A new piece of kit landed on my desk: the ANDYCINE A6 Plus, a 5.5-inch touchscreen field monitor. In the video above, I open the box on camera and go through everything inside, piece by piece, so you can see exactly what you’d be getting before you spend a dollar.
Fair warning up front: this is an unboxing and a first look, not a long-term review. The monitor has not been through a real shoot with me yet, so I’m not going to pretend I know how it holds up after a long twelve-hour day. What I can give you is a close, honest look at what arrives in the box and what the monitor is like fresh out of it.
If you’ve been thinking about adding an external monitor to your camera rig, this should help you figure out whether the A6 Plus belongs on your shortlist.
Why bother with an external monitor?
Quick context before the box gets opened. Whatever camera you shoot, nobody has ever accused built-in rear screens of being generous. A field monitor exists to fix that, and a few other problems along with it:
- A bigger image makes it far easier to judge focus than squinting at a small flip-out screen.
- Framing gets simpler at awkward angles – low shots, overhead shots, gimbal moves.
- A client or director can watch the frame without leaning over your shoulder at the camera.
- Monitors in this category typically add exposure and focus tools that camera bodies either bury in menus or skip entirely.
None of that is specific to the A6 Plus – it’s why the whole product category exists. The question with any individual monitor is whether it does those jobs well for the money. That starts with what’s actually in the box.
What comes in the box
I’m not going to retype the packing list here, because the entire point of the video above is that you watch me pull every item out one at a time and look at it up close. What you see is what ships.
I will say this: box contents matter more with monitors than with almost any other accessory. The monitor itself is only half the purchase. Cables, mounting hardware, and power are where budget kits tend to quietly leave you hanging, and every missing piece is another small order – and another shoot you can’t use the thing on yet. So if you’re seriously considering this monitor, the unboxing section of the video is the part worth slowing down for. Take note of what’s included and compare it against what your camera and rig actually need.
A closer look at the 5.5-inch touchscreen
The headline feature is right in the product name: a 5.5-inch touchscreen. In the video I get in close so you can see the screen and the body for yourself rather than taking my word for it.
The 5-to-5.5-inch size class is popular for a reason. It’s large enough to actually judge a shot, but small enough to sit on top of a camera cage without turning your rig into a sail. That balance is exactly why monitors this size end up on so many working setups.
As for touch control: on a monitor, it’s mostly about navigating menus and tools by tapping instead of riding buttons or a scroll wheel. Whether that’s genuinely faster in the field – say, with cold fingers on a winter shoot – is exactly the kind of thing only real shoots will answer.
What I’ll be testing before it earns a spot in my kit
An unboxing tells you what you get. It doesn’t tell you what survives. Before this monitor goes on a real shoot, I want to see how visible the screen is outdoors, how the focus and exposure tools behave in practice, how it handles power over a long day, and how solidly it mounts to my rig. Gear that’s fine on a desk has a way of revealing its personality on location.
That’s not me hedging – it’s just the honest order of operations. First look now, real verdict after the monitor has done actual work.
First-look verdict: who should watch this
If you want a definitive buy-or-skip recommendation, I don’t have one for you yet, and I’d be suspicious of anyone who claims to after opening a box. What I do have is exactly what the video promises: a clear look at the ANDYCINE A6 Plus and everything that ships with it.
That makes this one most useful for shooters who are already considering an affordable touchscreen field monitor and want to see the real product – not the marketing renders – before clicking buy. If that’s you, watch the unboxing, check the included accessories against your own setup, and you’ll know more than most buyers do at checkout.
Want to see what gear has already earned a place in my kit? Everything I currently use and trust is listed on my gear page.
