Review: PRISM+ Nomad 16 (portable LCD display)

Review unit on loan from PRISM+

PRISM+ is a company based in Singapore that sells computer monitors and smart TVs. The company has recently released a line of portable monitors under the Nomad brand series and in this review I'll present to you my findings on how they perform.

Because this display has some similarities with the Nomad Ultra 4K 16 OLED (review), some parts from that review are repeated here.

At the time of this review, the models available are...

Note that the prices may vary depending on promotions. All products come with 1 year warranty.

Bottom line

The PRISM+ Nomad 16 is a good looking portable 1080P LCD display with decent build quality. There's USB-C and HDMI support. I measured 99% sRGB (measured) colour support so colour accuracy is satisfactory.

A single USB-C cable is capable of powering the display up to 50% brightness. To get 100% brightness you need two cables to the display. Audio quality from the two 1W speakers are serviceable.

Price of SGD 349 is quite competitive compared to other brands so it's actually kinda worth the money.

These are the items included:

• USB-C power adapter
• USB-C power cable (1.8m)
• USB-C video cable (1m)
• Mini HDMI to full-sized HDMI cable (1.5m)
• Flip cover case and stand

The longer USB-C power cable (labeled) cannot transmit video signal. The shorter USB-C video cable (labeled too) is 1m long. If you want to place the portable display on the right side of your laptop, and your laptop's USB-C or HDMI ports are on the left, the cable is long enough but the area around the connector will bend more.

If your computer's USB-C port can provide enough power for the display, great. If not, you'll have to connect an additional USB-C cable for more power. And if you use HDMI, you'll definitely additional USB power because HDMI does not transmit power.

The maximum brightness possible with a single USB-C cable is 50%. Additional power is needed for 100% brightness, which from what I've measured is 316 nits. The consolation is the display at 50% brightness is still quite bright at 158 nits, suitable for use in bright indoor environment.

Build quality is solid, more so than the Nomad 16 for some reason even though the material looks and feels the same. I can't tell if the back is made with plastic or metal but I like the smooth matte textured surface.

Design of the display looks good. It's really thin at just 8mm. Weight is 780g. The top and bottom are rounded while the left and right are flat sides.

The two 1W speakers on the sides have so-so audio quality. I can't tell where the sound is coming from when there's audio. Anyway, these are already better than many portable displays I've reviewed with speakers on the back.

The included flip cover case and stand provides protection on all sides, and can prop up the display at a good angle.

Resolution is 1920 x 1080 on this 15.6-inch display so there's slight pixelation. Refresh rate is 60Hz.

There's no touchscreen so you have to use the physical buttons to navigate the OSD menu.

Press the power button quick to call up the OSD menu. The volume buttons will navigate through the menu. Press the power button again to set. Hold the power button for a while to go back, and hold much longer to power off the display.

The visual settings you can change with the OSD are brightness, contrast, RGB, colour temperature, chroma, saturation, sharpness and colour modes (e.g. gaming, movie, reading, etc).

Colours on the display look good out of the box. After calibration, the colours almost matches my M1 Macbook Air display (in front).

I measured colour support for 99% sRGB, 70% NTSC, 75% AdobeRGB, 77% P3 with my Spyder5Pro colour calibrator.

This level of colour support is good for general purpose use, e.g. media consumption, office work.

Having an external portable display is incredibly useful and can improve productivity instantly.

As I write this review on my laptop, I have the specifications on the Nomad display as well as uploaded photos. With a dual display setup, I can see all the info and photos I need without having to switch tabs or scroll as often. I can certainly do the same work on one display, but having two displays is way more convenient and productive.

When I'm done with work, I just store the display with my books on my shelf. Portable displays are convenient that way due to the compact design.

You can use the Nomad display as your main display too if you don't mind the look and form of the flip cover case.

This is an IPS LCD so there's noticeable IPS glow. Backlight bleeding is alright. There's slight glow at the corners which is common but no distracting wavy edge lighting effect.

Pros and cons the Nomad Pro 16

Nomad 16 and Nomad Pro 16 are priced SGD 349 and 459 respectively.

Nomad Pro 16 comes with a touchscreen and built-in battery which is why it's more expensive. Both features are nice to have but don't affect the visual quality of the display.

Both my M1 Macbook Air and LG Gram 16 laptops can power the Nomad 16 via the USB-C port. However, this means the laptop battery will drain faster. If you want to use the display outdoors frequently, Nomad Pro 16 with its built-in battery is better since it won't drain your laptop battery.

The battery life of the Nomad Pro 16 is rated at 4 hours. Just note that battery capacity will drop with usage. If you're using the display at home, or you're always near power source, there's no compelling reason for a built-in battery since you can always connect your laptop to power.

I use the touchscreen occasionally, mostly to change the OSD settings, but not often. Once you set the OSD, you don't have to set it it again anyway.

Conclusion

The PRISM+ Nomad 16 has good design, build quality and colours. Downsides would be the so-so audio quality of the built-in speakers, and needing two cables to drive it at 100% brightness.

The price of SGD 349 is competitive with other brands so it does provide good value for money. This provides more value than the Nomad Pro 16 simply because it's noticeably cheaper.

Pros and cons at a glance
+ Simple good looking design
+ Good build quality
+ Thin, compact, lightweight (780g)
+ Good colours (99% sRGB)
+ Max brightness of 316 nits (measured)
+ USB-C and HDMI support
+ Can be powered by one USB-C cable (at 50% brightness max)
+ Flip cover case and stand included
+ Competitive pricing
- Needs two cables for 100% brightness
- There's no dedicated back button for OSD
- USB-C video cable just 1m
- So-so audio quality

Where to buy?

You can get the PRISM+ Nomad 16 portable display from PRISM+ webstore, Lazada SG and Shopee SG