Arzopa G1 Game review: A portable gaming monitor with 144Hz refresh rate

People are gaming on more devices than ever, especially with cloud gaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now gaining popularity. However, a lot of times, those are on smaller phone screens, ultrabooks, or handheld consoles. Fortunately, there are many portable monitors that offer larger screens, higher refresh rates, better resolutions, and higher colour gamut coverage — and can often be connected with just one cable.

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Our Arzopa G1 Game review looks at an affordable ultra-light IPS 15.6-inch portable gaming monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate and 100% sRGB colour gamut coverage. Read on for our full review and see why it earned a Highly Rated badge here at Techaeris.

Specifications

The Arzopa G1 Game 15.6″ 144Hz Portable Gaming Monitor we reviewed has the following features and specifications:

• Size: 15.6 inches (16:9)
• Panel: IPS
• Resolution: 1920 x 1080
• Frequency (H/V): 144HZ
• Colour: 100% sRGB
• Contrast ratio (standard value): 1000:1
• Brightness: 300 nit
• Bracket material: Made of aluminum alloy
• Video input: Mini HDMI, full-featured Type-C x2, 3.5mm audio
• Speaker: Built-in dual speakers
• Compatibility: PC, Mac, smartphones, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and more
• Dimensions: 14.4 x 9 x 0.3 inches
• Weight: 1.36lbs
• Lightweight & Super Slim
• Quality Design and Smart Cover
• 30-Day Risk-Free Guarantee & 12-Month Hassle-Free Warranty

What’s in the box

• Arzopa G1 Game 15.6″ 144Hz Portable Gaming Monitor
• USB-C to USB-C Cable (Full-functioned)
• Mini HDMI to HDMI Cable (For data transmission only)
• USB-C to USB-A Cable (For power supply only)
• Screen Cleaning Cloth
• User Guide Kit

Design

As far as monitors are concerned, the Arzopa G1 Game 15.6″ Portable Gaming Monitor is just under 14 1/2 inches wide, 9 inches in height, and just over 3/8 of an inch thin at its thickest point. When in landscape orientation, the bottom third or so is about 3/8 of an inch thin while the top two-thirds is just under 1/4 of an inch thin. It is pretty light as well, coming in at 1.36 pounds due to its aluminum alloy frame. It has a solid build quality and looks great as well with the black finish on it.

The top and side bezels are pretty thin, about 1/8th of an inch. The bottom bezel is thicker at about 7/8 of an inch. The Arzopa logo is printed on the front bottom bezel in white. The G1 Game has rounded corners as well, giving it a slightly sleeker look. The bottom edge has two rubber feet, one on each edge, for added grip while set up. Just inside each of these feet are the two bottom-firing stereo speakers. The back of the monitor is non-descript as it is always covered by the included protective cover stand.

Like other portable monitors, the bottom portion is thicker to house the ports and controls. On the left side, you’ll find two USB-C ports and a Mini HDMI port. The right side houses the power/source select combo button, OSD menu/brightness/volume combo adjustment dial, and a 3.5mm audio/headphone jack.

Protective Cover Stand

The included protective cover stand is pretty solid as well. It is nice and thin and looks good as well. The outside has a dark grey leatherette finish with the Arzopa logo debossed in the center. The inside of the cover stand is a rubber-like material. When attached to the monitor, which it comes pre-attached to in the box, about three-quarters of the back panel is covered and the entire front is covered.

As the description implies, the protective cover stand doubles as a stand. The front easily flips over the top and magnetically attaches to the cover on the back, angling out and acting as a stand for the monitor. Unfortunately, there’s only one angle you can set the stand to but I found it to be a decent one. Still, it would be nice to be able to adjust the angle depending on your use case. While you can use it in portrait mode, it doesn’t feel as sturdy as other portable monitors do while in this orientation.

The cover looks good, but another model we received for review at the same time (the 4K P5 which we’ll review and post once supply chain issues have been resolved with it) has a similar cover with a carbon fibre motif on it. In my opinion, the finish on the G1 cover suits a premium productivity monitor better while the finish on the P5 cover suits a gaming portable monitor better. Minor in the grand scheme of things though.

Display

The 15.6″ display on the Arzopa G1 Game Portable Gaming Monitor has a 1080p FHD resolution and 100% sRGB coverage. As for brightness, it maxes out at 300 nits which isn’t too bad but an extra 100 would be nice for brighter-lit environments.

On that note, during testing, the monitor was more than acceptable for gaming. Of course, it did depend on what device I had it hooked up to but the colours were decent and the brightness was plenty for the environments in which I normally use a computer or console in. For games that supported it, the HDR support was a nice option as well even if it was a bit hit-and-miss when it comes to Windows 11. The matte finish does a good job of preventing glare, even when sitting with it facing a window on a sunny day.

