ASUS puts Creative and Upwardly Mobile people front and center for its 2020 lineup of power laptops
This year is looking up to be a good rollout year for laptops in the consumer electronics category, as the industry is seeing greater computing power from leading CPU brands at essentially the same or even lower cost, a shift in focus on durability with heavy emphasis on thinner but higher-grade build and longer energy supply, and bolstered security with particular focus on privacy and data safety–all in the name of keeping up with the rigors of today’s computer usage. With so many laptop options currently out in the market, Taiwan-based global tech giant ASUS recognizes that the real game in the laptop category starts at integrating all three important considerations on its new products, and they seem to have delivered on that with the release of their best commercial product lineup yet, unveiled at the recently held APAC CES 2020 Media Summit in Taipei. Here’s a look at three of the most promising ASUS laptops from among this year’s commercial lineup. We’ve done the work of carefully assessing and testing the units against the need of its intended markets:
The ExpertBook B9450 – The world’s lightest 14” business laptop for the most discerning business-minded individuals
Working style has changed in today’s business world, which means that for the growing number of business nomads– business professionals working in the areas of management, finance, marketing, research, IT, engineering and the likes who are no longer limited to office or cubicle setup– digital mobility is the key to being functional and operational at any time. To achieve this, an unassuming yet high-performing unit is needed in order to accommodate the multiple workspaces running in the background, and the ASUS ExpertBook B9450 laptop promises just that.
The ExpertBook B9450’s main proposition is its ultimate portability. At its lightest weight of 870g, it is the currently the lightest 14” business laptop in the market today, which may seem trivial but is actually a dealbreaker for the many who are always on the go and in transit in today’s fast paced working environment. The battery life of the ExpertBook is also particularly good feature as it can support work for up to 24 hours, thanks to a large 66Whr Lithium-polymer battery option (there is also a 33Whr battery model for other units in this series). The unit comes with Fast-Charge capability, which proves useful when your day is packed with meetings and you always have to be on the run so a quick charge is absolutely necessary.
The ExpertBook B9450 delivers as well on functionality. It has two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 support, M.2 NVMe PCIe® 3.0 x4 slots supporting up to two 2TB SSDs to handle all your data dump, Wi-Fi 6 for seamless connectivity, and is even equipped with a spill-resistant and backlit keyboard, for when you accidentally spill your coffee during a morning rush. The laptop is also outfitted with Harman Kardon integrated stereo speakers & four 360° far-field microphones with noise cancellation for better audio and video conference experience, or for downtime periods when you can relax and catch a quick stream of your favorite show. The quad array microphones also come with Cortana and Alexa voice-recognition support.
Advanced security for your ultra sensitive work data is also reinforced with the built-in IR camera for biometric authentication, Nano Kensington lock, TPM 2.0 chip, fingerprint sensor. As an added bonus, a Webcam Shield has been added to safeguard you against malicious hackers.
The ExpertBook B9450 will soon be available in the Philippines. Stay tuned to ASUS Philippines via their official Facebook page at Fb.com/ASUSph for further announcements and updates.
The ProArt StudioBook Series – Supreme workstation for the super fast Creatives
The ProArt StudioBook series may have been branded as such because it is precisely what the name implies– your own professional multimedia or art studio the size of a laptop. The series intends to service the almost 200 million PC-based creators who are juggernauts in their own rights–from the professional content creator, to the prosumer, down to the hobbyists who juggle creative passion projects with work. The ProArt StudioBook series also answers the many challenges with owning a “for creators” laptop, most notably the underperformance on the areas of color grading, computing power versus project requirements, and mobility of the unit. With the StudioBook series, ASUS has evidently incorporated the most optimal innovative designs and cutting edge performance in ensuring powerful performance and excellent user experience.
There are currently 5 units under the StudioBook series but for the intention of this review, we have focused on its most powerful one–the ProArt StudioBook Pro X. The Pro X is regarded as the first 4-sided NanoEdge Quadro laptop, with 4-sided NanoEdge display with 16:10 panel, 92% screen-to-body ratio. It is color calibrated, with 97% DCI-P3 RGB color space, has Pantone certification and 8bits color depth providing vivid display to ensure accurate color rendering, thereby translating to near-perfect digital or even offline output. The laptop comes with an exclusive ScreenPad 2.0 design, acting almost like a tablet within the laptop to accommodate the multi-tasking of any busy creator. It can support 3 external displays, with up to 8K resolution support via the two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3.
However, what makes the Pro X exceptionally special in its category is the internal hardware, and we’re quite certain that with that, this will be the go-to pro unit of content creators worldwide. It has top-class processors to make sure that the units can work harmoniously with the creators against the demands of any given project. It has Intel 9th gen Xeon/Core i7 processor, NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 graphics, up to 128GB high-speed ECC RAM and can support up to two 2TB PCIe® Gen 3 x4 SSDs in a CPU attached RAID 0. You can render, save, export virtually anything–from a graphic design to even a full video production. This laptop is ideal for designers, animators, architects, and even programmers–the very future of digital media and entertainment.
Worth noting for this unit is its ability to open angle up to 180 degrees.
The other units in this series are the StudioBook 15 with Core i7 processor, GeForce RTX 2060 and 15” 4K UHD; the StudioBook 17 with Core i7, GeForce RTX 2060, and 17” FHD; the StudioBook Pro 15 with Core i7, Quadro RTX 5000 Max Q and 15” 4K UHD; the StudioBook Pro 17 with Xeon/Core i7, Quadro RTX 3000 Max Q and 17” FHD; and the StudioBook One with Core i9, Quadro RTX 6000 and 15” 4K UHD
The ProArt StudioBook series will soon be available in the Philippines. Stay tuned to ASUS Philippines via their official Facebook page at Fb.com/ASUSph for further announcements and updates.
The ASUS Chromebook Flip C436 – A flipping good piece of productivity laptop for everyone
A quick glance at the Chromebook Flip C436 and you’d know that it has been designed to be an absolute unit in its category–a no-frills, power-packed laptop that can keep up with the demands of casual work and personal usage. Captivatingly simple in feel yet elegantly designed, the Flip C436 is a budding must-have for people who want a versatile laptop that can keep up with today’s level of multi-tasking.
As Chrome OS is a relatively lightweight operating system, the Flip C436 is guaranteed to give you an unprecedented lag-free performance with its 10th Gen Intel ® Core™ i7 processors, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, ultrafast Intel ® Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) and up to 12 hours battery life providing more than enough to seamlessly support your work. The Flip C436 weighs only 1.1kg and measures just 13” diagonally and is encased in magnesium alloy chassis, making it such a lightweight, uber-compact laptop fit for people with hectic daily routines. The unit surprises in other areas as well, particularly in its user-centric features such as omnidirectional quad-speakers, USI-stylus compatibility, and integrated fingerprint sensor.
The Flip C436 is one of the first Chromebooks enabled by co-engineering efforts between ASUS, Google and Intel through Intel’s Project Athena innovation program so it is really designed AND engineered to defy the expectations of today’s super savvy digital natives. The unit does leave more to the imagination–it is up to you, the user, to keep surprising yourself with the laptop’s utmost durability and high-performance.
Like or follow ASUS Philippines at Fb.com/ASUSPh and ASUS For Business Philippines at Fb.com/ /asusforbusinessph to stay updated about the announcement of the availability of Chromebook Flip C436.
ADVT
