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Asus Expertbook B9400 laptop review: It keeps getting better |
Key specs: 14-inch LED full HD display, 11th gen Intel core processor, Harman Kardon, NumPad 2.0, 16GB of RAM, 65Wh battery, HD camera with privacy shutter, fingerprint sensor
Price: Starts at ₹1,15,489
Rating: 4.5/5
Asus introduced the ExpertBook B9 laptop with the 10th generation Intel core processor, privacy shutter for web camera, and fingerprint sensor last year. This year, the company launched an updated version of its ExpertBook B9 laptop. The new ExpertBook B9 laptop comes with model number B9400 and it offers similar features that we saw in the first generation ExpertBook B9 laptop. This means that you get a laptop with an ergonomic design and tons of privacy features. There’s one major change though: Asus has updated the processor.
The second-generation ExpertBook B9 laptop comes with the 11th generation Intel Core processors. You can pick from i5 and i7 variants. As far as the price is concerned, the ExpertBook B9400 laptop comes at a starting price of ₹1,15,489 in India.
Now, that might seem like a lot of money to pay for a laptop. But just like its older sibling, the ExpertBook B9400 deserves it and more. It is sturdy. It is smooth. And it is secure. On the surface, it may seem like nothing has changed. After all, it features the same Star Black body with a thin-bezel display, backlit keypad, and the company’s famed NumPad 2.0 among other things. But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll notice that a lot has changed.
Design
The ExpertBook B9400 laptop features the same light-weight and sturdy design that we saw in the first-generation laptop last year. It is made from magnesium-lithium alloy, which according to the company is the secret sauce that makes this laptop light yet durable.
It weighs 1.005kg, which on paper is marginally more than its predecessor that weighed 995g. But in practice, it’s almost as good. I’ve used the first-gen ExpertBook and I’ve been using its second-generation model for quite some time now. During this time, I have not only used it in a conventional work-from-home setup (yeah, it has become ‘conventional’ now) but also while travelling in a car and a whole lot of other situations and it's never broken a sweat.
Talking about the overall build, the second-generation ExpertBook laptop, just like its predecessor, comes with MIL-STD 810H certification. In addition to that, it has reinforced hinge connections and I/O connectors along with rubber dampers, all of which are aimed at making this laptop withstand challenging conditions. It also has an ErgoLift hinge -- just like its predecessor -- that naturally lifts the laptop at an angle of 5-degrees from the bottom, which not only helps the laptop stay cool under stressful conditions but also enhances the impact of the audio, more on this later. And in case you need more, you can use the reusable accessory box that you can use to place the laptop in a more comfortable position and store various accessories and attachments.
On the connectivity front, you get two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, dual 4K display output, an HDMI 2.0 port, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 TypeA port, a 3.5 mm combo audio jack, and a Micro HDMI-to-LAN port.
Coming to the keyboard, the ExpertBook B9400 laptop features the same backlit keypad that was present in the first-generation model. You get separate keys to enable/display the keypad, lock your laptop, turn the camera on/off and take a screenshot among other things. These are the things that worked perfectly in last year’s ExpertBook B9 laptop. They are as good on this year’s model as well. You can read more about the first-generation ExpertBook B9 laptop below.
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