If you’ve ever wished you had a second monitor while working on your laptop, the 13A1F from Innocn seems like a great companion. It's a 13.3-inch portable monitor with the form factor of a tablet. If you have the space to carry an iPad, you’ve got the space for an extra monitor.

Does the Innocn 13A1F fulfill its promise? For the most part, yes. And if you wait until April 17th, we can tell you it'll be on sale for the great price of $150 ($120 off the normal retail price of $270!). The offer will be valid only until the 23rd April, so you'll need to be quick.

Keep reading to find out how the Innocn 13A1F performs, and at the end of this review, we've got one of these handy little portable monitors to giveaway.

What’s in the Box?

The first thing you’ll see opening up the box is the display itself, carefully wrapped in protective plastic. Underneath this, you’ll find the manual and three boxes holding the rest of the accessories you’ll need to use the monitor.

The first box holds the magnetic kickstand, which is responsible for keeping the monitor upright. We’ll look at that more later. The other boxes hold a pair of USB-C cables—one for power (if required), one for video signal, and a USB power brick.

Solid Build, Classy Look

The Innocn 13A1F has a distinctive look reminiscent of Apple products, thanks to the metal build and flat rounded edges. When the display is turned off and you can’t see the bezels, it looks like a 13-inch iPad, and even the finish is close to Apple’s Space Gray.

Turn the display on, and it’s quickly apparent that it’s not an iPad. This is mainly due to the larger bezels overall, but especially the thicker bezel emblazoned with the Innocn logo on the bottom edge of the monitor.

As mentioned above, the monitor is built from metal, giving it a solid feel. The weight is relatively low at just over a pound, but it doesn’t feel like it will easily bend. Whether the edges are prone to damage like the metal edges on some Apple products, remains to be seen.

Finally, there is the kickstand. This attaches via a magnet to the back of the monitor. A circular area is marked on the back of the monitor, and you can’t place it anywhere else. This shouldn’t be a problem for most people, but it’s worth mentioning.

Connectivity: Simple and Streamlined

All the ports are located on the left side of the monitor, assuming you’re facing the screen. You get two USB-C ports and a single mini HDMI port.

If you’re connecting the monitor via USB-C, you’ll often only need one cable. This is the thicker of the two cables included with the box, which can easily carry both power and video over a single cable. For some devices you’ll still need extra power from the power brick, which the second port is for.

While USB-C is the simplest way to connect, it’s not always available. The included cable has a standard HDMI plug on one end to plug into your computer or other devices, while the mini HDMI on the other end plugs into the monitor.

When connected via HDMI, you’ll always need a USB-C port to power the monitor. Whether connected via USB-C or HDMI, the monitor would occasionally lose its connection with the PC it was connected to after sleeping for a few hours. Unplugging it and re-plugging it in fixed the issue.

Getting Started With the Innocn 13A1F

Setting up the Innocn 13A1F is much easier than most traditional monitors. The trickiest part is probably attaching the kickstand and orienting the monitor to the most comfortable angle.

Once the monitor is upright, all you need to do is plug in the correct cables, as mentioned above. In most cases, plugging in the cable is all you need to do, and the monitor will automatically power on and switch to the correct input.

All that’s left then is setting how you want to use the monitor. If it’s the only monitor you’re using, this is easy, but if you’re using it as a second monitor, you have to choose whether to mirror or extend your main display.

Using the Onboard Controls

Part of the reason the Innocn 13A1F looks so much like a tablet is the onboard controls, which are situated very similarly to where they would be on a tablet. There are two buttons: a power button and a volume rocker.

The power button is actually a multifunction button. You can press it to turn the monitor on or wake it from sleep; holding it will turn the monitor off.

Tapping the multifunction button pulls up the OSD, where you can change the monitor’s various color settings and other options. You navigate with the volume rocker button and select with the multifunction button.

If you’ve ever encountered a monitor that was an absolute joy to adjust the settings on, consider yourself lucky. That said, the Innocn 13A1F is nicer to adjust than most, simply because you can comfortably pick it up and hold it while adjusting the settings.

Still, an app for your PC or even just your phone that would let you adjust settings without using the onboard controls would have been great. Of course, this would have added to the complexity, which would have added to the price.

Display Performance: Colorful, but Is It Bright Enough?

The 13A1F uses a 13.3-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 1920 × 1080. If you’re used to larger modern displays, that resolution may sound on the low side, but at this screen size you likely wouldn’t notice a higher resolution.

This monitor has a 60Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. Innocn lists contrast as 100,000:1. Thanks to the OLED panel, colors are vivid and more accurate than you may expect in a portable monitor in this price range.

Text looks sharp, regardless of the operating system or device used during testing. If you have vision issues that require scaling up your operating system’s display, the 13A1F could be a little cramped, but at the native resolution, it feels exactly like using a 13-inch laptop.

Interestingly, the Innocn 13A1F supports high dynamic range (HDR). Unfortunately, it only supports this when you’re connected via HDMI, so you’ll have to resort to the less convenient method of connecting to the monitor. This is fine if you have it hooked up permanently, but it could be annoying if you’re always on the move.

The 13A1F has a glossy finish which is quite reflective. While Innocn claims 400 nits of brightness, the glossy finish can still make it difficult to see when reflections are present. If you intend to use the monitor outside, this could become a major issue.

The Innocn 13A1F as a Gaming Monitor

Given its size, the Innocn 13A1F is uniquely positioned as a portable gaming monitor that you can plug your Nintendo Switch or a device like a Raspberry Pi into. As mentioned above, the colors look great, and unlike VA or IPS panels, the OLED panel here doesn’t blur during fast motion. This is one of the key differences between OLED, LED, and LCD displays.

The low response time works for gaming, and while we aren't equipped to measure input lag precisely, games felt responsive. Plugging in a Nintendo Switch worked wonderfully, and the games looked more vivid than using the built-in display in handheld mode.

Of course, there are some limitations. The 60Hz refresh rate could be an issue, for example. When using the Nintendo Switch, this refresh rate is fine, but if you plan on using this for PC gaming, and you’re used to 144Hz gaming monitors, this could feel less smooth.

There is another issue with using the Innocn 13A1F as a gaming monitor, but it has nothing to do with the display.

Are The Speakers Any Good?

You may have inferred from the mention of volume rockers above, but yes, the 13A1F features built-in speakers. Theoretically, this is handy if you’re looking to use the monitor either for gaming or using to stream TV shows from a computer or streaming box.

In practice, the speakers don’t sound great, and they don’t get particularly loud. This problem is largely unavoidable. Putting speakers inside a chassis this small means you’ll never get them large enough for good sound, and the metal casing doesn’t help either.

Whether you connect via USB-C or HDMI, the monitor tends to take over audio duties. This is fine if you’re using a streaming box or game console, but it makes it more difficult to use your laptop’s speakers, which will almost definitely sound better than these.

Still, the speakers are usable, even if they’re not the best. It’s better to have them and not need them, than to wish you had them.

Should You Buy the Innocn 13A1F?

The best use case for the Innocn 13A1F is as a second monitor while working on your laptop. In most cases, you can power and carry video over a single USB-C cable, which is both more portable and easier to use.

The 13.3-inch size may be too small for some people, and the speakers aren’t great for gaming. That said, the design and the use of the kickstand is great. If you have a 13-inch laptop and need more display space, this is the answer to your problems.