Lumonitor Self-Powered 4K Portable Monitor Review

We were recently sent a Lumonitor 4K portable monitor to review. This portable screen has its own battery, speakers and enough connections to cater for anything you can throw at it. On the face of it, the Lumonitor is something I can think of many use cases for so I was interested to put some of those to the test and figure out why devices like this aren’t more popular than they are.

What’s in the Box

Along with the Lumonitor, you get a USB C to USB C cable for both charging and for connecting devices, you get an HDMI to mini HDMI cable, a Micro USB cable and a power adapter.

Lumonitor Specs

The Lumonitor is very well spec’d. Here are some of the main features:

—  15.6” 4K resolution Touch Screen

—  LED-backlit

—  6mm width

—  580 grams

—  2 x 4000mAh batteries

—  10ms response time

—  2 x Type C USB ports

—  3.5mm AUX port

—  Micro USB port

—  HDMI port

What’s it Like to Use?

Initially when I unboxed the Lumonitor what came to mind was that the device is aimed at being used on a mount or stand. While it’s possible to hold it in your hand, it pushing the boundaries of what is comfortable. At 15.6”, the Lumonitor is a big device. It even makes my 12” iPad Pro seem small in comparison.

It feels like a device you will use as a second monitor or as a mobile monitor when you are out and about and in both these circumstances it excels, but as a tablet replacement, I am not so sure.

The places I felt I could put it to best use was as a second screen for my MacBook Air, to use as a monitor for Samsung Dex via my smartphone and to be a screen for my kids to game on or watch videos so I set about testing it in these scenarios.

MacBook Second Screen

When I am in my office I use a dual monitor setup so when I am out and about working on my MacBook Air you really notice the reduction in productivity using only one screen. As good a job MacOS does with multiple desktops, you still can beat being able to work on one screen while still being able to look at another.

Adding the Lumonitor as a second screen is as easy as connecting the included USB C cable to both devices. From there you have a second screen ready to use. One thing that doesn’t work here with MacOS is the touchscreen.

This isn’t a deal-breaker by any means for me as you are not used to touching the screen on MacBooks anyway. After doing a little research online, I found that some people had been able to get it working by purchasing a proprietary driver so it seems to be possible.

The 4K screen comes into its own here as it is razor-sharp and it doesn’t feel like you’re using a lesser quality screen than the one on the MacBook. With both the Lumonitor and the MacBook in my haversack, it is starting to get a little heavy so it’s a nice option to have when you know you will make good use of the second screen but not a combination I’d like to be carrying around all the time. The Lumonitor is rated to last for four hours of use but conveniently it can be charged with the same charger as the MacBook.

I really loved using it in this setup. I have used the iPad Pro before as a second monitor but the 15.6″ screen of the Lumonitor is far superior for this use case.

Samsung Dex

I’m not sure how many know about or use Samsung Dex but it’s excellent and something I was really keen to try out with the Lumonitor.

Samsung Dex is included on a lot of Samsung smartphones and it allows you to run a desktop-like experience from your phone once it is connected to an external display. It’s not without its flaws but it is as close to a desktop experience as you are going to get without actually carrying a laptop with you.

I connected a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 up to the Lumonitor with a USB C to HDMI dongle which also allowed me to connect a keyboard and mouse. This setup opens up a lot of possibilities.

You can be productive and get work done utilising the 15.6” screen. You have a desktop-class browser and a larger screen to make the best use of it. You can watch Netflix or YouTube on the high res screen. You can play all of the games available on Android and even connect Bluetooth game controllers.

As most of us carry our phones with us all the time, all you are carrying around extra here is the 580 grams of the Lumonitor which is less than half the weight of most laptops. With all the functionality you can add by connecting a smartphone to the Lumonitor, devices like this start to make a lot more sense.

As a Gaming Monitor

Just using a smartphone as I mentioned above can produce a good gaming experience but I also tried out the Lumonitor with a Nintendo Switch which is really suited to this use case and with a less portable Apple TV which, while needing to be plugged in, is still very portable and has a good range of games available.

The Nintendo Switch Dock can be powered by a battery pack making it somewhat portable but you can also use some USB C to HDMI dongles that are far more portable. With the Switch hooked up to the Lumonitor, it makes it really easy to play two-player games. We even went as far as 3 players in Mario Kart and while each person’s share of the screen was small, it was still great for on the go gaming.

Likewise with the Apple TV connected it’s a more than usable experience and a combination that would really work well if you were going away somewhere with your kids for example. The Lumonitor gives you a perfectly usable second screen for the kids.

They can game, watch Netflix or YouTube and not be taking over the main screen in a hotel room. While we all want to keep kids screen time to a minimum, when you’re away for a few days a device like the Lumonitor will come in really handy.

Conclusion

I’ve only touched on a few places where I felt the Lumonitor could be really useful but there are many more. One area that needs improvement though is the speakers. I would class them as a little better than smartphone speakers but there is an option to use the 3.5mm jack for a speaker if needed.

The screen quality is great in resolution, brightness and colour gamut and is easily adjusted to suit your needs/taste.

I guess the question many will ask is why wouldn’t I just buy a tablet? The simple answer to that is tablets are limited to being tablets while devices like the Lumonitor are only limited by what you have available to plug into them.

If some of the scenarios I’ve outlined above make sense to you then I’d have no hesitation recommending the Lumonitor.

The 4K Lumonitor is currently retailing for $449 with a cheaper 1080P resolution version also available at $349.

You can find out more about the Lumonitor here: https://lumonitor.com