Portability is becoming increasingly important in gaming, and though handheld consoles and mobile games are popular, their bulkier counterparts have been getting some love from a company who looks to help alleviate that burden – GAEMS.
The GAEMS M155 is a 15.5″ portable LED gaming monitor that sheds the bulky shell of the GAEMS Vanguard and instead adds tablet-like features you may recognize, including a micro-USB port, HDMI port, and 3.5mm headphone jack. It weighs in at under 2 pounds, and going back to the micro-USB port – that’s all you need to power the monitor. Science! Now get this, the fact that the monitor is USB powered means that as long as you’ve got power flowing through your game console, you’ve got yourself a portable gaming setup.
“The GAEMS M155 is the perfect companion for gamers on the go.”
Display-wise, the M155 displays in 720p…so 1080p games will be down-scaled, and while that is a bit of a letdown, on a 15 inch screen the difference is pretty negligible; I did encounter an issue where I had to change the output settings on my Xbox and manually downscale it for the console to recognize the monitor. The display is crisp, smooth and in the event that adjustments need to be made you’re able to tweak the display settings – though I found the out-of-the-box settings to work great for me as I played through the varying environments in Destiny.
The GAEMS M155 is the perfect companion for gamers on the go. Setup was a breeze – connecting the display to the console, hooking up the power, and plugging in the external speakers (the M155 has no internal speakers) all took mere minutes. The folio cover/stand adds to the usability of the device, allowing you to plop the M155 on a tablet or TV tray and game away. That being said though, the display’s glossiness lends itself to reflections, so you’d want to keep that in mind.
There are a lot of selling points surrounding the M155, where does one begin? Over the 2 months of use, I tested out the device on a plane ride, in a car, out in the field for video shoots (read on for more about this), at home….the M155 is easily the most versatile external display I’ve ever used. The device is so lightweight that transportation is never an issue – you can throw it in a backpack, or carry it in the dual-functioning case/stand.
So I had a bit of an unconventional use for the GAEMS M155 – on one of my video shoots I ended up really needing a field monitor (I’d left mine at home); luckily, I had the M155 at the office. I hooked up the HDMI to my DSLR and was pleasantly surprised to find that it worked flawlessly. With a bit of gaffer tape and a portable USB battery back I had myself a makeshift field monitor. I actually ended up purchasing a few things (tablet holder, gooseneck mount) to mount the M155 on my tripod or Ronin a little more professionally; it’s now my go-to field monitor. A tripod screw-on or an optional mount package would make this baby a great budget-conscious field monitor for video producers.
At $169.99, the GAEMS M155 is a very viable display option where portability is concerned. The lack of external speakers and the glossy display are a bit of a letdown, but its compact form factor and USB power more than make up for those negatives.
