UPerfect Delta Mega 23.8-inch Dual Display review: Generous screen-space in space-saving design

Price When Reviewed

$649.99

Best Prices Today: Uperfect Delta Mega Dual Screen Monitor

Stacked dual displays are becoming more popular as people realise their ergonomic benefits compared to two side-by-side monitors, and where space is at a premium—say in a tight home-working space or WeWork. Finding a portable stacked monitor that is large enough when in use, but discreet when folded up, has been a dream of mine since I left an office space and moved to a more domestic setting.

I’ve used a stacked screen for a few years (after many years with two 27-inch displays side by side), starting with the solidly built and somewhat colossal Mobile Pixels Geminos, moving on to the smaller but more portable UPerfect Delta Max Touch, and now have been using the Max’s bigger sibling the superlatively named Delta Mega, which is nearly as large as the Geminos but as foldable as the Delta Max.

Adding one or more external displays can transform a solitary MacBook setup into a more workable desktop arrangement that frees the laptop user from the constraints of the smaller screen—even the spacious-ish 16-inch display on the top-end MacBook Pro.

Portable external displays give the extra benefit of being transportable and easily stored away hidden when not in use. During the lockdown I once walked my 32-inch Samsung standard monitor two miles back to the office. It was light but cumbersome with its stand attached.

Like the Delta Max, the UPerfect Delta Mega stands out from the usual portable external display crowd being a vertically stacked set of two screens. Folded up, it is just about portable and comes with a cloth bag for convenient storage and carriage.

Portable design

The Delta Mega is a set of two 23.8-inch screens that are joined at a flexible hinged center. They can each be adjusted to the best-suited angle depending on your situation.

When folded completely it creates a slim but large portable package. The smaller 18.5-inch Delta Max can be slipped under your arm or carried in one hand, but the 23.8-inch Delta Mega will probably be too bulky and heavy for many to stroll around with it under arm for too long.

Both Delta models are certainly more portable than a standard external display, let alone two. Both are great dual displays that you can fold and store out of sight when working from home or commute with for short distances to an office or farther afield in a car.

It’s certainly possible to carry the Delta Mega around a home or office or to a vehicle but it’s way too large for a backpack—or indeed most people’s backs. I keep mine folded on either the bench where I sit at home or under my sofa for further domestic discretion.

Bulk aside, it is reasonably easy to lift and folds up to a manageable 21.3 x 25.4 x 0.5 inches (54 × 64 × 1.4cm) and weighs 11.24lbs (5.1kg). The smaller Delta Max measures 16.7 x 20.5 x 0.4 inches (43-x-52-x-1cm) and weighs a more manageable 5.21lbs (2.36kg).

That Delta Max was great, but I desired the larger displays and I am more than willing to put up with the expected bulk to gain the extra on-screen pixels.

On top is better than side by side

The standard way of adding more than one external display is to have two external monitors side by side, creating a wide extended screen display, with a gap in between where the first monitor ends and the next begins.

While this works well for most people, the extended screens mean you are constantly rotating your neck and shoulders when looking at or moving things between the two, which over time can cause neck pain. It also requires a desk large enough for two large displays to sit side by side. With 27-inch displays, that might require xx feet (2m) of desk space.

A vertically stacked monitor, on the other hand, can be more ergonomic as the body doesn’t need to frequently turn left and right. The line of sight remains directly in front of the user, reducing frequent rotation of the neck. Of course, there is more up-and-down neck movement, but with the adjustable stand, this can be reduced a little to make viewing more comfortable. It can stand almost flat straight on to the viewer.

The Delta Mega looks sleek in black aluminum. Its built-in stand can be folded flush to the backside of the lower screen. You modify the angle of the stand to adjust the height and angle of the screen to suit your best working posture. Ideally the screen you use the most should be flat directly to your eyeline.

Weighing considerably more than the Delta Max, the Delta Mega’s top screen feels sometimes like it might topple if angled too far but in its perfect position this should not be a problem.

The central hinge also allows for flexible adjustment of the two screens to a comfortable and ergonomic angle when used in either a stacked arrangement or folded back on itself in an inverted V shape to share meeting content with people facing you—say, so you look at one screen and the client on the other side of the meeting sees the other.

It is certainly an improvement on staring down at a small laptop screen, with your shoulders hunched and eyes squinting—if this is your laptop screen setup, you need to act immediately. A decent laptop stand—discover the best MacBook stands we have tested—can help alleviate laptop users’ bent-back syndrome but we like the Delta’s upright dual-screen approach. Although the lower screen reaches the desk, you shouldn’t need a monitor stand.

You can switch the Delta Mega to a vertical Portrait mode, by changing the Mac’s own Rotation setting (in Displays) to 90° and then physically turning the screen on its side.

There are four 100 x 100mm holes on the back of the monitor, so you can affix a VESA Mount if you want to install the stacked monitor onto an arm or the wall to save desk space.

Video settings

The UPerfect Delta Mega offers either a USB-C or HDMI connection to your laptop. In my testing I was happy with the direct USB-C connection.

