Asus ExpertBook B9450 review: A light-weight, high-productivity notebook for working professionals

Asus ExpertBook B9450 laptop review: Work From Home has led to an increased demand for laptops, with professionals giving more and more importance to their machines. This also inspired Asus' entry into commercial PC market with the launch of the ExpertBook series. One of the notebooks that is a part of that line up is Asus B9450 – which is claimed to be world’s lightest notebook at 995 grams. It is also one of the thinnest notebooks with a waistline of just 14.9 mm.  

Even though the Taiwanese manufacturer has cut down the fat, it hasn’t compromised on the performance. The ExpertBook B9450 is powered by the 10th-Gen Intel Core i7 processor, paired with 16 GB of RAM, runs on Windows 10 Pro and offers several other features. All of this comes at a premium though. The ExpertBook B9450F price starts at Rs 1,02,228 onwards. I have been using this laptop for few weeks now and here is what we think of it. 

Almost everyone who walked into my house in the last three weeks and lifted the Asus ExpertBook B9 was surprised by how light it is. Its lightweight nature is complimented by a compact form factor too, allowing the notebook to find space for itself anywhere in the house. It is also very easy to carry around and gives you a premium feel. This notebook will definitely make life easier for those who have to roam around a lot with the laptop bag on their back.  

The body looks sturdy and Asus claims that it has a military-grade endurance. As far as connectivity options go, you get most ports - 2 x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x HDMI, 1 x RJ45 LAN through a micro HDMI port (dongle included in box), 1 x Kensington lock slot and 1 x audio combo jack. 

You get a 14-inch fullHD+ screen to work on the ExpertBook B9450. It’s impressive that the laptop manages to offer an edge-to-edge display with very thin bezels. Asus has included a webcam with a privacy shutter on the top side. I have been using the laptop mostly at my workstation and for indoor conditions, it’s bright and sharp. The company has also used an anti-glare film that makes it easy on eyes.

The display also comes with PSR tech, which is a shorter form for Panel Self Refresh Technology. This feature adjusts screen’s power consumption depending upon what is playing on it.  

I largely used the Asus B9450 for office-related work which included writing copies, attending video calls and others stuff. I even used the webcam of the ExpertBook B9450 to moderate a webinar and record a few interviews. The laptop managed to do a really good job on all fronts. 

Two things that make this notebook a treat to type on are the ErgoLift Hinge and very well-spaced out keyboard. The first lifts the keyboard deck slightly nearer, giving a nice angle for you to use the notebook. The backlit keyboard also gets some useful additions. It has dedicated keys for camera and snip tools, is spill-proof and features a fingerprint scanner. 

This interview was done using Asus ExpertBook B9450:

To keep the size small, Asus has removed the number keys from the right. Instead, it has added a digital number pad on the track pad itself. All you need to do is tap on the right corner of the glass trackpad and the number pad is activated. It is a really cool and effective feature to have.  

The unit I got for review, was powered by Intel’s 10th Gen Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM. Along with this, you also get a fast 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD. All of this combined gives you a very good performance. The laptop doesn’t slow down a bit even during heavy multitasking and is more than capable of running some games too.  

The only area where I think it could be better is booting. The ExpertBook B9450 is not slow by any means but just takes a couple of extra seconds to get started.  

Lastly, it offers an incredible battery life. I easily managed to get 11-12 hours of battery life from this notebook on a consistent basis. This includes office work at around 60-70 per cent battery levels. Also, I had the keyboard light turned on almost throughout. By changing these settings, you can extend the battery life further.  

Asus ExpertBook B9450 laptop review: Final Verdict 

The Asus ExpertBook B9450 is a working professional’s delight. Most sectors are continuing with Work From Home practices while others may adapt them permanently. In the current scenario, if you are looking for an enterprise-grade notebook, then there aren’t too many better options than the B9450. It is light-weight, high on productivity and exactly what you maybe looking for to get through tough work days.