Are Vertical Monitors Worth It? I Switched for a Week
I’ve seen all the Instagram desk setups with tall portrait monitors. But are they just aesthetic, or actually useful?
To find out, I rotated one of my monitors and used it only in vertical mode for a full week. From blog writing to VS Code to catching up on Reddit—here’s how it played out.
📐 The Setup:
- Monitor: Dell UltraSharp 27”
- Rotation: 90º portrait mode via adjustable stand
- Usage Split:
- 40% writing/blogging
- 30% coding/reading
- 20% browsing/social
- 10% Netflix/YouTube
✅ Pros:
- Massive Vertical Real Estate Writing long articles (like this!) felt smoother—no more endless scrolling.
- Perfect for Coding More lines = less jumping between files. Pairing with GitHub was a dream.
- Better for Reading Docs & PDFs Research was easier with 2–3 pages visible at once.
- Social Media? Surprisingly Fun Vertical videos fit perfectly—Instagram Reels and TikToks looked cinematic.
❌ Cons:
- Streaming & Video Editing Suffer Horizontal media doesn’t play nice — expect letterboxing and awkward viewing angles.
- Not Ideal for Gaming Games and emulators just aren’t designed for portrait layouts.
- Some Apps Just Don’t Scale Well Old software or dashboards break layout in vertical view.
💡 Emma’s Take
If you write, code, or read a lot — a vertical monitor is 100% worth it as a secondary display.
For video-heavy workflows? Stick to landscape.
