Portable monitors have come along in leaps and bounds over the past few years. Modern examples now sport high-quality LCD panels and all the tech we expect from our desktop monitors, making them a great companion for mobile workers or anyone that needs a screen they can pack up and take with them.

Intehill is a relatively new name in this space, but the company has a decent range of portable monitors available for you to purchase. They sent over two of their products, the 15.6” QLED P15NF and 17.3” 240 Hz P17D for me to test. Let’s see how they stack up.

Packaging and Accessories

Both monitors come in decently sturdy boxes with the same design and information printed on the front and back. The boxes themselves differ, though: the P15NF has a slipcase over a plain inner box, while the P17D has a proper printed box. A small sticker lists each monitor’s model number and specs, which is the only real way to tell what monitor you have in the box.

Inside the box, you get the monitor itself plus some useful cables. You get an HDMI to mini HDMI cable, a USB Type-A to Type-C cable, and a USB Type-C to Type-C cable. You also get a short manual that lists a few ways you can connect and power up the monitor.

Overall, there’s nothing to complain about here. The boxes are decent, and both monitors have the cables you need to get them up and running immediately. Basic stuff, but it’s good to see a company getting the fundamentals right.

Design and Connectivity

Design

Both monitors have a similar design, with a magnetic cover that doubles as a kickstand and an array of ports on both sides. The Intehill P15NF’s cover-stand has a nice carbon fiber finish which looks surprisingly decent. Open it up, and you’ll notice what is likely going to be a divisive feature: a glossy screen.

I get why Intehill opted for a glossy screen here: it’s more vibrant, helps create deeper blacks, and generally lets the P15NF’s QLED panel shine. It’s a bit problematic for a portable display, where you can’t always set it up away from a light source. But that’s the price you pay if you want a rich, attractive display.

The Intehill P17D is almost identical, save for its larger 17.3” size and different finish on the cover. The P17D also has a matte screen, which isn’t just perfect for gaming, but helps make it a more usable monitor overall.

My main issue with the P17D’s design is that it feels slightly too big to be a “portable” monitor. It’s not a heavy monitor, but 17.3” still takes up a lot of space in a backpack, especially if you’re also carting around a laptop to use the monitor with. I think the P15NF’s 15.6” size works a lot better for portability. It’s the one I’d choose if I needed something to take with me on the go.

Both monitors have built-in speakers, but they’re mediocre at best. They’ll do in a pinch, but you should use a pair of headphones or in-ear monitors instead.

Connectivity

Both monitors have an identical set of ports. You get a mini HDMI port, two USB Type-C ports for power and display, and a Type-C OTG port. Note that you’ll need a separate adapter to connect standard USB devices to the OTG port. There’s also the 3.5 mm (1.8-inch) headphone socket I mentioned earlier.

You also get a rudimentary on-screen display (OSD) rocker to set brightness and volume. Push the rocker up to access brightness control and down to access the volume control. Once the brightness or volume slider comes on screen, the rocker works like any other rocker: up to increase, down to decrease.

Display Quality

Colors

Intehill claims that the P15NF has a 10-bit (technically 8-bit plus frame rate control) panel that boasts 100% coverage of DCI-P3 100% and supports the HDR 600 protocol via its 500 nits of brightness.

I don’t have the testing hardware on hand to verify the company’s claims, but I do generally like how the P15NF looks. The colors are vibrant, and it’s nice and contrasty with its 1300:1 contrast ratio. You get relatively deep blacks, and the image “pops” nicely.

It feels to me that the P15NF emphasizes the colors in an image, making blues bluer and reds redder. I’m not sure if that makes it a good choice for color-critical work, but if you want some “wow factor” in your monitor for content consumption and general web browsing then it’s a good pick.

The P17D isn’t quite as eye-catching, with only NTSC 72% coverage and lower brightness (350 nits) and contrast (1000:1) ratings. It’s not bad by any means, and it feels relatively on-par with the Acer XB271HU monitor I use daily, but it’s no match for the P15NF’s overall wow factor.

Compare the green forest and orange spaceship on the P17D with how they look on the P15NF. I’m unsure which is more accurate, but I think the P15NF has the edge here. That said, some of you may find the P15NF’s colors a bit too vibrant, so that’s something to consider too.

Uniformity and Viewing Angles

Uniformity refers to how even the brightness and colors are across the screen. I don’t have the equipment to spot any objective issues, but I ran through the 25, 50, and 75% grey screens on the Eizo Monitor Test to see whether there were any issues obvious to the naked eye.

I’m happy to report that the Intehill P15NF didn’t exhibit any major issues. There is some brightness drop-off and blue shift towards the edges of my unit (especially on the right side), but I’d consider it acceptable overall. I’ve seen (and used) worse; I can live with this.

My P17D is also relatively uniform. In fact, it’s probably better than the P15NF to the naked eye, with only minor brightness falloff without significant color shifts. Not perfect, but a pretty good result overall for an IPS panel.

There’ll always be unit-to-unit variance, and I may have just gotten lucky with two relatively even monitors. But this at least shows that you can get reasonably uniform panels, which is good to know.

Viewing angles are also great, as you’d expect for modern LCD panels. I didn’t notice any significant color shift with either monitor, even when viewing from oblique side and top angles. Sharing either of these monitors for a movie or local co-op won’t be an issue.

