7.6
Score

Pros

  • OLED Display is pretty Impressive
  • Hard to find a contender at this price point
  • Decent Ports to power and use this monitor
  • 15.6" is a good size to bring on the move, for a stationary setup
  • PRISM+is aware of the consumer's sentiment and they are establishing better support, instilling better confidence - slowly but surely

Cons

  • Sub-par speakers which sounds the way it should
  • The finicky Controls could be better

Our journey of reviewing more portable monitors continues. Finding a good affordable portable monitor with a good panel can be a challenge but somehow PRISM+, the Singaporean company whose main goal is to disrupt the market with an affordable and best choice – has an OLED Portable Monitor that’s within the sub-RM 1500 price tag. The real question is, should you get it? Here’s our PRISM+ Nomad Ultra 16 Review.

PRISM+ Nomad Ultra 16 Review

Huge Display

When it comes to the form factor, the PRISM+ Nomad Ultra 16 is no joke. It is without a doubt the biggest portable monitor we have reviewed at the moment. Weighing in at 1.10kg with the sleeve, it’s pretty light for a big monitor. If your main device happens to be thin and light, the combined weight of your devices shouldn’t exceed 3kg. Kind of a hard thing to take it in as that weight, combined doesn’t seem too “portable” friendly. But it’s a compromise you have to live with, all for the sake of a multi-monitor setup on the go.

Obviously, without the case, it weighs 750 grams. It does come with a protective sleeve which is a good inclusion but without the sleeve, the PRISM+ Nomad Ultra 16 doesn’t have a built-in kickstand. It doesn’t have a Macgyver-like solution, which ASUS offers with their ZenScreen – where you can insert a pen and hold the display in place. It has a glossy finish display, so using it in a brightly lit situation, the chances of dealing with glare or reflection are high. I’d suggest getting a matte screen protector if it’s available. But do remember, it does affect the colour accuracy.

OLED at this Budget…

… feels too good to be true and it is. The PRISM+ Nomad Ultra 16 houses a 15.6” OLED Display in a 1080p 16:9 aspect ratio. PRISM+ claims that this portable display has a 150% sRGB colour gamut. Right out of the box, after setting it up, we did notice the common traits of an OLED display. After all, the laptop I do use as my daily driver happens to use an OLED display.

For one, given that it has a 1080p resolution and big display, you can see the pixel space as the PPI for the monitor happens to be in the range of 140-150 ppi. Regardless of that, the colours do pop and in our True Black test, we did not notice anything out of the blue. The display is calibrated more towards a cold tone, rather than being in a neutral colour space. This can be fixed with the help of a Colorimeter Calibration.

The viewing angle for this monitor is pretty good. Unlike a TN or VA panel, OLED has a better viewing experience, similarly to what IPS LCD offers – which is also at 178 degrees.

PRISM+ Nomad Ultra 16 Review

Since it’s a 60Hz monitor, your use case for the PRISM+ Nomad Ultra 16 is very limited. They are aiming their Nomad series solely for productivity use. In that case, this display will do exactly what it signed up for. A place where you can completely take good advantage of the monitor is as an entertainment screen. If your laptop display happens to be small and you need the big screen – just connect to your laptop and voila. You have a nice display to watch some movies and TV Shows.

Do take note, the built-in 2x 1.5W speaker is not that great. So, either use your earbuds or better yet, pair your device to a Bluetooth speaker. It isn’t touch-enabled, and if you are looking for the touch-enabled Nomad, which they do offer – in both flavours. There’s the Nomad Pro 16 and then the pricier 4K variant, which you can check on their site.

Decent Ports

On the side of the PRISM+ Nomad Ultra 16, you will notice it has 2x USB-C and 1x Mini HDMI port. Both the USB-C ports powers up the monitor with no issue. If you want to connect your camera to an external monitor to check on your footage – it’s a good option to do it. But here’s the catch: Mini HDMI cables are a lot rarer than Micro HDMI port. So, just make sure you have the right cables.

You will have to use the included adapter to power the monitor via USB-C as the HDMI port is specifically meant for display input only.

I do wish that the USB-C was positioned on either side rather than all being at one side. That would give users the versatility to move the monitor to any position they want. The cable is pretty short too, so, chances are – you will have to get a longer USB-C cable if you need one that is.

Finnicky Controls

One thing that I really don’t enjoy using on the monitor is the controls. It has a volume-rocker-like button and a power button. It isn’t as intuitive or easy to use as the Duex Plus which we reviewed a while ago. Interestingly enough, we loved that monitor. This monitor, however:

  • Press and hold the power button for 2-3 seconds to toggle the menu.
  • Press for a few seconds to engage the sub-controls.
  • Change whatever you want to change.
  • Then press and hold the power button for 2-3 seconds to go back to the main menu
  • use the volume keys to go to any other settings.
  • Repeat from steps 2 till 4 and once you are done.
  • Press and hold the power button for 2-3 seconds to close the menu.

It works, but it isn’t friendly. You will get used to it, but again, it still isn’t as friendly as any other Portable monitor we have used.

Lack of Built-in Battery makes it not-so-completely Portable

One of the biggest deal breakers is the lack of a built-in battery, which makes this a not-so-good-choice to use with Samsung DeX or any device you could connect and use it with. I tried using it with my iPad Air with Stage Manager – it is amazing but the fact that it sucks battery out of my tablet to power the monitor, isn’t quite feasible.

Laptops, however, do have enough USB-C ports to drive the display and in some cases, a proper HDMI port. It does affect the battery life, but we have sufficient ports to keep the laptop charged via an AC or DC power source.

Conclusion

Despite the lack of battery and even the finicky controls which could be better, it’s all forgotten after looking at the price tag. At RM 1,399, it does have compromises in areas where it should keep the cost of the monitor as low as possible. There is the elephant in the room that needs addressing, the age-old question since this brand came into existence that is. Is PRISM+ a trustable brand?

Truth be told, we have friends and colleagues, where some had good experiences and some had completely opposite experiences. In fact, a lot of users on Reddit do complain about the brand’s quality control, well, the lack thereof. Now, the one huge peace of mind is the 1-to-1 exchange, which you can do to replace your faulty unit. Otherwise, during the store launch, which we did attend quite recently – did show that they are taking the after-service aspect of their business seriously and it will be improved.

So, let’s just take their word for it. We will do the same. But honestly, this is a pretty good portable monitor, it’s really hard to deny that. Make sure to follow us on our socials for more Tech content like this.