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M MEMTEQ Type-C Portable Monitor Z1 review - Multi-screen use on the go

Display to go. Behind the somewhat cumbersome name is a portable monitor that is considered mobile at 770 grams and can be used for both laptops and smartphones. A matte 15.6-inch Full HD IPS panel for a little more than 200 Euros (~$218) sounds tempting, but it cannot achieve everything it promises in the test.
MEMTEQ Type-C Portable Monitor Z1
Display
15.60 inch 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixel 141 PPI, glossy: yes, 60 Hz
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 8.8 x 368 x 225 ( = 0.35 x 14.49 x 8.86 in)
Additional features
24 Months Warranty, fanless
Weight
770 g ( = 27.16 oz / 1.7 pounds) ( = 0 oz / 0 pounds)
Price
209 Euro
Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

 

Date
Model
Weight
Height
Size
Resolution
Best Price
05/2020
MEMTEQ Type-C Portable Monitor Z1
,
770 g8.8 mm15.60"1920x1080
09/2019
MageDok Atlas Gaming Monitor
,
1 kg8.7 mm15.60"1920x1080
01/2020
Auzai ME16Z01 Portable Monitor
,
650 g9.4 mm15.60"1920x1080
Asus MB16AC
,
780 g8 mm15.60"1920x1080

Case, equipment and commissioning

The portable monitor consists of a thin aluminum unibody; only the frame of the display is made of plastic, just like the OSD rocker and the confirmation switch. Due to the flat design, the monitor can be twisted quite easily but is overall quite stable. The workmanship looks solid and clean, but the choice of materials does not leave a particularly valuable impression. Connected cables always protrude a little from the socket, but we were not able to provoke signal errors.

The equipment of the MEMTQ Z1 is quite decent. In addition to the mini HDMI interface there is a jack socket and two USB-C ports. However, only the USB port on the left can be used as an image input, the other is reserved for the optional power supply.

The OSD rocker is not exactly premium quality, but it does the job and responds reliably. To start the menu, the rocker must be pressed, and by doing so it sinks almost completely into the housing.

Either mini-HDMI or USB-C is available for incoming picture signals. If you choose the former, you have to connect the monitor to an external power source; this does not have to be done via USB, even if only a smartphone is connected. Anyone who supplies the M MEMTEQ Z1 with additional power can charge the smartphone directly.

Commissioning was easy in the test on both the laptop and smartphone - plug in, done. If you calibrate the monitor, you can also save a corresponding profile for it, which is used as soon as it is connected to the computer. Upright use is also possible. A smartphone connected to the Z1 must also support image output via the USB connection. We successfully tested it with both the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ and the Huawei Mate 30 Pro. For both smartphones a simple screen-mirroring function as well as a desktop mode was available. If you want to connect an iPhone to it, you will need an optional adapter.

OSD menu
OSD menu
OSD menu
OSD menu
OSD menu
OSD menu

Size comparison

368 mm / 14.5 inch 225 mm / 8.86 inch 8.8 mm / 0.3465 inch 770 g1.698 lbs360 mm / 14.2 inch 226 mm / 8.9 inch 8 mm / 0.315 inch 780 g1.72 lbs357 mm / 14.1 inch 226 mm / 8.9 inch 8.7 mm / 0.3425 inch 1 kg2.22 lbs353.7 mm / 13.9 inch 229.5 mm / 9.04 inch 9.4 mm / 0.3701 inch 650 g1.433 lbs297 mm / 11.7 inch 210 mm / 8.27 inch 1 mm / 0.03937 inch 5.7 g0.01257 lbs

Accessories and warranty - extensive scope of delivery in the M MEMTEQ Z1

The manufacturer includes a very extensive scope of delivery with its portable monitor. In addition to the screen itself, there is a dust jacket that is magnetically held in place and can be used as a stand (two angles). In addition, two USB cables (Type-A to Type-C and Type-C to Type-C), an HDMI to mini-HDMI cable, a modular power supply (10 watts, 5 V, 2 A, TÜV- / GS seal) as well as a multilingual instruction manual are included.

The 24-month manufacturer's warranty can be extended for another year by registering via email.

Display - Panel cannot achieve the brightness it promises

Subpixel structure
Light spots

The portable monitor MEMTEQ Z1 has a matte 15.6-inch panel with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. The manufacturer puts the brightness at 300 cd/m², which we cannot confirm with our test device. The display maintains an average of 200 cd/m² and occasionally manages up to 211 cd/m². With a uniform distribution of dark and light areas (APL50), the MEMTEQ Z1 delivers identical measured values as for a full-area display option. An ambient light sensor was not integrated. The monitor has a hard time outdoors and can only be used in the shade at best.

