Portable Monitor for iPhone: Top Considerations

Our smartphones are one of the most powerful devices we carry around with us. More compute than what the Apollo mission took to the moon? I heard it somewhere, don't quote me on that

Many of us want to get more out of our phones and connect it to larger displays for streaming shows, reading through new or emails or even completing presentations with docs on your phone.

All of this is possible but with nuance which we go through. And for those who have Android phones, here is an article that goes through the same topic and a separate article with iPad which has a lot of features like dual-screen.

Before we get into it, take a moment to see what's possible with an external screen connected to your iPhone:

Firstly, let's recap the difference between a typical external monitor and a portable monitor.

Referred to also as a desktop monitor, these are what we know over the last 20 years and the most common form.

But recently there's a new form factor of this that I and some university friends have been one of the first to champion called portable monitors with our startup, espresso.

These are the same concept but in a portable, tablet-like form-factor. No onboard operating system or even battery, just a "dumb screen" to connect to the devices (laptops, tablets, phones, gaming consoles) we already use regularly.

Things to note for Portable Monitors on iPhone:

• Portable monitors have no onboard battery. Whilst you can power a display from USB-C with low brightness, we recommend a power bank or external power source

  • iPhone max power output is 4.5W, compared to common laptops at 15W
    

• No touchscreen capabilities, even if it's a touchscreen monitor. This is a limitation to iPhone at this stage, but is commonly available on Android phones, so might be available in the future
  

• Orientation: Vertical will be a slice in the middle of the Display with black either side of it. Landscape orientation for a photo, video or presentation will be full screen.

Most Important Consideration for Connectivity

This is the charging port at the bottom of your iPhone, which will also be the connection to any external monitor.

Works Great :)
iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max: As it uses USB-C with video output, just connect with the cable provided with the portable monitor.

Doesn't Work :(
iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus: This is without video output over USB-C, so even adaptors won't work.

Adaptor-city :/
Possible, but not convenient. Apple has held onto their own brand of port, lightning for a long time. Whilst technically inferior, it allows Apple to keep a degree of control over their 3rd party accessory ecosystem.

To enable this, you will need:

• The Apple Lightning Digital AV Adaptor (connection to your phone)

• HDMI to USB-C (video connection to the Display)

• 

Whilst this is possible, when we have potential customers who come to us asking if they should buy for this reason I don't usually recommend it. My advice is typically to only buy if you would use an espresso Display for your laptop most of the time, but could get additional benefit and don't find the adaptors and cables clunky.

Use Cases - What's it useful for?

With your phone in it's usual vertical orientation, it will be vertical on the landscape orientation of the Display. This is limiting, so I don't see many substantial use-cases for that as it's not much larger than your phone itself.

So a lot of the use is in landscape mode. Here are some of the ways I have used, or have heard our customer have used their espresso Display with an iPhone:

Watching Videos

• Streaming movies on your phone, but onto a larger screen. This is my go to for every flight now as I always download content from Netflix, YouTube, Spotify and whatever streaming service has the shows I'm watching at the time

• Gym workout at home, following class instructions

• Streaming music on YouTube from your phone whilst working from home (I like putting on a live music or electronic set with the video playing)

• Showing a video to someone else on a bigger screen (i.e. family videos)

  • This is also great for going through photo albums

Presentation

• PDF presentation in an email on my phone. When out of an office for a meeting (coworking space or coffee shop), easier to pull out the Display and connect it than open and huddle around a laptop

• App demonstration - better than showing on your phone and is mirrored to your experience on your phone (i.e. you focus on going through the app features and they follow from the espresso Display)

Gaming (with bluetooth controller)

• I haven't done this, but this looks awesome

Summary

• The espresso Display is an awesome way to extend your iPhone screen

• There are definitely limitations with the iPhone, don't expect it to function like an iPad

• Generally recommended for those who have a significant use with a laptop for work purposes

• If you're unsure, you can contact us and we can give a recommendation whether it's suitable for your needs

Learn more about espresso here