Acer Portable Monitor PM161Q
A relatively cheap 15.6in IPS portable monitor, but we’d sacrifice screen size for a higher quality panel
SCORE
PRICE £142 (£170 inc VAT) from uk-store.acer.com
Back in January, I was fortunate enough to take the 14in Lenovo ThinkVision M14 ( see issue 305, p74) with me to CES in Las Vegas, and found it a godsend: when travelling, a second screen to complement your laptop’s can lift your productivity. For a start, you can work on two programs side by side without squinting.
That’s why I asked Acer to send in the PM161Q. After all, its 15.6in portable monitor is around £50 cheaper than the 14in M14. Could the twin advantage of price and screen size be enough to propel it into the business traveller’s luggage, or even help out those currently being forced to work at home?
It didn’t make the greatest first impression when I slid it out of its packaging. Where the ThinkVision M14 has the look and feel of a modern top-end laptop, the PM161Q is built from plastic reminiscent of ten-yearold machines. Note those chunky bezels too. “But,” I chastised myself for being so shallow, “what does this matter if the panel’s quality literally shines through?”
I’ll never know because this is a mediocre screen that fails to impress in any way. First, it’s dim. Acer’s specs say it can reach 220cd/m2 , but I measured a peak brightness of 196cd/m2. Then we come to its sRGB gamut coverage, which is a disappointing 58.8% – although that looks good compared to its 41.2% and 42.3% coverage of the Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 gamuts. In contrast, the ThinkVision M14 charms with 89.9% sRGB coverage.
Any slim hope that this screen had of passing our technical tests with a favourable rating were dispatched by an average Delta E of 4.24 (the M14 scored a far superior 1.3), with a maximum variation of over 20 for dark blues. This is not a colour-accurate monitor.
Acer would be entirely correct to point out that this screen isn’t designed to be colour accurate; it’s there to keep business professionals company on their travels, not for photographers or print designers. All of this is true, but I come back to the dimness of the screen. It’s usable, of course, and there’s nothing wrong with its contrast ratio of 1,266:1, but it’s simply drab. When you can buy the punchy ThinkVision M14, why put up with such dreary visuals?
You might argue that the PM161Q’s greater screen size is compensation enough, and if it was matched with a higher resolution than Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) then this could be compelling. But, if you’ve become used to high-resolution panels, whether on a monitor or laptop, the Acer’s lowly pixel density of 143ppi looks blurry. I can only see one compelling argument for sacrificing quality for size, and that’s for those whose eyesight is some way off 20/20 and who would benefit from larger pixels. (You could increase the Lenovo’s display scale to, say, 150% in Windows, but its 14in diagonal does limit its usefulness here.)
Other plus points? The PM161Q can be powered via USB-C direct from a laptop; indeed, that’s the only video input. There’s no passthrough option, either, which means you’re limited in how you set it up: you’ll have to charge the laptop and then connect the screen, whereas the M14 gives you the option of directly powering the screen and then passing that charge
“Any slim hope that this screen had of passing our tests with a favourable rating were dispatched by an average Delta E of 4.24”
through to the laptop. It seems a minor point, but in practice makes it easier to position the screen and laptop as you want them.
There’s an onscreen display (OSD), which allows you to manually tweak the colours or flick between Cool, Normal and Warm. The PM161Q also offers five picture modes – Standard, Game, Cinema, Scenery and Text – yet using the OSD only serves to reinforce this screen’s low-budget leanings. Not only is it clunky, but the tiny, pointy buttons actually hurt to press!
In terms of physicality, you can adjust the angle of view using the fold-out stand at the rear ( which feels cheap), and Acer bundles a basic cover in the box – but this adds no protection to the screen during your travels. If you’re looking for flexibility, once again the ThinkVision M14 wins for its greater range of tilt options and better protection.
I struggle to find a reason to buy the Acer PM161Q for £170 when an extra £50 affords you the far superior ThinkVision M14. Yes, the Acer screen is cheaper and larger, but its image quality and peak brightness trail the Lenovo screen by so much that there can be only one victor.
SPECIFICATIONS
15.6in 1,920 x 1,080 IPS panel 6-bit colour USB-C micro-USB (power only) 15° to 35° stand tilt 377 x 20 x 235mm (WDH) 959g 2yr limited warranty