PEPPER JOBS Portable Monitor 15.6" 1080P IPS Gaming Display with Smart Cover, Built-in Dual Speakers, HDR Support, Ultra-Slim HDMI External Screen, USB-C Plug & Play with Laptop/PC/Phone/Mac

I was a bit hesitant when ordering this screen. When there's too many features on a product, it usually means there are a lot of compromises, with a dealbreaker or two thrown in for good measure. I haven't found any of the latter yet. Which is good, as this isn't the cheapest portable screen on the market. It's definitely proving its value, though.Pros :• Built-in battery, I got two and a half hours of operation with touch screen use.• Touch screen, works with my Samsung Note 20 Ultra on USB C, no issues.• Works to extend my laptop display, using DP over USB C, no issues.• Nintendo Switch outputs to it, no issues.• Decent visual quality, even backlighting.• Magnetic folio screen protector included, and it really sticks to the screen well.• High quality packaging and extras.Neutrals :• Visual quality is good for a portable screen. Again, for a portable screen. It won't compare so well with a $300 desk monitor powered off mains voltage, which is to be expected.• Weight - it's a result of the build quality, battery, and material choices, but I like that it feels like it won't come apart in my backpack.• Speakers don't impress me in terms of sound quality, but they are there, and volume is adequate.• Bright enough to use outside, but only JUST bright enough. Could stand another 100-200 nits.Cons :• Heavy? Already put it in neutrals, but if weight is a major concern for you, you probably won't like this screen. There are screens without built-in batteries that are substantially lighter.• Price.Other thoughts :Never heard of Pepper Jobs before, but they have several portable screens and it's apparently a focus for them. Not sure how they'll hold up if I need warranty work or support, but I don't know if I'll ever find out if the screen keeps on doing what it's supposed to.Speaking of the screen, color is adequate. It reminds me of a very high quality TN panel rather than IPS. I am sure the colorspace isn't perfect, but I can easily tell what is going on without the color being a distraction. The blacks aren't the inkiest darkness, there is clearly no local dimming, but the backlight is also INCREDIBLY even on my screen. Uniform. I appreciate the consistency.I was super happy to be able to send chrome tabs straight from my smartphone (Note 20 Ultra) to this screen independently of mirroring, without the whole of Samsung Dex launched. With this display showing a different tab from my phone, the touch screen worked fine for scrolling pages and operating links, but the touchscreen keyboard only appears on this display in 1:1 mirror mode, even if you tap into a blank on it. Not a problem if you use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse, which if you're carrying a portable screen in your backpack like me, is probably the case.I was surprised by the packaging for this screen. Besides the outer packaging, the product has its own sturdy box, and is held by a pair of *large* foam inserts that guarantee the screen should survive anything short of a sledgehammer or ice pick while it's on its way to you. And then it's also shielded in transit by the magnetic folio case/stand it comes with.There were a lot of extras, probably covering the vast majority of uses. Travel plug adapters for charging, USB C cable included, HDMI to mini HDMI, USB A adapter, micro cable for OTG, all included. If you already have the cables you need, it's a shame this is adding on to the price, but if you don't have everything, then the good news is that it's probably in the box.I'm very happy with my purchase so far, and I'll update this review if anything changes.

