I wanted to like Dell's Pro 14 Plus portable monitor, but it has too many compromises

Price When Reviewed

$369.99

Best Prices Today: Dell Pro 14 Plus

Shoppers out there for a transportable monitor haven’t any scarcity of displays to select from, however many come from much less well-known manufacturers. Dell’s Pro 14 Plus is a well-respected possibility that gives an expert look and nice USB-C connectivity. However, the monitor’s excessive pricing, restricted options, and so-so picture high quality take it out of rivalry for most individuals.

Read on to study extra, then see our roundup of the best portable monitors for comparability.

Dell Pro 14 Plus (P1425) specs and options

A look on the Dell Pro 14 Plus Portable Monitor’s specification sheet doesn’t reveal any surprises. The monitor’s 14-inch LCD panel has 1920×1200 decision and a 60Hz refresh charge. It additionally offers two USB-C ports with DisplayPort, which give the monitor’s connectivity.

• Display dimension: 14-inch 16:10 facet ratio
• Native decision: 1920×1200
• Panel kind: 8-bit IPS LCD
• Refresh charge: 60Hz
• Adaptive sync: None
• HDR: None
• Ports: 2x USB-C ports with DisplayPort 1.2 and USB Power Delivery with energy pass-through
• Audio: None
• Warranty: 3-year Advanced Exchange Service
• Price: $369.99 MSRP

Given the specs, you is likely to be stunned to see the monitor carries an MSRP practically $370. I think that will probably be discounted, as Dell typically debuts merchandise at a excessive MSRP, then provides a steep low cost later. Still, the worth units expectations that the monitor struggles to satisfy.

Dell Pro 14 Plus design

The Dell Pro 14 Plus design instantly stands out from the moveable displays you see if you seek for them on Amazon. Instead of utilizing a case to prop up the monitor, it features a kickstand that’s completely hooked up to the again if you sit it flat in your desk.

This fashion of kickstand retains the show very secure on a desk. It’s nearly inconceivable to knock over with out flinging the whole monitor on the ground. Also, regardless of the way it could look, the kickstand works nicely in each portrait and panorama orientation, and the monitor contains an auto-rotate perform.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

However, the shortage of a canopy with built-in kickstand means you’ll should preserve observe of the case individually when touring. Dell offers a case with the moveable monitor, no less than, and it’s somewhat good. It even has a Velcro pocket for storing wires or small peripherals, which is uncommon.

Speaking of high quality, the monitor’s feel and appear is simply satisfactory. It’s good at a look because of its metallic luster, however touching it reveals that plastic is the fabric of selection. An aluminum panel throughout the rear of the monitor would assist it really feel extra luxurious.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Dell Pro 14 Plus connectivity and options

USB-C is the port of selection for the Dell Pro 14 Plus moveable monitor. It has two USB-C ports with one on all sides of the kickstand. This association is sweet as a result of it means a USB-C port will at all times be close by regardless of if the moveable monitor sits to the suitable or to the left of your laptop computer or desktop.

The USB-C ports additionally assist DisplayPort, in fact, for video enter they usually can deal with as much as 65W of USB energy supply. The monitor itself doesn’t require wherever close to that a lot energy, however it may well go energy by means of to different gadgets related to the monitor.

So, for instance, you may plug a USB-C energy brick into the Dell Pro 14 Plus after which plug your laptop computer into the moveable monitor. Most moveable displays don’t provide this characteristic, which implies they’ll want energy from a related system or, in some circumstances, a separate energy supply from the USB-C enter used to ship video enter to the moveable monitor.

Four buttons on the kickstand present the monitor’s solely built-in controls. One is the ability button, one other locks and unlocks the auto-rotation characteristic, and the opposite two management brightness.

The monitor in any other case lacks built-in controls for distinction, which is uncommon. That’s solely accessible by means of Dell’s Display and Peripheral Manager (DPPM) software program. It’s a good utility however weighs in at over 700MB and is simply appropriate with Windows PCs. The utility additionally lacks extra superior options, like coloration gamut or temperature customization. Given the moveable monitor’s value, and the “Pro” badging, that’s a big oversight.

Dell Pro 14 Plus SDR picture high quality

Image high quality is commonly secondary for a transportable monitor, however current OLED displays just like the Viewsonic VP16-OLED have confirmed that portability and picture high quality don’t should be mutually unique. The Dell Pro 14 Plus appears to have missed that memo, although it does provide one perk.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Brightness. The perk is brightness.

