Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Small, versatile desk stand with distinctive choices
- Sturdy built-in kickstand for transportable use
- Offers USB-C for simple single-cable connections
- Good picture high quality
Cons
- Lacks further connection choices
- Only 1080p decision
- A bit expensive for its function set
Our Verdict
The Asus ZenScreen MB249C’s uncommon design doesn’t come low-cost however offers genuinely helpful versatility.
Price When Reviewed
$349.99
Best Prices Today: Asus ZenScreen MB249C
$349.00
Portable displays are marketed for journey however, in actuality, most by no means go away the house or workplace they’re shipped to. Many buy transportable displays not for his or her portability however as a substitute their versatility and ease of use. The Asus ZenScreen MB249C leans into this, providing distinctive advantages alongside a 24-inch display screen.
Further studying: See our roundup of the best portable monitors to study competing merchandise.
What are the Asus ZenScreen MB249C specs?
Asus ZenScreen MB249C is marketed as “portable” however has a 23.8-inch show. Clearly, portability on this case isn’t about sticking the monitor in a suitcase however as a substitute refers to transferring it throughout a house or company workplace.
- Display dimension: 23.8-inch widescreen
- Native decision: 1920×1080
- Panel sort: IPS LCD
- Refresh charge: 75Hz
- Adaptive Sync: Yes, AMD FreeSync
- HDR: None
- Ports: 1x USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 60 watts Power Delivery, 1x HDMI 1.4, 1x 3.5mm audio out
- Stand adjustment: Height, swivel, tilt
- VESA mount: Yes, 100x100mm
- Speakers: Yes, 2x 1-watt
- Price: $349.99
The MB249C’s specs are in any other case common for a 1080p workplace show. It does enhance on the everyday refresh charge of 60Hz, as a substitute delivering as much as 75Hz, and offers assist for Adaptive Sync.
Asus ZenScreen MB249C design
The Asus ZenScreen MB249C will be mounted on a desk or arrange with its kickstand.
Matt Smith
Let’s speak in regards to the elephant within the room. Asus’ ZenScreen MB249C is a conveyable monitor, but it has a 24-inch show panel, measures 21 inches huge, and weighs over six kilos. So, what provides?
Asus imagines this monitor as a conveyable show for workplace and residential workplace use. It will not be fitted to journey, however there are nonetheless conditions the place it’s helpful to maneuver a show round an area. At dwelling, it might let you’ve gotten two dwelling workplace setups with out two displays. In an workplace, it may very well be carried to conferences if you have to lead a presentation.
Asus’ ZenScreen MB249C comes with an attachable kickstand.
Matt Smith
The ZenScreen ships with a stand that clips to the again of a desk as a substitute of sitting on prime of it, which makes the ZenScreen MB249C simple to make use of as a second monitor in any dwelling workplace setup. The stand is small, but useful, supporting adjustment for top, tilt, and swivel. It additionally rotates 90 levels into portrait orientation.
It additionally comes with two various choices to the stand: a folding kickstand and an uncommon hanger. The kickstand flips out from the rear of the show to assist it, as true of most transportable monitor kickstands. The hanger, which Asus calls a “partition mount,” is designed to hold from a half-height cubicle partition and successfully features as a wall mount, inserting the show flush with a cubicle wall. I don’t have a cubicle in my dwelling workplace, so I wasn’t in a position to give this selection a strive.
The MB249C’s design is uncommon however intelligent. It’s a distinct segment, however one which many will recognize.
Asus ZenScreen MB249C options and menus
The Asus ZenScreen MB249C gives benefits to those that wish to tweak the monitor’s settings. It ships with a fairly succesful menu that features a wide range of picture mode presets and management over features of picture high quality similar to shade temperature and pores and skin tone. Interestingly, it additionally has a “Shadow Boost” which can be utilized in video games to make enemies in darkish areas simpler to note.
That’s to not say picture high quality changes are intensive. There’s no gamma adjustment and the colour temperature adjustment is slim. Still, many transportable displays solely supply brightness and distinction adjustment, so the MB249C is above common.
The MB249C’s design is uncommon however intelligent. It’s a distinct segment, however one which many will recognize.
Asus ZenScreen MB249C connectivity and ports.
Matt Smith
Connectivity is extra mundane. The monitor helps USB-C enter by way of DisplayPort Alternate Mode alongside HDMI 1.4, however that’s it. Given the value, a further video enter could be appreciated. The monitor lacks USB-A, which appears like a missed alternative—there’s room.
