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on June 16, 2017
These ASUS portable monitors are outstanding. I have two of them. I used the 169B, non-IPS version for a long time but could not easily get the viewing angle just right so that I could see both this and my laptop screen well when using either the provided case/stand, or an aftermarket stand. To solve the problem, I bought this IPS version which does indeed fix the viewing angle issue. Better still, buy the MountEra Side Mount Clip which holds the monitor at a perfect angle to view. Now I can use both extra monitors and the main laptop display with all of them perfectly visible at the same time.
on April 7, 2016
Basically, this monitor will nto work on my Lenovo T450s. It is unclear to me why this is the case. I tested it on another computer, and it works fine. On the Lenovo, however, the monitor simply wont stay on. The Asus logo turns on briefly, and then the screen goes black. (and stays black). After reading about similar issues online, I thought it was an issue with insufficient power. I tried a USB y cable, and connected an external power source to one of the cables to add extra power. Still nothing. The computer recognizes the display, I am able to install drivers/"Ezlink" software but the display simply will not turn on. Seeing as this is the second failed monitor purchase from asus due to insufficient documentation of the product limitations, I am quite disappointing. FYI, The first monitor I purchase was the USB C version of of this monitor (MB169C+) which is not backwards compatible with any USB 3 device's, despite no clear mention of this in any of Asus's documentation.
Overall, I am quite disappointed as I have spent a large amount of time/money trying to get this to work (and I really needed a second monitor). I know a lot of people enjoy this monitor, but my experiences have been very poor...
Overall, I am quite disappointed as I have spent a large amount of time/money trying to get this to work (and I really needed a second monitor). I know a lot of people enjoy this monitor, but my experiences have been very poor...
on February 21, 2017
! I have revised this review, based on the latest drivers for Mac.!
It is light, beautiful, and works. But it had problems on my Mac untill I downloaded the latest drivers from Displaylink (not ASUS).
I installed the driver, and it starts up, the brightness controls work, but I cannot switch to the vertical format. Not surprising, and not really a problem. I have not looked for a work-around.
The refresh rate problems have gone. On my 2015 MacBook Air Video playback now works perfectly, unless the computer is working very hard.
With the new drivers, it has become a game changer for me, it is perfect. It converts my 11" MacBook into an excellent and incredibly light workstation. I now rate this with five stars.
I made a stand for it out of a sheet of Coreflute, I use it as a screen cover/protector in transit, and it holds the screen above the laptop so I can use both screens.
If you use a Chromebook, DisplayLink says drivers are coming. It works on Windows, and Ubuntu Linux drivers are on the web site.
It is light, beautiful, and works. But it had problems on my Mac untill I downloaded the latest drivers from Displaylink (not ASUS).
I installed the driver, and it starts up, the brightness controls work, but I cannot switch to the vertical format. Not surprising, and not really a problem. I have not looked for a work-around.
The refresh rate problems have gone. On my 2015 MacBook Air Video playback now works perfectly, unless the computer is working very hard.
With the new drivers, it has become a game changer for me, it is perfect. It converts my 11" MacBook into an excellent and incredibly light workstation. I now rate this with five stars.
I made a stand for it out of a sheet of Coreflute, I use it as a screen cover/protector in transit, and it holds the screen above the laptop so I can use both screens.
If you use a Chromebook, DisplayLink says drivers are coming. It works on Windows, and Ubuntu Linux drivers are on the web site.
on December 4, 2015
Really fantastic product. It's surprising how good the screen looks. Decent viewing angles, and the screen is a rather nice matte.
It worked out of the box, although I don't have a cd drive so I downloaded the displaylink drivers straight from here[...]
The build quality is rather nice too, and the entire thing is rather thin.
One thing that others have noted is that the case it comes with is a rather decent sleeve, but not a great stand. It takes up a rather large amount of space behind the screen. Maybe this is fine on the go, but at home I need the desk space, and the monitor needs to be close to the wall, so I would recommend some other generic tablet stand.
EDIT: Small issue after several months of use. The usb connector is starting to get bendy and is losing connection sometimes. Not too big of an issue but something to consider. Lost a star due to this.
Would recommend 7/10 (lost one point to the case/stand issue and two because of the loose connector)
It worked out of the box, although I don't have a cd drive so I downloaded the displaylink drivers straight from here[...]
The build quality is rather nice too, and the entire thing is rather thin.
