Setup and General Use
This monitor was probably the easiest monitor we have ever set up, as it is just so simple to plug in either a single USB-C cable, or a USB-A to USB-C cable and HDMI cable. The Zissu’s monitor can be connected to a large list of supported tablet and phone devices, as well as game consoles and PCs, which makes it a very versatile little display. With power supplied to the monitor, and a display source connected, all you have to do is turn it on via the power button on the right side of the stand.
Since no drivers are needed for this display, when we had it hooked up to our laptop, Windows immediately recognized that we had connected a second display via HDMI and presented us with an extended desktop. When connecting to our XBOX One, the monitor worked just like any a TV and displayed our content right away. As far as connecting to a tablet or phone, a large list of supported devices can be found on the Amazon page for this monitor, but we found that it is really up to the manufacturer or carrier to support the display via software. In our case, our Google Pixel 4 does not support video out via the USB-C port, so we were not able to test this feature.
Our testing of the Zissu’s 15.6″ portable monitor mostly consisted of it being used as a secondary display for our work-at-home needs. While we have a multi-monitor gaming PC that is more than capable of this type of task, our specific needs and business requirements deem this to not be our best setup. Instead we connected the monitor to our Dell Latitude 7390 2-in-1 laptop via the HDMI port. Using the Zissu’s monitor as a secondary screen offers so much more opportunity for higher productivity, as we often had our e-mail client or other critical application open on the laptop screen, and a secondary critical application open on the external monitor.
We did find the screen to be a bit dim at times, depending on the application being used and the surrounding lighting, even with the brightness set all the way up. When in low-light scenarios however, the monitor performed just fine for our needs.
Gaming
With a refresh rate of 60Hz and a 30ms response time, this monitor is definitely not designed to be a top-notch gaming display. That being said, a 60Hz panel should be perfectly fine for temporary or mobile use. Our gaming consisted of two scenarios – attached to a Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming 7566 laptop, and XBOX One. While playing Apex Legends when connected to the laptop, the main difference we noticed when using the external screen was the 60Hz refresh rate. This is most likely due to being used to playing on a 144Hz monitor and dropping down to half of that refresh rate with the Zissu’s screen. The 1080p resolution was certainly fine as far as that aspect goes, and the overall feel of the game was acceptable – there is just such a big difference moving back to 60Hz.
Our XBOX One gaming tests were spent playing titles like Minecraft Dungeons and various LEGO titles. All of these games looked and played just fine, as their slower pace didn’t stand out on the 60Hz refresh rate as much as the faster Apex Legends on the laptop.
One item to note across the board is the performance of the built-in speakers. Temporary or light use is fine, but if you really want an acceptable audio experience, it will be best to utilize the 3.5mm audio jack for a set of external speakers or headphones, as the sound that comes out of this monitor is definitely not great.