ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Asus ExpertBook Extremely is a premium enterprise PC launching in April 2026.
- It is a powerful machine with a modern design, sturdy efficiency from an Intel Panther Lake chip, and wonderful battery life.
- Preliminary info suggests a excessive price ticket.
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The Asus ExpertBook Extremely is a particular laptop computer for me. It is the primary laptop computer I am reviewing this yr, and it is the primary Panther Lake-powered gadget I’ve used outdoors of an official Intel occasion. I have been wanting to attempt one, and this machine is just improbable. From design to efficiency, it’s a laptop computer that’s positive to impress.
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Asus’ newest gadget is an extremely light-weight laptop computer, clocking in at simply 2.18 kilos and measuring 0.65 inches at its thickest level. It’s so modern that it would not even really feel like a laptop computer once you carry it round. It feels extra like an precise pocket book.
It is also completely balanced, passing the one-finger take a look at with flying colours. Due to a small divot beneath the trackpad, you may raise the display screen with out the gadget sliding round.
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Considerate engineering
The laptop computer is primarily manufactured from a magnesium alloy, with Asus’ proprietary Nano Liquid ceramic coating, for a chassis that is each gentle and sturdy. You may not have the ability to inform simply by it, however you may positively really feel the distinction. The ExpertBook Extremely has a slight ruggedness.
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I additionally need to shout out the good keyboard. It makes use of chiclet-shaped buttons with 1.5mm of journey distance, making typing quick, comfy, and, most significantly, satisfying. There’s sufficient suggestions that you do not have to push the important thing all the way in which in to register an enter. It is a model extra typically seen on mechanical keyboards, and it is a huge motive they’re so standard with gaming fans.
I often do not dwell on laptop computer trackpads, however ExpertBook’s deserves a particular point out. It is giant, making certain comfy navigation, and every press produces a crisp, tactile click on. The trackpad additionally has a neat function. By inserting your thumb on the backside and a finger on the high, you activate a devoted scrolling mode. This operate allows you to scroll by way of strains of textual content while not having the cursor. When it is engaged, the pad vibrates and emits a refined clicking sound.
Sensible to see
Asus’ ExpertBook Extremely homes a surprising 14-inch 3K OLED display screen that covers your entire DCI-P3 shade gamut and is Pantone-validated. This implies colours look wealthy and extremely lifelike, to the purpose the place it genuinely places my HP Omen 4K desktop monitor to disgrace. Plus, its 91% screen-to-body ratio ensures that what you are is nearly all show, with minimal bezels closing in on the picture.
The panel reaches a peak brightness of 1,400 nits, enabling clear visibility even in shiny circumstances. Asus additionally utilized Corning Gorilla matte to cut back glare by as much as 80%, and the glass itself is protected by Corning Gorilla Victus, giving it additional sturdiness and scratch resistance.
The ExpertBook Extremely’s sound system is equally spectacular. Asus gave its machine a six-speaker system that features twin magnetic woofers for deep bass and tweeters for clear, detailed high-frequency sound. It doesn’t matter what I performed, from music to spoken-word movies, the audio sounded lush and well-balanced.
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What actually stood out to me, nevertheless, was the extent of instrument separation. Listening to jazz and lo-fi hip-hop tracks, each ingredient of the track, the drums, piano, and occasional trumpets, had its personal house within the soundstage, equal to one another. Audio from these audio system carries throughout the room with out a lot distortion, permitting me to obviously hear dialogue from 20 toes away.
Effectivity meets energy
My overview unit of the ExpertBook Extremely ran on an Intel Core Extremely X7 processor, 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and a 1TB SSD. This mix delivers precisely the extent of efficiency you’d anticipate from a premium enterprise laptop computer.
In day-to-day use, the ExpertBook Extremely felt snappy. Apps opened immediately, browser tabs loaded with out hesitation, and I may hop between a number of apps seamlessly. The beneficiant quantity of RAM ensured nothing slowed the gadget down, reinforcing the laptop computer’s give attention to delivering no-compromise productiveness.
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Beneath is a desk evaluating the Asus ExpertBook Extremely’s benchmark outcomes with different work-centric laptops I’ve examined. You will instantly discover that the Asus mannequin boasts a considerably larger Geekbench multicore rating than its opponents, signaling stronger multitasking efficiency and precisely reflecting what I skilled first-hand.
Its benchmarking scores additionally counsel the laptop computer is well-suited for content material creation. Throughout testing, I edited drone footage and high-resolution images with out difficulty — the laptop computer dealt with these workloads comfortably. Nonetheless, it might wrestle with heavy duties like complicated 3D rendering because it operates on an built-in Intel Arc graphics card moderately than a discrete Nvidia GPU. These sorts of duties can be higher suited to a extra specialised laptop computer.
Battery life is nothing wanting phenomenal. The ExpertBook lasted over 16 hours on a single cost. Vitality effectivity is a significant focus for Intel’s Panther Lake processor collection. Processors have improved vastly over the previous few years, and this laptop computer is an ideal instance of that progress. Charging speeds are equally spectacular: after simply half-hour plugged in, the battery climbed as much as 60%.
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Laptops this skinny that home high-end {hardware} typically run sizzling. To maintain temperatures cool, Asus outfitted its gadget with the ExpertCool Professional system, a complicated cooling resolution that makes use of three air retailers to extend inside air strain. The result’s a laptop computer that runs effortlessly cool.
ZDNET’s Shopping for Recommendation
You’ll have to wait a bit earlier than you will get your palms on the ExpertBook Extremely. Asus advised me that the ExpertBook with the Intel Core Extremely X7 CPU is slated to launch in April 2026, with pre-orders going up within the first quarter of 2026. Two shade choices will probably be accessible: Morn Gray and Jet Fog (black). A second mannequin operating the extra highly effective Intel Core Extremely X9 processor is predicted to reach later in Q2 2026.
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Asus hasn’t confirmed pricing but, however the firm is establishing the ExpertBook Extremely for the premium thin-and-light laptop computer market. The rep mentioned that the brand new mannequin will probably be going up towards gadgets just like the Dell Professional 14 Premium, HP EliteBook X G1i 14, and Lenovo’s Twelfth-Gen ThinkPad X1 Carbon.
Based mostly on present pricing for these rivals, I feel it is affordable to anticipate the ExpertBook Extremely to land at round $2,400. Ultimate pricing will probably be revealed nearer to launch.
