MAGICRAVEN M1704 17.3" 2023

A featherweight 4K marvel that puts desktop-quality visuals in your backpack. Just don't expect it to play nice with your MacBook's USB-C ports.

MAGICRAVEN's M1704 is the portable monitor equivalent of a sports car with a finicky ignition. When it works, the 17.3" 4K IPS panel is an absolute joy, with 400 nits of brightness and full sRGB coverage that makes your spreadsheets and Netflix binges look stunning. But getting it to work can be a headache, especially if you're on a Mac. This is a Windows-friendly road warrior that delivers desktop-level sharpness in a 2.3-pound frame, but you'll need patience and the right cables.

We threw color tests, spreadsheets, and a few movies at this thing, and the screen blew us away for a portable. At 100% sRGB and 400 nits, it's bright and accurate enough for on-the-fly photo edits. But that 60Hz refresh rate feels like a compromise, even for productivity. Scrolling through long documents is fine, but any fast motion, from gaming to UI animations, reveals the panel's sluggish pixel response. FreeSync helps a tiny bit, but this is not the portable gaming monitor you might be hoping for.

The price floats all over the map, from $300 to $571 depending on the seller. At $300, this is a steal for a 4K portable if you're on Windows. At $571, it's a hard pass. Hunt for the low-end deal and don't pay more than $400. For that, you get a travel monitor with image quality that punches well above its weight, just keep a spare cable handy.

If you don't need a bag-friendly screen, ignore this and grab the ASUS ROG Strix XG27AQDMG instead. For roughly the same money at the M1704's high end, you get a 27" OLED with 240Hz and HDR that annihilates it in speed and contrast. The MSI MAG 272UP QD-OLED is another desk-bound beast. But if portability is non-negotiable, the MAGICRAVEN's 2.3-pound body and 17" 4K canvas are unique. Nothing else in the portable space matches its pixel density at this price, just don't expect a seamless experience.

If you're a Mac user looking for a simple plug-and-play portable display, skip the M1704 entirely. Grab an ASUS ZenScreen MB166C instead. It's not 4K, but it works first time, every time.

Windows road warriors who crave 4K screen real estate will love the MAGICRAVEN M1704, provided they snag the $300 deal. Mac users should look elsewhere. For everyone else, it's a gorgeous slab of pixels in an impossibly light package. Just pack a backup cable and keep your gaming expectations in check.