The ASUS ExpertBook B9 review: designed for those who work on the move

The ASUS ExpertBook B9 review: designed for those who work on the move.

Working while traveling is a problem for many. With the end of the pandemic we are gradually returning to having face-to-face meetings and, consequently, to moving around taking our work with us. What we need is simple to describe but hard to get right: a laptop extremely lightwhich offers good performance at least with office automation software and with a monitor that does not tire our eyes. ASUS ExpertBook B9, which we tested for this review may be that laptop. If it’s not him, he sure looks a lot like us.

The ASUS ExpertBook B9 review

If we stop at the technical specifications, an ASUS ExpertBook is not what is defined as a PC with record-breaking performance. But we are making a serious mistake. Because numbers must always be put in the right perspective.

Just take the laptop in hand to understand that we are faced with an incredible compromise between weight and computing capacity. When faced with such a small volume, it is necessary to optimize the components and keep the power low because they are there cooling difficulties. In a small space it is more difficult to circulate the air and have components that consume less allows to extend the life of the batteries.

The hardware specifications

The ASUS ExpertBook B9 is clearly a machine designed for professional use. It can be understood from many aspects that we don’t even feel like defining details. First theusing Windows 11 Pro instead of Home. Then, the ability to expand the RAM up to 32GBwhich can become useful in case of a intense documentary activity and for applications that make use of large databases.

The technical feature that arouses the most interest, at least in our opinion, is storage. ExpertBook B9 can make use of three discs, coming up to 2TB. Furthermore, it is also possible put two disks in RAID and, thanks to mirroring, ensure data security even if one of the two disks fails.

In our opinion, this last aspect alone makes the adoption of the ExpertBook B9 absolutely interesting for a corporate park.

Aesthetics and material

The laptop has an excellent design. The exterior is porous and non-glossy; pleasant to the touch and at the same time able to offer a sufficiently firm grip. The casing, unlike other models, is not made of aluminum but of plastic. Absolutely excellent quality plastic, but which left us a little curious about the heat dissipation capacity. The laptop is equipped with vent grilles; but, given the total size, they are not huge.

There keyboard, backlit, is pleasant to use and the keys have a travel of 1.5 mm. If you like to “feel” the key under your finger you won’t be disappointed. Positive note, there is no side play of any kind during the ride.

Ergonomics

On this front too we must admit that we have been very satisfied.

There keyboard, practically standard, has an optimal size and is easy to get used to. The fingerprint recognition sensor is external to the keyboard, so it doesn’t bother you.

the touchpad, broad and sensitive from a good satisfaction in the use. The ASUS ExpertBook B9 is one of those notebooks that don’t feel the need to connect a mouse. Also, as already seen in other small footprint models from ASUS, the touchpad incorporates a virtual numeric keypad. This is, of course, because there is no available space on the keyboard deck.

Just press the top right corner with a minimum of determination to activate or deactivate the function. With the upper left corner, however, the light intensity is adjusted. These aspects are also well calibrated; in fact, in all of our trials we have never activated the numeric keypad without meaning to.

Display and graphics card

We know well that the graphics card is perhaps one of the more expensive (and warmer) elements of a computer. Therefore, the trend for office machines is to reduce the specifications a bit in this direction also due to the fact that they are not designed to make use of high graphics.

In the case of the ExpertBook B9, ASUS has made one choice the slight countertrend. In the sense that the graphics card is not a gaming card, but still allows good performance. In fact, it is the same card used on some zenbook models more oriented towards playful use.

The screen, if we are to be honest, it’s not bad even if it does not enjoy that extra push that characterizes the rest of the hardware instead. The colors are bright and we did not observe residual brightness at the edges (screen bleeding), whereby black is very dark and uniform. The contrast also gives a lot of visual satisfaction; combined with the Full HD resolution makes all details and lettering always clearly visible.

Finally, the non-glossy panel allows us to use the laptop flawlessly in a wide range of light conditions; an important feature pfor those who also work by train and by plane.

Battery life

The well-optimized components allow to obtain good battery life. During our tests, with a mixed use of office applications, web and video streaming we always remained around 9 hours. More than enough battery life for a day’s work.

We wouldn’t dare go on a trip or to the office to a customer without a power supply, however even not having one might not scare us so much.

However, an issue remains open that we have discussed among ourselves, but of which we are unable to give you direct feedback. That is, how much can two extra hard drives and 32GB of RAM affect on the life of the batteries. They will certainly consume more energy, but their incidence also depends on a multitude of external factors that are very difficult to estimate.

The ASUS ExpertBook B9 review at a glance

The ASUS ExpertBook B9 that we have seen in this review is a laptop for professional use that finds a incredible compromise between weight and calculation capacity. It is light and handy, and equipped with a screen suitable for office work without hurting the eyes. At the same time, the expandability of RAM and disk give this laptop very interesting features.

We feel like absolutely recommend it to those who travel constantly. It can also be a good choice for study and work if you need great performance.

PRO

• Lightweight and handy
• Excellent ergonomics
• RAID disk

VERSUS

• Integrated graphics card