Review on Lepow Z1-Silver Portable Monitor: 15.6" 1920×1080 Computer Display with Built-In Speakers, High Dynamic Range, 60Hz Refresh Rate, HD Protector by Shaun Beard

The Lepow monitor arrived in a beautiful white gift box. It comes with two cables, Type-C to Type-C and an HDMI cable. The HDMI cable has a full-size plug on one end, while the end that connects to the monitor is a mini-jack. Other items included include a smart cover, a screen protector and an instruction manual. The power supply was not turned on. I didn't contact them, but a few days after receiving my monitor, Lepow customer service emailed me saying they would send me a USB Type-C power cable if needed. I've actually already bought one because I'm itching to test and use the monitor. The instruction manual could be improved. It has pictures showing connections to different devices - which is good. There is no information about the function menu. For this reason, I took photos of each menu tab. Also, the low contrast of the written text of the manual and the small font size make the manual difficult to read. Physical Characteristics The monitor has an elegant metal frame with rounded edges around the screen. Its overall dimensions are 14 3/8" x 8 3/4" x 3/8". The monitor weighs approximately 25.5 ounces without the cover and 39 ½ ounces with the cover installed. The cover is made of a non-slip rubber material that can be folded to use as a stand Small magnets around the edges hold the cover to the monitor for protection That's a fair warning but I don't think the magnets here are strong enough to be a real problem. left and right Edge.The left side has a speaker, an HDMI port, an audio jack, and a full-featured Type-C port.The right side has a speaker, a Type-C port (power only), a spring-loaded lever extension, and a /Off switch The lever is referred to as the "roller key" in the manual. The roller key is spring-loaded in the center but can be moved up or down to operate. This button can also be pressed the. The user manual describes how to use it. Pressing the scroll button adjusts the brightness. A long press opens the function menu. Using the rotary knob's up and down motions along with momentary presses of the switch provides control over changing menu items. The process is easier to learn than to describe when using it. One mistake I made while teaching was accidentally switching the language to Chinese. It took me a heck of a lot of time to figure out which menu item is needed to switch the language back to my native language! Power requirements Before purchasing the monitor, I checked the specifications for voltage, current and power consumption and couldn't find anything. So I made my own checks. The monitor does not have a built-in battery and therefore requires an external power source. As a test I used two sources. One of these was a 120V USB plug-in used for many devices. The second was a DC power supply that provided 5 volts and up to 4 amps to the USB port. Power Consumption The test device was a built-in USB meter that measured voltage, current, and power. The monitor defaults to 30% brightness when first turned on. At this brightness level, the consumption is 5.3 volts and 0.7 amps (ie 700 mA). The power consumption is 3.5 W. If the brightness is increased to 100%, the voltage remains the same, but the current consumption is now 1.26 amps (1260 mA) and 6.69 watts. These numbers show that a reasonably sized battery can be used as a power source with USB connectivity. As already mentioned, with the exception of the change in brightness, all tests were carried out with the default settings, since the monitor was shipped from the factory. It's possible that changing other parameters (e.g. contrast or color settings) will increase current and power consumption, but I don't think the difference will be that significant. The manual says the source must be 5 volts, 2 amps or higher. Some USB wall drives may be closer to 1.5 amps in terms of power output, but even that might be enough. My testing with a 4.2 amp USB output didn't change the monitor's current draw - it stayed at around 1.26 amps. Visual Tests To provide a video source and for visual comparison, I connected my gaming laptop to a Lepow monitor using the Lepow-supplied HDMI cable. . I used a brightness level of 100% on both the monitor and the computer. The photos were taken on a Nikon 300 DX camera with a Sigma 18-35 Art lens - an excellent lens for this type of testing and lighting. Except for cropping, no other changes were made to the photos taken. The main light source was diffuse daylight coming from the left side of the camera. I took photos in my solarium with closed (200 lux) and open (750 lux) blinds. The light falling on the table was perceived as intensity. The photos show the results. Visual Conclusions It's difficult—nearly impossible—to make an accurate direct comparison between monitors because of the many display types and display variables involved. However, there is a qualitative sense in my test comparisons. Overall, the Lepow monitor delivered an impressive picture, especially since it was tested with minimally sufficient lighting. This monitor had less contrast and grayer blacks than my computer screen, but again, such comparisons aren't entirely accurate. For example, I have not made any changes to Lepow's color and contrast settings, and my computer screen is currently set to be accurate for a specific photographic paper.