Asus ExpertBook B9 gets Alder Lake vPro upgrades, world's lightest 14-inch business laptop but only at half the battery capacity

The Asus ExpertBook B9 came across as a capable business laptop in our review. Today, Asus is upgrading the ExpertBook B9 to feature the latest Intel 12th gen Alder Lake vPro options. The new ExpertBook B9 B9400CBA largely resembles the previous generation device but is now lighter and comes with several under-the-hood changes. 

Asus pegs the 2022 ExpertBook B9 as the world's lightest 14-inch business laptop at just 880 g for the 33 Whr version and at 1,005 g for the 66 Whr SKU. The laptop is made of a magnesium alloy, is just about 14.9 mm thick, and is tested for US Military-grade durability.

Several Intel 12th gen vPro processors are offered as configuration options. These include the Core i5-1235U, Core i5-1245U, Core i7-1255U, and the Core i7-1265U. Buyers can configure the ExpertBook B9 with up to 32 GB of LPDDR5-5200 RAM and up to a 4 TB (2x 2 TB RAID 0 or 1) PCIe Gen 4 SSD. 

The ExpertBook B9's 14-inch 16:9 display offers a 1,920x1,080 resolution with 400 nits brightness and a 72% NTSC color gamut coverage. Port selection includes 2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x HDMI 2.0m, and a 3.5 mm combo audio jack. Wi-Fi 6E with Bluetooth 5.2 handles the networking. 

Asus has also equipped the ExpertBook B9 with a proximity sensor, a 720p webcam with IR support and webcam shutter for facial logins, a fingerprint sensor, NFC, and a Nano Kensington lock. Both 33 Whr and 66 Whr battery options are available. Asus claims up to a 16-hour battery life on the move with the 66 Whr variant.

The Asus ExpertBook B9 starts from US$1,399 or CA$2,100 and is slated for availability from Q3 2022.

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