I bought an inexpensive USB-C monitor to give my laptop more screen real estate (at the time, it cost around $130) — I actually bought two so that I could run a triple-screen setup from my MacBook Pro, and it was great. I later discovered that these USB-C monitors could do so much more when I tried plugging in various Android phones, my gaming handheld, and even my iPad.
After being surprised about what else this monitor can do, it’s become one of my favorite accessories.
I bought the ARZOPA 16″ thin and light 2.5K portable monitor
It’s almost always on sale
Weighing just 1.46lbs and coming in at 0.36″ (that’s about the same thickness as my Pixel 10 Pro), the ARZOPA portable monitor is a 16″ 2560×1600 IPS 60Hz display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and 350 nits of brightness.
It has a built-in kickstand, with two USB-C ports and one mini HDMI port. It even has two speakers built in, but they’re quiet, and I prefer the audio output from a connected phone or Bluetooth speaker. The quality isn’t amazing, but it’s solid enough for occasional use and for throwing in the backpack when you’re going to travel.
Turn your phone into a desktop
One wire gives you multi-window support
Because most USB-C monitors require no external power, you can plug in one cable and trigger Android’s desktop mode, which in the case of Samsung devices turns on DeX, and on a Pixel running Android 17 you get Android’s desktop mode.
When you plug in your Samsung Galaxy, the display comes to life and a touchpad is displayed on your phone, which allows you to control the desktop environment with a pointer. You can also connect a Bluetooth keyboard/mouse for better control, but the phone touchpad is pretty precise and works great in a pinch if you need to get more work done in a multi-window environment. Perhaps the best reason to use DeX is as a powerful widget dashboard, and using an external monitor is a perfect use case.
The Pixel desktop mode is just as seamless (and is even better with these three tweaks), but requires an external mouse as there is no touchpad presented on the Pixel itself. But once you connect a mouse, your Pixel becomes a desktop-like environment with most Android apps having fantastic support for resizeable windows.
And when you plug in your Pixel, you’ll get a pop-up to ask if you want to use the external display as a desktop or mirror. Mirror mode is handy if you need a simple way to show off something on your phone’s screen like a movie or photo slideshow.
The main downside to using an external monitor to run a desktop mode from your phone is that unless you opt to plug in the display to a power source, you’ll be drawing a significant amount of power from your phone to run the screen.
A display for your gaming handheld
No dock needed
If you thought you needed a dock for your Steam Deck, ROG Ally, or Legion Go, you don’t. They can all output video over USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode, allowing you to use one single cable from your gaming handheld. Just make sure you power the monitor separately with USB power, or you’ll quickly drain the battery on your handheld.
Mirror the display on your Apple device
Great for watching videos or showing photos
Apple devices don’t have desktop mode (but iPads with M-chips can run extended display mode over USB-C), though Apple does offer mirroring on both the iPhone and iPad, which is handy for when you need a larger screen (and perhaps don’t have $2k for an iPhone Duo). As is the case with desktop mode, unless you separately power the external screen, you’ll be using your iPhone or iPad’s battery as a power source for display mirroring, which does take a toll.
A portable USB-C monitor is an accessory that does a lot
They’re under $150 on Amazon
At the time of publishing, this monitor was on sale for under $124, which is a great value for a product that can do multiple things, and is cheap enough so that you might consider buying two — like one for the car and one for home. Of course, you can also use a monitor like this as an additional screen for your laptop or PC like any external monitor, but where it really shines is in its ability to turn an Android phone into a powerful workstation thanks to desktop mode and DeX.
