Spreadsheet on the left, video call on the right and a chat window somewhere underneath: no 13-inch laptop was ever meant to hold all three. The usual fix is a second screen, and a cheap one is enough for the job, which is where the KYY 15.6-inch portable monitor goes from $69.99 to $59.49 on Amazon. The price is open to everyone, with no Prime membership required, and it applies to the grey version sold with its cover.
Second Screen, 1.7 Pounds, One Cable
Portability is the whole argument, so the numbers that count are 0.3 inches of thickness and 1.7 pounds on the scale. The screen area measures 8.8 by 14.2 inches, about the footprint of the laptop it will sit next to, so both can travel in the same sleeve. The monitor comes with a cover in PU leather that attaches magnetically, protects the panel in a bag and folds into a stand once you arrive. The base has two grooves, which means two viewing angles and no more, a limit the listing itself is fairly candid about.
The panel is a 15.6-inch IPS at 1920 x 1080, with 178-degree viewing angles, so the picture holds up when the screen is off to one side of the laptop. KYY also mentions HDR, low blue light and a flicker-free backlight. What the listing leaves out is a brightness figure and a refresh rate, and I’d keep that in mind before taking the word “gaming” in the product name at face value: this is a screen for documents, a browser and a film on the train, and a console will work on it without making it a competitive display.
Connection is where a portable monitor is either painless or annoying. This one has two full-function USB-C ports and a Mini-HDMI port, and with a laptop or phone whose USB-C port supports video (Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C 3.1, according to KYY), a single cable carries both picture and power. No driver is needed. It is worth checking your own laptop before ordering, because plenty of budget machines have USB-C ports that only handle data and charging, and those will need the HDMI route. KYY lists laptops, PCs, smartphones, the PS4 and Xbox among compatible devices, and the phone case is a practical one: a compatible handset plugged in over USB-C gets a 15.6-inch screen for a film in a hotel room where the television is bolted to the wrong wall.
The smaller details are the ones that decide whether a travel gadget stays in the bag or in a drawer. The screen works in portrait as well as landscape, which suits long documents or a chat column next to the main display. Settings are changed with a wheel on the side, and there are two built-in speakers plus a 3.5mm jack, though I’d plan on headphones for anything longer than a notification sound. On Amazon the monitor averages 4.4 out of 5 from more than 13,200 ratings.
In grey, the KYY portable monitor is $59.49 on Amazon, with a list price of $69.99, cover included and free returns. Amazon’s page showed a countdown with about 19 hours remaining when this was written.