ASUS ROG Strix Black / 17.3" Review

It's a 240Hz monitor that fits in your backpack, and that's all it is. If you don't absolutely need both of those things at once, don't buy it.

This thing is a weird, brilliant niche product. It's not a great monitor, but it's an excellent portable monitor. The one thing you need to know is that the ASUS ROG Strix XG17AHP is a 240Hz gaming screen you can toss in a backpack, and that's its entire reason for existing. It's built for one specific person: the competitive gamer who travels and refuses to compromise on refresh rate. For everyone else, it's a confusing, expensive piece of gear.

The 240Hz refresh rate is the star, and it delivers. In our database, its performance score lands in the 89th percentile for portable monitors, which means it's genuinely fast. The 3ms response time and Adaptive-Sync work as advertised to keep motion smooth. The surprise is how that 7800mAh battery holds up—or rather, how it doesn't. You get about 3.5 hours at full tilt, which is just enough for a long gaming session at a coffee shop before you're hunting for an outlet. It's fast, but you pay for that speed with your outlet proximity.

Worth it only if you are its exact target user. For $500, you could buy a much better 27-inch 240Hz desktop monitor and a decent 15-inch portable screen for productivity. You are paying a 100% tax for the combination of high refresh rate and portability. If that combo is your holy grail, it's worth every penny. If not, it's a terrible deal.

Compared to other portable monitors, it's in a league of its own for speed—nothing else touches 240Hz on the go. But compared to proper desktop monitors, it gets crushed. The Samsung Odyssey G9 or MSI MPG 321URX offer vastly superior image quality, size, and features for similar money, but you can't take them to a LAN party. The real competition is your own patience: are you willing to carry a small, proper monitor in your luggage instead? For most, that's the smarter play.

If you're looking for a primary monitor for your desk, skip this. Go get a proper 27-inch or 32-inch gaming monitor like the MSI MPG 321URX instead. If you want a portable monitor for watching movies or productivity, also skip this. The battery life and screen quality aren't great for that. Get a cheaper 60Hz portable panel with better color and brightness.

We can only recommend this to a very specific buyer: the traveling esports competitor or the ultra-competitive gamer who frequently lugs their setup to friends' houses. For them, it's a game-day essential. For anyone else—students, casual gamers, digital nomads, or people looking for a secondary screen—the compromises in screen quality, battery life, and price are too steep. There are better portable monitors for movies and work, and infinitely better desktop monitors for the money.