Portable monitors have become a whole lot more common over the past few years, especially as budget brands like Arzopa have taken over online sales and social media advertising. Given the fact that those budget brands are so common, is there still room for the big players like Dell in the world of low-cost portable monitors?
Turns out there might be. The Dell Pro 14 Plus P1425 portable monitor may not be as cheap as something from the likes of Arzopa, and probably isn’t for everyone, but its solid display quality and sleek design make it worth considering for those willing to spend the cash.
Dell Pro 14 Plus P1425
| Pros | Cons |
| More brightness than the competition. Relatively sturdy build. Relatively inexpensive. | Only USB-C inputs. Not the highest resolution. |
Specs:
- Dimensions: 12.41 inches wide x 0.58 inches deep x 8.8 inches high.
- Weight: 1.25lbs.
- Display type: IPS.
- Resolution: 1920 x 1200.
- Refresh rate: 60Hz.
- Inputs: 2 x USB-C (DisplayPort 1.2 support).
- Price: $369.99.
A Sleek And Solid Design
The overall design of the Dell Pro 14 Plus P1425 is relatively sleek and stylish. It’s not the most premium-looking monitor ever, thanks largely to it having thicker bezels than you’ll find on most modern laptops, but it still has a solid build quality and, again, looks more premium than what most of the budget brands make.
The monitor is basically split into two parts: There’s the main display, which is fairly thin, and the stand at the bottom, which is thicker and houses all the connectivity and other tech. The two connect via a hinge that can fold completely flat or almost up to 90 degrees.
On the stand, you’ll find a few controls, but don’t expect much. You get buttons to control the brightness as well as a screen orientation lock button, which can actually come in handy given the fact that the screen can automatically rotate. The monitor can be used both horizontally and vertically, but you may want to set its orientation in your operating system rather than using the display’s built-in features. That’s where the orientation lock button comes in.
The ports on the monitor are pretty basic: You’ll essentially just get two USB-C inputs with DisplayPort over USB support. There’s no HDMI of any kind here, so depending on your setup, you may need to use an adapter of some kind. For most, that won’t be a big deal, but a mini HDMI port might have been nice, especially considering many of the budget options have this port built into them.
A Brighter Display Than The Others
Of course, perhaps more important than the design of the Dell Pro 14 Plus P1425 is its display quality. For the most part, I would describe the display as fine. It has a 1920 x 1200 resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. It is not an OLED display, instead relying on IPS display technology. That’s not unexpected, though, at this price range.
Despite the somewhat dated display technology, the screen doesn’t look bad at all. It’s able to get more than bright enough for the majority of use cases, and it has solid contrast, given its older display tech. The resolution isn’t huge, but I found that the overall image was crisp enough to make reading even smaller text perfectly fine. Your experience, of course, may vary, especially depending on your eyesight.
On top of all this, the colors produced by the display were quite accurate. While hardcore graphic designers and photo editors will still want to rely on something higher-end, this screen might serve its purpose for on-the-go basic edits.
Ultimately, of course, the display quality for the price matters more than the display quality in a vacuum. To be sure, the screen on the monitor gets brighter and looks more accurate than any of the budget brands that I’ve tested, but some of those budget monitors have a larger display and a higher resolution, and for some that might be more important.
Dell Pro 14 Plus P1425
The Verdict
If you’re looking for a portable monitor that gets decently bright and has a sleek design, then the Dell Pro 14 Plus P1425 is worth considering. Of course, you’ll have to think about what you plan on using the monitor for: If you don’t really care about brightness or contrast and aren’t going to be using the monitor for tasks that require a high level of color accuracy, then you could save some cash and buy a monitor at half this price that has a higher resolution. If, however, you do want higher levels of brightness or color accuracy, then it’s worth going for the Dell Pro 14 Plus P1425.
