Enterprise laptops are sometimes underneath extra scrutiny round right here due to their exorbitant costs, however so long as they sustain with different premium laptops, they’re going to succeed. That is not what occurred with the Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED.
Issues I like about this laptop computer: Gentle as hell, high-res OLED show, punchy keyboard. Issues I hate: Quick battery life, underperforming CPU, subpar coloration and brightness. All that’s wrapped up in a $2,439 price ticket. It is exhausting to justify that steep worth when it would not nail down all of its classes.
I needed to tout the Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED as one of many finest enterprise laptops round, but it surely fell brief on one too many benchmarks.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED worth and configurations
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED specs
Worth: $2,439
CPU: Intel Core i7-1355U
GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
RAM: 32GB
Storage: 2TB SSD
Show: 14-inch, 2880 x 1800, 16:10, OLED
Battery: 8:35
Dimension: 12.2 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
Weight: 2.2 kilos
There are two configurations for the Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED, and we examined the most costly mannequin. For $2,439, the ExpertBook provides an Intel Core i7-1355U CPU, 32GB of RAM, a 2TB SSD, and a 14-inch, 2880 x 1800, 16:10, OLED show.
Drop the RAM and storage to 16GB and 1TB, respectively, and also you’ll be paying $2,149. Both method, this laptop computer is dear.
For those who’re on the lookout for one thing extra inexpensive, take a look at our finest laptops underneath $1,000 web page.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED design
Rattling, this factor is gentle! Earlier than I used to be entranced by the slick darkish blue chassis, lifting it out of the field felt like I used to be choosing up a prop for a film set. On the middle of the lid is a shiny Asus brand, and within the top-left nook there’s an ExpertBook brand, which appears low-cost. It’s like trying out a faculty laptop computer and seeing that they needed to label it so that they realize it’s theirs.
The inside is all about that 16:10 show, however there’s some room for the webcam on the prime. The deck options extra of that darkish blue all through the keyboard and touchpad, each of that are pleasantly giant and current.
At 2.2 kilos and 12.2 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches, the ExpertBook B9 is the lightest amongst its competitors. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 (2.5 kilos, 12.4 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches) and Dell Latitude 9440 2-in-1 (3.4 kilos, 12.2 x 8.5 x 0.3~0.6 inches) had a little bit of weight on them, whereas the HP Elite Dragonfly G4 (2.2 kilos, 11.7 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches) managed to match the Asus.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED ports
For such a light-weight and skinny laptop computer, the Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED has an honest variety of ports.
On the left you’ll discover a Kensington lock slotan HDMI port, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a micro HDMI port, and a headphone jack. In the meantime, the proper aspect holds room for one USB Sort-A port and the ability button. Why is there a energy button on the aspect of the laptop computer when it’s not even a 2-in-1?
Do you end up in want of extra ports? Take a look at our finest USB Sort-C hubs and finest laptop computer docking stations pages.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED safety and sturdiness
The Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED is a enterprise laptop computer, so it has entry to Intel vPro for distant administration. It additionally options enterprise-grade safety with a TPM 2.0 safety chipa fingerprint reader, a Kensington lock, an IR webcam for facial login, an NFC reader for card login, and a privateness shutter for its webcam. One other characteristic is the AdaptiveLock, which logs you in or out relying in your presence.
When you might imagine {that a} lighter laptop computer means it’s extra inclined to wreck, that’s not essentially true. The ExpertBook B9 contains a sturdy magnesium-lithium alloy chassis with Navy Grade 810H sturdiness, which implies it’s been examined in opposition to the warmth, chilly, elevation, shock, mud, and sand.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED show
For a laptop computer that desires you to spend two fats stacks, I anticipated higher from its OLED panel. The Asus ExpertBook B9’s 14-inch, 2,880 x 1,800, 16:10 show is vivid and colourful, but it surely doesn’t fairly hit these premium ranges.
I watched the Haunted Mansion trailer, and the panel was vivid sufficient to focus on the main points across the darkish attic when LaKeith Stanfield went trying to find some ghosts. The purple sparks that kicked off in the course of the climax of the movie contrasted effectively in opposition to the darkish and dreary mansion. In the meantime, Owen Wilson’s stubbly beard was crispy on display screen.
In line with our colorimeter, the ExpertBook B9 coated 81.5% of the DCI-P3 coloration gamutwhich is respectable, however doesn’t evaluate with the common premium laptop computer (97.9%). It was extra colourful than the Dragonfly G4 (80.2%) and ThinkPad X1 (69.8%), however not the Latitude 9440 (89.8%).
At 399 nits of brightnessthe ExpertBook is vivid, however in need of the common — 429 nits, which is very disappointing because the panel is shiny, so that you’re combating in opposition to any and all gentle sources. Once more, it beat out the Dragonfly G4 (391 nits) and ThinkPad X1 (327 nits), but it surely couldn’t sustain with the Latitude 9440 (524 nits).
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED keyboard and touchpad
I knew this keyboard meant to woo me after I first inputted the Wi-Fi password and felt that punchy suggestions. That depth carried via the typing take a look at — it’s not clicky per se, however there’s a deep journey and a pleasing pushback.
I hit 88 phrases per minute on the 10fastfingers.com typing take a look at, which speeds previous my common 78-wpm common. The keys are well-spaced, decently giant, and kicked me off to the following every time I typed.
