Asus ZenScreen OLED (MQ16FC) portable monitor review: A great all-around performer

Asus is a well-known name in the portable monitor space, offering single-screen or dual-screen options with IPS or OLED panels. The Asus ZenScreen OLED (MQ16FC) is the company’s latest single-panel portable monitor, and it’s a winner all around.

The MQ16FC uses a 16.1-inch OLED display with a 1920 x 1200 resolution, features an integrated kickstand, and has excellent color performance for well under $300. The MQ16FC is even good enough to be considered a shoo-in among the best portable monitors.

Design of the Asus ZenScreen OLED (MQ16FC)

I’ll start off by saying that I really like the design of the MQ16FC. It has a 16.1-inch OLED panel with a glossy finish. That display is trimmed with extremely thin bezels all around. The top and side bezels are roughly the same size, while the bottom is about twice as thick (although still slim for a portable monitor).

The entire enclosure for the MQ16FC is made of aluminum, which contributes to the minimal weight (1.5 pounds) and sturdy build. But my favorite exterior feature of the monitor is its kickstand, which pivots about halfway up the back. The hinge is stiff enough to keep the monitor at your preferred viewing angle, and tiny rubber feet on the bottom of the monitor keep it in place regardless of the kickstand’s position. There are also rubber feet on the left side of the display for using the MQ16FC in portrait mode.

The “business end” of the MQ16FC is on the right side of the display, where you’ll find all of the ports and controls. From top to bottom, you’ll find a 3.5 mm headphone jack, two USB-C ports, a micro-HDMI port, a power button, a jog wheel for the OSD, and an action button.

One final feature of the MQ16FC is a quarter-inch tripod socket on the back of the display, just above the kickstand. The MQ16FC measures 14.13 x 9.17 x 0.35 inches and weighs 1.5 pounds. It comes with a padded cloth case, a wall adapter, a USB-C-to-USB-C cable, and an HDMI-to-micro-HDMI cable.

Asus ZenScreen OLED (MQ16FC) Specifications

Asus ZenScreen OLED (MQ16FC) OSD

The MQ16FC features an on-screen display (OSD), which pops out from the right side of the screen when you press in on the jog wheel or the action button below it. One press opens the OSD Quick Menu, which lets you access the Blue Light Filter and Splendid display modes. However, if you press the jog wheel in twice, it brings up the full OSD.

The full OSD provides overall display information at the top, including the current Splendid display mode, display resolution, the currently selected input method (USB-C-1, USB-C-2, or HDMI), brightness level (in percent), and refresh rate. From there, you can scroll down through the various menu options, including the aforementioned Splendid (Standard Mode, sRGB Mode, Game Mode, etc.), Eye Care (Blue Light Filter, Color Augmentation), Image (Brightness, Contrast, etc.), Color (Gamma, Color Space, Color Temperature), input select, and Settings (auto rotation, power settings, OSD layout, etc.).

If you prefer, you can install the Asus DisplayWidget Center app for Windows, which provides even easier access to Spendid picture modes, color, and image settings.

Display Performance on the Asus ZenScreen OLED (MQ16FC)

The MQ16FC features a 16.1-inch OLED panel with a 1920 x 1200 resolution and 60 Hz refresh rate. Asus uses a glossy finish over the OLED panel to provide an extra “punch” of color. The glossy film does a good job of slightly enhancing colors while not completely succumbing to environmental reflections. However, the reflections that did make their way onto the screen were quickly vanquished by adjusting the display angle with the kickstand.

Color performance from the OLED display was generally excellent, with deep blacks and vibrant colors. My new go-to for testing out color performance on monitors is to watch Project Hail Mary on Amazon Prime Video. Not only is it an excellent movie, but it’s an absolute feast for the eyes in so many respects. The scene featuring planet “Adrian” looked wonderful, from the flashes of red and green to the fiery orange plasma as the Haily Mary started descending into Adrian’s atmosphere. Absolutely nothing can do the movie justice like seeing it in theaters, but I was still enthralled watching it on this 16.1-inch OLED.

Our instrumented tests showed the MQ16FC covering 153.2 percent of DCI-P3 and 216.2 percent of sRGB, putting it ahead of rivals like the ViewSonic ColorPro VP16-OLED and Innocn 15A1F. However, it did fall short in brightness. The MQ16FC is rated for 300 nits typical brightness, and we measured just 140 nits in Standard mode (the default). However, we were able to punch that figure up to 271 nits in User Mode, with no discernible change in DCI-P3 or sRGB coverage. Still, the MQ16FC isn’t nearly as bright as the other two monitors, which each hit around 370 nits.

With that said, I used the MQ16FC with several different systems, from a Mac mini, to a MacBook Air to an MSI Claw 8 EX AI+. In fact, I was able to turn the Claw 8 EX AI+ into a miniature desktop system with the help of the Thunderbolt 5 dock, the MQ16FC, and a wireless keyboard and mouse. This setup allowed me to install games more easily and perform certain tasks that I find tedious on the gaming handheld’s 8-inch touchscreen.

In each instance, the MQ16FC connected to the systems using a single USB-C-to-USB-C cable, delivering power and video. I greatly appreciate the flexibility of using a single cable instead of needing USB-C for power and an HDMI cable for video.

Bottom Line

The Asus ZenScreen OLED (MQ16FC) is a solidly built portable monitor with excellent color performance and a sturdy kickstand. It is also quite versatile, with a built-in tripod mount, and can be propped up in portrait mode (with support for auto-rotation). Maximum brightness isn’t as high as its peers, but I found it perfectly fine for my daily usage patterns. The only miss is the lack of speakers, but given that most portable monitor speakers are borderline trash, it shouldn’t be a huge deterrent for most people.

With a street price of $274, the MQ16FC is actually priced fairly for a 16-inch OLED monitor. Given its features along with a standard three-year warranty, it’s truly a notch above the rest.