#TECH: Asus releases lightest 14-inch business laptop

KUALA LUMPUR: ASUS has announced its new ExpertBook B9 laptop (B9450).

This business laptop is designed to provide performance, durability and design in what is believed to be the lightest business laptop in the market currently.

Weighing in at just 870 grams with a 14.9mm-thin profile, the new ASUS ExpertBook B9 boasts a frameless four-sided NanoEdge display, which means the B9's 14-inch panel fits into a standard 13-inch laptop chassis with an astounding 94 percent screen-to-body ratio.

BUILT FOR WORK ON-THE-GO

Available in Star Black finish, the new ASUS ExpertBook B9 is housed in a chassis milled from magnesium-lithium alloy making it tougher and lighter than Asus' previous magnesium-alloy models.

Its ErgoLift hinge provides users more comfortable typing sessions and its quad-microphone array supports far-field and noise cancellation making the laptop conducive for video conferencing.

The B9's sound system is also optimised by Harman Kardon with down-firing speakers that benefit from signal processing to make adaptive adjustments over time like improve clarity and filtering out noise.

Asus also claims a whopping 12 hours use on the new ExpertBook B9. The laptop comes with two-cell, 33Wh battery which is the reason behind the 12-hours productivity and there is another version of the laptop that comes with 4-cell lithium-polymer battery (66Wh power source) which offers up to 24-hour use under the same workload and its fast-charging capability brings up to 60 per cent battery power in just 39 minutes.

DURABLE AND MORE SECURED

The ASUS ExpertBook B9 is equipped with robust military-grade durability. The laptop survived numerous MIL-STD-810G laboratory procedures including drop tests, shock tests, vibration tests, high and low temperatures, days in 95 per cent humidity, and hours of sand and dust exposure.

The B9 also equipped with IR camera covers and paired with Trusted Platform Module 2.0 (TPM) security chip the laptop offers safe biometric logins with solid security capability helping users to safeguard business data and maintain personal privacy.

TOP-TIER PERFORMANCE

The ASUS ExpertBook B9 is powered by 10th Gen Core i7 Processor with up to 16GB of LPDDR3 memory and comes with as many as two 2TB M.2 SSDs in PCIe 3.0 x4 slots, and next-gen Wi-Fi 6 networking.

The B9 is also certified by Intel's Project Athena, an innovation programme that establishes standards for consistent responsiveness away from wall power, a demanding baseline for battery life, the availability of comprehensive connectivity, and a drive for sleek form factors.

The new ExpertBook-series laptops maintain the professional and reliable personality of ASUSPRO products, but add more innovation and flexibility to the DNA to meet the requirements of modern businesses.

When at a desk, the B9 makes it easy to increase productivity via support for an external monitor through the full-sized HDMI port and two Thunderbolt 3 ports support display connectivity along with fast-charging and external storage.

For data-intensive workloads, the B9 is the first business laptop to include the exclusive ASUS NumberPad 2.0 technology, an LED-illuminated numeric keypad built into the touchpad.

The B9 also has an Ethernet interface which is accessible through a physical micro-HDMI port, one USB 3.1 Gen 2 port and a 3.5mm jack for audio.

SEAMLESSLY INTEGRATE MOBILE WITH MYASUS SOFTWARE

The latest ExpertBook B9 includes the latest version of the MyASUS software. The software now allows seamless integration with mobile devices, using the Link to MyASUS mobile app that's scheduled for release in early 2020.

New features include fast and easy wireless file and URL transfers for users who need to share files or web links seamlessly between their PC and mobile devices; Remote File Access for accessing data on mobile devices from a laptop, anytime and anywhere; and smooth multitasking using the screen mirroring and screen extender functions that give users an auxiliary display for cross-referencing and other uses.

PRICE AND AVAILABILITY

The Asus ExpertBook B9 variants and prices are as follow: