Last fall, we hosted a bunch of girls at the house for Greta’s birthday, which was a fun Downton Abbey-themed Murder Mystery party. There was a video element to the game, where a narrator gave clues and set the scene. Since we don’t have a TV in our living room, we decided to splurge on a portable TV, thinking we’d probably use it in the living room every now and then. What I didn’t realize is that we would use it SO MUCH MORE than I expected.
The Pros of a Portable TV
First of all, a TV you can easily move?! Why didn’t we get this sooner! We don’t have a TV downstairs except for our bedroom, nor is there one outside or in the living room (or the kids’ bedrooms). This is the perfect go-between for those times you want to display something on a bigger screen without committing to a permanent TV in a room.
The portable TV we got can be used as a touchscreen, so setup was a breeze: it syncs with any device wirelessly for projecting videos or photos from your phone or laptop (it supports AirPlay, NFC, HDMI, and USB). Plus, you can download apps of your favorite streaming services, just like a regular TV or smartphone.
The 27-inch screen is an ideal size: it’s not so big that it’s commanding a room, but it feels like an oversized computer monitor that you can move around as a supporting character. Unlike most computer monitors though, there are no cords to mess with! The TV comes with a remote, batteries, the stand, a holder for your cell phone, and a power cable to recharge the battery.
One clever feature is that the TV automatically figures out what you’re watching, whether it’s a movie or an exercise video, and also checks the ambient lighting in your room. Then, it adjusts the picture settings to make sure everything looks clear and sharp!
27-Inch Class StanbyMe 1080p-Portable TV
shop nowThe Cons of a Portable TV
It’s honestly been so much more useful than I even could have predicted. There are really only two drawbacks I’ve found so far:
1) It’s pretty heavy, so lugging it up and down the stairs to the kids’ room when they’re sick is not ideal.
2) I haven’t found a great place to store it on the main floor yet. Right now, it’s just tucked away in a corner of our living room. It could definitely fit into a closet, but we don’t have a coat closet on the main floor, so I might just put it in the garage temporarily until I find a better solution.
Is the Portable TV Worth It?
The portable TV has come in handy for so many occasions. Polly is out of school and sick in bed? Move it to her room for the day (Bluey heals all!). We want to show some photos for my mom’s 70th birthday party outside? Let’s wheel out the portable TV for a slideshow! We need to do a photoshoot in the backyard and review images as we’re taking them? Let’s tether the digital camera to the portable TV. We have people over and want to show them a funny video real quick? Skip hunching over someone’s phone and turn on the portable TV instead.
Overall, the portable TV has been one of those things that we didn’t realize would be such a frequently used tech addition to our lives, but it has basically become part of the family. (Should we name it?!)
How to Choose a Portable TV
When it comes to something that I’m going to invest in, I’m all about the reviews—and whether it’s on sale. Chris will sometimes show me something he wants to get, and I’ll send him a similar, but different, product back. He asked me why I do that, and it’s because the one he’s looking at only has a handful of reviews!
I remember scrolling past so many portable TV options because they only had a dozen ratings. The one we got had amazing reviews and was on sale for under $800, so it was a no-brainer! I love ours, but if you want to test one before you get it, I’d recommend picking one up from a Best Buy or even a Walmart so that you can return it more easily. No one wants to be struggling to get the pieces back in the box!
If you’re in the market for a wall-mounted TV, we’ve loved our Samsung Frame over the years! You can read our review here.
When I can’t make exercise classes in studio, I can follow along via zoom. Can you hook up your computer to it and screen mirror? That would be perfect!!
You can connect via AirPlay or screen mirroring! That would be a perfect way to keep up.
This looks so fun! Does yours have a soundbar? You mentioned you use it for karaoke, how does that work? Thanks,
Hi. Just wondering: does it have a port for a thumbdrive to display puctures directly from that? Have you ever plugged in to circumvent the battery life ( once you placed it in a room).
Have you / can yih not have the speaker attached under the TV monitor? Sounds weird but I have digital art and it hasn’t any sound but I like the idea of positioning this in section of a room on a continuous loop ( imagine a continuous loop of family photos at a party for instance). Thanks.
We use an extra 27 tv for situations like this. It’s super light and has smart tv options so it’s easy to put outside or in the kids rooms as long as there’s something to set it on. And it was a couple hundred bucks
Thanks for this review! Would it work as an outdoor TV in a shaded area? Wondering if the it’s bright enough to wheel outside and watch movies, games, etc…
Sure it would! We used it outside for my mom’s birthday party this summer to show photo memories.