One thing that others have noted is that the case it comes with is a rather decent sleeve, but not a great stand. It takes up a rather large amount of space behind the screen. Maybe this is fine on the go, but at home I need the desk space, and the monitor needs to be close to the wall, so I would recommend some other generic tablet stand.
EDIT: Small issue after several months of use. The usb connector is starting to get bendy and is losing connection sometimes. Not too big of an issue but something to consider. Lost a star due to this.
Would recommend 7/10 (lost one point to the case/stand issue and two because of the loose connector)
on May 24, 2017
I had high hopes for this monitor, but I'm very disappointed. In fact, if I hadn't thrown away the packaging, it'd be going back.
Like many others, I use this as a second monitor for programming. The default color configuration is horrendous on OSX, haven't tried it on linux. It's extremely washed out. But I found a color profile online and used that, which made it a bit better, but still not good enough for something you want to stare at 8+ hours a day. I find myself only using it to open up the web pages and developer console for things I'm working on, which is fine, because it's maybe 10% of my screen time, but nice to have as a reference.
The mouse lag is also a problem. The cursor moves across the screen ok (it's always where you expect it to be), but it only updates a few times a second, so if you are moving the mouse with any speed, it's really choppy. It's extremely annoying, but not anything that actually impacts use.
But the last problem, and the one that is completely unacceptable for me, is that several times a day it just freezes. The mouse won't show up at all, and there's no interaction with what's on the screen. You can power it down and back up, but at that point it's just a black screen. The only way to get it working again is to reboot the computer. Sorry, that's not going to cut it.
At this point, I'm just going to get standard powered monitor. It's not worth these hassles.
If you are looking for one of these with Mac OSX, stay away. You will be disappointed. Or at the very least, save your packaging so you can return it.
Like many others, I use this as a second monitor for programming. The default color configuration is horrendous on OSX, haven't tried it on linux. It's extremely washed out. But I found a color profile online and used that, which made it a bit better, but still not good enough for something you want to stare at 8+ hours a day. I find myself only using it to open up the web pages and developer console for things I'm working on, which is fine, because it's maybe 10% of my screen time, but nice to have as a reference.
The mouse lag is also a problem. The cursor moves across the screen ok (it's always where you expect it to be), but it only updates a few times a second, so if you are moving the mouse with any speed, it's really choppy. It's extremely annoying, but not anything that actually impacts use.
But the last problem, and the one that is completely unacceptable for me, is that several times a day it just freezes. The mouse won't show up at all, and there's no interaction with what's on the screen. You can power it down and back up, but at that point it's just a black screen. The only way to get it working again is to reboot the computer. Sorry, that's not going to cut it.
At this point, I'm just going to get standard powered monitor. It's not worth these hassles.
If you are looking for one of these with Mac OSX, stay away. You will be disappointed. Or at the very least, save your packaging so you can return it.
on November 23, 2015
This has changed my world. I've never owned a portable external monitor like this. As a professional artist, it means that owning laptops has always been a dubious decision on my part; I can't get anything done on a single monitor and what's the point in having a portable device that's always tethered to a wall and monitor? The problem has always been that I am about a thousand percent more productive when I'm not sitting in my home amongst my other toys. Enter the Asus MB168B (among others). It sets up in moments, doesn't suck all of the battery out of my 13" macbook pro, and there's only a single, glorious cable to plug in. I can see the jealousy in the eyes of the dude at the library who showed up with his whole rig, and feel the frustration of the afterEffects user who's squinting at his lone monitor and clicking furiously in search of lost windows. I was them once...
but this is not a perfect solution... not for mac users at least.
The display is sometimes finnicky to setup, leaving you with a black screen, until you unplug and re-plug and repeat until you get an image. Once you do, you lose a couple features that would be nice and which are available to windows users; supposedly, the apple API hasn't allowed ASUS to support a proper driver to run the monitor and thus, support is spotty. When using a mac, the auto rotation feature has been disabled, along with the brightness buttons (and really any control over brightness at all). It's a minor irritation, but not one that has caused me too much pause, the monitor is still reasonably bright enough to work and that's all I expected.
The build quality is decent, and if you treat it like a monitor, and put it back in it's case, and not crack it against a door frame or something, it should last a pretty long time. The stand and case combo works pretty decently, again, it's not perfect, but it gets the job done, and that's pretty much the definition of this product. It gets the job done. If i had to do it again I'd get myself the higher res version. I miss the extra resolution, and next to my retina display it's like looking at an ancient piece of tech (circa 2010).
but then you get to the price point; for $125 this is a flat out steal... and a near guarantee that I will invest soundly in my next portable monitor.