Backlight Bleed

I set both monitors to 25 brightness and took photos of them in a dark room from around 3 feet away to test for any backlight bleed. Note that backlight bleed and IPS glow aren’t the same thing, even if people often use them interchangeably.

They may look similar, but IPS glow is (an unfortunate) characteristic of the display technology, while bleed is a defect. IPS glow moves and shifts according to viewing angle, while backlight bleed is static and is only visible at the edges of the screen, where the backlight would logically leak into the display.

First up, the P15NF:

The monitor’s almost invisible against the black background, which is a good thing. There’s no backlight bleed to report on my unit, an excellent result. Now let’s look at the P17D:

You can spot some bleed around the edges, especially in the upper right. But it’s not too bad, and I’d consider it well under control. Both monitors turn in great results, with the P15NF particularly excelling here.

Overall, I’m more than satisfied with both monitors’ general display quality. The Intehill P15NF takes the lead here, its QLED panel handily outclassing the P17D’s standard IPS panel for color depth, vibrance, and contrast. My sample also has an essentially perfect backlight, although your mileage will undoubtedly vary.

Ghosting and Motion Clarity

Now, we move on to how well these monitors perform with fast-paced content and games. I’m primarily looking at the monitors’ response times here and whether you should consider these for gaming.

While I like the Intehill P15NF’s color depth and contrast, I’m sad to report that it falls flat as a gaming monitor. In fact, I’d argue that it’s not even that great for watching games. There’s a lot of ghosting on the P15NF, to the point where I found it challenging to track on-screen motion while watching the recently-concluded IEM Dallas 2022.

Here’s a screenshot from a slow-motion video I took of a CS:GO match on the P15NF. Note the extreme ghosting and blur, which is genuinely quite unpleasant. Apologies for the noisy image; it’s a side-effect of the slow-motion video on my Pixel 2.

I haven’t used a 60 Hz monitor in a while, so I’m probably more sensitive to ghosting than those of you who still use 60 Hz monitors daily. But even then, I think you’ll agree that this isn’t close to being ideal for gaming, no matter how great the colors are.

It’s better for “sightseeing” third-person open-world games where motion clarity isn’t critical, but even those still exhibit more motion blur than I’d like. It’s a shame, as games look great on it when you’re not moving!

Thankfully, the Intehill P17D fares a lot better, as you might expect for a gaming-focused monitor. Sure, it’s not as vibrant as its QLED sibling, but its motion clarity is significantly better. It’s what you’d expect with such a significant bump in refresh rate.

The P17D’s faster response times and higher refresh rate mean it’s light years ahead of the P15NF as a gaming monitor. If you’re interested in gaming, particularly first-person shooters, you want the P17D. The clearer image and sweet 240 Hz refresh you get in return are well worth the slightly more muted colors vs. the P15NF.

There’s no contest here. Between these two monitors, the Intehill P17D is by far the better choice for gamers and anyone who watches a lot of games. Everything looks crisp and clean in motion, and FreeSync eliminates any unsightly tearing for a wonderfully smooth experience.

Recommended Reading: 60 Hz vs. 144 Hz and Beyond: Why High Refresh Rates Are Worth It

Value

Now let’s talk about price and whether these monitors are a good deal.

I think the Intehill P15NF is good value, possibly even great, provided you’re not primarily using it for gaming or fast-paced content. At $239, its QLED panel offers more vibrant colors and better contrast than similarly-priced competition from more prominent manufacturers like ASUS.

It trades blows with a portable monitor like ASUS’ MB16ACV, another 15.6-inch 1080p panel. However, the ASUS only packs a standard IPS panel, which can’t quite compete with the P15NF’s QLED offering. If display quality is your main priority, then the P15NF is an easy recommendation considering its price.

The Intehill P17D is another great buy, provided you actually need a monitor this fast. One big point in its favor is that it’s roughly $70 cheaper than its only real rival, the 240 Hz ASUS ROG XG17AHPE. However, the ASUS monitor has a built-in 7800 mAh battery, which gives you 3 hours of gaming at 240 Hz on a full charge.

So you give up an extra layer of portable convenience for a roughly $70 saving. I’d take the savings and just live with plugging the P17D in, but I’m aware that not everyone will feel that way. It’s something to think about.

You should also consider whether your portable gaming PC (or laptop) has the power to make use of the P17D’s 240 Hz refresh. If it can’t, then you might as well save $50 and get Intehill’s portable 144 Hz monitor instead.

Closing Thoughts

Both the Intehill P15NF and P17D are reasonably impressive monitors, albeit in different ways. The P15NF’s QLED panel offers bright colors with excellent contrast and brightness, punching way above its $239 price point in those metrics. Sadly, it stumbles when things start moving, with significant ghosting that stops me from enjoying fast-paced content.

Its larger sibling, the P17D, isn’t quite as impressive color-wise but offers an excellent high refresh rate gaming experience. Response times are good, there’s little ghosting, and it feels great to game on once you enable FreeSync. It’s not cheap at $399, but portable monitors this fast are few and far between.

Overall, both are good, if flawed, monitors. Of the two, I think the P15NF’s 15.6” size and vibrant colors make it the better pick as a portable monitor for web browsing, casual content consumption, and productivity. But if you need a monitor to match your monster backpack PC, then the P17D is a killer buy.

The Intehill P15NF and P17D are available directly from Intehill. They ship worldwide, so you shouldn’t have issues getting your hands on one (or both!) if they strike your fancy.