Portable displays are usually dim. A brighter show normally interprets to elevated energy draw, which moveable displays attempt to keep away from. The Dell Pro 14 Plus is an exception and delivers a superb most brightness of 481 nits which, because the graph exhibits, is far greater than common.

That’s necessary. Portable displays are sometimes used on-the-go and in convention rooms or espresso retailers the place controlling ambient gentle isn’t an possibility. The Dell Pro 14 Plus will stay viewable in situations that make different moveable displays look uncomfortably dim.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

The Dell Pro 14 Plus does nicely in distinction, too, although it depends upon how the monitor is in contrast.

It offers a stable, although not above-average, efficiency when in comparison with different IPS-LCD moveable displays just like the Lenovo M14t and Viewsonic TD1656-2K. However, it’s clearly a lot much less succesful than OLED options, just like the Viewsonic VP16-OLED and Innocn 15A1F.

In the true world, the Dell Pro 14 Plus affords a good sense of depth. It lacks the dimensionality an OLED show can present, nevertheless it’s noticeably higher than an ultra-budget moveable monitor, and even many IPS-LCD desktop displays.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

The Dell Pro 14 Plus delivered solely 99 % of the sRGB coloration gamut, 74 % of DCI-P3, and 74 % of AdobeRGB. As the graph exhibits, that’s on the low finish of what I’ve seen from related displays. OLED options are in a totally totally different league, as they will provide nicely over 90 % protection of all examined coloration gamuts.

In observe, meaning the Dell Pro 14 Plus lacks the colourful coloration some moveable displays can present. It additionally means the monitor is a poor selection for content material creation, as many colours merely received’t be seen on this monitor.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Color accuracy proves stronger than coloration gamut on the Dell Pro 14 Plus, although nonetheless mid-pack. The monitor’s coloration error is low sufficient that it received’t be a difficulty for most individuals, however essential viewers would possibly discover a number of flaws. The check outcomes confirmed the best error in cyan and grayscale hues; personally, I felt greens had been shifted a bit in direction of blue.

The Dell Pro 14 Plus offers a coloration temperature results of 6500Ok, which is strictly what I want. That means the picture doesn’t seem too cool or heat. Gamma was a bit off at a gamma curve of two.1, whereas a gamma curve of two.2 is most popular. That means content material can look a tad brighter than meant, although I struggled to note it.

Sharpness is sweet because of the monitor’s 14-inch show panel and 1920×1200 decision. Images and movies look crisp and small textual content appears good. With that stated, it’s not tough to search out moveable displays with the next decision, so the Dell’s sharpness doesn’t stand out.

Dell Pro 14 Plus HDR picture high quality

The Dell Pro 14 Plus doesn’t assist HDR. That may appear odd, as many cheap moveable displays assist it. Support doesn’t assure high quality, although, and moveable displays usually lack the brightness and coloration efficiency wanted to make HDR stand aside from SDR.

Shoppers in search of good HDR might want to purchase a desktop monitor—and a rather expensive one, at that.

Dell Pro 14 Plus movement efficiency

I don’t assume anybody will probably be stunned to study the Dell Pro 14 Plus isn’t nice for video games. It has a 60Hz refresh charge and quotes a gray-to-gray pixel response time of 7 milliseconds, which is comparatively excessive (IPS LCD gaming displays have response instances as little as 1 millisecond). Motion blur is noticeable behind fast-paced objects and scrolling textual content might be tough to learn.  

Warranty

Portable monitor warranties are nearly universally unhealthy, however the Dell Pro 14 Plus is an exception. It has a three-year guarantee with Dell’s Advanced Exchange Service (AES), which guarantees to ship a alternative monitor inside one enterprise day if Dell determines that your monitor must be changed. There are corporations, equivalent to ViewSonic and HP, that present three-year warranties on some moveable displays, however I’m not conscious of any that provide protection much like Dell’s AES at no further cost.

Should you purchase the Dell Pro 14 Plus?

The Dell Pro 14 Plus Portable Monitor is a tricky promote at its retail MSRP of practically $370. That’s in direction of the excessive finish for a transportable monitor, and the Pro 14 does have a number of options (like USB-C Power Delivery pass-through and a premium carrying case) that really feel definitely worth the cash.

However, the monitor’s IPS-LCD show struggles to ship picture high quality aggressive with OLED options, and the monitor lacks options I’d count on from a so-called Pro show, equivalent to coloration calibration and customization. That makes the Dell Pro 14 Plus laborious to suggest.