The ASUS ExpertBook Ultra is a 14-inch business ultraportable built on Intel’s Panther Lake platform. It is equipped with the Intel Ultra X7 358H CPU, featuring 16 cores (4 Performance, 8 Efficient, 4 Low Power Efficient) and a 50 TOPS NPU. The system includes an integrated Intel Arc B390 GPU with 12 Xe cores. For memory and storage, the reviewed configuration came with 64GB of LPDDR5 RAM and a 1TB PCIe 5 SSD. The price for this specific configuration is $3,599, positioning it for corporate bulk buyers rather than individuals.
The laptop features exceptional build quality, utilizing a matte “Nano Ceramic” coating rated 9H on the hardness scale to resist scratches and fingerprints. The display is a 2,880 x 1,800 Tandem OLED touchscreen protected by Gorilla Glass, offering 1,400-nit peak brightness, a 120Hz refresh rate, and excellent HDR performance with deep blacks and vibrant colors.
The input device setup includes a keyboard that is comfortable and accurate. However, the large haptic trackpad was found to be overly sensitive, necessitating the disabling of most gestures to prevent accidental inputs. The webcam quality was mediocre and grainy in good light, though the microphone array was clear for conferencing, and the IR camera supports Windows Hello.
Port selection is extensive, including two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, one USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1, a 3.5mm audio jack, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6. The audio system consists of a six-speaker setup with two tweeters and two dual-sided woofers, delivering loud, punchy sound.
In terms of mobility, the laptop weighs 1.09 kg. While it does not achieve full MIL-STD-810H certification, it has passed many durability tests. Battery life is outstanding, achieving over 18.5 hours in the Procyon Modern Office test and nearly 24 hours during video playback.
Performance results are mixed across different benchmarks. The PCIe 5 SSD demonstrated blistering read/write speeds of 11,198 MB/s and 10,105 MB/s. CPU-rendering scores in Cinebench R24 (1,114 multi-core) were relatively modest due to the absence of HyperThreading. GeekBench 6 scores, with 2,805 single-core and 16,225 multi-core, were solid for a business machine.
Gaming capability is surprisingly good. The laptop can run Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p Ultra, achieving 69 fps, though performance drops to 40 fps with ray-tracing enabled. 3DMark scores indicate the device can handle moderate gaming and casual 4K titles when settings are reduced.
Adobe Premiere encoding proved respectable for an ultraportable, although it lags behind high-end gaming laptops. Cooling is efficient and quiet under normal operation, demonstrating minimal thermal throttling, with only a 1% drop observed in a 30-minute Cinebench run.
The reviewer assigned the ASUS ExpertBook Ultra an 89% overall rating. The praise focused on the superb screen, excellent battery life, robust build quality, and surprising gaming ability. Criticisms included the mediocre webcam, the divisive trackpad, and the high price for individuals.
In conclusion, the device is considered one of the best ultraportable business laptops available on the market. However, its practicality is limited to organizations that can utilize bulk discounts and consider the total cost of ownership over several years.
Source: TweakTown