The three.4 x 5.3-inch touchpad is clicky, however not very clean. There’s some resistance when sliding my finger alongside the pad. There’s a digital numpad within the touchpad, activated by clicking the top-right nook, and that’s fairly fast to reply. Home windows gestures like two-finger scrolling and three-finger tabbing labored high quality.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED audio
The side-firing audio system on the Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED are surprisingly strong, providing loud and current sound albeit a bit sharp.
I listened to Hozier’s “Francesca,” which opens with melodic vocals, and whereas it was loud, it was additionally only a tad bit sharp. The delicate guitar and piano within the background had been current, however when the cymbals kicked up, they had been extra distinguished than the remainder of the devices. And when the bass guitar was highlighted, it struggled to take middle stage. However total, the devices had been distinguishable from each other.
Onboard, you’ll discover the Dolby Entry app, which you need to use to regulate the audio, from Dynamic and Recreation to Film and Music. I most popular the Dynamic setting, because it supplied a fuller sound.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED efficiency
Full of an Intel Core i7-1355U CPU and 32GB of RAMthe Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED was greater than able to dealing with a pair dozen Google Chrome tabs and a handful of YouTube movies with out flinching.
On the Geekbench 6 total efficiency take a look at, the ExpertBook B9 scored 7,364, which is in need of the premium laptop computer common (7,872). Whereas that rating could also be high quality, it doesn’t sustain with the ThinkPad X1 (8,979), which has the identical CPU. The Asus additionally falls in need of the Dragonfly G4 (7,408) and Latitude 9440 (8,926), which rock a Core i7-1365U CPU.
The ExpertBook B9 transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in 11 minutes and 14 seconds on our HandBrake benchmark, which is far slower than the common premium laptop computer (8:00). It was sooner than the Dragonfly G4 (12:41), however nonetheless couldn’t match the ThinkPad X1 (9:05) or Latitude 9440 (9:36).
Nonetheless, Asus’ 2TB SSD was fairly speedy, providing a switch price of 1,625 megabytes per second, which not solely surpassed the class common (1,368 MBps), but in addition the Dragonfly G4’s 512GB SSD (736 MBps) and the Latitude 9440’s 1TB SSD (828 MBps). In the meantime, the ThinkPad X1’s 512GB SSD climbed on prime with a pace of 1,704 MBps.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED graphics
Don’t anticipate to get a lot out of the Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED’s Intel Iris Xe Graphics chip — it’s not a discrete GPU.
On the 3DMark Hearth Strike artificial graphics benchmark, the ExpertBook B9 scored 4,219, which is lower than half of the premium laptop computer common (8,900). With the identical chip, the Dragonfly G4 (4,326), ThinkPad X1 (5,070), and Latitude 9440 (5,041) scored higher.
When working the Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm benchmark (Medium, 1080p), the ExpertBook B9 averaged 28 fps, which doesn’t make the 30-fps threshold for playability. It performed higher than the ThinkPad X1 (20 fps), however couldn’t get previous the Latitude 9440 (32 fps) not to mention the class common (53 fps).
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED battery life
Excessive-res shows are an excuse of the previous with regards to battery life, however the ExpertBook B9 hasn’t caught on. On the Laptop computer Magazine battery take a look atthe Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED lasted 8 hours and 35 minutes, which is sort of 2 hours in need of the common premium laptop computer (10:19). Even the competitors, Dragonfly G4 (12:44), ThinkPad X1 (13:45), and Latitude 9440 (10:55), made it into the double digits.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED webcam
Regardless of being a enterprise laptop computer with the potential for a high-quality webcam, you’re caught with 1080p doo-doo.
The colour was correct sufficient to focus on the reds and blues within the My Hero Academia poster behind me. Nonetheless, the distinction was vivid, blowing out the window and ceiling behind me in addition to a portion of my head. At the very least I might see the person curls in my hair. However total, we recommend heading over to our finest webcams web page to choose one thing up worthy of your stunning face.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED warmth
The Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED can get slightly heat, however there’s nothing to be alarmed about. After watching a 15-minute video, the underside hit 105 levels Fahrenheit, which is above our 95-degree consolation threshold. The middle of the keyboard and touchpad reached 90 and 78 levels, respectively. Nonetheless, you may wish to keep away from getting close to the vents on the underside, which climbed as much as 111 levels.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED software program and guarantee
There’s some branded software program included with the Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED, similar to MyASUS, which provides guarantee and system info, entry to sure settings, and a set of diagnostics. For enterprise customers, there’s a enterprise supervisor part, which is able to assist make your laptop computer safer, from backups to digital file shredding.
The ExpertBook B9 OLED comes with a three-year restricted guarantee. See how Asus carried out on our Tech Help Showdown particular report.
Backside line
The Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED is a strong pocket book, but it surely suffers the identical concern that the majority enterprise laptops do — it is costly. Subsequently, all of its options have to be prime notch with the intention to justify the value. Yeah, we bought the great keyboard, the moveable and sturdy chassis, and even a pointy panel. However that will not make up for the brief battery life and middling efficiency.
Check out the HP Dragonfly. It is slightly cheaper, has longer battery life, and a extra vivid show.
Nonetheless, for those who’re actually into the ExpertBook’s fashion, it isn’t a nasty buy, however do not anticipate it to last more than a median workday.
