Once you go with a dual monitor setup, you can’t go back—or so the tech world would have you believe. While having dual monitors is definitely beneficial to your productivity, you can’t lug around a spare monitor to a coffee shop. Or can you?
Portable monitors have risen in popularity in recent years, but the quality is hit or miss. Zissu’s 15.6-inch portable monitor for laptops is a new contender in the arena. Zissu’s sent it over to Help Desk Geek for review, so we spent a bit of time with it to get a feel for how it works. Here’s what we found.
Specs and Features
The monitor itself is a 15.6-inch display with both a full and a 16:9 aspect ratio. The different ratios can be swapped on the fly thanks to a control dial on the side of the stand. It has a maximum resolution of 1920×1080, a 60Hz refresh rate, and a viewing angle of 178-degrees.
At just 1.7 pounds (or 790 g), it’s lightweight and easy to transport. The screen displays up to 252,000 colors. The bezels are incredibly thin and add to the aesthetic appeal of the display. It also claims to have HDR, but the 220-nit brightness isn’t enough for the effect to be apparent.
Zissu’s portable monitor is also well-equipped with ports for nearly any type of connection you can imagine. It boasts dual USB-C ports for power supply, audio, and video. It also has a Mini HDMI port, and a 3.5mm audio port.
The portable monitor for laptops is designed to be used in landscape mode, but it can also be set up in portrait mode. You should know that setting it in portrait mode will mean you cannot access the options dial or the 3.5mm audio port, however.
It’s worth noting that the monitor included an HDMI-to-HDMI mini adapter, a USB-C to USB-A adapter, and a USB-C to USB-C cable. It also includes a microfiber cleaning cloth for the monitor screen and the manufacturer recommends regularly cleaning the screen to keep it clear and dust-free.
Audio
Zissu’s portable monitor has multiple built-in speakers that, while not perfectly clear, produce better sound quality than many monitors on the market. If you want true clarity in sound, then a set of headphones plugged into the 3.5mm audio port will make a huge difference.
On the other hand, unless you’re an audiophile, the sound quality is passable enough that it likely isn’t going to bother you.
Performance
Now, to get to the real focus of this review: How does Zissu’s portable monitor for laptops perform? After multiple tests on numerous platforms, we can safely say: quite well. If you compare it to other IPS screens, the difference isn’t as noticeable. However, if you compare the portable monitor to a Retina display on a modern Macbook, there’s a marked difference in quality.
We ran the monitor through a series of graphical tests. In the gradient test, it performed particularly poorly. Even when viewed at a distance, the shifts between colors is pronounced. Lines clearly differentiate shifts in tone and hue, even divided over 256 steps.
The response time is reasonable, but not the best. Brights and colors create a noticeable halo effect around objects on screen, as well as a ghosting effect on some moving images when placed against a solid background. However, when tested with video or a game, the monitor performs quite well.
We connected it to a Nintendo Switch to try out how well it performed. In a high-intensity game like Skyrim, the monitor displayed colors accurately and had no noticeable lag or ghosting. It also performed well when playing simpler games like Gradius on the NES Mini. Despite the limited color palette, the game looked crisp and clear without a halo effect.
In normal usage as a secondary monitor, the text was crisp. Colors displayed clearly, but not perfectly accurately. However, after a quick color calibration using the Macbook’s built-in tool, the monitor looked almost as good as the Retina display, minus the increased pixel count.
Final Thoughts
So is Zissu’s portable monitor worth picking up? It certainly has a lot of strengths. At 15.6 inches, it’s actually slightly larger than most laptop screens. If you’re used to using dual monitors, it is lightweight enough to carry in a computer bag. We would recommend that you get a carrying case for the monitor to prevent damage to the front of the screen.
If you want to use it for gaming on the go, it’s a great choice. While it’s only a 1080p screen and won’t compare versus dedicated 4K gaming monitors, for $175 for a portable display (or one to use when guests come over to prevent screen-looking), it’s a solid choice.
Use caution if you plan to use this monitor for professional photo or video editing. Make sure to calibrate the colors to be work-appropriate; do not rely on the color settings directly out of the box.
In the end, Zissu’s 15.6-inch portable monitor for laptops is a solid, budget-friendly option for anyone looking to improve their productivity or gaming performance while on the go.
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Patrick is an Atlanta-based technology writer with a background in programming and smart home technology. When he isn’t writing, nose to the grindstone, he can be found keeping up with the latest developments in the tech world and upping his coffee game. Read Patrick’s Full Bio
3D printer manufacturer, Anycubic, recently released two new printers—the Anycubic Kobra and its bigger, badder uncle, the Anycubic Kobra Max. We were interested in testing both products in our hunt for the best entry-level 3D printers. We’re looking for ease-of-use and affordability, as well as build and print quality.
We’ve published a number of 3D printer reviews from Anycubic—for both FDM printers like the Anycubic Vyper that print with spools of filament and SLA resin 3D printers like the Anycubic Photon Mono X 6K that use a liquid resin as its raw material—and we can say that the Kobra Max has quickly become one of our favorites.
Features of the Anycubic Kobra Max 3D Printer
The most obvious feature of this printer is its size. It is absolutely massive. That means you can print huge items in a single piece. Think of a full helmet or an entire ukulele—these are things you couldn’t print in one piece on a normal-sized 3D printer. Truly, the word “Max” doesn’t sufficiently capture just how big this printer is. Good luck fitting the packaging into your trash or recycling bins!
We were skeptical that a Cartesian printer of this size (which relies on a moveable print bed) would perform well since it has a lot of weight to move around. Admittedly, it’s not the speediest printer out there because of those design tradeoffs, but it works great.