Bottom Line: This is the defacto starter monitor for cautious buyers; Reasonable price, decent quality and performance, but if you're a mac user you're paying for something that's not perfect. This might actually be the case for alot of monitors of this type with Apple products. If Asus is to be trusted, Apple really needs to step up their third party support before we see any real imporvements. And yet, for me at least, this thing has made me a believer. The portable monitor is a must buy.
but this is not a perfect solution... not for mac users at least.
The display is sometimes finnicky to setup, leaving you with a black screen, until you unplug and re-plug and repeat until you get an image. Once you do, you lose a couple features that would be nice and which are available to windows users; supposedly, the apple API hasn't allowed ASUS to support a proper driver to run the monitor and thus, support is spotty. When using a mac, the auto rotation feature has been disabled, along with the brightness buttons (and really any control over brightness at all). It's a minor irritation, but not one that has caused me too much pause, the monitor is still reasonably bright enough to work and that's all I expected.
The build quality is decent, and if you treat it like a monitor, and put it back in it's case, and not crack it against a door frame or something, it should last a pretty long time. The stand and case combo works pretty decently, again, it's not perfect, but it gets the job done, and that's pretty much the definition of this product. It gets the job done. If i had to do it again I'd get myself the higher res version. I miss the extra resolution, and next to my retina display it's like looking at an ancient piece of tech (circa 2010).
but then you get to the price point; for $125 this is a flat out steal... and a near guarantee that I will invest soundly in my next portable monitor.
Bottom Line: This is the defacto starter monitor for cautious buyers; Reasonable price, decent quality and performance, but if you're a mac user you're paying for something that's not perfect. This might actually be the case for alot of monitors of this type with Apple products. If Asus is to be trusted, Apple really needs to step up their third party support before we see any real imporvements. And yet, for me at least, this thing has made me a believer. The portable monitor is a must buy.
on July 9, 2017
grabbed from a non amazon source but wanted to throw my 2 bits in considering i've tried the 169b+ and 169c+. the 16ac is dual mode, it can do a driverless dp alt mode if supported and if not, it can do a driver based usb mode. before you buy, do yourself a favor and research it a bit as far as compatibility goes.
compared to 169c+...in my experience, the c+ will only work if your mobo setup has a 3.1 usb c slot that's dp alt mode compatible. I don't have such a mobo so this monitor didn't work for me when I bought it, I had to eventually return it. my mobo does have a 3.1 usb c slot, but its data only, not dp alt mode. for the zenscreen, because of its dual mode capacity, it would work in regular usb mode for me with the intel display drivers installed. to my surprise, the drivers worked even if it was connected via usb c. going in, I had thought for driver mode, it was only going to work in usb A mode. 169c+ in my experience did not offer the ability to work in driver mode if plugged in via usb c, its only connection option.
compared to 169b+...from everything i've read, the 169c+ is the same screen, different connection so i'm going to make a few assumptions on quality moving forward....so 169b+ does offer drivered usb A mode...the differences here, the zenscreen is a prettier, glossy screen whereas the 169b+ was a dull, matte image. the 16ac also has a onscreen ui with quite the extensive screen control options the 169b+ lacks. in my experience so far, there is less lag, less jitteriness. even in drivered usb a mode ( am connected via usb c 3.1 for purposes of these impressions), the zenscreen is more responsive, less troublesome, better pq then the older models. in general, its much more closer to a bonafide real monitor then it is closer to the b+ and c+ as far as usb powered monitors go. I am pretty darn impressed so far, its a noticeable step up, on same quality connection, vs the 169b+. I would watch a video on this screen in a pinch(my main monitor is fairly expensive so not fair to compare it to that). video on the 169b+ was jittery, its much smoother on this. the colors are richer, more vibrant, the controls over those aspects are there to control on the zenscreen as well.
the case is much better as well and has multiple folding options. the screen has three hard buttons to control the ui thus furthering its appeal as a legit monitor replacement. the options within the ui are on par with any monitor out there. I tried the monitor in drivered mode over usb c vs A and in reality, the difference felt nominal. in reality, what they are getting out this screen vs the 169 line is where the real difference coming. the pen? don't get it, seemed stupid, is stupid, in most case config modes, adding the pen to it is a eyesore...for those curious still to this point, no this is not a touchscreen.
quirks? if you've got a drivered usb c connection to it on a non dp alt mode device, you are going to get a win alert about a non optimal connection on every boot up. it shows up on every reboot.
moving forward.......for those in my situation with a desktop mobo that has a 3.1 slot that doesn't offer dp alt mode, there is one company that's offering a pci card to combat that.. I've ordered it, if people are interested would be glad to report back but essentially its a pci card that jacks a pci slot for power but connects to your main gpu for video support...in all of this talk, the holy grail is dp alt mode support, its full monitor access....
