Any TV is a portable TV if you’re brave enough, but not everybody wants to be loading a 55-inch OLED screen into their car or campervan to take on holiday with them.
Likewise, while the Trolley TV designed by Korean creative group S2Victor is beautiful, being able to wheel your TV from room to room in this age of laptops, tablets and other convenient flat screens has a distinct ‘80s primary school vibes and has about the same allure as watching a scratchy VHS copy of a road safety video while sat cross-legged on the floor.
So what should you look for in a portable TV?
Size and weight are important if you want to travel with one, as is having some way to power it. Integrated rechargeable batteries make this much more convenient, as they can be charged from just about anywhere, from a solar panel to a handy wall socket, but some TVs come with 12V adapters that can be plugged into the dusty old cigarette lighter socket of a car or caravan.
Being able to receive a signal is important too. While motorhomes may have TV aerials or even satellite dishes on their roofs, many more portable TVs will have to make do with a small aerial balanced precariously on top of a bookshelf or an open door to get them high enough. Modern smart TVs and streaming apps on tablets circumvent this requirement, but replace it with the need to be connected to the internet, which can be achieved through a phone’s portable hotspot or using a dedicated 5G router - you’ll need a chunky data allowance to stream lots of HD video, however.
And if you really want to recreate that ‘80s school experience, and have a TV that can be wheeled from room to room, that’s possible too, though you’ll need to buy a wheeled stand and the TV you wish to mount on it separately.
Here are some of the best options for watching telly on the move.
Best portable TVs at a glance:
- Best for going camping: Cello 22in Smart TV with DVD Player - £230, Amazon
- Best for gliding about the home: LG StanbyMe - £1,200, Amazon
- Best for a bedside companion: HassoKon freeview 7 Inch LCD 1080p Portable TV - £120, Amazon
- Best for working remotely: Samsung M5 - £378, Amazon
- Best for a huge screen, anywhere: Anker Nebula Capsule 3 - £500, Amazon
- Best for a motorised experience: ONKRON Rising TV Stand - £545, Amazon
- Best for portable streaming: Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet - £158, Amazon
- Best for Freeview wherever you are: Hauppauge WinTV DualHD TV Stick - £70, Amazon
Best 40” TVs to shop in 2024 for a great home viewing experience
Best TV deals in the UK for October 2024: Cheap offers from top brands like Sony and Samsung
Best frame and lifestyle TVs to disguise your screen as a work of art
Best 32-inch TVs: Smaller screens with smart features to suit your budget
Cello 22in Smart TV with DVD Player
Best for: going camping
This 22-inch 1080p TV packs everything you need for use in a caravan or motorhome, or anywhere else where space and electrical power are at a premium, like a garden office. It uses LG’s WebOS smart platform, meaning you get Wi-Fi and the full range of streaming apps, but also comes with a built-in DVD player and both Freeview and satellite connections for when you’re away from the internet.
It will run from the mains or a vehicle’s 12V supply (also found on many ‘power station’ battery packs) and can also be used as a Bluetooth speaker if you want to play music from your phone. Despite being a complete all-in-one hub for portable entertainment, it also has two HDMI ports, so can accommodate external sources such as laptops, cameras or game consoles too.
Buy now £230.00, Amazon
LG StanbyMe
Best for: gliding about the home
If you’re looking for a TV on a stand and castors, things have moved on since the CRT days. This remarkable-looking object from LG has a battery for completely wireless use (with a life of about three hours), and could only be improved by having motors and a camera so it can follow you around. Hopefully, they’re working on that.
It features a 27-inch 1080p touchscreen and LG’s WebOS operating system, so you get all the usual streaming apps as well as the ability to mirror your phone’s display. There are stereo speakers and a remote control, as well as the ability to tilt the screen and rotate it into portrait alignment.
