The Lepow Z1 is a mediocre portable monitor that's best-suited for mobile office use. A bit larger than a typical tablet, it has great portability, although this model doesn't have a built-in battery, so you have to plug it in for power, either through USB-C or to a wall adapter. The small size and relatively high resolution give it great text clarity, and it has outstanding gradient performance. Unfortunately, there are some serious issues, including terrible response times, poor accuracy out of the box, and a narrow color gamut. There's an updated version of this monitor, the Lepow Z1 Gamut, with a much wider color gamut. These issues make it a less versatile display overall, as it's not a great choice for gaming or color-critical needs, like media creation.
Our Verdict
The Lepow Z1 is a mediocre monitor overall. It's best-suited as a portable office monitor, great if you want a bit more screen real estate when working from a laptop. Unfortunately, this isn't a good choice for media creation, multimedia, or gaming, as it has issues with color accuracy, even after calibration, a narrow color gamut, and terrible response times.
- Amazing gray uniformity.
- Good reflection handling.
- Great text clarity.
- Terrible response times.
- Inaccurate colors, even after calibration.
- Very bad ergonomics.
- Limited 60Hz refresh rate and no advanced gaming features.
The Lepow Z1 is an okay portable office monitor. It has a relatively high pixel density and great text clarity, good reflection handling, amazing gray uniformity, and low input lag. Unfortunately, the ergonomics are terrible, which we expect for a portable monitor, and the viewing angles are mediocre, so it's difficult to place in an ideal viewing position. It also can't display some colors accurately, so if your work relies on accurate colors, this might not be a good choice.
- Amazing gray uniformity.
- Good reflection handling.
- Great text clarity.
- Inaccurate colors, even after calibration.
- Very bad ergonomics.
The Lepow Z1 is a disappointing gaming monitor that most gamers should avoid. Although there's relatively little input lag, the response times are terrible, and any fast-moving objects appear blurry and have a long blur trail behind them. It might not bother those playing slower, turn-based games, but we don't recommend gaming on this monitor. It can be helpful as a second monitor when gaming, though, as you can look up hints while gaming on your main display.
- Amazing gray uniformity.
- Good reflection handling.
- Terrible response times.
- Very bad ergonomics.
- Limited 60Hz refresh rate and no advanced gaming features.
The Lepow Z1 is a mediocre monitor for multimedia. The small size isn't great for sharing videos, and it has terrible ergonomics, which we expect for a portable display. It has mediocre viewing angles, so it's hard to place it in an ideal viewing position. Unfortunately, there are significant issues with color accuracy, and it has a narrow color gamut, so videos don't look their best. Although it supports HDR, it has a poor HDR color gamut and can't get very bright.
- Outstanding gradient handling with no banding.
- Amazing gray uniformity.
- Good reflection handling.
- Disappointing color gamut.
- HDR doesn't add very much.
- Terrible response times.
- Inaccurate colors, even after calibration.
- Very bad ergonomics.
The Lepow Z1 is a mediocre display for media creation, as some issues could be deal-breakers for some people. It has amazing gray uniformity and superb gradient handling. On the other hand, it has a disappointing SDR color gamut, and some noticeable color issues can't be corrected through calibration, so if your work requires accurate colors, this monitor is not a good choice. Due to its portable nature, it can be helpful as a secondary display to display text while showing a project on your main display/laptop.
- Outstanding gradient handling with no banding.
- Amazing gray uniformity.
- Good reflection handling.
- Disappointing color gamut.
- Inaccurate colors, even after calibration.
- Very bad ergonomics.
Although the Lepow Z1 does support HDR, enabling HDR adds very little. Combined with the serious issues with the response times, you should avoid gaming in HDR on this monitor.
- Outstanding gradient handling with no banding.
- Amazing gray uniformity.
- Good reflection handling.
- HDR doesn't add very much.
- Terrible response times.
- Very bad ergonomics.
- Limited 60Hz refresh rate and no advanced gaming features.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 15.6 inch Lepow Z1 (Black). There are no other sizes, but it's available in two colors, black or silver. There's a newer version, known as the Lepow Z1 Gamut, which we've also tested, and there's a Pro version that's advertised to have a more stable system, but we haven't tested it yet and don't really know what they mean by that.
| Model | Size | Native Resolution | Max Refresh rate | Panel Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Z1 Gamut | 15.6" | 1080p | 60Hz | IPS | |
| Z1 | 15.6" | 1080p | 60Hz | IPS |
If you come across a different type of panel, or your Lepow Z1 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know, and we'll update the review. Note that some tests, like gray uniformity, may vary between individual units.
You can see our unit's label here.
Popular Monitor Comparisons
The Lepow Z1 is a mediocre portable monitor with some serious flaws. It's an okay portable office monitor if you need a bit more screen real estate when roaming, but we don't recommend it for much else. Unlike the MSI Optix MAG161V, it supports HDR, but this really doesn't add anything.
For more options, check our picks for the best budget monitors, the best USB-C monitors, and the best office monitors.
The Lepow Z1 is slightly better than the Mobile Pixels TRIO. The Lepow has much lower input lag, so it feels far more responsive, even for office use. The Lepow supports HDR, but this adds very little, as it can't get very bright and can't display a wide color gamut.
The ASUS ZenScreen MB14AC and the Lepow Z1 are very similar overall, but the ASUS is slightly better for most people. The Lepow that we tested has significantly better black uniformity than the ASUS, but this can vary between units. The Lepow supports HDR and the ASUS doesn't, but this doesn't add much at all. On the other hand, the ASUS has significantly better response times, and the folio case is a bit more versatile, as it can hold the display in portrait orientation.
The Lenovo ThinkVision M14 is a bit better than the Lepow Z1. The Lenovo can display a much wider range of colors in SDR and has much better color accuracy after calibration. The Lenovo is a bit smaller than the Lepow, but it's not a huge difference. On the other hand, the Lepow does support HDR, but this doesn't add much.
The Lepow Z1 Gamut is better than the Lepow Z1. The Gamut version can display a much wider range of colors in both SDR and HDR. The Gamut isn't as bright as the Z1 we tested, but this seems to be a bug, as it's supposed to be a bit brighter.
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.
Test Results
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