Asus has today announced their “first ASUS next-era AI PC for work, engineered to elevate business efficiency and security, setting new benchmarks in productivity and workplace adaptability” – the ExpertBook P5.
The Asus ExpertBook P5, while offering up to 28 hours of battery life, includes business-grade security, a complimentary 1-year McAfee+ Premium membership and AI on-board thanks to the Intel Core Ultra Processor. At just 1.29kg it is extremely lightweight and promises to be the perfect laptop for professionals on the go.
The ExpertBook P5 promises to deliver business-level performance in a sustainable design with military-grade durability. Of course, the requisite 2024 addition of AI includes transcription, translation, an AI camera, audio optimisation, meeting summaries, and watermarks. This review will test just how useful these are.
We were lucky enough to get our hands on this a few weeks ago and have carefully detailed our thoughts on it. Read on to hear our verdict.
No mess, no fuss. Simple, basic but stylish. The lid does not show any fingerprints with its matte finish which looks good. The Asus ExpertBook logo on the lid also looks very understated and really good – not gaudy like so many logos can be.
The ExpertBook P5 is very thin and lightweight, measuring just 1.49cm thick at the front. Even with the thin nature of the front, the angles of the edges allows the lid to be easily opened with one hand.
The right-hand side of the laptop houses a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port and a Kensington lock port. The left-hand side is where the rest of the business occurs with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, another USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, the HDMI 2.1 port and a 3.5mm combo audio jack.
The ExpertBook P5 is minimalistic, even with all these ports and I love it. The two Thunderbolt 4 ports allow for charging and extending to an external monitor at the same time (or you could use the full-sized HDMI port). I actually think they could have foregone the HDMI port but this is a business-focused laptop and so many locations have built-in HDMI cables to easily extend your laptop to a bigger screen.
Being a business-focused laptop you would expect the Asus ExpertBook P5 to have a specific focus on security – and it does.
It includes a NIST SP 800-155 compliant commercial-grade BIOS with five years of ASUS BIOS and driver security updates. Not only that but it has the option of a fingerprint sensor login via the fingerprint sensor masquerading as a power button or a Windows Hello login via the included IR camera. There is also a manual shutter for the camera for that extra peace of mind.
The ExpertBook P5 also comes with a year’s subscription to McAfee+ Premium service. I’m not a huge fan of McAfee but some folks swear by it. The included service though can be used across multiple devices over the year – it does include a DeepFake detection program so could certainly prove useful for some.
The display on the ExpertBook P5 is a 14-inch WXGA display with a 144Hz refresh rate – unusual for a business laptop and I’m not entirely sure why it is included but it’s a nice addition. The higher refresh rate does make the content on-screen display more smoothly and if you are using it for an entire day this increased refresh rate should leave your eyes feeling less exhausted.
The display looked good while working on it with colours displayed with decent vibrancy although it will pale in comparison to the higher-end laptops, especially those with OLED panels.
The brightness though is excellent with the display able to display up to 400 nits, although it seemed more in our use.
Above the display sites the camera which is a 1080p webcam, complete with a physical shutter for your own privacy. Asus has once again included AI software to aid you in your meetings with this business-oriented laptop but more on that below.
The keyboard on the ExpertBook P5 is good but not great. The keys are well designed with a small curvature (chiclet style) that make it comfortable for your fingers to type on and the 1.5mm of travel for each key is a good amount without being too little.
My issue with the keys though it that it feels like they have a small, what I’ll call an actuation point which is what you want on a gaming keyboard but not so much on a business laptop. After this point the keyboard is mushy, although I don’t hate the mushiness when using it for a long typing session. This does take some getting used to but once I’d used it for a while it was actually quite comfortable and accurate to type on.
The touchpad is quite large, given the compact size of the laptop itself. Fingers glide across the touchpad comfortably and it responds quickly and accurately without any mis-clicks that I get on some other review laptops. The touchpad is a bit mushy like the keyboard so it does not give an immediate click that you feel on a more premium laptop’s touchpad.
The Asus ExpertBook P5 is powered by the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, which, aside from the new-fangled Copilot+ capabilities, offers decent performance. Using it by itself as a simple laptop it worked great, running all the programs I threw at it. This is a business laptop so that’s what I used it for, without any issues.
Using the laptop extended to a 4K gaming monitor it did slow down a bit but not anywhere enough to make it unusable. All it was was a bit of slowdown when moving one Edge tab from the laptop display up to the extended 4K monitor.
Once there though it worked just fine. I am currently writing this review on the ExpertBook P5 while it is extended to the 4K monitor with the 4K monitor split into two halves with Kayo running on one half and the other the Asus ExperBook P5 website and Google Drive open on the laptop below.
