A portable monitor isn’t always on my travel packing list, but after bringing a 14-inch monitor with me on my recent work trip, I don’t know if I can travel without one. But a good portable monitor can be useful for more than just productivity and travel; it can be a necessary piece of home lab equipment.
The HP Series 5 Pro 514pn Portable Monitor is an ultra-light, thin, portable display that’s ideal for work travel but can be a solid addition to any home office. With a matte, IPS Black display panel rated to 400 nits, it’s almost perfectly glare-proof. The 514pn also comes with a magnetic cover panel, so you don’t need to worry about scratching the display while taking it to and from the office or on your next work trip.
HP Series 5 Pro 514pn pricing and availability
How can you get your hands on the 514pn?
The HP Series 5 Pro 514pn portable monitor retails for just $299. This gets you a 14-inch, 2,560 x 1,600, 75 Hz IPS Black with Neo LED display. The Series 5 Pro 514pn also features an ultra-light and thin aluminum chassis with two USB-C ports with up to 65W power delivery and a built-in variable-angle kickstand.
The HP Series 5 Pro 514pn is available starting today from HP direct and Best Buy.
Ultraportable design
Thin and lightweight
The HP Series 5 Pro 514pn is just 0.35 inches thick and weighs just 1.38 pounds. It can easily fit in your backpack’s laptop pouch without adding much additional weight or bulk. And because it connects via USB-C, you don’t need a secondary power cable either. Just plug the HP 514pn into your laptop’s USB-C port, and you can power both devices at once. This makes it ideal for travel or commuting.
Combined with the multi-angle kickstand, it’s a solid, complete package. And it works with both Windows and macOS, so you don’t need to worry about compatibility issues.
You can also feel good about your choice from an environmental perspective, as the 514pn is made from 90% post-consumer, recycled plastic and 55% recycled aluminum.
Stunning IPS Black with Neo LED visuals
Deeper blacks with richer colors
The HP Series 5 Pro 514pn portable monitor features a combination of two different display technologies, IPS Black and Neo LED. Combining the IPS Black technology’s 2,000:1 contrast ratio with Neo LED’s color vibrancy offers a stunning middle-ground to more expensive OLED or QLED displays.
When setting up the HP Series 5 514pn, I did notice the visuals looked a bit grainy. Adjusting my display settings to lower the panel resolution to match my MacBook’s native resolution helped smooth out the visuals. This wasn’t a problem when connecting the 514pn to a Windows device, as it seems to be a macOS issue, but it’s easily resolved.
While an OLED will still look better when side-by-side with the 514pn, it’s still a great panel, whether you’re editing photos and videos and need rich color fidelity or just watching a movie on your secondary display. Watching the trailer for HBO’s upcoming IT: Welcome to Derry series, I was pleasantly impressed by the color vibrancy and intense contrast on the 514pn panel. The HP 514pn is rated to 100% coverage of the Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 color spaces, making it a useful tool for content creators who need a highly accurate display.
And with the 514pn’s matte 400-nit display panel, it’s relatively glare-proof. You’ll have some trouble under direct sunlight, of course, but the panel is bright and matte enough to avoid the glare from internal lighting.
Productivity, not gaming
That 75 Hz refresh rate is not ideal for gamers
Thanks to the HP Series 5 Pro 514pn’s 75 Hz refresh rate, it’s a productivity monitor rather than a gaming display. While you can use it for gaming (nothing is stopping you), it’s not the intended purpose of the 514pn. And if you want a portable monitor for gaming, you’ll be better served by a portable gaming monitor or desktop gaming monitor instead of the 514pn.
75 Hz isn’t the lowest refresh rate, and it’s a bit better for your eyes than a standard 60 Hz refresh rate when it comes to screen flicker, but it is a bit slow, and the response time isn’t quite as fast as you want with a gaming display. If you do want a portable display for gaming, the Asus ROG Strix XG16AHPE is our best portable monitor for gaming and would be a better choice compared to the HP 514pn.
However, the 514pn is a fantastic productivity tool for multitasking, and it’s bright and vivid enough for anything from spreadsheet management to content creation.
Should you buy the HP Series 5 Pro 514pn?
Who needs this display?
You should buy the HP Series 5 Pro 514pn if:
You need a lightweight portable monitor for travel.
You want an additional display for your home office.
You need 100% coverage of the Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 color spaces.
You should NOT buy the HP Series 5 Pro 514pn if:
You want to do any gaming on your portable monitor.
You need a high (120 Hz) refresh rate display for eye strain.
As far as travel monitors go, the HP Series 5 Pro 514pn is a fantastic little device. It’s easy to carry, it’s lightweight, and it’s got great brightness and contrast ratings. It’s also got dual 100% ratings on the Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 color spaces, which is a first for commercial portable monitors.