Asus released a high-end laptop targeted towards business users on April, 2020. The Asus ExpertBook B9450 is being applauded for its excellent build quality and powerful battery life.
Before moving on with the review, let’s take a quick look at its specifications.
Specifications
- CPU: Intel Core i7-10510U
- GPU: Intel UHD
- RAM: 16GB
- Storage: 1TB
- Display: 14 inches, 1920 x 1080 pixels
- Battery: 16:42
- Size: 12.6 x 8 x 0.6 inches
- Weight: 870 grams
Asus ExpertBook B9450 Design
The 14-inch device is surprisingly very lightweight. The magnesium-lithium alloy used for its chassis makes this laptop extremely lightweight. It weighs around 870 grams.
It’s no plastic – and hence feels very premium. While many mainstream portables come with a metallic build, this one is much lighter.
Not just the weight, the entire chassis has a good looking navy blue paint with metallic flecks on it. This makes it look classy. It subtly stands out in the crowd. It has a sand-blasted finish. You’d hardly get any fingerprint smudges.
It also feels very good to touch. And it is pretty rigid and durable with little to no flex. It is Military Standard 810G certified. Its military-grade durability proves that despite being lightweight, it’s sturdy. It can withstand up to 30kg of pressure.
Speaking more about the design, the laptop has a drop hinge. The “ErgoLift”, as we have seen in other Asus computers, speaks for comfort. It raises the keyboard at a comfortable typing angle. This gives a couple of inches of clearance for the bottom vents and provides better cooling.
Asus ExpertBook B9450 Display
The Full HD 1920×1080 display comes with 4mm thin bezels. This complements the laptop’s lightweight. The display is anti-glare. It has a layer of coating that causes reduced glare.
The display is very nice and roomy. It has 94% screen to body ration. And the visuals are nice and sharp with vibrant colors. It comes with 99% sRGB color gamut coverage.
The non-touch display, however, isn’t very bright. The brightness is just 302 nits. This falls short as even an average premium laptop offer 354 nits.
The hinge helps to make the bezels appear thinner. The top bezel houses a webcam lens. And the bottom bezel stays hidden from sight as it gets dropped beneath the keyboard.
All in all, the display is commendable except for its brightness. That isn’t enough.
Asus ExpertBook B9450 Keyboard and Trackpad
The ExpertBook has a standard layout keyboard. The keys have a good amount of travel and it feels tactile. The island-style chiclet keyboard has responsive typing feedback.
There are three backlit settings. And the brightest of them is easily visible under direct light.
However, the Power button on the keyboard is a bit of a hassle. It is right beside the Delete key. And, if on instinct, you tap the upper-rightmost key to delete something, chances are, you will turn off the device. The power button is the exact same kind and size as all the keys. Thus it makes a simple tap on a button make you lose whatever project you are working on. If, of course, you aren’t someone who remembers to save files while working on them offline.
An added appeal for business users might be the Asus NumberPad that sits at the trackpad. It looks like a built-in calculator. The upper right corner has a touch button that turns the pad into an LED grid. The touch sensitivity on the trackpad isn’t as fluid as one would expect it to be. To change the brightness of the LED touchpad, you need to tap the icon in the opposite corner.
Though the sensitivity of the trackpad isn’t impeccable, it works well.
Asus ExpertBook B9450 Connectivity
The laptop has a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB 3.1 GEN 2 port, and a Kensington lock slot on the right.
On the left, there are two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a full-sized HDMI 2.0, and a micro HDMI port. The HDMI port can be used to connect an RJ45 LAN adapter. For a laptop this thin, it is surprising that it has this many ports and even fits an HDMI port!
This has Intel Wi-Fi 6 support and Bluetooth 5.0.
Asus ExpertBook B9450 Performance
Powered by the Core i7-10510U, it delivers a decent performance. Compared to other premiums, it has a lower-tier Core i7 with only four cores.
The ExpertBook B9450 clocked at 13,653 in a performance test on Geekbench 4.3. It has a UHD Graphics 620. And comes with 16GB LPDDR3 RAM and 1TB SSD. For a business laptop, this is actually more than you need. But extra storage is always a good idea.
Here are the benchmark tests run in PC Mark 10, Cinebench, and Geekbench.
PC Mark 10
Cinebench
Geekbench
Asus ExpertBook B9450 Battery Life
The laptop houses a 33W battery. On normal daily use like working on documents and occasional video streaming, the device fared well for 12 hours. The laptop comes with quick charging technology. Upon charging for 40 minutes, the battery juice gets up to 60%.
For the business professionals who needs to be on the move constantly, this is a big plus point.
Additionals
The device has several Asus programs that support its utility. Business Manager, Control Center are some features that let you view hardware specs and restore points. They also let you manage power consumption and update BIOS and software.
The device comes with a pre-installed MyAsus app collection. It has a modern interface and is filled with helpful information. It lets you toggle fan models and charging modes. You can also run diagnostic tests. MyAsus is also available on phone. This lets you screen-mirror, extend, transfer files, and more.
The Asus’ Business Manager app gives you extra security features like hard drive encryption.
The speakers in the device are powered by Harman Kardon. The speakers are loud enough and come with little to no distortion even at full volume
For security purposes, there is a physical shutter on the webcam. There is also a fingerprint sensor on the right side of the trackpad for quick logins.
Verdict
Priced at $1,799, the Asus ExpertBook B9450 comes close to being a perfect laptop. From the design and build to the performance, the device is applaudable. The trackpad might feel a little off at times due to its sensitivity issue. The same can be said to the performance offered by the device. The Core i7 performs poorly in certain instances.
But, the battery life is what is ridiculously amazing here! And if you are looking for a business laptop that passes with its classy look and builds with a powerful battery, this is your call.