The gaming properties are very limited, because the response times are high, so that streaking can be visible during fast games. In very dark scenes, small light spots can be seen on the edge, but they are not noticeable in everyday life.

Cutbacks must also be made in the working color spaces. While Adobe RGB is only covered by 40%, the much smaller sRGB color space can only be displayed by around 63%. In the factory state, the display is a bit too cool, as the analysis with CalMAN shows. However, a calibration ensures a much better display; especially the grayscale is then mapped almost ideally. The color image is also neat but shows a few outliers, which is due to the reduced color space.

Unfortunately, the monitor uses pulse width modulation for brightness control. Even if the frequency is quite high, sensitive people can still experience issues. The so-called HDR mode brings no visible advantage when playing the corresponding content, which is not surprising given the low maximum brightness. The display can convince with a very good black level and rich contrasts.

197
cd/m²
188
cd/m²
208
cd/m²
179
cd/m²
198
cd/m²
194
cd/m²
202
cd/m²
211
cd/m²
209
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 211 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 198.4 cd/m² Minimum: 11.01 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 85 %
Center on Battery: 198 cd/m²
Contrast: 990:1 (Black: 0.2 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 6.9 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5, calibrated: 4
ΔE Greyscale 5.5 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
67.2% sRGB (Calman 2D)
62.9% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
40% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
43.44% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
63.2% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
42.03% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 1.59
MEMTEQ Type-C Portable Monitor Z1
1920x1080, 15.60
MageDok Atlas Gaming Monitor
1920x1080, 15.60
Auzai ME16Z01 Portable Monitor
1920x1080, 15.60
Asus MB16AC
IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60
Display
47%
15%
3%
Display P3 Coverage
42.03
62.1
48%
48.53
15%
43.35
3%
sRGB Coverage
63.2
90.7
44%
72
14%
64.7
2%
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage
43.44
64.1
48%
50.2
16%
44.84
3%
Response Times
183%
-5%
832%
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% *
52 ?(26, 26)
10.4 ?(6.4, 4)
80%
38.8 ?(20.8, 18)
25%
19 ?(9, 10)
63%
Response Time Black / White *
42.5 ?(25.2, 17.3)
11 ?(7.6, 3.4)
74%
25.2 ?(16, 9.2)
41%
28 ?(15, 13)
34%
PWM Frequency
1000 ?(31)
4950 ?(99)
395%
201.6 ?(23)
-80%
25000 ?(25)
2400%
Screen
-22%
-34%
93%
Brightness middle
198
144.9
-27%
300.7
52%
166
-16%
Brightness
198
146
-26%
267
35%
154
-22%
Brightness Distribution
85
91
7%
77
-9%
82
-4%
Black Level *
0.2
0.78
-290%
0.66
-230%
0.02
90%
Contrast
990
186
-81%
456
-54%
8300
738%
Colorchecker dE 2000 *
6.9
5.79
16%
10.26
-49%
3.51
49%
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *
15.9
8.43
47%
22.93
-44%
10.49
34%
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated *
4
2.12
47%
5.05
-26%
Greyscale dE 2000 *
5.5
6.7
-22%
9.5
-73%
2.49
55%
Gamma
1.59 138%
1.96 112%
1.51 146%
2.38 92%
CCT
7310 89%
6295 103%
8200 79%
6346 102%
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)
40
58.2
46%
45.8
15%
41
3%
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)
62.9
90.7
44%
71.5
14%
64
2%
Total Average (Program / Settings)
69% / 26%
-8% / -20%
309% / 215%

* ... smaller is better

Display Response Times

Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.
       Response Time Black to White
42.5 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 25.2 ms rise
↘ 17.3 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 98 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.6 ms).
       Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey
52 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 26 ms rise
↘ 26 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 87 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.9 ms).

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.
Screen flickering / PWM detected 1000 Hz ≤ 31 % brightness setting

The display backlight flickers at 1000 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 31 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting.

The frequency of 1000 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering.

In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18110 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.