The Kobra Max has an impressive list of technical specifications:
- Leveling: Automatic, 25 points leveling using the Anycubic Leviq technology
- Panel area: 7.95 in² / 51.3 cm²
- Filament run-out detection: support
- Printing material: PLA / ABS / PETG & TPU
- Nozzle size: ø 0.4 mm (replaceable)
- Nozzle temperature: ≤ 500 °F / 260 °C
- Hot bed temperature: ≤ 194 °F / 90 °C
- Average speed: 3.1 – 3.9 in./s (80mm/s – 100m/s)
- Control panel: 4.3 inch LCD touch screen
- Z-axis: double threaded rod
- Print size: 17.7 x 15.7 x 15.7 in. / 45 x 40 x 40 cm (HWD)
- Build volume: 19.02 gal. / 72.0 L
- Machine dimensions: 72 x 71.5 x 66.5cm
As far as we can tell, the extruder is identical to the extruder and print head on the Anycubic Vyper. Furthermore, the Kobra Max has the same automatic bed-leveling system as the Vyper. The system uses a pressure sensor instead of an inductive sensor.
The bed-leveling sensor is right on the nozzle itself, ensuring that it can probe every printable part of the bed. And since the sensor is pressure-based, you could replace the glass bed with any other material and the bed-leveling system will still work. (Inductive sensors require metal to work, so you won’t find them on printers with glass beds.)
Since the Kobra Max’s printing platform is a rigid glass sheet, you can’t remove and flex it to pop your prints off. We prefer removable spring steel build plates, but glass is still a nice printing surface. If your printer doesn’t have a removable bed, glass is ideal because you can use metal scrapers to remove your prints without worrying about scratching the surface.
The LCD touchscreen is identical to the screens used on many other Anycubic printers. As usual, it’s responsive and easy to use.
A note about filament types: the Kobra Max will print with PLA, PETG, TPU, and ABS. However, if you really want to print with ABS and get the best possible results, the printer should be inside an enclosure. Given its size, it may be challenging to build a suitable enclosure for the Kobra Max.
Assembling the Kobra Max 3D Printer
When assembling the new Kobra Max, make sure you have sufficient working space. Since the bed moves forward and backward, you need more space than you’d think. We put it on a 30” folding table, and when it’s printing, it needs about 36 inches, front to back.
Assembly of the Kobra Max is no more difficult than assembling the Kobra or Vyper. The only additional items are the diagonal braces which add stiffness to the frame, reducing mechanical vibration.
It took two people about 15 minutes to assemble. Double-check that you’ve cut all the zip ties used to stabilize the printer during shipping. There are a lot of them.
Calibration
The auto-bed-leveling system is easy to use. Anycubic recommends that you check the x- and the y-axes to make sure they don’t wobble. If they do, you can adjust the eccentric nuts until the wobbling stops. There was no wobble on our printer, so we didn’t have to do anything.
Additionally, the x- and y-axes have belt tensioners. We needed to slightly tighten the x-axis on ours. The tensioners are easy to use and are features a lot of other printers lack. Who wants to take apart the extruder assembly just to tighten the belts? Not us, and probably not you.
Build Quality of the Kobra Max
Due to the addition of the diagonal braces, the frame is really stiff. The dual z-axis screws are an improvement over the smaller Kobra. They virtually eliminated sagging of the x-axis assembly.
The spool holder sits on the base of the printer, reducing wobbling when printing tall items. It’s better than having the spool on the top like on the Kobra.
This printer is built with aluminum extrusions with aesthetically-pleasing plastic covers for the hotend and the tenionsers. It’s got an optical z endstop. The x and y endstops are mechanical. The whole thing feels solid.
First Print
For the first print, we used the test file provided by Anycubic. Appropriately, the owl is about twice the print volume of the owl test print that comes with the smaller Kobra. Given the bowden setup (which makes sense for a printer this size), we were surprised that the ears on the owl turned out so well.
The ears look better than they did on the owl printed on the Kobra which has a direct drive extruder system. We suspect that’s due to the slower print speed. Many times, retractions on bowden extruders will create artifacts, but we didn’t notice any blobs or stringing. It approaches the quality you’d expect from a direct-drive.
Next, we printed a vase with a large, flat base with a 0.2mm layer height. Removing prints from the glass bed is certainly not as easy as removing prints from smaller, flexible beds, but it’s not a deal-breaker either. We didn’t have any adhesion problems. The prints didn’t release when the glass bed cooled, which is what we expected and hoped for.
Curious what the power requirements would be for a printer this size, we were worried we wouldn’t be able to run multiple printers on the same circuit. We measured the power usage while the Kobra Max was printing, and, as expected, power usage is highest while the printer is warming up. Ours topped out at 473 watts. While printing, it was a more manageable 200-300 watts. We thought it would be more than that. You could probably run three of these printers on a 20 amp circuit.
Cut to the Chase
To drive home just how big the Kobra Max is, we put the Kobra on the bed of the Kobra Max. Insane. (We do not recommend you try this.)
A small printer is limiting, so if you find yourself printing large objects in small pieces and assembling them, consider buying a Kobra Max. If you’re new to 3D printing, keep in mind that it takes a long time to print big objects—potentially days and days. Typically, we’d recommend a smaller printer to beginners, but at the price point of $569.00 if you purchase on the Anycubic site, it’s worth considering as an entry-level printer.
One downside is that smaller prints will take a little longer than they would on a smaller, faster printer. That’s just physics. Bigger printers have more inertia to overcome and take longer to move. For example, the print time for our vase was thirteen hours. On our Prusa MK 2.5 with similar settings, it would have taken about twelve hours—not a huge difference.
*Special thanks to FormerLurker for help in reviewing AnyCubic’s Kobra Max 3D printer.
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Maggie Marystone is a freelance technology writer, human rights worker, and storyteller based in Chicago. Read Maggie’s Full Bio
