Asus ZenScreen MB249C evaluate: A flexible 24-inch transportable monitor

Greatest Costs At present: Asus ZenScreen MB249C

$349.00

Moveable displays are marketed for journey however, in actuality, most by no means depart the house or workplace they’re shipped to. Many buy transportable displays not for his or her portability however as an alternative their versatility and ease of use. The Asus ZenScreen MB249C leans into this, providing distinctive advantages alongside a 24-inch display screen.

Additional studying: See our roundup of one of the best transportable displays to find out about 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 an alternative refers to transferring it throughout a house or company workplace.

• Show dimension: 23.8-inch widescreen
• Native decision: 1920×1080
• Panel kind: IPS LCD
• Refresh fee: 75Hz
• Adaptive Sync: Sure, AMD FreeSync
• HDR: None
• Ports: 1x USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 60 watts Energy Supply, 1x HDMI 1.4, 1x 3.5mm audio out
• Stand adjustment: Top, swivel, tilt
• VESA mount: Sure, 100x100mm
• Audio system: Sure, 2x 1-watt
• Worth: $349.99

The MB249C’s specs are in any other case common for a 1080p workplace show. It does enhance on the everyday refresh fee of 60Hz, as an alternative delivering as much as 75Hz, and supplies assist for Adaptive Sync.

Asus ZenScreen MB249C design 

Matt Smith

Let’s discuss in regards to the elephant within the room. Asus’ ZenScreen MB249C is a transportable monitor, but it has a 24-inch show panel, measures 21 inches extensive, and weighs over six kilos. So, what offers?

Asus imagines this monitor as a transportable show for workplace and residential workplace use. It will not be suited to journey, however there are nonetheless conditions the place it’s helpful to maneuver a show round an area. At house, it might let you’ve two house workplace setups with out two displays. In an workplace, it could possibly be carried to conferences if you could lead a presentation.

Matt Smith

The ZenScreen ships with a stand that clips to the again of a desk as an alternative of sitting on high of it, which makes the ZenScreen MB249C straightforward to make use of as a second monitor in any house workplace setup. The stand is small, but practical, supporting adjustment for peak, tilt, and swivel. It additionally rotates 90 levels into portrait orientation.

It additionally comes with two different 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 capabilities as a wall mount, inserting the show flush with a cubicle wall. I don’t have a cubicle in my house workplace, so I wasn’t capable of give this feature 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 provides benefits to those that wish to tweak the monitor’s settings. It ships with a fairly succesful menu that features quite a lot of picture mode presets and management over elements of picture high quality comparable to shade temperature and pores and skin tone. Curiously, 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 in depth. There’s no gamma adjustment and the colour temperature adjustment is slim. Nonetheless, many transportable displays solely supply brightness and distinction adjustment, so the MB249C is above common.

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 seems like a missed alternative—there’s room. 

These seeking to join over USB-C ought to be aware the monitor helps as much as 60 watts of Energy Supply 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 ample USB Energy Supply when the monitor’s bundled energy brick is related. The ability 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. Quantity is low and the audio system endure distortion when enjoying music, films, or something extra difficult 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 good 264 nits which, though not superb, is mid-pack for a transportable monitor and fairly good for an workplace productiveness monitor. This stage of brightness is ample to be used in any room with average mild management. It might seem a bit dim close to a sunlit window, nonetheless. 

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, comparable 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. Nonetheless, a distinction ratio of 1380:1 is greater than most opponents and it supplies a greater sense of depth. An alternate just like the BenQ GW2785TC will seem flat and one-dimensional by comparability.

Matt Smith

Colour gamut isn’t dangerous, both, offering one hundred pc of the sRGB shade gamut and 81 p.c of DCI-P3. This isn’t sufficient to be thought of a “wide gamut” monitor, and never sufficient for a lot of content material creators seeking to edit pictures or video, however it’s just a few p.c higher than most alternate options. The monitor has satisfying, vibrant shade.

Matt Smith

It’s correct, as properly, attaining a mean shade error that’s only a tad worse than the Asus ProArt PA279CRV, a monitor particularly constructed for correct and reasonable shade efficiency. The colour error is worst in blue hues, which is usually 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 photos seem simply barely brighter than they need to. Colour temperature got here in at exactly the popular goal of 6500K, so it’s neither overly heat or too cool. To place 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 supplies 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 comfortable subsequent to 4K alternate options.

On the entire, Asus’ ZenScreen MB249C supplies glorious picture high quality for its meant goal. It’s vivid sufficient and scores properly in distinction, shade gamut, and shade accuracy, all whereas avoiding notable issues or pitfalls. The one caveat is decision, because it’s potential to purchase an analogous 4K such because the Dell S2721QS for much less—nonetheless, 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. Growing 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

Although meant for productiveness, the Asus ZenScreen MB249C provides a barely improved refresh fee of 75Hz and Adaptive Sync assist for easy body pacing in video games. Adaptive Sync was practical with the monitor related to an AMD video card. I wasn’t capable of check the monitor with Nvidia G-Sync. 

Is the Asus ZenScreen MB249c value it?

The Asus ZenScreen MB249C is an uncommon however helpful house 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 straightforward to tote round a home or company workplace. It additionally supplies good picture high quality with ample brightness and powerful shade efficiency. The $350 value is a bit a lot for a 1080p monitor and gained’t make sense when you have no cause to make use of its distinctive options, however it’s not unreasonable. The MB249C is a good alternative for a second monitor, too, because it provides a number of methods to mount and orient it alongside your major monitor.