Testing portable USB-C/HDMI EHOMEWEI X1 Pro dual-display monitor
Dual-display laptops from Asus and Lenovo were refreshed at CES 2025, while GPD launched their Duo laptop. Dual-displays in compact form factor can be great for productivity and there are options to get dual-displays without investing into a specific laptop.
EHOMEWEI X1 Pro Dual Display
Aliexpress offers few dual-display portable monitors, mostly from Uperfect. A few months ago I bought an EHOMEWEI X1 Pro dual-display and now most listings vanished from the site, but they are still available on vendor website.
X1 Pro offers two 2560x1600 16" 60Hz displays with claimed peak brightness of 400cd/m2 and 100 DCI-P3. The X2 Pro additionally offers touch and virtual keyboard support.
The screens can be run independently, each through its own HDMI or USB-C port, but they can also be run together from one USB-C connection - as either one bigger display or two separate displays. A single HDMI connection is also possible but offers only a single display or combined (no dual display mode).
The displays can be used in book mode
- side by side vertically, or horizontally - one on top of another. This is handled by the hinge on one of the displays.
Build quality is solid; the whole chassis is metal and the assembly is quite heavy, around 2kg. You get a carrying case and a full set of cables for the device.
Display comes with two speakers that are located on the hinge and are firing to the sides. They can get loud, and they don't clip/distort the sound but because they are back and side placed the sound feels like it's coming deep behind the display - it's not perfect.
The package included an EU power adapter plug, but it wasn't compatible with Polish power outlets (most of the EU).
Hardware
I can't test the display itself to check vendor claims about brightness or color accuracy but the image does look good. There is no noticeable backlight bleed and the colors look good when eyeballing it.
The hinge has a cover held by multiple screws. After unscrewing them you can access the PCB and speakers. The device uses two RTD2798LPM chips that are described as monitor controllers capable of combining multiple HDMI 2.0 or DP 1.4 digital inputs. There isn't much data about it.
Configuration options
The hinge contains all the connectors and control buttons for both panels. To change the display behavior you will have to do it in the display settings, not on the host PC.
Sequence
will give you one large display while Expansion
will give you two separate displays. If you want to use each display separately then switch to Alone
.
Dual-display on Windows
Windows 11 has no problems working with the display. Both Expansion and Sequence modes work.
Dual-display on macOS
macOS Sequoia on a M1 mac mini had problems with this display. First, you may see the display detected in macOS settings but no image present - unplug/plug in the power cable of the display to make it work
on macOS.
Then the Expansion
mode did not work - the image was cloned on both displays instead of getting separate displays. Sequence mode did work, but I only got 1920x2400 resolution instead of 2560x3200. This could be related to M1 limitations as M3 Macbook Air handled the nominal resolution without problems (but still no separate screens mode).
EHOMEWEI mentioned the DisplayLink Manager app that allegedly would offer some support for macOS but X1 Pro does not have a DisplayLink chip (likely only X2 Pro if at all). DisplayLink chips are used to generate video outputs from pure USB. It has some limitations (no 3D acceleration, some level of CPU load) but allows multiple video outputs from any PC/mac with enough USB ports.
Dual-display on Linux
On Linux (Kubuntu) the display worked without problems, just like on Windows:
Dual-display on Motorola Ready For - Android
Motorola Ready For is a similar solution to Samsung DEX - it offers a desktop-like interface when connected to an external display. When connected the image was mirrored on both displays no matter which mode was selected.
Productivity and use-cases of dual displays
Dual displays are handy for software development and other cases where you want to work with two/multiple apps at once. For the desktop, you can use two normal displays mounted on arms and placed next to each other or use one ultrawide display. For laptops or setups on the go that's not an option. Additional displays can help, but you may want more or skip the laptop display.
Current Uperfect and EHOMEWEI go up to two 18,5" displays, so they can also be used as desktop displays for more compact setups. There are no VESA mount options, but you may be able to use some sort of tablet arms/portable monitor arms holding them like a clamp (or get lucky with a model having VESA mount options).
Book mode makes the display vertical and code editors will be able to display more lines at once, but you won't have space for any expanded side menu at the same time. Websites will still look good but for web design you will likely also want to display them on a standard horizontal orientation.
Summary
EHOMEWEI X1 Pro is pretty well-made and offers good displays, but the speakers are lacking and it's heavy. It gets the job done but there are limitations. For EHOMEWEI or Uperfect dual display, you will have to pay anywhere from $400 to $800. It's way more than two separate mobile displays, and you pay for the package/utility. You also need USB-C for the best experience or revert to a dual HDMI connection.
Other options are dual-display laptops from Lenovo, Asus, or GPD, but they will cost you around $2000. You will get better speakers, and well integrated wireless keyboard (Asus/Lenovo). Aliexpress also offers low-power dual display laptops with Intel N100 and similar chips for around $600-$700.
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