Update - adding in the dp alt mode compatible pci card worked like a charm so I now have the screen connected using dp alt mode
compared to 169c+...in my experience, the c+ will only work if your mobo setup has a 3.1 usb c slot that's dp alt mode compatible. I don't have such a mobo so this monitor didn't work for me when I bought it, I had to eventually return it. my mobo does have a 3.1 usb c slot, but its data only, not dp alt mode. for the zenscreen, because of its dual mode capacity, it would work in regular usb mode for me with the intel display drivers installed. to my surprise, the drivers worked even if it was connected via usb c. going in, I had thought for driver mode, it was only going to work in usb A mode. 169c+ in my experience did not offer the ability to work in driver mode if plugged in via usb c, its only connection option.
compared to 169b+...from everything i've read, the 169c+ is the same screen, different connection so i'm going to make a few assumptions on quality moving forward....so 169b+ does offer drivered usb A mode...the differences here, the zenscreen is a prettier, glossy screen whereas the 169b+ was a dull, matte image. the 16ac also has a onscreen ui with quite the extensive screen control options the 169b+ lacks. in my experience so far, there is less lag, less jitteriness. even in drivered usb a mode ( am connected via usb c 3.1 for purposes of these impressions), the zenscreen is more responsive, less troublesome, better pq then the older models. in general, its much more closer to a bonafide real monitor then it is closer to the b+ and c+ as far as usb powered monitors go. I am pretty darn impressed so far, its a noticeable step up, on same quality connection, vs the 169b+. I would watch a video on this screen in a pinch(my main monitor is fairly expensive so not fair to compare it to that). video on the 169b+ was jittery, its much smoother on this. the colors are richer, more vibrant, the controls over those aspects are there to control on the zenscreen as well.
the case is much better as well and has multiple folding options. the screen has three hard buttons to control the ui thus furthering its appeal as a legit monitor replacement. the options within the ui are on par with any monitor out there. I tried the monitor in drivered mode over usb c vs A and in reality, the difference felt nominal. in reality, what they are getting out this screen vs the 169 line is where the real difference coming. the pen? don't get it, seemed stupid, is stupid, in most case config modes, adding the pen to it is a eyesore...for those curious still to this point, no this is not a touchscreen.
quirks? if you've got a drivered usb c connection to it on a non dp alt mode device, you are going to get a win alert about a non optimal connection on every boot up. it shows up on every reboot.
moving forward.......for those in my situation with a desktop mobo that has a 3.1 slot that doesn't offer dp alt mode, there is one company that's offering a pci card to combat that.. I've ordered it, if people are interested would be glad to report back but essentially its a pci card that jacks a pci slot for power but connects to your main gpu for video support...in all of this talk, the holy grail is dp alt mode support, its full monitor access....
Update - adding in the dp alt mode compatible pci card worked like a charm so I now have the screen connected using dp alt mode
on April 7, 2017
Experience with previous portable Monitor:
Previously I had purchased the lower resolution AOC USB monitor for a lower end laptop that did not have 1080 resolution, and the AOC was a formidable design, albeit a bit bulky and heavier than this one, and the AOC screen surface is prohibitively reflective when there is lighting source facing the monitor screen.
ASUS Monitor:
At first I was a little surprised at the ASUS price, but after receipt and having used it with with a 1080 laptop I realize now that this is a much better display and form factor than my previous display and well worth the higher price. The ASUS display is a super thin and lightweight portable monitor, both of which are desirable attributes when portability is a requirement. Setup was plug and play with my Windows 10 OS, and it worked right out of the box. It also has identical dimensions and resolution to my laptop display, making this a truly seamless dual monitor setup with a primary laptop screen. I also like the fact that the protective pouch it comes with also doubles as an effective monitor stand. In hindsight I would've purchased this version for both laptops. Very highly recommended.
Previously I had purchased the lower resolution AOC USB monitor for a lower end laptop that did not have 1080 resolution, and the AOC was a formidable design, albeit a bit bulky and heavier than this one, and the AOC screen surface is prohibitively reflective when there is lighting source facing the monitor screen.