It could have been a bit crisper but was on par with other 15.6-inch 1080p monitors, I’ve just been spoiled with higher resolution QHD and 4K monitors as of late.

Ease of Use

First, flip the front cover back over the top of the monitor. The top third or so should magnetically hold on the upper part of the back of the monitor. As mentioned above, the bottom two-thirds angles out slightly backwards, acting as a stand and propping the monitor up.

In its easiest state, using the Arzopa G1 Game 15.6″ Portable Gaming Monitor is as simple as connecting the included USB-C to a full-featured USB-C port on your compatible laptop or smartphone. Once connected, the monitor will power up and display the image from your laptop or smartphone. There are other ways to connect as well if your computer doesn’t have a free (or any) USB-C port but has an HDMI port. You can plug the monitor into an external power source, or a USB-A port on the laptop with the included USB-A to USB-C cable, and then use the included HDMI to Mini-HDMI cable. This method also works with other devices like game consoles (Xbox, PlayStation), handheld consoles (Switch, SteamDeck), and even other devices like Roku or other streaming boxes.

OSD

Once connected, you’re pretty much good to go. However, you can adjust some options using the OSD rather easily as well. Pressing the middle toggle button on the right side of the Arzopa G1 Game will power the monitor on or off. Rotating it up will adjust the brightness while rotating it down will adjust the volume of the onboard speakers.

Pressing and holding the middle toggle button brings up the full OSD menu. Here you can adjust brightness, contrast, mode (Standard, RTS, FPS, Movie, Game, or Text), toggle DCR (dynamic contrast ratio), and adjust the sharpness. You can also adjust the colour temperature, set the OSD language, position, transparency, and timer, and toggle the aspect ratio (Wide, 4:3) and HDR (Off, 2048, Auto).

Performance

At first, I could only get the monitor to display 60Hz. There is no setting in the OSD to force 144Hz however, depending on what your source is, you can set it there. For example, in the Windows 11 display settings, you can force the monitor to use 144Hz (or 120, or 60). When connecting this portable gaming monitor to a console like the Xbox Series X, you can force it to 120Hz through the Xbox settings menu.

That out of the way, as one would expect, the Arzopa G1 Game portable monitor offered smooth gameplay once the highest refresh rate your device supported (up to 144Hz) is set. I tested the monitor out with a couple of laptops, a RedMagic gaming smartphone, an Xbox Series X, and a Nintendo Switch. In each case, the monitor connected as expected and offered up some decent colours and smooth (up to) 144Hz gaming.

Gaming aside, this 15.6″ portable monitor also doubled nicely as a second screen for working on a laptop, as well as video streaming.

Sound Quality

As mentioned above, the Arzopa G1 Game has two bottom-firing speakers. When used in landscape mode, the speakers do bounce off your desk due to the angle of the display panel. The speakers are pretty crisp and clear, although I found my laptop speakers were better, that wasn’t a surprise. That being said, using the laptop speakers while using the portable monitor to play games or watch a hockey game was a bit disorienting due to the location difference. However, the audio on the portable monitor was more than acceptable for playing games or consuming video content. It’ll do in a pinch but most people who game have a headset that they prefer to use anyways.

Price/Value

With an MSRP on the Arzopa website of $249.99, the G1 Game 15.6″ Portable Gaming Monitor is averagely priced. However, it is listed for $229.99 on Amazon.com. Currently, it’s even on sale there for $189.99 which is a great deal for this portable gaming monitor. By comparison, most comparable 15.6″ portable monitors with 144Hz refresh rates retail for $300+ with only a couple coming in lower than Arzopa’s pricing.

In addition to the G1 and the P5, the company has quite a few other sizes and resolutions from 13.3″ all the way up to 17.3″ for FHD gaming and 4K productivity, depending on your needs. Pricing ranges from $179.99 to $369.99 but they are available on Amazon for as low as $118.99 at the time of this review.

Arzopa portable monitors also come with a 30-Day Risk-Free Guarantee & 12-Month Hassle-Free Warranty so you can try it out if you’re unsure about it, and be sure you’re covered for a year if something should go wrong with it.

Photo Gallery

Wrap-up

There are plenty of portable gaming monitors on the market these days. However, given the 144Hz refresh rate, brightness, 100% sRGB colour gamut coverage, and price point, the Arzopa G1 Game 15.6″ Portable Gaming Monitor is a solid choice if you’re in the market for one.

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Last Updated on March 13, 2024.