Though we've checked out a bunch of portable monitors in the past, the XtendTouch Pro XT1610UO from Pepper Jobs is one of the first with an AMOLED panel. AMOLED technology offers significant advantages over standard IPS including much faster response times, higher contrast ratios, and deeper colors that digital artists can appreciate. The manufacturer has sent us a pre-production sample for our initial thoughts and impressions on the monitor.
Most portable monitors are notable for being fragile like the Lepow or Auzai ME16Z01. To our surprise, however, the XtendTouch Pro manages to be both rigid and light at just 850 g without its faux leather cover (or 1.35 kg with the cover on). The glass front contributes to the inflexibility of the unit for a high quality feel even if the back is matte plastic.
Port options are decent as the monitor integrates mini-HDMI and multiple USB-C ports. Nonetheless, some other portable monitors like the C-Force CF011C are able to integrate full-size USB-A and HDMI ports which are arguably more user-friendly. Most users will have to rely on mini-HDMI or USB-C adapters for the XtendTouch Pro.
The OSD is one of the best we've seen on any portable monitor. It's easy to navigate, the texts and controls are large, and there are plenty of customizable options. The button along the left edge to initiate the OSD, however, could have been larger and less spongy.
Display quality is a mixed bag. On paper, AMOLED displays can offer very accurate colors and deep black levels, but the main problem on the XtendTouch Pro is that its AMOLED panel has not been properly calibrated at factory. In other words, users will likely have to calibrate their displays themselves to get the most out of the portable monitor since colors and RGB balance are not great out of the box. This may change when the XtendTouch Pro is ready for mass production, but we can only share our experiences with the unit we have here.
Our X-Rite colorimeter reveals an overly warm color temperature and an average grayscale deltaE value of 4.1 as shown by our screenshots below. Calibrating the panel ourselves fixes these issues by flattening the RGB balance curve, bringing gamma closer to the sRGB ideal of 2.2, increasing the color temperature, and reducing deltaE grayscale to as low as 1.1. Unfortunately, contrast ratio is unusually low at just ~350:1 which is not normal for an AMOLED panel. We tried switching to different preset color profiles including sRGB, AdobeRGB and DCI-P3, but contrast ratio would not improve.
The brightness setting does not appear to be working as intended on our pre-production unit. At 0 percent and 100 percent, brightness is just 216 and 389 nits, respectively. Keep in mind that the manufacturer is advertising a maximum brightness of 650 nits which we are unable to reproduce. We used the included USB-C cable and docking station to power our monitor prior to running these tests.
Response times and gamut seem to be on the money as advertised by the manufacturer. Our own readings reveal black-white and gray-gray response times of under 2 ms each to be faster than any IPS solution. Users can expect full AdobeRGB and DCI-P3 coverage which most other portable displays cannot offer. Refresh rate, however, is limited to 60 Hz whereas IPS panels designed for gaming can go upwards of 144 Hz or more.
A major downside to the XtendTouch Pro is that its docking station is very heavy at 667 g. Though well-made, the dock is not as travel-friendly as most other AC adapters for smartphones or Ultrabooks. The last thing we need is more AC adapters for different devices when on-the-go.
We tried connecting our Huawei Mate 10 Pro smartphone to the monitor, but we couldn't get a picture at all even after connecting a second USB-C cable for additional power. In comparison, our smartphone worked without any issues on the C-Force CF011C.
The XtendTouch Pro XT1610UO looks promising even if our engineering sample still has a few kinks to iron out. Its $700 USD retail price is quite hefty when you consider that most larger professional desktop monitors also cost at least that much. Thankfully, the manufacturer is already aware of the panel issues even prior to our testing which gives hope of a better visual experience when the monitor launches. We know AMOLED is capable of so much more than what we've seen here.
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