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

Transportable 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 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 the very best transportable displays to study competing merchandise.

What are the Asus ZenScreen MB249C specs?

Asus ZenScreen MB249C is marketed as “transportable” 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 price: 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
• Value: $349.99

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

Asus ZenScreen MB249C design

Matt Smith

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

Asus imagines this monitor as a transportable show for workplace and residential workplace use. It might not be suited to journey, however there are nonetheless conditions the place it’s useful to maneuver a show round an area. At dwelling, it may let you’ve two dwelling workplace setups with out two displays. In an workplace, it could possibly be carried to conferences if that you must 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 simple to make use of as a second monitor in any dwelling workplace setup. The stand is small, but practical, supporting adjustment for top, 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 help 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, putting 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 admire.

Asus ZenScreen MB249C options and menus

The Asus ZenScreen MB249C affords 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 facets of picture high quality reminiscent of colour temperature and pores and skin tone. Curiously, it additionally has a “Shadow Increase” 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 DisplayPort Alternate Mode alongside HDMI 1.4, however that’s it. Given the worth, 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 word 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 linked. The facility brick can 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 undergo distortion when enjoying music, motion pictures, 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 decent 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 enough to be used in any room with average gentle 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 count on from displays with an IPS show panel and no superior backlight know-how, reminiscent of Mini-LED.

Don’t get too excited. The monitor can nonetheless wrestle with shadow element, particularly when viewing motion pictures which have a darkish palette like The Batman. Nonetheless, a distinction ratio of 1380:1 is increased than most opponents and it gives a greater sense of depth. An alternate just like the BenQ GW2785TC will seem flat and one-dimensional by comparability.

Matt Smith

Coloration gamut isn’t unhealthy, both, offering 100% of the sRGB colour gamut and 81 % of DCI-P3. This isn’t sufficient to be thought of a “broad gamut” monitor, and never sufficient for a lot of content material creators seeking to edit images or video, nevertheless it’s a couple of % higher than most alternate options. The monitor has pleasing, vibrant colour.

Matt Smith

It’s correct, as properly, reaching a median colour error that’s only a tad worse than the Asus ProArt PA279CRV, a monitor particularly constructed for correct and reasonable colour efficiency. The colour error is worst in blue hues, which is commonly true of LED-backlit displays, nevertheless it didn’t soar out in real-world use.

The monitor’s accuracy is additional helped by a gamma studying of two.1, which signifies that pictures seem simply barely brighter than they need to. Coloration 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 gives 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 improve 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 gives glorious picture high quality for its supposed goal. It’s vivid sufficient and scores properly in distinction, colour gamut, and colour accuracy, all whereas avoiding notable issues or pitfalls. The one 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 help HDR. That’s to be anticipated, because the monitor’s most brightness is properly under 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 affords a barely improved refresh price of 75Hz and Adaptive Sync help for clean body pacing in video games. Adaptive Sync was practical with the monitor linked 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 gives good picture high quality with ample brightness and robust colour efficiency. The $350 value is a bit a lot for a 1080p monitor and gained’t make sense in case you have no cause to make use of its distinctive options, nevertheless it’s not unreasonable. The MB249C is a superb alternative for a second monitor, too, because it affords a number of methods to mount and orient it alongside your main monitor.