Here's the world’s cheapest 4K monitor, but it’s definitely not what you’d expect

The latest Amazon Prime Day sale is just a couple of weeks away and while trawling through the deal section, I came across a small portable monitor that has an extraordinary selling point. At $159.99  (about £126, AU$239), this is the cheapest 4K monitor in the world right now, albeit from a company I’ve never heard of: Keeptime.

On top of free delivery from Amazon, should you have any issues, remember that you get free returns within 30 days and free Amazon tech support. You can add up to four-year protection for just under $35 (about £28 / AU$52).

Although it doesn’t say so explicitly, the seller will ship the monitor outside the US, though it will cost you extra. Shipping to the UK, for example, will add another $10 (£8) in shipping and import fees deposit (an amount that excludes sales taxes) with a 10-day delivery window.

This USB-C monitor is perfect for dual monitor setups, as an external monitor for smartphones, as a monitor for coding, a monitor for MacBook Pro or a business display. You can even plug in a Firestick, Chromecast or a Roku dongle to stream movies (or wireless casting) - your imagination is the limit.

Keeptime 4K 13.3-inch portable monitor $159.99 at Amazon
A feature-laden USB-C display that ticks all the right boxes. Great for professionals, students and creatives who just want to have the extra wiggle space when working. It doesn't have a battery though but that's a reasonable compromise.

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True 4K with no strings attached

Details about the monitor are scant, but we know it is a 13.3-inch non-touchscreen model, has 60Hz refresh rate, and weighs 500g with a footprint of 198mm x 311mm (about the size of an A4 sheet of paper) and a thickness of just over 5mm at its thinnest. It has two anti-slip points and is bundled with a leather case that doubles as a stand. It also has an adjustable, detachable magnetic monitor stand. 

It has a pair of speakers at the back, three Type-C connectors (one for power), an HDMI port, one audio connector but no Type-A port to connect, say, a Bluetooth adaptor for a keyboard or mouse. You will need an adaptor for that.

There are five buttons for on-screen display controls and even what looks like a microphone or reset hole. I’m glad to see a power on/off button as well. Keeptime claims a 3ms response time, a 400nits brightness, a 1800:1 contrast ratio and a 178 degrees viewing angle. It comes with two cables and a 20W power supply unit. 

Based on the pictures I saw, this Keeptime monitor has a VESA mount, so you should be able to put it on a stand or a wall, but given its size we suspect you should be able to use it with tablet stands.

Also consider

• Onn 43-inch 4K TV which can also be used as a monitor, $178 at Walmart
• Koorui 27-inch 4K monitor with 2 HDMI and 1 DP port, $170 at Amazon
• Spectre 27-inch 4K screen with a rare DVI port and a nifty stand, $170 at Amazon
• InnoCN 27-inch 4K display with a 15W Type-C connector, $180 at Amazon
• Spectre 27-inch 4K VDU with 2 HDMI and 2 DP ports, $180 at Amazon