REVIEW – Whether you’re a traveling executive, a graphic designer, or a gamer, a portable second monitor can add an extra dimension to your daily life. Are you looking for a ultra-thin portable monitor that’s a decent size yet light enough to accompany your laptop, mini PC, desktop or other device? Want a high quality screen with 3K resolution? I’ve been evaluating the Intehill 16″ 3K Touchscreen Portable Monitor U16ZT. Here are my findings.
What is it?
The Intehill 16″ 3K Touchscreen Portable Monitor is an inexpensive, extremely lightweight, very slim, monitor designed to be moved around with a laptop, mini PC, mobile phone, or a game console.
What’s in the box?
- Portable Monitor
- HDMI to HDMI Cable
- 2x USB-C to USB-C Cable (one for power only)
- USB-A to USB-C Cable
- Power Adapter (PD 20W)
- Cleaning cloth
- User Manual
Monitor Specifications:
- Screen size: 16″
- Panel Type: IPS
- Resolution: 3072 x 1920
- Display Colours: 16.7M (8-bit)
- Contrast Ratio: 1500:1
- Brightness: 400 cd/m²
- Aspect Ratio: 16:10
- Visual Angle: 178°
- Refresh Rate: 60Hz
- HDR Support: Yes
- Touch Function Support: Yes (10 point multi-touch)
- Product Dimensions: 357 × 231 × 10 mm
- Headphone output: 3.5mm headphone jack
- Speakers: Yes
- Weight: 1.9lb
- Inputs: HDMI (Video signal), 2x Dual Type-C Full Featured (Video/Audio and Power)
Design and Features
The hardware aspects of the Intehill 16″ monitor make a great first impression. The aluminimum-alloy chassis feels reassuringly solid, the stand holds its tilt position well and folds flush with the back, and the bezel is thin, albeit slightly thicker at the bottom than on the other edges.
The 3K design immediately stands out from the portable monitors you see when you search for them on Amazon. Instead of a case to prop up the monitor, it includes a kickstand that is permanently attached to the back. It can be adjusted from 0-90 degrees. This style of kickstand keeps the display very stable on a desk. It’s virtually impossible to knock it over. Overall build quality is impressive. Even the wall plug is beautifully designed.
The right hand side of the monitor offers a red 3-in-1 button (power/signal/return button), Volume/Brightness adjust buttons, OSD, headphone hack, two full function USB Type-C ports, and a standard HDMI port. The panel is very thin measuring only 0.39 inches thickness.
The rear of the monitor is equipped with VESA 75x75mm mounting holes, allowing for easy attachment to monitor arms. The speakers are functional but fairly basic.
In Use
The ultra-lightweight and slim Intehill U16ZT is very easy to set up, courtesy of its single USB Type-C connection. Out of the box, the monitor works with every Linux system I’ve got (and I have many) and is completely plug-and-play. To get started with the monitor, it simply plugs directly into a USB Type-C port on any Linux computer, and it should instantly be recognized. The single cable also gives touchscreen support powered by the Realtek 2275 chip.
For most of my evaluation, I’ve used it as a dual monitor though, connecting a variety of devices including desktop PCs, laptops, mini PCs, as well as single board computers including the Orange Pi 5 Max and Orange Pi 5 Ultra, and the Raspberry Pi 5. Sadly my RISC-V single board computers (Orange Pi RV2 and Banana Pi BPI-F3) can only output 1080p, and so cannot utilize the monitor’s full resolution of 3072×1920. And some of my devices (including all the single board computers) lack a Type-C port so I need to use HDMI, a power cable, and a USB cable for touch support.
The screen is excellent for business and for creative work, with crisp, detailed picture quality with vibrant colours required for professional image and video enhancement. The monitor offers 100% sRGB. Business users will appreciate the 16:10 aspect ratio too as it makes creating documents with an office suite such as ONLYOFFICE much easier. And general desktop activities such as web browsing also benefit from this aspect ratio.
Given the current heatwave here and the glare from the sun, the anti-glare matte panel comes into its own helping to reduce reflections and making the monitor a joy to use both outdoors and indoors.
Basic touchscreen support has been available in the popular Linux desktop environments for many years. No drivers are needed to be installed in Linux. My recommendation is to use KDE under Wayland offering very good multi-touch support, including swipe gestures for navigation, and excellent support for fractional scaling.
Portable monitors tend to be dim. This monitor is an exception. The screen meets its specified 400 nits. The screen is sufficiently bright for most locations. That’s an important factor if you’re going to use the monitor out-and-about where ambient light isn’t within the user’s control.
Summary
Intehill 16″ 3K U16ZT Portable Monitor is a value-packed choice for multitasking and creative uses. It offers a wonderful design, easy setup, and colour accuracy for colour critical creative work. It packs a high-resolution IPS panel with great contrast and excellent colour coverage. Its 16:10 aspect ratio gives more vertical screen space.
Realistically, this is one of the best portable monitors for a wide range of Linux enthusiasts, from office workers looking for a secondary screen, and creative professionals needing additional screen real estate for palettes and side projects.
Priced at a modest £213 on Intehill’s website for its capabilities, the monitor balances affordability and performance. This monitor is a wallet-friendly alternative from Amazon to more expensive second-screen options, especially considering its 3K resolution, touchscreen support, 400 Nits brightness, and anti-glare screen. Its feature set is competitive, so you get decent all-around value for the price. The monitor’s currently available cheaper from Amazon UK priced at £205.99 (including £20 voucher).
What I like:
- Highly portable
- Ultra-narrow bezel and ultra-thin body with a sturdy, hinged stand
- Excellent brightness levels, full sRGB color coverage and impressive colour accuracy.
- High pixel density
- One cable connection
- Extremely low power consumption. On default settings the monitor uses 6.6w over HDMI. On Movie and RTS modes it consumes 8.8w.
- Touchscreen is responsive in Linux.
- Not just limited to USB-C connectivity. HDMI support lets the monitor work with any Linux box
What I’d prefer:
- Higher quality speakers
- Higher refresh rate. With only 60Hz refresh rate, this will be fine for light-duty gaming on the go, but won’t meet demands for high-speed multiplayer gaming.