Arzopa A1 Gamut Mini 2K Portable Monitor Review: Perfectly Priced

Portable monitors allow you to reap the benefits of a dual display without being confined to your desktop. But with so many on the market, it’s hard to know what’s good and what is a moderately pricey waste of time. I’ve been looking at the Arzopa A1 Gamut to see if it’s worth the $200 price tag.

A portable monitor should be more than an extra display you can use on the go. It should also be able to handle any task a regular monitor could. So I’ve spent time testing out some other uses for the A1 Gamut. The model I was sent has a 2K screen, a 13.3″ display, and at the time of writing, is available at 25% off on Amazon. That deal may disappear, but items like this are frequently discounted. Keeping an eye out may lead to you grabbing one at a price significantly lower than the MSRP. I’ve spent around two weeks getting to grips with it, and during that time, a fairly strong opinion has been formed.

This Is a Plug-In and Play Type Deal

Setting this monitor up is a breeze. Simply plug the power cable into one of the USB-C ports. Then choose the USB-C cable or mini-HDMI to HDMI cable, depending on the device you want to connect. Plug the other end into your device, and you’re pretty much good to go. PCs and laptops connected via USB-C will also be able to power the monitor.

The phones I tested this on will send some power to the screen, but not enough to actually get it going. This is probably for the best, as the 13.3-inch display would probably eat through a phone battery in no time. If you do want to power the screen on the go, you can actually run it off most standard power banks. Their 5-volt output is all it needs.

PC and laptop users may have an extra step or two. The monitor may just act as a duplicate of your main screen by default, so you’ll have to go into your display settings and adjust everything to your liking.

The Resolution Is Good

So, the most important question is: how does it look? The monitor has an aspect ratio of 16:10 and a resolution of 2560 x 1600. This is slightly more than the 1440p 2K monitors tend to have, but it’s still down as a QHD screen. It also has a 60 Hz refresh rate. Unless you’re the kind of gamer that demands ultra HD and more refreshes per second than your eyeballs can comprehend, this will do in most circumstances.

Given that it’s only a 13.3-inch screen, a 2K resolution is plenty to work with. Everything looked crystal clear, and a jump to 4K is likely overkill. It’s also a standard LCD display, but you won’t see a 4K OLED display at this price point. You’re going to spend two to three times as much for that.

In terms of viewing angles, I could see the monitor clearly enough to read as far to the side as around 60 degrees. The biggest issue with viewing the monitor from an angle is its potential to reflect light. Head on, the matte screen should be okay in most circumstances, but you could see significant glare if you’re looking at it from the side. The cover doubling as a stand helps massively here. It’s easy to adjust the monitor, so glare won’t be an issue if you and some other people are using it as a screen for a games console or all watching an event on it. Similarly, it’s easy to set it up so you’re square on with it when using it as an auxiliary monitor, so you don’t need to worry about its comfortable viewing range in that situation.

The whole thing is about the size of a large tablet and weighs around a pound. It also lives up to its “ultra-slim” billing. Despite the specs on Amazon saying two inches for some unfathomable reason, it’s actually just under half an inch thick. The monitor has a built-in magnetic cover that protects the display while closed and serves as a stand while open.

The Sound Is Pretty “Meh”

You can only expect so much from a device this small and slim. It isn’t packing anything major in terms of speakers — so if audio quality is important to you, you’ll need to consider your options. Those options include a supplementary speaker, using your Laptop’s default audio, or finding a portable monitor with a more substantial audio device.

The Gamut Mini isn’t totally silent. It will produce sound, and you can hear that sound clearly. It just isn’t particularly good quality. This is far less of a problem when using it as a supplementary monitor for a PC or Laptop, but if you’re using it as a portable screen for something else, then it could be more of a concern.

It Comes With a Couple of Connection Options

In terms of connectivity, the A1 Gamut Mini comes with two USB-C ports and a mini HDMI port. However, one of the USB ports does have to be used to power the monitor. You’ll also get a USB-C to USB-C cable and an HDMI-Mini to HDMI cable included. If you’re an iPhone user who really wants to connect your phone to a monitor, you’ll have to buy something like a USB-C or HDMI to Lightning cable separately.

Just to be picky, I’d like to point out the placement of the USB-C ports. They’re both close together on the left side of the monitor. When I’m using a dual-monitor setup, I like to have my main monitor on the right and my supplementary one on the left. This means I have to trail the HDMI or USB cable around the back of the A1 Gamut Mini to plug it into my laptop.

I’m not an electrical engineer or designer, so this might be a massive pain. But if you had one USB-C port on each side of the device instead of two on the left, I’d have had less cable management anxiety during this testing experience. Once again, this isn’t a problem if you like an auxiliary monitor on the right, and it is just me being very picky.

It’s Ideal for Samsung Users

Samsung Dex is a feature that turns Galaxy cellphones into what is essentially a PC under certain circumstances. While there are specific devices you can buy to connect your phone to a PC, you don’t really need to bother. Just grab yourself one of these, plug the included USB-C cable into your phone, plug it into a power bank, and you’re pretty much good to go. It’s basically an ultra-thin tablet-sized laptop.

To get the most out of Dex, you’ll probably want to connect a mouse and keyboard to your phone, too—though your phone can act as a touchpad if you really want to save space. Either way, the Gamut Mini is a solid choice for the screen component, which is what activates Dex in the first place.

To test it out, I played Baldur’s Gate, which is absolute trash on mobile. A mouse, keyboard, and this portable monitor fixed all of its problems and made it just like the PC version.

I’m Thinking of Actually Buying One

So, do I recommend the Arzopa A1 Gamut Mini? Yes, it’s a really useful piece of kit that looks good, is easy to transport, and works with just about everything. I’ve spent a couple of weeks with it, and I like it so much I’m thinking of buying one myself.

The issues with this monitor are all easy to mitigate. The sound quality is something that won’t pose a problem in most circumstances and can likely be fixed with a pair of Bluetooth headphones if you’re stuck using the monitor as your only screen. The USB-C port placement is more nitpicking on my part, and the USB cable that powers it is pretty short — but a longer USB-C cord isn’t hard to find or expensive. Equally, you won’t need to find an outlet to plug it into or a power bank if you’re connecting it to something like a PC via USB-C.

It is worth pointing out there are other portable monitors on the market, some of which are cheaper. But the display looked fantastic, and the compatibility factor that comes with the USB-C ports really sold me on it.