Those trying to join over USB-C ought to notice the monitor helps as much as 60 watts of Power Delivery and, in my testing, would require that to function solely over USB-C. The monitor will perform with a USB-C laptop computer or desktop that lacks enough USB Power Delivery when the monitor’s bundled energy brick is related. The energy brick can also be wanted when solely the HDMI video enter is in use.
The monitor has built-in audio system, however you gained’t wish to depend on them. Volume is low and the audio system undergo distortion when enjoying music, films, or something extra sophisticated than spoken dialogue and system messages. Weak audio system, although disappointing, are typical for an workplace monitor.
How is the Asus ZenScreen MB249C SDR picture high quality?
The Asus ZenScreen MB249C targets workplace productiveness and makes few particular claims about its picture high quality. That left me with low expectations, which, to my shock, the monitor simply beat.
Matt Smith
Brightness is available in at a decent 264 nits which, though not wonderful, is mid-pack for a conveyable monitor and fairly good for an workplace productiveness monitor. This stage of brightness is adequate to be used in any room with reasonable mild management. It could seem a bit dim close to a sunlit window, nevertheless.
Matt Smith
The monitor delivered a shock in distinction with a most distinction ratio of 1380:1. That’s in the direction of the excessive finish of what I anticipate from displays with an IPS show panel and no superior backlight know-how, similar to Mini-LED.
Don’t get too excited. The monitor can nonetheless battle with shadow element, particularly when viewing films which have a darkish palette like The Batman. Still, a distinction ratio of 1380:1 is greater than most rivals and it offers a greater sense of depth. An various just like the BenQ GW2785TC will seem flat and one-dimensional by comparability.
Matt Smith
Color gamut isn’t unhealthy, both, offering 100 p.c of the sRGB shade gamut and 81 p.c of DCI-P3. This isn’t sufficient to be thought-about a “wide gamut” monitor, and never sufficient for a lot of content material creators trying to edit images or video, however it’s a number of p.c higher than most alternate options. The monitor has fulfilling, vibrant shade.
Matt Smith
It’s correct, as properly, reaching a mean shade error that’s only a tad worse than the Asus ProArt PA279CRV, a monitor particularly constructed for correct and sensible shade efficiency. The shade error is worst in blue hues, which is commonly true of LED-backlit displays, however it didn’t leap out in real-world use.
The monitor’s accuracy is additional helped by a gamma studying of two.1, which signifies that photographs seem simply barely brighter than they need to. Color temperature got here in at exactly the popular goal of 6500Okay, so it’s neither overly heat or too cool. To put it merely, the monitor seems extraordinarily correct in real-world use and is properly suited to workplace productiveness.
Sharpness is a draw back, because the show offers solely 1080p decision with a pixel density of roughly 93 pixels per inch. Many workplace displays on this value vary can hit 4K decision, which enhance pixel density to 163 pixels per inch. It’s a noticeable hole and the Asus ZenScreen MB249C can look pixelated and smooth subsequent to 4K alternate options.
On the entire, Asus’ ZenScreen MB249C offers wonderful picture high quality for its supposed objective. It’s shiny sufficient and scores properly in distinction, shade gamut, and shade accuracy, all whereas avoiding notable issues or pitfalls. The solely caveat is decision, because it’s attainable to purchase an identical 4K such because the Dell S2721QS for much less—nevertheless, such alternate options lack the MB249C’s portability.
Asus ZenScreen MB249C HDR picture high quality
The Asus ZenScreen MB249C doesn’t assist HDR. That’s to be anticipated, because the monitor’s most brightness is properly beneath what’s wanted for a satisfactory HDR expertise. Increasing brightness to ranges appropriate for HDR additionally will increase energy draw, which wouldn’t pair properly with the monitor’s USB-C connectivity.
Asus ZenScreen MB249C movement efficiency
Though meant for productiveness, the Asus ZenScreen MB249C gives a barely improved refresh charge of 75Hz and Adaptive Sync support for clean body pacing in video games. Adaptive Sync was useful with the monitor related to an AMD video card. I wasn’t in a position to take a look at the monitor with Nvidia G-Sync.
Is the Asus ZenScreen MB249c value it?
The Asus ZenScreen MB249C is an uncommon however helpful dwelling and workplace productiveness monitor. Its odd design, which pairs a 24-inch display screen with a number of stand choices together with a kickstand, makes it simple to tote round a home or company workplace. It additionally offers good picture high quality with enough brightness and robust shade efficiency. The $350 value is a bit a lot for a 1080p monitor and gained’t make sense you probably have no motive to make use of its distinctive options, however it’s not unreasonable. The MB249C is a superb selection for a second monitor, too, because it gives a number of methods to mount and orient it alongside your major monitor.