The Dell C1422H is a 14 inch portable monitor with a 1080p screen designed for productivity, and it's the first portable monitor released by Dell. Visibility isn't an issue in brighter environments, thanks to its decent peak brightness and good reflection handling. It has limited connectivity, with two USB-C ports that both support DisplayPort Alt Mode but no DisplayPort or Mini HDMI inputs, so you'll need to buy an adapter if your computer doesn't support USB-C. It also doesn't have a built-in battery, but it can be powered by your computer if it supports USB-C Power Delivery; otherwise, you'll need to buy a wall adapter for it, which is a bit disappointing. Unfortunately, it has almost no extra features, and it's mediocre for gaming, with a slow response time and no support for advanced gaming features like variable refresh rate technology.
Our Verdict
The Dell C1422H is an alright portable monitor. It's best-suited for mobile office use, increasing your productivity when working on a laptop, as it has excellent text clarity, good visibility in bright rooms, and excellent gray uniformity. It's also alright for media creators or for watching videos. Sadly, it's not as good for gaming, as it has a slow response time, terrible overshoot, and it doesn't support any advanced gaming features like FreeSync.
- High pixel density results in crisp images and text.
- Image remains accurate at moderate angles.
- Good reflection handling.
- Slow response times makes motion look blurry.
- Blacks look gray in a dark room.
- Bad ergonomics, as expected for a portable monitor.
- Small screen size isn't ideal for some uses.
The Dell C1422H is a decent portable office monitor. It has excellent text clarity, and good visibility in a bright room, with decent peak brightness and good reflection handling. It has excellent gray uniformity, the image remains accurate at an angle, and it has good gradient handling. It's also good for color-accurate work, as it has good accuracy out of the box and an excellent SDR color gamut. Unfortunately, it has terrible ergonomics, as expected for a portable monitor, and it's small for multitasking.
- High pixel density results in crisp images and text.
- Image remains accurate at moderate angles.
- Good reflection handling.
- Good accuracy out of the box.
- Excellent SDR color gamut.
- Bad ergonomics, as expected for a portable monitor.
- Small screen size isn't ideal for some uses.
The Dell 14 Portable Monitor C1422H is mediocre for gaming. It has superb low input lag for a responsive gaming experience, and it has good bright room visibility, with decent peak brightness and good reflection handling and it can easily overcome glare. Sadly, it has a low refresh rate, a slow response time, and terrible overshoot, resulting in very blurry motion. It also lacks any advanced gaming features like FreeSync or G-SYNC to reduce tearing.
- High pixel density results in crisp images and text.
- Low input lag.
- No VRR support.
- Slow response times makes motion look blurry.
- Blacks look gray in a dark room.
- Bad ergonomics, as expected for a portable monitor.
The Dell 14 Portable Monitor C1422H is okay for watching videos on the go. The small size is great for portability, but it's hard to share the screen with someone else, and it isn't very immersive. It has good visibility in bright rooms, though, with decent peak brightness and good reflection handling. It also has excellent gray uniformity, good accuracy out of the box, and an excellent color gamut. Sadly, it doesn't look as good in a dark room, as it has low contrast and only passable black uniformity.
- High pixel density results in crisp images and text.
- Image remains accurate at moderate angles.
- Good reflection handling.
- Good accuracy out of the box.
- Excellent SDR color gamut.
- Blacks look gray in a dark room.
- No HDR support.
- Bad ergonomics, as expected for a portable monitor.
The Dell 14 Portable Monitor C1422H is okay for media creation. The image remains accurate at an angle, and it has excellent gray uniformity and good accuracy out of the box. It has an excellent SDR color gamut, but it has limited coverage of the Adobe RGB color space. Unfortunately, as expected for a portable monitor, it has terrible ergonomics, and the small size isn't ideal for full-time work, but it's okay for quick edits on the go.
- High pixel density results in crisp images and text.
- Good reflection handling.
- Good accuracy out of the box.
- Excellent SDR color gamut.
- Bad ergonomics, as expected for a portable monitor.
- Small screen size isn't ideal for some uses.
The Dell 14 Portable Monitor C1422H doesn't support HDR.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 14 inch Dell C1422H, which is only available in this 14 inch size. It's also Dell's first portable monitor. If you notice that your C1422H is different from ours, let us know, and we'll update the review. Keep in mind that some tests, like gray uniformity, can vary between units.
Our unit was manufactured in August 2021, and you can see the label here.
Popular Monitor Comparisons
The Dell C1422H is an okay portable monitor. It's Dell's first portable display, and it performs nearly identically to the Lenovo ThinkVision M14. It suffers from the same shortcomings as most portable displays, but it's not a bad choice overall, and it's better than most portable monitors we've tested to date, but it's also more expensive.
See our recommendations for the best portable monitors, the best office monitors, and the best monitors for a dual setup.
The ASUS ROG Strix XG16AHPE is much better than the Dell C1422H. The ASUS has a much faster refresh rate, significantly better motion handling, and better gaming features, including support for variable refresh rate technology. The ASUS also has a larger screen, built-in speakers, and an HDMI port, as well as two USB-C ports.
The Lepow Z1 Gamut and the Dell C1422H have different strengths and weaknesses, so the best one depends on your needs. The Lepow has a much better color gamut, and it supports HDR. On the other hand, the Dell is a lot brighter, and it's more accurate out of the box, so it's a better choice for a bright environment or if accuracy is important to you.
The Lenovo ThinkVision M14 and the Dell C1422H are nearly identical, and we suspect they share the same panel. The differences between them are mainly due to panel variance. The Lenovo can be mounted on a 100x100 VESA mount, but other than that, these two displays are basically the same.
The ASUS TUF Gaming VG258QM and the Dell C1422H are two very different monitors with different intended uses. The ASUS is a medium-sized desktop monitor designed for gaming, with an extremely fast refresh rate and support for Adaptive Sync variable refresh rate technology. The Dell, on the other hand, is a compact portable monitor designed for improved productivity on the go.
We buy and test more than 30 monitors each year, all of which we purchase ourselves, without cherry-picked units or samples. We put a lot into each unbiased, straight-to-the-point review, and there's a whole process from purchasing to publishing, involving multiple teams and people. We do more than just use the monitor for a week; we use specialized, custom tools to measure various aspects and deliver objective, data-driven results. We also consider multiple factors before making any recommendations, including the monitor's cost, its performance compared to the competition, and whether it's easy to find.
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