If you want to run more compute-intensive programs (such as complicated video editing) you may prefer to go for a more powerful laptop but for all business-related tasks, this worked fine.
Asus includes an ‘Asus Expert Panel’ where they keep the shortcuts for their AI software uses. For this laptop Asus has introduced AI ExpertMeet, an on-device AI assistant that encapsulates all meeting AI capabilities.
AI ExpertMeet offers:
- AI Meeting Minutes – records the meeting in real-time, providing transcripts, translations and AI summary to capture key points
- AI Translation – seamless multi-language communications in real-time with subtitle generation from both audio sources
- Business Watermark – for secure on-screen sharing, protecting proprietary data, better-trusted relations and partnerships
- AI Audio – for ultimate clarity offering general, single-presenter and multi-presenter mode for optimal experience
- AI Camera – provides seamless visual experience with lighting correction, auto framing, appearance filters, gaze correction and background blur.
The first time I opened AI ExpertMeet it slowed the laptop down and kind of hung it up for about 10 seconds (but felt like a lifetime). Once open it needed an update – which fixed the slow opening and hanging bug – assuming that was what caused it rather than just the first opening.
As for AI, I’m now sold on just how it can be useful. Asus has done a great job with this AI ExpertMeet, and this is the first version we are seeing so I can’t wait for future developments along this line.
Like so many other laptops this year, the laptop is built for the future, with the on-device AI capabilities available for future use of various apps that use them. At this stage, there are very few apps that can do that—there are some really good photo editing ones, but not much else.
The battery life was good but not great on the Asus ExpertBook P5. I was able to get around 14 hours of basic video watching, web surfing, video meetings and productivity-style use which is ok. Extending the display to a 4K monitor though did decrease the battery life – as you would expect.
I do tend to use my display at a brighter level so that might account for the lower battery life. As a general rule though this will easily get you through a full day of business use – assuming you are not a workaholic working more than 12 hours a day!
The ExpertBook P5 also supports fast charging and can charge from 5 to 60% in under 50 minutes
This is yet another business laptop but it is the first laptop I’ve seen that actually makes use and sense of the AI built-in capabilities it has. The meeting features were extremely useful and I think if you are someone who is in a lot of meetings then this is perfect for you.
The laptop is stylish and understated with a keyboard that has a steep learning curve to it, as so many do. Fingerprint sensor, Windows Hello, manual shutter for the camera and all the requisite security features you want in your business laptop. It is small and powerful and really packs a punch for such a small laptop.
I would definitely recommend checking it out if you are in the market for a new laptop for work. The Asus ExpertBook P5 is available now starting at AU
The ExpertBook P5 promises to deliver business-level performance in a sustainable design with military-grade durability. Of course, the requisite 2024 addition of AI includes transcription, translation, an AI camera, audio optimisation, meeting summaries, and watermarks. This review will test just how useful these are.
We were lucky enough to get our hands on this a few weeks ago and have carefully detailed our thoughts on it. Read on to hear our verdict.
No mess, no fuss. Simple, basic but stylish. The lid does not show any fingerprints with its matte finish which looks good. The Asus ExpertBook logo on the lid also looks very understated and really good – not gaudy like so many logos can be.
The ExpertBook P5 is very thin and lightweight, measuring just 1.49cm thick at the front. Even with the thin nature of the front, the angles of the edges allows the lid to be easily opened with one hand.
The right-hand side of the laptop houses a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port and a Kensington lock port. The left-hand side is where the rest of the business occurs with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, another USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, the HDMI 2.1 port and a 3.5mm combo audio jack.
The ExpertBook P5 is minimalistic, even with all these ports and I love it. The two Thunderbolt 4 ports allow for charging and extending to an external monitor at the same time (or you could use the full-sized HDMI port). I actually think they could have foregone the HDMI port but this is a business-focused laptop and so many locations have built-in HDMI cables to easily extend your laptop to a bigger screen.
Being a business-focused laptop you would expect the Asus ExpertBook P5 to have a specific focus on security – and it does.
It includes a NIST SP 800-155 compliant commercial-grade BIOS with five years of ASUS BIOS and driver security updates. Not only that but it has the option of a fingerprint sensor login via the fingerprint sensor masquerading as a power button or a Windows Hello login via the included IR camera. There is also a manual shutter for the camera for that extra peace of mind.
The ExpertBook P5 also comes with a year’s subscription to McAfee+ Premium service. I’m not a huge fan of McAfee but some folks swear by it. The included service though can be used across multiple devices over the year – it does include a DeepFake detection program so could certainly prove useful for some.
The display on the ExpertBook P5 is a 14-inch WXGA display with a 144Hz refresh rate – unusual for a business laptop and I’m not entirely sure why it is included but it’s a nice addition. The higher refresh rate does make the content on-screen display more smoothly and if you are using it for an entire day this increased refresh rate should leave your eyes feeling less exhausted.
