Mobile Pixels Glance monitor range
There’s a lot of really way-out product development happening in the monitor space.
We’re now at a point in the industry when companies like Mobile Pixels are creating large curved monitors, triple-screen hinged monitors that turn a single laptop into a larger workstation, additional keyboards and additional portable monitors designed to extend screen real estate for the mobile road warrior.
We recently looked at two of the company’s most prevalent products, the Glance (16-inch) and the Glance Pro.
The Glance 16-inch is $159 (approx £118) and the Glance Pro is a more weighty $449 (£335).
While the more expensive model does have a really impressive display and just beautiful resolution, the cheaper model has more appeal to this roving tech journalist because it’s a little lighter, it’s easier to sling in a backpack and it has it’s own built in stand (the Glance Pro has a magnetic one which attaches, the Glance has a flip out base) and so it’s all about usability.
No more surplus Surface
The pleasing thing about the Glance unit is that it alleviates my need to bring a whole extra laptop with me. I had been carting around an ageing Microsoft Surface with me for most of the last 18-months because I have needed a second screen for emails, social and stuff (calendar, WhatsApp, Google Keep for planning and so on), but rarely used the device as a computer in and of itself.
While you still need to “remove anything bigger than a smartphone” at security and put the monitor through for TSA (or other air security) monitoring, the Glance is lightweight and easily slips into the back of my North Face Big Shot backpack’s laptop slot.
Glance specs state that this device is a portable 16″ monitor with 1080P FHD display. It promises to be plug-and-play with no driver installation required and this is indeed true. An adjustable stand design sports built-in dual speakers (they’re okay, but a laptop with dual speakers outplays it and (crucially and very pleasingly) the device works across two modes: landscape mode/ portrait mode.
Compatability competance
The Glance is compatible with macOS, Windows, Nintendo Switch and Samsung Dex. Although Mobile Pixels hails from China and although there is some “select” (Mobile Pixel’s term, not mine) Android compatibility, neither unit worked with by Xiomei smartphone. I have also been recently using an Honor smartphone and the device works instantly and provides a very good smartphone-becomes-desktop like experience
“The Mobile Pixels Glance monitor is a completely portable dual-screen laptop accessory that promises to boost your productivity by up to 50% and allows for efficient multitasking. Vertical Screen Rotation (VSR) enables you to adjust the travel monitor’s orientation to portrait or landscape mode. Weighing in at just 2.1 lbs, 0.2 inches thick at its thinnest point, the 16-inch laptop extended monitor portable is incredibly lightweight, making it easy to carry in a bag or backpack,” notes the company, in a product statement.
The Glance Pro from Mobile Pixels is also very nice, but its magnetic back strap could be a bit stronger… so you don’t really want to be using this if you need quick set-up on the go, as users will need to spend a little longer balancing the device to make sure it’s stable.
Landscape works best here and although portrait mode is possible, the height of the screen in this position could make it prone to toppling.
USB Type-C ports
These devices are compatible with DP-enabled USB Type-C ports and are also compatible with HDMI port, an additional USB cable is required for power delivery. With the 3.5mm audio input, you could connect your own earbuds or speakers with our portable screen, enjoying what the company calls your own “personal joyful moment” no less.
Between these two devices, Mobile Pixles also offers the Glance Plus, which comes with its own foldable screen cover that doubles as the monitor stand.
Overall – and having lugged the Glance now across 10 US states and through 18 press events – this device is now part of my go-to-kit. It helps me see alerts that I need to respond to faster than if I were working on a single screen, it help me use planning and management apps more effectively by being able to segment those elements of my workflow from the “live apps” in use (by which I mean documents and email) and it means I have more room to engage with content management systems to post stories.
Oh, it also means I can leave the football scores running while I am working, so it’s win-win-win from that perspective.
Disclosure: at no point have I engaged with the company’s paid affiliate programme.
