viewsonic VG1655, a virtually identical spec panel that costs € seventeen thousand sixty-eight in the UK and € twenty-four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine in the US. The selling point of the VG1655 is that it comes with a warranty period 3 times longer than that of the Xpanel.
One of the alternative options is a portable fifteen-inch monitor from UPERFECT. It has a 1080p design with USB-C, HDMI and Mini-DP inputs that can be oriented in portrait mode in addition to this landscape. You also have the option of VESA mounting seventy-five. They are sold for just € fifteen thousand two hundred and ninety-nine in the UK and € one hundred and ninety-nine in the US.
For fans of the brand, the ASUS ZenScreen MB16AC is a comparable specification, and the cost of this alternative is € twenty-two thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine.
Final verdict
This product has its place, but it is not the one that fully justifies its cost.
What we can say is that it delivers on most of the promises made by GMKTEC, as it works with desk phones and any device that can produce HDMI output.
Its portability is compromised by the lack of battery, and desk phone users require a USB-C hub if they want to use a mouse and keyboard and do not have a Bluetooth connection.
The display, while far from unusual, is suitable for general use. But it is a mystery why HDR was included when the maximum brightness is not enough to create the precise contrast levels. And likewise, FreeSync is a controversial inclusion in a system with a maximum refresh rate of just 60Hz.
When low audio levels are kept in mind, this would not be our first choice for gaming or watching movies. Yes, it can, but it is not an ideal scenario.
The last drawback is that it is cost competitive with brand name products that offer tightly knit specifications. And that reduces certain, but GMKTEC only offers a one year warranty, while ViewSonic offers 3 years of coverage.
At Black Friday cost of € sixteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, the Xpanel might have buyers, but we're not sure if it's worth the standard cost with such a short warranty.