First, all three screens—laptop plus dual-screen Delta Mega— can show the same mirrored display (A, A, A in the illustration above). This could be useful if using the Delta Max in its inverted V shape with one screen facing opposite the other if you want the same screen on both plus your commanding laptop. Scenarios include presentations to colleagues or clients.

To flip the upper screen’s orientation so the person sitting opposite can see it the right way round for them, turn on the Gravity Induction on the OSD.

Second, each of the two Delta screens can show the same image, while the laptop shows another (B, B, A), which would be useful in the meeting setup described above but where the user wants a different screen on their laptop.

Third, the two Delta screens can merge to show one larger screen while the laptop shows another (Big B, A) in one of UPerfect’s On Screen Display’ settings’s arcane Fill settings. In effect, this creates a large second monitor, although the merger isn’t seamless with the hinge and screen bezel interrupting the join in the middle. This can be annoying but the two screens as one works well in traditional Extended modes. Remember, you get a similar disconnect using standalone external displays, just between them side to side rather than one on top of the other.

As well as with laptop and desktop Mac and Windows computers, it works with iPhone or games consoles.

Video quality

You can set the monitor to an impressive 100Hz refresh rate. The picture quality and pixel density on this IPS panel display are excellent, with a 97% sRGB Color Gamut that is more than sufficient for typical use, such as browsing the internet, social media, and watching movies. Professional photographers, graphic designers, or video editors might aim higher, looking for monitors that offer 100% sRGB coverage for maximum accuracy.

Each screen has a max full HD resolution of 1920×1080 pixels, with a 16:9 display ratio. If you are after a 4K monitor, this is not for you, but HD is all productivity professionals should require.

UPerfect employs Ucare low-blue-light technology to reduce blue light and therefore eye fatigue. This is turned on using the On Screen Display via Color Settings, but does impact color quality, making the screen appear more yellow as you remove the blue light.

Side ports and power

On the left side (as you face it) of the lower monitor are three ports. At the bottom is the full-size HDMI port (the Delta Max used Mini HDMI), and above that is the USB-C input port to power the screens, and this power can also be channelled to the connected laptop. Using the included 45W charger this would allow for just 17W passthrough power according to UPerfect. However, we connected the power via a higher 65W charger and the passthrough power kept our M2 MacBook Pro running without interruption. See our roundup for the best USB-C PD chargers for MacBook.

Above that, the second USB-C port is to link to your MacBook’s Thunderbolt port to create the video data connection. You need only one USB-C cable to use both screens.

Some portable monitors include a built-in battery so you can use it when away from a power source. Unsurprisingly for a screen setup this size, the Delta Mega doesn’t have one so you need to be connected to a power source via USB-C when using it.

Controls

On the other side of the monitor are three buttons to control the On Screen Display (OSD) options, such as Picture (Brightness, Contrast, Mode), Color Settings (Color Temperature, Low Blue Light, Gravity Induction, OD), Audio Settings (Mute, Volume), and Other Settings (Language, Reset, Fill).

The paper and PDF instructions are limited to say the least, and you just have to get the hang of how these work, pressing buttons and clicking others until you work out its logic. To be fair, it’s extremely rare to find a monitor with an intuitive OSD, and we did master them within a half hour or so of trial and error. This is especially true when setting the monitor in the inverted V shape for showing the main screen to someone sitting opposite. It took a lot of settings fiddling and frankly stabbing at buttons until this worked as it should. This is something that could easily be fixed with better instructions for the user from UPerfect.

While the instructions are scant and the OSD barely explained, the Delta Mega is a reasonably plug-and-play product—connect it to your Mac using either the USB-C or HDMI cable and do the important setup on the Mac’s System Settings.

Speakers

The monitor has two built-in 1W speakers, which unsurprisingly we found horribly tinny compared to the speaker in our connected M2 MacBook Pro. This lack of bass or fullness is typical of monitor speakers—you are nearly always better off with a separate speaker system or just relying on the computer’s audio. It’s fine for voice calls and basic spoken videos but not an immersive theatre sound if you are watching a movie or playing an action game—although you’d probably prefer a 4K display for those two pursuits.

Price

The Delta Mega is priced at $649.99 or £499, which is a good deal for a dual monitor setup as portable as this. Note that all buyers are charged in U.S. dollars that can add to the price with credit card exchange fees, although shipping should be free to the U.K. The Delta Mega is also available on Amazon or Amazon UK.

We have reviewed alternatives in our roundup of the best portable monitors for Mac, but it’s a sign of my recommendation that I am still using my Delta Mega as my home-working dual monitors. For more static displays check out our recommendations for the best monitors for Mac.

Should you buy the UPerfect Delta Mega?

We liked UPerfect’s smaller Delta Max but yearned for more screen space in a portable monitor. The super-adjustable Delta Mega answers those larger-screen prayers, and it has found a prime spot on my home-working desk, and most importantly hides away nicely and neatly when it’s time to finish work. The flexibility to bend right back to offer front and back mirrored screens are nice-to-have features for me, but might be the main solution for others.