The Espresso Display is back with version 2 of its ultra portable second monitor for people who love to get things done while on the road. Darrell tried out a preproduction unit of the original version of the display a couple of years ago and thought it was great, and it looks like the company doubled down on it. I took a closer look at the display to see how it performs on a long journey.
There are a lot of ways to get work done. Some people can use a laptop for all of their work. I don't like to spread my windows all over the place because I'm spoiled by my at- home setup, but I have two 27 inch 4K monitors that give me near-infinite screen real estate.
I am writing this in Australia, 16,000 km away from my usual home, and you will be surprised to know that my regular gaming rig with all its accessories didn't fit in my hand luggage. The innovative setup from Espresso made it easy to fit it. I received a 15′′ touch screen display and an assortment of accessories. The $1,036 price tag includes the $749 screen, the $99 espresso Stand, the 69 espresso Case, and the $119 espresso Pen. That makes the screen within range of an iPad Pro, which can be used as a second screen for your computer, so you need to really want to take your show on the road to put down that much cash.
Is it worthwhile? The screen is so thin and light that I found it easy to fit it into my bag with my MacBook Air. You can power the screen from the laptop with the help of theusb-c. The small battery in the MacBook Air means that the 7W draw of the display sucks down a lot of extra power. I thought that might be a problem, but when I started using the setup a lot more, I realized it wasn't a big deal. You can plug the laptop into power. If you leave the second display in your hotel room for a while, you can connect the power directly to the display. The clever thing about it is that you only have to plug in one cable when you want to do work on the laptop.
The display is in horizontal mode. The image is of espresso.
The name "espresso" is derived from the idea that an espresso coffee will give you that shot of energy and productivity you need to get things done effectively. The display is portable, compact, effective and packs a punch so our users can work from anywhere with maximum focus, according to the company. The Espresso team members have their favorite coffee orders in their email signatures. Do you mean Goofy? It's a fun detail.
The Espresso Display has a number of quirks that fall into the same category as the power consumption issue, but at first glance, it seems like a disaster. The $529 13-inch monitor, the $669 13-inch monitor with touch screen capabilities, and the range-topping $749 15-inch screen with touch screen pack only have 1920 x1080 resolutions. On paper, the Espresso Display doesn't make sense, compared to the smaller iPad Pro, which has a larger screen with a higher resolution. The iPad is designed to be a handheld device. It doesn't make much of a difference in most work situations if you leave the display propped up against the lid or on the stand.
The positioning of the espresso display is confused by the inclusion of a pen as an optional accessory. The small resolution doesn't bother me at all. The text on the screen isn't as crisp as on my MacBook Air, so pick it up and use it as a touch screen. It makes sense, as the Air has a display that is 4 million colors and looks like butter. To use it with the pen you have to be very close to it.
The power and data cables that I brought with me on my trip were not compatible with displays. It's my fault that cables that fit in one sockets should be interchangeable with cables that fit in other sockets. There are a lot of reasons why that isn't feasible, but it's a terrible user experience to have a cable that doesn't have all the leads.
The software that enhances the capabilities of the espresso display is really clever. When the screen is turned sideways on the magnetic stand, it will report its orientation to the computer, which will respond by rotating the screen. The team has gone a long way to observe users and build a product that is user-centered.
A number of features that will start stepping on to the toes of Wacom and other smart tablets for graphic designers will be rolled out by the company. The team has grown to more than 20 people and shipped screens to more than 10,000 people.
Is it possible that I would spend $1,000 of my own money on this solution. It depends on a lot of things. I do most of my work at the command center at home, where I have a standing desk, 64 gigabytes of RAM, and fast Intel i9 processors. The other mode is on the road, for example, when I am at an event or review a device. I don't need anything else in that mode. The espresso display makes a lot of sense in neither work mode.
I have traveled for many weeks and months on end in the past. I wanted a second screen and more flexibility to work from anywhere. For people who spend a lot of time on the road and need a quick-to-pack-away second monitor solution, espresso display might be just the thing.
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