The Portable Monitor Is the Wii U GamePad We Actually Got

The first time I held the Wii U GamePad, I thought we'd figured it out. A little screen in your hands, a big screen in front of you, and a game that used both. It didn't work, obviously — not because the idea was bad, but because the execution was heavy, expensive, and tethered to a console that never got its legs. Nintendo moved on. The rest of us just kept waiting for someone to try again.

This ASUS ZenScreen 16 is that someone, sort of. It's a 15.6-inch 1080p portable monitor, on sale from Newegg via AliExpress for a price that feels like a typo. I'm not going to pretend I've tested it — I haven't. But I've owned a couple of portable monitors, and I know exactly what this thing is for.

This is a good deal for exactly the right person. If you're a remote worker who wants a second screen without committing to a standing desk the size of a pool table, this is for you. If you're a Steam Deck owner who's tired of squinting at your own lap, this is for you. If you're a Nintendo Switch traveler who's stared at the kickstand and thought, "No," this is for you too.

The ZenScreen is a 16-inch, 1080p IPS panel that runs off USB-C power and video in a single cable. That detail is the whole game. No external power brick, no proprietary docking cable — just a wire that already does both things. That's the part that would have made the Wii U GamePad actually work.

And here's the weird connection: the GamePad was a portable monitor attached to a stationary console. The ZenScreen is a portable monitor attached to whatever you've already got. The relationship is reverse, but the fantasy is identical. The GamePad died because it was a screen without a battery that mattered, locked to one device, with latency that couldn't hide. The ZenScreen just sits there, does its job, and doesn't ask for a friendship. It's the second screen we kept asking for, minus the existential baggage.

Now, the practical stuff. Newegg via AliExpress is an odd marriage — you're getting a reputable listing through a marketplace that doesn't always inspire confidence. But ASUS is ASUS, and the ZenScreen line has been around long enough that the quirks are documented. Some models don't play nice with every USB-C port. If your laptop's USB-C port only outputs power, you'll need a different connection. That's the kind of thing you check before you buy, not after.

What I actually care about is the form factor. A 16-inch, 1080p screen that slides into a laptop bag is the answer to a question I've asked myself a hundred times: "But what if I had another screen and nothing to attach it to?" It changes how you travel. It changes how you sit at a coffee shop with a Steam Deck. It changes the part of your brain that thinks a second window would fix everything.

Will it replace a proper 27-inch monitor? No. It's a portable display, not a desk replacement. But it doesn't need to be. It needs to be there when you're in a hotel room, or an airport lounge, or just a couch that isn't positioned well relative to the TV.

This sale isn't a revolution. It's a $200-ish portable screen that's become cheap enough to justify. That's the whole pitch. No hype, no urgency, no "you have three hours to decide" nonsense. Just a good tool at a reasonable price, for the kind of person who knows exactly what they'd do with a second screen and has been waiting for an excuse.

I'm not going to tell you to buy it. But if you've ever wished the Switch had a second screen, you already know who you are.