Amazon is currently running a sale on the Hongo 18.5 portable monitor for just $139 USD after applying the $30 coupon code at checkout. The monitor is notable for its large 18.5-inch 16:9 screen size as other portable monitors are typically 17-inches or smaller. The manufacturer has sent us a sample for our honest impressions.
Core specifications for the Hongo 18.5 include: Ventilator Monitor
Inexpensive Large 100 Hz 18.5-inch screen size USB-A, 2x USB-C, Full-size HDMI Built-in VESA mounting Metal chassis
When taken out of its box, it's hard to not appreciate how much screen you're getting for the price and weight. The bezels and form factor are narrow and thin, respectively, to fit snugly inside a backpack for traveling. Build quality is quite firm and with minimal twisting due to the metal chassis, but you'll want to carry the included protective case at all times since the matte panel can be easily scratched.
Port selection is excellent for a portable monitor as others in the category tend to ship with only USB-C or the less common mini-HDMI port. It's possible to use just one USB-C cable for both power and video if your host PC supports it. Otherwise, you'll need to connect video through HDMI and power with a separate USB-C cable.
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Aside from the decent build, large screen size, and good variety of ports, actual image quality is a mixed bag to be more reflective of the inexpensive price point. Firstly, brightness is average and only satisfactory when working indoors where ambient lighting can be controlled. Secondly, black-white and gray-gray response times are good enough for most slower-moving games, but they're not fast enough for quick-moving FPS games where ghosting becomes more noticeable. And lastly, color space is only about 80 percent of sRGB which makes the monitor suboptimal for serious graphics editing where accurate colors are crucial. In fact, colors and grayscale are very inaccurate out of the box as shown by our CalMan results below.
Another key drawback worth mentioning is the relatively low DPI and noticeable graininess of the matte overlay. Subpixels aren't nearly as crisp as on a glossy alternative and the low DPI worsens the effects. Don't expect texts and images to be as sharp as most other 1080p displays in the market.
Mainstream Based on its advantages and disadvantages, the portable Hongo 18.5 excels at maximizing screen size for small workspaces or for casual gaming where color accuracy and brightness aren't priorities. Professional users will want to consider portable OLED monitors instead where sharpness, color accuracy, and brightness are leagues beyond what the Hongo 18.5 can offer. For future models, we'd love to see a new protective folio design to support both portrait and landscape modes instead of only landscape which should boost versatility while maintaining an attractive price.