With work-from-home being the new black, it is needless to say that workloads have increased with more substantial tasks and shorter deadlines. The line between work and non-work has been blurred, and one should and must no longer tolerate laggy performances in such a fast-paced environment.
Asus’ latest ExpertBook B9450 balances portability with performance, offering the up-to-date hardware to cater to business users’ needs. Marketed as the world’s lightest 14-inch business laptop, the company has built an impressive machine without compromising on any important aspect in order to weigh this little.
Lightweight and durable build
The 14″ Asus ExpertBook B9450 is not only the lightest weighing laptop in the market today, but it also yields a MIL-STD 810G military-grade durability meaning to say that it can withstand shocks, drops and your mental struggles at work. It weighs at only 870g (with 33W battery) and 980g (with 66W battery) with a slim magnesium-lithium alloy chassis that provides higher mobility and toughness over the commonly used magnesium-aluminium alloy. The matte-textured star black finish is anti-fingerprint and exudes elegance and sophistication that is not commonly found in many business laptops today.
With a slim 4mm thick screen bezels, the ExpertBook B9450 is very compact, with hardly any wasted space at the sides. The top bezel also comes equipped with a 720p Web camera and an infrared sensor that can unlock the computer via facial recognition, even in the dark.
The camera has a physical camera shield that comes handy in protecting one’s privacy and avoiding unglamorous online Teams situations. Logging in has also been made hassle-free with the integrated IR camera that allows Windows Hello to automatically unlock the machine upon flipping up the screen even in dark environments. However, if you are someone who owns five different pairs of glasses, then there is always the fingerprint sensor to fall back on. With the Kensington Lock, that to a bicycle lock, enables users to secure their machine at unsupervised locations.
On top of the “almost frameless” display on the ExpertBook, the laptop also comes with an anti-glare coating that provides a slight matte-finish that eases the strain on eyes without trading-off on its brightness and clarity even in bright conditions which is a win-win. This anti-glare panel also aids in reduces instances of eyestrain, even when working for prolonged hours on the laptop.
Decent performance for business users
The Asus B9450 comes with a quad-core i7-10510U CPU, 16GB of RAM, Integrated Intel® UHD Graphics 620, and 2TB of storage. Despite its compact build, it not only supports 2 USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports but 1 USB-A, a full-size HDMI 2.0, a 3.5 audio jack, and a provided external micro HDMI to LAN adaptor for Ethernet connection. Lastly, it also supports WiFi 6.
In terms of performance, the ExpertBook can handle office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet work, web browsing, and video-conferencing incredibly well. However, working on the B9450 with Adobe Photoshop or Premiere Pro is decent, but not ideal, considering that business laptops may not be the best for design works or media editing tasks. Despite this, ExpertBook B9450 is one of the best performing ultrabooks on the market and one of the best implementations of an Intel Core U processor.
Excellent ergonomic with functional NumberPad 2.0
The Asus ExpertBook B9450 comes with an ErgoLift hinge design, which warrants a comfortable typing and viewing experience, allowing for better heat dissipation and acts as a sound chamber for better sound quality. The screen can extend up to 180 degrees, which allows for proper visual angles that cater to those who prefer standing workstations to those who prefer working from the comfort of their beds. The spill-resistant keyboard on the ExpertBook is fully backlit with three levels of brightness to choose from that not only caters to the convenience of working in darkly lit spaces, but even the brightest level is still visible in the presence of direct sunlight. As for the keys, they are evenly spaced out with just the right amount of enjoyable key travel going at 1.5mm that makes typing for hours comfortable and accurate.
The Asus ExpertBook B9450 also features the NumberPad 2.0, an illuminated LED panel that makes up for the lack of physical numeric pads. This feature is useful for those who work with numbers daily and can be activated with just a touch of the icon situated at the top-right corner of the trackpad. As for its brightness, there are two levels to choose from that can be toggled with the touch icon on the top-left corner of the trackpad. The trackpad itself was smooth, responsive, and not to mention does not attract fingerprint markings.
24 hours of battery life for high mobility users
The 66-watt-hour battery offers a 24-hour long-lasting usage. This nifty feature is a plus point for high mobility users as it removes the hassle of lugging a charger around. According to our test, it managed to get 2 to 2.5 days of usage with a large number of code executions and Netflix before charging. With the USB-C fast charging, it takes only about 2 hours for a full charge. The sound of the fans had remained unnoticeable even when performing heavy-duty tasks. Unlike many other laptops, its performance did not falter even in the face of low battery.
The verdict: Asus ExpertBook B9450
The Asus ExpertBook B9450 is a powerful yet lightweight ultrabook to have with a long-lasting battery, decent performance, and multiple ports all incorporated within its slim build. If you are constantly on-the-go or simply yearn for speedy performances matchable to that of your multitasking mind, this is the ideal laptop for you.