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 really like about this laptop computer: Gentle as hell, high-res OLED show, punchy keyboard. Issues I hate: Brief battery life, underperforming CPU, subpar colour and brightness. All that’s wrapped up in a $2,439 price ticket. It is exhausting to justify that steep value when it does not nail down all of its classes.
I needed to tout the Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED as one of many greatest enterprise laptops round, however it fell brief on one too many benchmarks.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED value 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 costliest mannequin. For $2,439, the ExpertBook gives 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 manner, this laptop computer is pricey.
For those who’re on the lookout for one thing extra reasonably priced, try our greatest 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 seems to be low-cost. It’s like testing a faculty laptop computer and seeing that they needed to label it so that they understand it’s theirs.
The inside is all about that 16:10 show, however there’s some room for the webcam on the high. 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 lightweight 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 facet holds room for one USB Kind-A port and the ability button. Why is there a energy button on the facet of the laptop computer when it’s not even a 2-in-1?
Do you end up in want of extra ports? Try our greatest USB Kind-C hubs and greatest 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 vulnerable to break, that’s not essentially true. The ExpertBook B9 incorporates a sturdy magnesium-lithium alloy chassis with Army Grade 810H sturdiness, which suggests it’s been examined towards 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, however it doesn’t fairly hit these premium ranges.
I watched the Haunted Mansion trailer, and the panel was vivid sufficient to spotlight the main points across the darkish attic when LaKeith Stanfield went looking for some ghosts. The purple sparks that kicked off throughout the climax of the movie contrasted nicely towards the darkish and dreary mansion. In the meantime, Owen Wilson’s stubbly beard was crispy on display screen.
Based on our colorimeter, the ExpertBook B9 coated 81.5% of the DCI-P3 colour gamutwhich is respectable, however doesn’t examine 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 wanting the common — 429 nits, which is particularly disappointing because the panel is shiny, so that you’re preventing towards any and all gentle sources. Once more, it beat out the Dragonfly G4 (391 nits) and ThinkPad X1 (327 nits), however it couldn’t sustain with the Latitude 9440 (524 nits).
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED keyboard and touchpad
I knew this keyboard supposed to woo me after I first inputted the Wi-Fi password and felt that punchy suggestions. That depth carried by means of the typing check — 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 check, which speeds previous my regular 78-wpm common. The keys are well-spaced, decently giant, and kicked me off to the subsequent 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 reasonably fast to reply. Home windows gestures like two-finger scrolling and three-finger tabbing labored superb.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED audio
The side-firing audio system on the Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED are surprisingly stable, 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 outstanding 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 should utilize to regulate the audio, from Dynamic and Recreation to Film and Music. I most popular the Dynamic setting, because it provided 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 check, the ExpertBook B9 scored 7,364, which is wanting the premium laptop computer common (7,872). Whereas that rating could also be superb, it doesn’t sustain with the ThinkPad X1 (8,979), which has the identical CPU. The Asus additionally falls wanting 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 quicker than the Dragonfly G4 (12:41), however nonetheless couldn’t match the ThinkPad X1 (9:05) or Latitude 9440 (9:36).
Nevertheless, Asus’ 2TB SSD was reasonably speedy, providing a switch charge 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 high with a velocity of 1,704 MBps.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED graphics
Don’t count on 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 operating 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 in relation to battery life, however the ExpertBook B9 hasn’t caught on. On the Laptop computer Magazine battery checkthe Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED lasted 8 hours and 35 minutes, which is sort of 2 hours wanting 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 spotlight the reds and blues within the My Hero Academia poster behind me. Nevertheless, 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 may see the person curls in my hair. However total, we propose heading over to our greatest webcams web page to choose one thing up worthy of your lovely face.
Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED warmth
The Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED can get a little bit 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. Nevertheless, you would possibly 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 gives guarantee and system info, entry to sure settings, and a collection of diagnostics. For enterprise customers, there’s a enterprise supervisor part, which can 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 Assist Showdown particular report.
Backside line
The Asus ExpertBook B9 OLED is a stable pocket book, however it suffers the identical challenge that the majority enterprise laptops do — it is costly. Subsequently, all of its options should be high notch with a view to justify the worth. Yeah, we bought the good keyboard, the transportable 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 a little bit cheaper, has longer battery life, and a extra vivid show.
Nevertheless, should you’re actually into the ExpertBook’s fashion, it is not a foul buy, however do not count on it to last more than a mean workday.