ASUS Monitor:
At first I was a little surprised at the ASUS price, but after receipt and having used it with with a 1080 laptop I realize now that this is a much better display and form factor than my previous display and well worth the higher price. The ASUS display is a super thin and lightweight portable monitor, both of which are desirable attributes when portability is a requirement. Setup was plug and play with my Windows 10 OS, and it worked right out of the box. It also has identical dimensions and resolution to my laptop display, making this a truly seamless dual monitor setup with a primary laptop screen. I also like the fact that the protective pouch it comes with also doubles as an effective monitor stand. In hindsight I would've purchased this version for both laptops. Very highly recommended.
on May 30, 2017
We have 2 of these. The USB 3.0 and USB-C models. I have to say both work well for our use: as a 2nd monitor while travelling. Although each has a caveat or two, and I'll expand on that a bit below.
My wife has the USB 3.0 model for use with her Core i7 Surface Pro 4. It only has 1 USB3 slot. If this monitor is plugged in directly it works fine, however she prefers to use an external mouse. This means that she must use a *powered* USB 3.0 hub. We chose an Anker and it works well as long as power is plugged in. On her monitor we've noticed some lag when plugged in. We believe this is a limitation of USB 3.0. The protocol stack seems to require more CPU time than USB-C. Her CPU spikes when she plays video or anything with action on it. We got it mostly as a 2nd monitor for reference material lookups and web browsing, so this is ok.
I have the USB-C model paired with my ASUS ZenBook Pro UX501VW. It works great! I can play full-screen videos, some games even on the extra monitor without much added load on the CPU. USB-C cables are not all equal though, and I found this out when I tried one of my shorter cables with the display. It would lag some and have similar issues to my wife's USB 3.0. Once I plugged in a better cable everything was fine again though and performance was good. I don't like the original cable that it shipped with much, but you can get an inexpensive replacement (got mine from Mono price - Pallate Series 3.0). Just be sure it is up to the latest USB-C standards.
The display panel in both seems the same. They aren't 100% color accurate (would require calibration) and they don't have the best viewing angle in the world, but we didn't care for our use. The biggest difference other than port/cable is the controls. The USB-C model has more on screen controls, accessible through a funny combination button/switch in the place that the USB 3.0's power button lives.
Even the travel case is a bit different between the two. The USB-C model's travel case has a bit more viewing angle, flexibility with 3 tabs to chose from, but the panel also sits about mid-rear of the footprint, whereas the USB 3.0s travel case places the display about 2 inches from the front. See the attached images for the difference.
If I had the ability to choose I'd choose the USB-C model... USB-C itself is better, but the extra controls on the display are nice too.
My wife has the USB 3.0 model for use with her Core i7 Surface Pro 4. It only has 1 USB3 slot. If this monitor is plugged in directly it works fine, however she prefers to use an external mouse. This means that she must use a *powered* USB 3.0 hub. We chose an Anker and it works well as long as power is plugged in. On her monitor we've noticed some lag when plugged in. We believe this is a limitation of USB 3.0. The protocol stack seems to require more CPU time than USB-C. Her CPU spikes when she plays video or anything with action on it. We got it mostly as a 2nd monitor for reference material lookups and web browsing, so this is ok.
I have the USB-C model paired with my ASUS ZenBook Pro UX501VW. It works great! I can play full-screen videos, some games even on the extra monitor without much added load on the CPU. USB-C cables are not all equal though, and I found this out when I tried one of my shorter cables with the display. It would lag some and have similar issues to my wife's USB 3.0. Once I plugged in a better cable everything was fine again though and performance was good. I don't like the original cable that it shipped with much, but you can get an inexpensive replacement (got mine from Mono price - Pallate Series 3.0). Just be sure it is up to the latest USB-C standards.
The display panel in both seems the same. They aren't 100% color accurate (would require calibration) and they don't have the best viewing angle in the world, but we didn't care for our use. The biggest difference other than port/cable is the controls. The USB-C model has more on screen controls, accessible through a funny combination button/switch in the place that the USB 3.0's power button lives.
Even the travel case is a bit different between the two. The USB-C model's travel case has a bit more viewing angle, flexibility with 3 tabs to chose from, but the panel also sits about mid-rear of the footprint, whereas the USB 3.0s travel case places the display about 2 inches from the front. See the attached images for the difference.
If I had the ability to choose I'd choose the USB-C model... USB-C itself is better, but the extra controls on the display are nice too.
