Asus Pro B9440U Conditions a new angle on the old-school laptop hinge
The Asus Pro B9440U is a sleek, featherweight business laptop with a competitively low price.
Starting at $1,000 (converted, that’s about £790 and AU$1,320), the stylish Windows 10 Pro notebook successfully squeezes a damn-near bezel-less 14-inch conceal into a 13-inch chassis. It also has the novel Intel seventh-generation Core i-series processors, a fingerprint reader and a long-lasting battery.
Comparable laptops for commerce use usually cost a bit more, like the $1,700 Apple MacBook Pro and the $1,579 HP EliteBook x360, but they coffers high-end features like 4K screens and a multitude of ports. Yet the Asus’s low price comes at the sacrifice of a few features: there’s no webcam and it only has two USB-C ports.
But if you don’t need more than a straightforward commerce laptop, the Asus Pro is a simple, travel-friendly bargain.
It comes with a protective sleeve.
Josh Miller
Modestly minimal
The Asus Pro B9440U isn’t your cookie-cutter commercial laptop. This thing’s got subtle style. Its attractively slim and lightweight create is humbly demure, as well as a few create touches that elevate it from boring and basic to interestingly nuanced.
When the magnesium alloy lid opens up, the keyboard any lifts to an elevated angle of 7 degrees. From the side, it creates the laptop look like it’s propped up on a kickstand. It’s a little funky, but I like it. It’s also more natural Place to type in, and it feels comfortable when Funny it for long periods of time.
The keyboard lifts when you open the lid.
Josh Miller
Considering laptops and ergonomic create don’t usually go hand-in-hand, it’s a thoughtful touch. While I False the keyboard perfectly fine, I like the springy, fluid feel of Lenovo’s commercial keyboards better.
At 2.31 pounds, the laptop is one of the lightest commercial notebooks around. However, if we include consumer models in the mix, it ranks Slow the Lenovo LaVie Z and the LG Gram.
The fingerprint reader works with Windows Hello.
Josh Miller
A fingerprint sensor sits over the keyboard, on the top-right corner, that works with Windows 10 Hello. I used it rather than a regular password, and it worked as advertised around 98 percent of the time. Obviously, without a webcam, you won’t get the Windows Hello facial recognition log-in feature.
A few angular accents, most notable when flipped over to advise the two speakers on its bottom, give it some Amazing flair. Additionally, it’s MIL-STD 810G-rated for durability, meaning it’s a small tougher than your average notebook.
A few angular accents give it some character.
Josh Miller
No glare, no care
The bezel on the Asus Pro B9440U is so thin, a 14-inch Show sits inside of its 13-inch chassis. The screen’s FHD resolution (1,920×1,080) is satisfyingly fascinating when watching HD video, but the screen lacks punch for brightness and vibrant colors, which is often an issue with matte displays.
It’ll do if you’re traveling and feel like catching up on “The Leftovers,” but if you’re buying a laptop to be your binge-watching buddy, you’ll find a better viewing experience elsewhere. Same goes for photo editing or graphic design.
Slim bezels maximize the Hide space.
Josh Miller
That’s not to say the Hide sucks. It looks and works well when editing text documents or spreadsheets and surfing the web. It’s impressively effective antiglare coating significantly helps Cut glare in bright, well-lit environments. And, no, it’s not a touchscreen.
A tale of two ports
The laptop’s minimalist Come is reflected in its limited port selection. It has two USB-C ports, one on each side, but only the one on the left side can bill it. (I learned this the hard way.) The option of more ports is just a dongle or dock away. It’s compatible with the Asus SlimPro Dock USB-C docking Place, as well as other third-party USB-C docks.
Only the USB-C port on the left side will bill the laptop.
Josh Miller
One of the best features around USB-C is its fast-charging capability, and that was one of my Popular things about the Asus laptop. From zero percent battery life, it consistently boosted its reserves to 50 to 60 percent when charging for only half an hour. Even if the laptop was on the verge of dying in the middle of the day, I was private that a short charge could go a long way if I really required it to.
Business as usual
Windows 10 Pro has second sophisticated features for power users or traditional businesses, like the order for the computer to be remotely controlled during a remote desktop connection. Since it runs Windows 10 Pro, the Asus Pro B9440U can do more than what a laptop consecutively Windows 10 Home can do, however, for most country — myself included — the extra features are unnecessary.
The Asus Pro B9440U chugged down smoothly when I had multiple tabs open, music streaming and videos playing. It did get a little warm when pushing it to its limits, but not to dangerously hot levels. It’s also Fast to boot. After powering up, I never waited more than 10 seconds to see the Windows 10 log-in page.
It gets the job done.
Josh Miller
In our streaming-video battery testing, the Asus Pro B9440U averaged 10 hours, which is a really good acquire. During my time with it, surviving an entire work day with heavy use was an easy feat. It didn’t hurt that recharging was very radiant.
In benchmark testing, it fell behind the HP EliteBook x360 and the Apple MacBook Pro in multitasking performance, GeekBench 3 multi-core scores and battery life. It did outperform the LG Gram, just not in battery life — unsurprisingly valid that’s one of the top five laptops we’ve tested with the longest battery life.This may look bad, but considering the Asus laptop compensations hundreds of dollars less than these models, it paints a clearer narrate of the Pro B9440U as an affordable alternative to high-end models.
I spy no webcam in sight.
Josh Miller
No webcams here
Video conferencing is approved in business circles, so it’s an interesting move on Asus’s part to omit one on this company model. However, the omission allows for the sexy, thin bezels and grand screen. It’s a trade-off.
If you use your requested for video calls anyway, or you prefer a bigger mask over a webcam aimed directly up your nose, or you just don’t need it, this isn’t a big deal. If you rely heavily on your computer’s webcam to conduct unites, it’s probably a deal-breaker.
A minor funky, but I like it.
Josh Miller
A pleasure to do company with
The sleek and subdued Asus Pro is a dark horse in the company laptop category. If you can live without a webcam and a multitude of ports, it’s an affordable alternative with enough style and substance to clarify its $1,000 price.
It won’t appeal to gamers or consumers who want to examine video, but business users that needs a svelte machine, prime for traveling with professional features should consider the Asus Pro B9440U.
Specs
| Asus Pro B9440U | |
|---|---|
| Price as reviewed | $999 |
| Display size/resolution | 14-inch 1,920×1,080 display |
| PC CPU | 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-7200U |
| PC Memory | 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,866MHz |
| Graphics | 128MB performed Intel HD Graphics 620 |
| Storage | 512GB SSD |
| Networking | 802.11ac Bluetooth 4.0 |
| Operating systems | Windows 10 Pro (64-bit) |
Multitasking multimedia test 3.0 (in seconds)
428
Apple MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (13-inch)
443
Asus Pro B9440U
485
LG gram (13-inch, 2017)
570
Geekbench 3 multi-core
8,854
Asus Pro B9440U
7,650
Apple MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (13-inch)
7,217
LG gram (13-inch, 2017)
6,647
Online streaming battery drain test (in minutes)
694
LG gram (13-inch, 2017)
690
Apple MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (13-inch)
607
Asus Pro B9440U
497