Grayscale (factory settings, target color space: sRGB)
Grayscale (factory settings, target color space: sRGB)
Mixed colors (factory settings, target color space: sRGB)
Mixed colors (factory settings, target color space: sRGB)
Color space (factory settings, target color space: sRGB)
Color space (factory settings, target color space: sRGB)
Saturation (factory settings, target color space: sRGB)
Saturation (factory settings, target color space: sRGB)
Grayscale (calibrated, target color space: sRGB)
Grayscale (calibrated, target color space: sRGB)
Mixed colors (calibrated, target color space: sRGB)
Mixed colors (calibrated, target color space: sRGB)
Color space (calibrated, target color space: sRGB)
Color space (calibrated, target color space: sRGB)
Saturation (calibrated, target color space: sRGB)
Saturation (calibrated, target color space: sRGB)
Color-space coverage Adobe RGB: 40.0%
Color-space coverage Adobe RGB: 40.0%
SRGB color-space coverage: 62.9%
SRGB color-space coverage: 62.9%
M MEMTEQ Z1 in the sun
Viewing-angle stability of the Z1

Loudspeaker & jack connection - MEMTEQ Z1 with poor audio performance

The MEMTEQ Z1 monitor has a speaker on each of the two short edges. However, these are not particularly loud nor do they have a satisfactory sound. As the pink noise measurement shows, the frequency curves are very unbalanced.

The integrated audio jack is also only a suboptimal replacement because it is very quiet and cannot output deep tones with full volume. 

Loud speakers
Jack connection
dB(A) 0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2032.829.22526.231.53123.324.94021.925.9502832.76319.924.88019.124.910019.92412516.519.116019.622.820017.521.125017.525.431513.939.840013.942.250015.847.263015.250800145710001448.6125013.948.1160013.447.1200013.853.2250014.353.431501463.8400014.567.5500014.664.7630014.552.6800014.747.91000015.144.1125001540.71600014.836.6SPL26.572N0.822.6median 14.6median 47.2Delta1.19.246.747.441.542.340.240.838.939.337.937.936.937.836.33735.734.735.134.834.335.233.137.232.141.631.84531.249.230.851.529.958.429.159.228.858.228.957.428.554.628.553.128.247.22847.727.946.12846.727.746.227.742.127.440.227.336.927.337.840.865.54.118.2median 28.8median 46.21.78.3hearing rangehide median Pink NoiseMEMTEQ Type-C Portable Monitor Z1MageDok Atlas Gaming Monitor
Frequency diagram (checkboxes can be checked and unchecked to compare devices)
MEMTEQ Type-C Portable Monitor Z1 audio analysis

(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (72 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 21.8% lower than median
(-) | bass is not linear (15.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 3.3% away from median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (12.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 10% higher than median
(-) | highs are not linear (16.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (36% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 93% of all tested devices in this class were better, 1% similar, 7% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 93% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 7% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

MageDok Atlas Gaming Monitor audio analysis

(-) | not very loud speakers (65.5 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 8.1% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (12.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 9% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (14.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 1.9% away from median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (12.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (45.6% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 88% of all tested devices in this class were better, 13% similar, 0% worse
» The best had a delta of 6%, average was 17%, worst was 46%
Compared to all devices tested
» 95% of all tested devices were better, 0% similar, 5% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Pros

+ high-contrast and matte IPS panel
+ mini HDMI and USB Type-C
+ extensive scope of delivery
+ up to three years' warranty

Cons

- weaker brightness than specified
- PWM
- low color-space coverage
- moderate audio performance

Conclusion - A good addition to the home office

M MEMTEQ Z1 review. Test device provided by Lepow USA.
M MEMTEQ Z1 review. Test device provided by Lepow USA.

The portable monitor from M MEMTEQ is certainly not an all-rounder for everyone, but it can score in the test with its high-contrast and matte panel. Due to the low color-space coverage and the slow response times, it is not a useful addition for image processing or gaming. However, it is an ideal alternative for office applications or for use with a smartphone.

The portable monitor M MEMTEQ Z1 offers a good display and extensive equipment but promises more than it can deliver.

As the biggest annoyance, the test reveals the non-compliance with the luminosity promise, which is over 30% lower than the manufacturer's stated measurement. The audio properties are also not convincing, neither with the speakers nor with the jack connection. The guarantee can be extended to three years by registering the product.

Behind the company M MEMTEQ is the Lepow company from Hong Kong, which also sells portable monitors under the name Auzai. 

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > M MEMTEQ Type-C Portable Monitor Z1 review - Multi-screen use on the go
Daniel Schmidt, 2020-05-21 (Update: 2020-05-25)