SideTrak Swivel Pro STTLGL13BL 13.3" Black

The SideTrak Swivel Pro is a 13.3 inch 1080p portable monitor that attaches magnetically to your laptop and swivels 270 degrees for flexible viewing. It's incredibly compact and portable, ranking in the 97th percentile for compactness, but the display quality and connectivity are below average. At $550 USD, it's expensive for what you get on paper, but the attachable design is genuinely unique. Buy it if you travel constantly and need a second screen without extra desk space. Skip it if you mostly work at a desk or care about color accuracy.

Let's talk about what this panel actually delivers. It's a 13.3 inch IPS display at 1920 x 1080, which gives you a pixel density of about 166 PPI. That's fine for text and basic productivity work, but it's not going to blow you away. Our display ranking puts it in the 22nd percentile, which means most monitors in our database outperform it on color accuracy, brightness, and contrast. The color score is even lower, sitting in the 16th percentile. So if you're doing photo editing or anything where color matters, this is not your screen.

The single USB-C connection is convenient, and the fact that it works with DisplayPort and DisplayLink without drivers is genuinely useful. Plug it in and it just works on Mac, PC, Chrome, and even consoles like the Switch. But that single port also means you can't daisy-chain anything, and you'll need to make sure your laptop's USB-C port actually delivers enough power and video signal. Some laptops with USB-C data-only ports won't work, which is a real gotcha. The connectivity ranking sits at the 29th percentile, so it's functional but not flexible.

The competitors in our database are mostly high-end gaming and productivity monitors, which makes direct comparisons a bit awkward. The LG UltraGear 45GX950A-B and ASUS ROG Strix XG27UCDMG are OLED gaming panels with refresh rates and color performance that absolutely destroy the Swivel Pro on display quality. But they're also 45 inch and 27 inch desktop monitors that weigh several times more and cost significantly more. They're not portable, and they're not trying to be.

The more relevant comparison is against other portable monitors, even though they're not in our top competitor list. A typical 15.6 inch USB-C portable monitor gives you a bigger screen, often with better color, for about a third of the price. What you lose is the attachable design and the swivel flexibility. The Swivel Pro is really the only game in town if you want a screen that physically attaches to your laptop and rotates for sharing. That's a genuinely unique feature, and it's the main reason to consider this over a cheaper standalone portable panel.

At $550 USD, the Swivel Pro is not cheap. You can get a standalone 15.6 inch portable monitor with similar specs for around $150 to $200, or a decent 24 inch desktop monitor for less. What you're paying for here is the attachable design and the swivel hinge, which is genuinely unique. Nobody else really does this the way SideTrak does. The Canadian price of $1,176 CAD and the Mexican price of $14,677 MXN reflect the same premium positioning in those markets.

Whether that's worth it depends entirely on how much you value the form factor. If you work from coffee shops, coworking spaces, or cramped airplane seats, the ability to have a second screen without a separate stand or extra desk space is a real productivity win. But if you mostly work at a desk, you're paying a lot for a feature you won't use. The value proposition is entirely tied to portability, and if that's not your primary need, the math doesn't work.

The SideTrak Swivel Pro is one of those ideas that makes you wonder why it took so long. It's a 13.3 inch 1080p IPS panel that attaches directly to the back of your laptop with a magnetic plate, then swings out to give you a second screen wherever you happen to be. No separate stand, no extra cables snaking across the coffee shop table. Just a second display that folds flat against your machine when you're done. It's aimed squarely at road warriors, remote workers, and anyone who has tried to juggle a spreadsheet and a video call on a single 14 inch laptop screen at an airport gate.

The pitch is simple: double your screen real estate without doubling your bag weight. At 680 grams (about 1.5 pounds), it's lighter than most standalone portable monitors, and the aluminum frame feels more premium than the plastic shells you usually find in this category. The 270 degree rotation and 360 degree swivel mean you can angle it toward a colleague for a quick share, or flip it around entirely if you need to show something to the person across from you. That flexibility is the whole point, and it's the main reason this thing exists.

But here's the thing. The Swivel Pro is a niche product, and it knows it. Our database puts its compactness in the 97th percentile, which makes sense given the whole attachable design. But the display quality, connectivity, and overall performance rankings are all in the 20s. So you're trading raw screen quality for portability and convenience. For the right person, that's a great trade. For everyone else, it's a compromise you need to think about carefully.

If you work primarily at a desk, this monitor makes very little sense. You're paying a premium for portability and the attachable design, and you won't use either of those features. A standard 24 inch desktop monitor will give you a bigger, better screen for less money. Even a cheap standalone portable monitor will outperform the Swivel Pro on display quality while costing a third as much.

Gamers and media consumers should also look elsewhere. The entertainment score of 16.6 out of 100 tells you everything you need to know. This is a productivity tool, not a screen for watching movies or playing games. The 60Hz refresh rate, mediocre color accuracy, and single USB-C port make it a poor fit for anything beyond basic work tasks. If you want a portable screen for gaming, look at portable monitors with higher refresh rates and better color coverage, or consider a small OLED panel if your budget allows.

If you're a frequent traveler who works on the go and constantly wishes you had a second screen, the Swivel Pro is worth a serious look. The attachable design solves a real problem, and the build quality feels solid. The magnetic plate is strong, the hinge is smooth, and the whole thing folds up neatly when you're done. For that specific use case, there's nothing else quite like it.

But if you're mostly working from a desk, or if you care about screen quality for anything beyond basic productivity, you should probably pass. The display is mediocre by modern standards, the single USB-C port is limiting, and the price is hard to justify when standalone portable monitors are so much cheaper. This is a specialist tool for a specific kind of user, and it's excellent at that one thing. Just don't expect it to be a great general-purpose monitor.