Buy now £1200.00, Amazon
HassoKon freeview 7 Inch LCD 1080p Portable TV
Best for: a bedside companion
This retro-styled portable TV meshes a 7-inch 1080p touchscreen into a casing that integrates an FM/DAB radio aerial and a rechargeable battery into its base. It’s good for up to three hours of playback, and there's a separate Freeview antenna so you can position it for the best reception.
You also get a USB port, so you can use it to play back media files kept on a stick, though there's no HDMI input or smart platform here. Stereo speakers, a headphone jack and a small remote control round out the package.
Buy now £120.00, Amazon
Samsung M5
Best for: working remotely
Samsung’s M5 is really a computer monitor, but the Korean electronics firm decided to deck it out like a smart TV, with streaming apps that you probably shouldn’t be using while working. This makes it a great (semi) portable companion, as it can easily do double duty as a workstation and a TV while you’re working away from home.
It’s a 27-inch 1080p panel with Wi-Fi, a stand, two HDMI ports and a VESA mount so it can be hung on the wall. It needs power, and at 6kg isn’t the lightest, but if you can make it work this is a good way to take streaming TV with you.
Buy now £378.00, Samsung
Anker Nebula Capsule 3
Best for: a huge screen, anywhere
If you can’t find a way to cram an enormous TV screen into your car to take with you, then this is the next best thing. A portable projector capable of creating a 1080p viewing area of 120 inches on the diagonal, with built-in Google TV streaming apps and a battery that will last for enough time to watch a movie.
The Nebula Capsule III weighs less than a kilogram and at just 16cm tall, it is easy to pack away when you’re not using it. If you’re away from the Wi-Fi there are USB and HDMI ports to feed it content from, and you can hook it up to an external speaker via a 3.5mm cable or Bluetooth to get bigger sound.
Buy now £500.00, Amazon
ONKRON Rising TV Stand
Best for: a motorised experience
For the full primary school TV trolley experience in the 21st century, you’ll need to get a wheeled stand like this and install a flatscreen TV on it - it’ll take up to a 100-inch screen. This one from ONKRON stands out thanks to its motorised height adjustment, which allows you to move it up and down at the touch of a remote control button.
It can support a weight of up to 120kg, which in the world of lightweight LCD and OLED models is enough for six 55-inch TVs, and has a handy shelf below the screen for your VCR. Or laptop.
Buy now £545.00, Amazon
Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet
Best for: portable streaming
The 10-inch screen of this budget tablet is ideal for watching streaming TV in bed or at a table, and if it’s content consumption you’re after, it doesn’t make sense to pay more. Despite being firmly tied into the Amazon ecosystem, you’ll be able to use it for Netflix, iPlayer and all the rest of the common streaming apps, along with Kindle ebooks and internet radio.
A case with a stand makes a good companion, so you don’t have to keep on holding it all the time, and there's no way to use it away from an internet connection, but if you’ll be camping within range of Wi-Fi then it makes for a useful travel companion.
Buy now £158.00, Amazon
Hauppauge WinTV DualHD TV Stick
Best for: Freeview wherever you are
Your laptop has a screen and can connect to the internet for streaming TV, but what it can’t do is receive broadcast signals. That’s where this USB stick from Hauppauge comes in, allowing your laptop (or even desktop) computer to show Freeview broadcasts.
It comes with a small antenna and small remote and features two tuners so you can watch one channel while recording another, or both at once in two separate windows. Sadly, the software is Windows-only, so Mac users miss out.
Buy now £70.00, Amazon
Verdict
In these days of streaming, taking a TV with you can be as easy as using your phone, but the small screen of the average pocket companion isn’t ideal for the detailed and beautifully shot scenes we’ve come to expect from the likes of Netflix. Getting a TV with a larger screen can make all the difference to your enjoyment, which is why Cello’s 22in Smart TV with DVD Player is such a great proposition for a portable screen. It can play anything, from just about any source, and the fact it can be powered from a car’s cigarette lighter socket makes it more convenient for trips.
