Asus ExpertBook B1 B1500
This is a fine choice for smaller companies that seek bigger screens, especially if money is tight
SCORE
PRICE £524 (£628 inc VAT) from uk.insight.com
As the saying used to go, an IT manager was never going to be fired for buying IBM. Today, in the world of laptops at least, that might equally be said of Dell, Dynabook (formerly Toshiba), HP and Lenovo, but as this Labs demonstrates both Acer and Asus now have compelling business offerings that deserve your attention.
In the case of the ExpertBook B1 series, its big appeal is value for money. At a fraction over £600, Asus is offering a well-balanced specification in a well-built chassis with a wellrounded supporting cast of security, screen and expansion offerings. At the risk of over-egging our point, it’s great for the money.
The same could be said of the Acer TravelMate P4 opposite, but the ExpertBook targets a different type o of user: one who’s looking for a lightweight des desktop replacement rather ra than a commut commuting machine. At 1.7 1.7kg you will notice it in a briefcase, and the chassis is wide at 358mm. However, it’s also slim, and the fact it can be charged over USB-C as well as via the supplied (and relatively compact) DC power supply compensates for a lowly battery life of around six hours in our light-usage tests. Let’s not gloss over those results: we hoped for eight hours, and the HP EliteBook whips it here with almost twice the battery life. As we say, this Asus is not designed for the daily commute.
All three business-focused laptops proved much closer in our speed tests, which shouldn’t be a surprise as they all use Intel’s Core i5-1135G7 processor. The HP’s 16GB of RAM proved little advantage in our benchmarks, which reinforces our belief that there’s little point in adding to the 8GB that Acer and Asus choose to accompany the mid-range CPU. These are machines designed for lightweight office tasks, not to tear through tough jobs that require as many cores as you can throw at them. Still, there is room for expansion should you feel the need. Ten easy-to-remove crosshead screws are all that stand in your way; you then use a plastic slider to dislodge the ExpertBook’s base and you’re inside, where you’ll find a single empty SODIMM socket (the supplied RAM is soldered on) and an occupied M.2 slot. There’s also an empty 2.5in bay, making ing it simplicity itself lf to expand upon on the supplied 256GB. 6GB. You can also so replace the battery, but that’s more of a hassle. Considering the aggressive price, we’re happy with Asus’ choice of screen. A peak brightness of 306cd/m2 is fine for office use, and while 56% coverage of the sRGB gamut means it looks drab compared next to the best laptops this month (and an average Delta E of 4.54 certainly rules it out for anyone seeking colour accuracy), it’s p l e a s a n t to look at. Generous viewing angles and a 6614K temperature – close to the perfect-whites target of 6500K – both help on that front front.
Then we come to the keyboard, which would be at home on a laptop costing twice as much. The keys are well separated and easy to hit, with a quiet action that won’t wear on you. Asus also separates out the cursor keys and finds room for a slim numberpad to the right. The trackpad could be larger, but that’s our only complaint. It also helps that the speedy and effective fingerprint reader doubles as the power button.
Another nice touch is the privacy slider integrated into the 720p webcam. Sadly this is the highlight of the webcam, which suffers from a slight lag and mushy detail, though it captures audio well. The camera isn’t compatible with Windows Hello, so there’s no facial recognition to log you into Windows 11.
We were pleased to see an upgrade to Windows 11 was offered when we booted up the ExpertBook, and that Asus includes Pro rather than Home; it could have skimped on this at such a low price. It all adds up to the feeling that, webcam aside, you’re getting far more than you have any right to expect for the price. While the chassis is made from plastic rather than metal (other than the lid), it looks the part of an executive’s machine, too.
As with Acer and its TravelMate
P4, the Asus ExpertBook proves there are business bargains to be had if you’re willing to look outside the usual corporate suspects. You won’t be fired for buying one one.