The display looked good while working on it with colours displayed with decent vibrancy although it will pale in comparison to the higher-end laptops, especially those with OLED panels.
The brightness though is excellent with the display able to display up to 400 nits, although it seemed more in our use.
Above the display sites the camera which is a 1080p webcam, complete with a physical shutter for your own privacy. Asus has once again included AI software to aid you in your meetings with this business-oriented laptop but more on that below.
The keyboard on the ExpertBook P5 is good but not great. The keys are well designed with a small curvature (chiclet style) that make it comfortable for your fingers to type on and the 1.5mm of travel for each key is a good amount without being too little.
My issue with the keys though it that it feels like they have a small, what I’ll call an actuation point which is what you want on a gaming keyboard but not so much on a business laptop. After this point the keyboard is mushy, although I don’t hate the mushiness when using it for a long typing session. This does take some getting used to but once I’d used it for a while it was actually quite comfortable and accurate to type on.
The touchpad is quite large, given the compact size of the laptop itself. Fingers glide across the touchpad comfortably and it responds quickly and accurately without any mis-clicks that I get on some other review laptops. The touchpad is a bit mushy like the keyboard so it does not give an immediate click that you feel on a more premium laptop’s touchpad.
The Asus ExpertBook P5 is powered by the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, which, aside from the new-fangled Copilot+ capabilities, offers decent performance. Using it by itself as a simple laptop it worked great, running all the programs I threw at it. This is a business laptop so that’s what I used it for, without any issues.
Using the laptop extended to a 4K gaming monitor it did slow down a bit but not anywhere enough to make it unusable. All it was was a bit of slowdown when moving one Edge tab from the laptop display up to the extended 4K monitor.
Once there though it worked just fine. I am currently writing this review on the ExpertBook P5 while it is extended to the 4K monitor with the 4K monitor split into two halves with Kayo running on one half and the other the Asus ExperBook P5 website and Google Drive open on the laptop below.
If you want to run more compute-intensive programs (such as complicated video editing) you may prefer to go for a more powerful laptop but for all business-related tasks, this worked fine.
Asus includes an ‘Asus Expert Panel’ where they keep the shortcuts for their AI software uses. For this laptop Asus has introduced AI ExpertMeet, an on-device AI assistant that encapsulates all meeting AI capabilities.
AI ExpertMeet offers:
- AI Meeting Minutes – records the meeting in real-time, providing transcripts, translations and AI summary to capture key points
- AI Translation – seamless multi-language communications in real-time with subtitle generation from both audio sources
- Business Watermark – for secure on-screen sharing, protecting proprietary data, better-trusted relations and partnerships
- AI Audio – for ultimate clarity offering general, single-presenter and multi-presenter mode for optimal experience
- AI Camera – provides seamless visual experience with lighting correction, auto framing, appearance filters, gaze correction and background blur.
The first time I opened AI ExpertMeet it slowed the laptop down and kind of hung it up for about 10 seconds (but felt like a lifetime). Once open it needed an update – which fixed the slow opening and hanging bug – assuming that was what caused it rather than just the first opening.
As for AI, I’m now sold on just how it can be useful. Asus has done a great job with this AI ExpertMeet, and this is the first version we are seeing so I can’t wait for future developments along this line.
Like so many other laptops this year, the laptop is built for the future, with the on-device AI capabilities available for future use of various apps that use them. At this stage, there are very few apps that can do that—there are some really good photo editing ones, but not much else.
The battery life was good but not great on the Asus ExpertBook P5. I was able to get around 14 hours of basic video watching, web surfing, video meetings and productivity-style use which is ok. Extending the display to a 4K monitor though did decrease the battery life – as you would expect.
I do tend to use my display at a brighter level so that might account for the lower battery life. As a general rule though this will easily get you through a full day of business use – assuming you are not a workaholic working more than 12 hours a day!
The ExpertBook P5 also supports fast charging and can charge from 5 to 60% in under 50 minutes
This is yet another business laptop but it is the first laptop I’ve seen that actually makes use and sense of the AI built-in capabilities it has. The meeting features were extremely useful and I think if you are someone who is in a lot of meetings then this is perfect for you.
The laptop is stylish and understated with a keyboard that has a steep learning curve to it, as so many do. Fingerprint sensor, Windows Hello, manual shutter for the camera and all the requisite security features you want in your business laptop. It is small and powerful and really packs a punch for such a small laptop.
I would definitely recommend checking it out if you are in the market for a new laptop for work. The Asus ExpertBook P5 is available now starting at AU$2,299 at the Asus e-Shop and retailers such as Centrecom, JW, Computer Alliance, PLE, Scorptec and Umart.
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
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