Teenaesh VijeeIt has been quite sometime since I have reviewed a laptop and more precisely how many laptops I have reviewed are still low in numbers. As for now ASUS Malaysia has given me a chance to review the latest Expertbook B9 which is something that suits my current situation. My current situation is where I need a laptop which is travel-friendly. Travel-friendly here comes in two main categories which I will highlight and perhaps the conclusion of this review itself. The first will be it’s ultra light weight which allows me to use exactly like how I use my smartphone. The second reason will be it’s impressive yet reliable battery life. Please take note as this review is intended for a regular end to end user who are not too into technical stuff and rather looking at reliability and usability. My review is straight-forward and targeted to those who are looking at a regular end user experience.
Design
The design language has been always impressive by ASUS. The Expertbook B9 is impressively light at only 880 grams! This is due to it’s nature of components used and in this case, the body is made out of magnesium lithium alloy which claimed to be 16% lighter than the regular magnesium alloy. Honorable mention will be the Expertbook B9 is given US Military grade MIL-STD 810H as it passed multiple hardcore tests. The overall outlook is impressive and attractive unlike how it used to be only ZenBook which were focused to look attractive but these days all of the series are equally attractive. The bezel around display is minimalistic and not to forget the Ergolift hinge by ASUS which works by lifting the Expertbook to a tilted angle which allows you to type comfortably at a faster speed.
Display
The Display on this notebook features a 14-inch Full HD(1920×1080) resolution with incredibly slim 4mm NanoEdge bezels. The screen-to-body ratio is 94% makes it accountable for the maximum area of display to be covered mostly rather than the body itself. The display itself is coated with non-glaring layer which gives the matte look rather than glossy finish. This eliminates the fingerprints and keeps the screen clean at all times. Unfortunately, the display does not support touch-screen.
Performance
For day-to-day use, there were no issues at all that I came across. Everything was butter smooth, software yet hardware has been properly optimized for my daily usage. My daily usage includes blogging, emails, social media, accounting as well as Photoshop. The amount of editing that I do for my images are pretty much basic and therefore the Photoshop that I used did not even crash, not even once. The hardware used in the Expertbook B9 is high-end, therefore we can never expect any issues with my level of usage. Under the hood, this Expertbook is powered by Intel’s 11th generation Core i7-1165G7 clocked at 2.80GHz while the graphics are now powered by Intel’s Iris Xe. As for the RAM, we have 16GB while the storage provided is 1TB of SSD.
MyASUS
This is a software which has been always there in all ASUS’s laptop products but it is now optimized and updated to a standard where it is definitely worth mentioning. Features that you can do includes changing the fan profiles, changing the battery mode, screen mode, color profile mode, task optimizer(which basically allows you to prioritize the software that you specifically want the processes to be focused to), enable or disable the AI profiles for audio and many more. You can also mirror your phone, regardless of Android or Apple within the MyASUS via GlideX software. Contacting customer service or even self diagnostics are pretty much at a single click of button.
ASUS NumberPad 2.0
Incase you are wondering what this is, it is an LED illuminated numeric keypad integrated in the touchpad that makes up for the lack of physical numeric keypads in compact laptops. This gets pretty handy during my accounting job that allows me to key-in the numbers at high speed.
I/O Ports
The below are the ports available on the Expertbook B9:-
– 2x Thunderbolt™ 4 USB-C™ (up to 40 Gbps, DisplayPort and power delivery support)
– 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
– 1x HDMI
– 1x RJ45 via micro HDMI port
– 1x Kensington lock slot
– 1x 3.5mm audio jack
Security
The Expertbook B9 is designed to suit business users who would need good security and there are couple of security measures provided by ASUS:-
– Module TPM 2.0 embedded security chip
– Windows Hello with facial recognition software (requires IR Camera)
– Proximity sensor
– Fingerprint reader
– Webcam Shield
– Kensington lock slot
– ASUS Business Manager with secure drive setting and lock control to USB storage devices
The proximity sensor here works as an active sensor which automatically locks the screen upon leaving the laptop unattended.
Alexa with built-in light bar
ExpertBook B9400 supports both Alexa and Windows Cortana smart assistants through voice control. The four far-field microphones also allow users to activate Alexa11 or Windows Cortana even at long distances. Ask voice assistant to schedule meetings, read your emails, plan a route, or even request a ride. It’s a smarter, more efficient way to get things done.
Battery Life
It’s hard to believe that this notebook lasted me for a whole day of usage while still having 30% of battery life left. I charged 100% in the morning and was outside mostly using the ExpertBook. I even totally forgot to bring the charger along and surprisingly it was not even required. The processor is no longer battery-hungry and ASUS has properly optimized it’s hardware as well as software so that it can go days if used in a balanced way. To the business users out there, this is something you should seriously consider! Also not to forget, the battery charging is superbly fast with 65W type-C charging capable of going 0-80% in less than an hour.
Conclusion
The ASUS Expertbook B9 is something to consider if you are not gonna be choosing the MacBook lineup. Most laptops for business users tend to have some sort of weakness or disadvantages but we have a very well balanced yet business-oriented device here. Security, performance, mobility and fantastic battery life. I will definitely choose the ASUS Expertbook B9 for my business purposes and in fact once I return this review unit, I’ll be getting one for my personal use.
The retail price for ASUS Expertbook B9 is RM7989 with 3 years of on-site warranty provided. It comes in only one color choice which is “Star Black”