I’ve finally found a genuinely good battery-powered TV – and it’s far better than I expected (aff)
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Portable TVs are usually tiny, expensive, or pointless - but Metz’s battery-powered smart TV changes the rules.
Shop around for a battery-powered TV, and you're met with very few options. If you can find one, they're likely to be pitifully small, violently expensive, or just a bit rubbish.
A company called Metz has set out to change that by launching a genuinely impressive portable television, the unimaginatively named 24MPE7002Z.
Not only does it run off a built-in battery, it has a smart operating system built in. So there's genuinely no need for wires. You don't need a power supply, you don't need a streaming stick, you don't even need speakers - it's all contained in the smart little TV. You just need a WiFi connection, and a smartphone hotspot works fine.
It has a 24" full HD display, which is slightly opaque, ideal for cutting glare, and a sound bar across the bottom.
At the rear, behind the top of the screen, is a smart leather handle, and there are some inputs on the side in case you do want to connect something up. Or charge it.
Importantly, this isn't some super-thin high-tech display. It's actually quite bulky, and that's because everything, especially the battery, is built in. It's not as heavy as you'd think, and it's designed to sit happily on a flat surface without any sort of stand, but you're certainly not carrying around a thin sheet of glass.
Quite interestingly, it doesn't have a tuner. Partly because the only people who use them now are people like my mother, and partly because you just don't need one when you have a smart operating system.
That operating system, in this case, is the all-familiar Google TV, and that's a clever move by Metz because it gives you a huge library of apps and networks, all downloadable and personalisable by profile.
The battery is interchangeable, but it charges off 12 volts and can last around three hours if you're not pushing the twin 6w speakers too much. It's more than long enough to watch most movies, and you can always plug it in to a power bank to top it up again.
The display quality is only HD, not 4K, so it won't embarrass any high-end OLED TVs, but it's perfectly adequate for normal family viewing, and it's bright enough to stand up to a moderately sunny day.
And that's the USP with this lovely little TV. You can take this camping with you. You can take it on your boat, you could pack it into your motorhome or caravan, and if the sun comes out, you can sit outside and catch up on your soaps.
I haven't mentioned the price yet, because I'm saving the best until last. It's available right now for £299. And I think that's a bargain. One of the best prices I've seen is at Electricshop.com, which will also offers free delivery. Click here to see the listing.
I realise there probably aren't many people who will make enough use of a portable TV to justify spending out on it, but I'm absolutely one of them, because I go away a lot, in a motorhome and on a boat, and this would be a brilliant thing to have on a warm evening.
While we're watching the sun go down in one direction, we can binge-watch a few murder mysteries in the other direction. Netflix and chill takes on a whole new meaning.
Sure, it might have some resolution shortcomings, and the speakers aren't as beefy as a dedicated sound bar, but Metz has made such a great gadget here, and it might end up being one of my favourite pieces of tech in 2026. Let's see.