Asus has just announced an update to its impressive ExpertBook, including a 14-inch model that has once again established itself as the world’s lightest laptop at 880g and could be a complete dream for mobile professionals.
It’s a leaf in the wind, you hear how it flies. When we look at the Asus ExpertBook B9, I can’t help but think about how thin it looks, at just 14.9mm and the 880g weight would outshine many good tablets. This is the laptop that many of us would like to have in our backpack that weighs as much as a change of clothes on a trip, and Asus has a strong case for asserting itself in this segment.
How is this weight achieved? With a magnesium chassis that’s been military-tested for endurance and includes a splash-resistant keyboard, simply because we pros drink scenes next to a laptop when deadlines are tight. Security goes beyond the ruggedness of the body, and this slim device features a camera shutter, a fingerprint reader, and a padlock slot.
Despite its compact size, the Asus ExpertBook B9 doesn’t compromise on performance. It gets new Alder Lake U processors, from i5-1235U to i7-1265U, with a maximum of 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 4TB of internal PCIe Gen4 storage on 2x 2TB RAID 0 or 1 drives, and it’s not even entirely clear how they managed to shove those specs in there.
Physical connectivity reflects compact lines: 2x Thunderbolt 4 ports and 1x 2.0m HDMI port, plus 3.5mm audio output. Here, too, it is not a universal rule that such a compact device has HDMI ports, so that’s good!
The screen is a 14-inch 16:9 unit with FHD 1920 x 1080 resolution and 72% NTSC space.
Good, of course, does not happen. To reach the weight of 880g, Asus offers an incredibly small 33Wh battery, but you can always opt for a 66Wh battery that can handle up to 1005g. With this device, Asus gives us 16H autonomy: it’s fair to think that a 33Wh battery drives at least half, which should not be criticized for the significantly reduced weight.
Along with the ExpertBook B9, Asus also introduced the ExpertBook B7 Flip, which, as the name suggests, is a 2-in-1 touchscreen with a 360° viewing angle.
The B7 flip retains a lot of similarities to the B9 but could have more RAM (64GB) and offer 5G as an alternative. The 14-inch screen also supports PrivateView mode, which limits the viewing angle to 45º.
We will return to this equipment when we have dates and prices for the European market.
