espresso 15.6" Multi-Touch Review

The espresso 15.6" Multi-Touch Display is a portable, touchscreen monitor that's easy to carry but slow to use. It's fine for adding a basic second screen to a laptop, but its performance and display quality are underwhelming for its $500 price.

If you're looking for a portable monitor to add a second screen to your laptop, the espresso 15.6" Multi-Touch Display is a straightforward option. It's a 15.6-inch, 1080p LCD panel that connects via USB-C, weighs just 800 grams, and includes a stand. It's designed for portability, not for high-end creative work or gaming. At around $500, it's priced as a premium portable monitor, so you're paying for the convenience of having a touchscreen display that's easy to carry.

Performance-wise, this is a basic 60Hz panel with a 10ms response time. In our database, that puts its performance score in the bottom 2% of all monitors we track. That means it's one of the slowest screens we've tested. For everyday tasks like browsing or document work, it's fine. But if you try to do anything involving fast motion, like scrolling through a timeline in a video editor or playing any game, you'll notice the lag. The 300-nit brightness and 16.7 million colors (8-bit) are about average for portable monitors, so it's a solid but unremarkable display.

At $500, the espresso display asks a lot for what it delivers. You're paying for the portability and touch functionality, not for screen quality. For the same money, you could buy a much better standard desktop monitor, or even a higher-quality portable screen from brands like ASUS or Lenovo that offer better color and brightness. This feels like a niche product for someone who specifically needs a touchscreen portable monitor and isn't worried about performance.

Let's compare it to some real alternatives. The ASUS ZenScreen Touch MB16AMT is a similar 15.6" portable touch monitor, often found for less money, and it typically has better color accuracy. If you don't need touch, the Lenovo ThinkVision M14d is a fantastic 14" portable monitor that's brighter, lighter, and cheaper. And if you're considering this for creative work, forget it. Our data shows it scores poorly for that use case. A standard Dell UltraSharp or even a good laptop screen will outperform it dramatically. The competitors listed in our data (like the Samsung Odyssey or MSI gaming monitors) are in a completely different league for performance, but they're not portable. This espresso sits in a weird middle ground.

Skip this if you're a gamer, a video editor, or anyone who needs a fast, high-quality display. Its performance scores are dead last for those uses. Also skip it if you're just looking for a cheap second screen. There are better-value portable monitors out there. If you need a great portable screen for creative work, look at options from ASUS or Lenovo that score higher in our creative category.

Should you buy this? Only if your needs are very specific. If you absolutely require a portable, touchscreen second display for basic tasks like presentations or light document work, and you're willing to pay a premium for that convenience, it could work. But for almost everyone else, it's a pass. The performance is too slow, the display quality isn't great, and the price is steep. You can get better value and better screens elsewhere.