After some extensive research on a portable monitor to use with my Nintendo Switch, I finally decided to purchase this product. I found the internal battery to be an attractive feature compared to other portable monitors that I’ve owned. Especially considering how thin the actual device is. The impressive presentation of the packaging is of a very high and professional quality with all of the cables that you’d ever need with this. This leads me into the first problem that I have with the device. After trying numerous USB-C to USB-C cables, I’ve noticed that the only cable that seems to work is the shorter one that’s included with the unit. That’s disappointing. The clarity and quality of the matte screen itself is fantastic. The included flip cover is serviceable with a magnetic connection and few viewing angles. Colors are bright and vivid with plenty of adjustable settings. This leads me to the next and probably most glaring issue I have with the device. In order to enter the settings menu and access the different display and audio options, you must first hold down the brightness up button on the side of the screen for 3 seconds. Once the menu is open you need to use the volume buttons to cycle through and make your selections. This is needlessly convoluted and made even more frustrating by the fact that the menu seems to automatically time out after a few seconds if you haven’t made a selection. This could’ve easily been remedied by including a simple remote control in the packaging. As for performance, most of the games I’ve tested seem to run at full speed without any problems. I say most because in theory all of the games should run as expected in docked mode. Animal Crossing New Horizons in particular is one of these exceptions. The game runs at almost half speed when using this screen. I’m not sure why this happens with this game specifically, but it is certainly annoying and after adjusting multiple settings I still cannot seem to get it to run correctly. If this changes I will update my review. I have not personally tested the performance of this screen as a secondary PC monitor or while connected to any other game consoles and therefore cannot state an opinion on the touch screen feature. That said, all the needed ports and cables are included in the box should you choose. As far as the on board stereo speakers go, they’re not the loudest but decent enough for what this is. However, there is no headphone jack. All said and done, this is a great device with a lot of value for the money. Especially if you’re planning on using it for a dock less connection to your Nintendo Switch like I am. However, considering the meticulous packaging, for the money it’s a damn shame that a remote control wasn’t included or that simple menu buttons weren’t added to the unit.Edited to show comparison: May 2022. I recently purchased another one of these after my old one was damaged. First of all I was disappointed to see that the packaging for the unit seems to have changed. What was once an impressive box is sadly now a much more simple cardboard box of noticeably lower quality. There also seems to be less branded accessories in the box. Like generic cables. I can not speak on the quality of these yet. They seem to be serviceable. One of my biggest issues with the previous unit was a noticeable performance hit with certain Nintendo Switch games like Animal Crossing running slow. I was pleasantly surprised to see this was no longer an issue. I’m not sure whether this has to do with the OLED Switch itself or if PJ has upgraded the internals of the monitor. Battery life has been fantastic with even the most demanding of Switch games. My only real complaint remains the dated design of the unit and lack of a remote control to navigate through the frustrating menu system. Which is why my rating remains 4 out of 5 stars. I’d still highly recommend this device to anyone interested in a portable battery powered monitor particularly for using their Nintendo Switch on a larger screen without having to connect the dock.V3 Update: November 2022. Having purchased the newest iteration of this monitor, I thought I’d update my previous review to reflect the improvements and also address some of my very few criticisms. Firstly, the packaging experience has been greatly improved. While the presentation is not quite as premium as the original model, the new box and included accessories are of much higher quality than what was included with the previous model. There is also a proprietary one-piece charging cable/power brick that is nice to see. It seems pretty sturdy, but I am not sure how it will hold up over time. The usb-c cable seems to be more durable than the one included last time. The new display glass is now glossy instead of matte for better or worse. One massive improvement over the previous model is the introduction of a touch enabled settings menus. PJ is clearly listening to their customer feedback. Long gone is the frustration of having to awkwardly press and hold buttons to access and navigate the settings menus. It’s better, but is far from a smooth touch experience. I’ve found myself having to tap and swipe on the screen multiple times to register input and having to use the physical buttons to make fine adjustments. For the price, I would expect this to be a fluid and seamless touch experience. There also seems to be less options in this new touch menus than the previous model. For example, I don’t see screen ratio options or a panel uniformity setting. This isn’t a big deal as it’s still easy to adjust color and brightness settings like gamma, contrast, saturation, sharpness, and even HDR. It would be nice if these settings were given some kind of usage explanation (which are both absent from the included operation sheet and the product website). I was disappointed to see that the quad speakers have been replaced by noticeably quieter (by comparison) dual speakers. However, this time they have included a headphone jack. There are a couple extra ports on the new model and a full sized hdmi port (no longer mini) which is nice to see, but as I mainly use this monitor for my Nintendo Switch specifically, I won’t be covering those in more detail here. My biggest gripe with the new model doesn’t have to do with the monitor itself, but rather the magnetic kickstand cover it comes with. The new cover has fewer grooves which make propping up the monitor (aside from a very narrow angle) difficult. This wouldn’t be a big deal if I could use the cover from my v2 model, but it doesn’t fit v3. To summarize, there are definitely better (and probably cheaper) monitors available, but PJ differentiates themselves by including a large built in rechargeable battery for a truly unmatched portable experience particularly with the Nintendo Switch. With each new version of this monitor, they’ve come closer to perfection, but as they haven’t quite gotten there yet, my review will remain at 4 stars. Still very highly recommended.