Luxor SideTrak Solo Pro STFRHD13BL 13.3" Black

The Luxor SideTrak Solo Pro is a 13.3-inch portable monitor that's incredibly thin and light, making it great for travel. It's powered by USB-C and draws only 8W, so it's easy to run off a laptop. But the display quality is rough, with poor color accuracy and low brightness that make it best suited for basic productivity only.

Let's talk numbers. The 13.3-inch IPS panel runs at 1920 x 1080 with a 60Hz refresh rate and a 10ms response time. In our database, the performance score lands in the 3rd percentile for portable monitors. That's rough. It's not a gaming display, and it doesn't pretend to be. The 10ms response time means fast motion gets a little smeary, and 60Hz is fine for documents but feels dated if you're used to anything faster.

Brightness tops out at 250 nits, which is okay indoors but starts to struggle near windows or in bright cafes. The color story is worse. It covers 45% NTSC and uses a 6-bit panel, which puts it dead last in our color rankings. That means washed-out colors and visible banding in gradients. For text and basic productivity, it's serviceable. For photo editing or watching movies where color matters, it's a letdown.

Compared to the MSI MAG 271QPX QD-OLED E2 or the LG UltraGear 27G810A-B, the SideTrak Solo Pro is in a completely different universe. Those are desktop gaming monitors with OLED panels, high refresh rates, and color accuracy that makes this thing look like a calculator screen. But that's not a fair fight. The SideTrak is for travel, not for a desk setup.

A more realistic comparison is against other portable monitors in the same price bracket. The ASUS ROG Strix XG27ACDNG and BenQ MA Series MA270U are also desktop displays, so they're not direct competitors either. The real question is whether the SideTrak's portability and low power draw justify its weak display. For pure productivity on the road, maybe. For anything involving color or fast motion, no. The Alienware AW2725D is another desktop OLED that costs way more, but it shows what you're giving up by going ultra-portable.

At $172 USD, the SideTrak Solo Pro is cheap for a portable monitor, and that's its main selling point. You're not paying for premium color or speed, you're paying for a second screen that fits in your bag. The problem is that the display quality is so far behind that even the low price feels like a compromise. If you just need extra screen real estate for Slack and email, it's fine. But if you care even a little about how things look, you might want to save up for something with better color and brightness. There are portable monitors in the $200 to $250 range that offer noticeably better panels.

The Luxor SideTrak Solo Pro STFRHD13BL is a 13.3-inch portable monitor aimed at road warriors who want a second screen without lugging around a full-size display. It's thin, light, and slides into a laptop bag without much fuss. At around $172 USD, it sits in the budget-friendly end of the portable monitor market, which is refreshing because a lot of these things get weirdly expensive for what they are.

So is the SideTrak Solo Pro good for travel? Mostly yes. It weighs about 1.3 pounds and runs off USB-C power, pulling just 8W. That means you can usually power it straight from your laptop without hunting for an outlet. The integrated kickstand doubles as a screen protector, which is a nice touch. But the display itself is where this thing shows its budget roots, and we'll get into that.

If you're searching for a portable laptop monitor for work on the go, this one covers the basics. It's a 1080p IPS panel with a 60Hz refresh rate and a 10ms response time. Nothing flashy. It's built for spreadsheets, email, and maybe a YouTube video during lunch, not for color-critical work or gaming.

Skip this if you care about how things look on screen. Photographers, video editors, and anyone who watches movies or plays games on a second display will be disappointed by the 45% NTSC color coverage and 6-bit panel. Also skip it if you work outside or in bright environments, since 250 nits won't cut it. If you need better color and brightness in a portable form factor, look at options from ASUS or Lenovo in the $200 to $250 range. And if you want a monitor for gaming, this is absolutely not it.

Should you buy the Luxor SideTrak Solo Pro? If you need a cheap, light second monitor for basic work tasks while traveling, and you don't care about color accuracy or gaming, then sure. It's compact, easy to power, and the kickstand is genuinely useful. The 99th percentile compact score means it's one of the most portable options out there.

But if you're expecting a portable monitor that looks good, this isn't it. The color performance is the worst in our database, the brightness is mediocre, and the response time makes it a poor choice for anything fast-moving. It's a tool for getting work done, not for enjoying content. For that narrow use case, it works. For everything else, look elsewhere.