ASUS ExpertBook B9450CEA Laptop Review: Thin, But Powerful

Who Is The ASUS ExpertBook B9450CEA Laptop For?

• The ASUS ExpertBook B9450CEA laptop is perfect for someone who wants a slim, lightweight laptop
• The B9450CEA is ready for video calls with its many built-in features
• The ASUS ExpertBook B9450CEA has a great keyboard with a cool digital number pad

Laptops allow users to remain productive no matter where they are. That's why people are always on the lookout for something with more power and convenience, while also remaining light and portable. That search can come to a close now that ASUS has released the ExpertBook B9450CEA. This laptop can get almost anything done while still being impossibly thin and only weighing around two pounds.

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Incredibly Thin And Lightweight

The most immediately noticeable aspect of the ASUS ExpertBook B9450CEA laptop is its physical properties. The laptop is razor thin and incredibly lightweight, making it easy to carry around either by itself or in just about any kind of bag or backpack.

The ExpertBook B9450CEA is just under two pounds, and comes in at a shocking 14.9mm thick. At 14 inches, the screen is a decent size, though will feel small for those who are used to large desktop monitors. The 14 inch screen does feel like the best compromise between screen size and the overall size of the laptop, as anything larger would start entering the B9450CEA into bulky territory. ASUS has also squeezed the absolute largest screen possible into the laptop frame, as there is virtually no space between the end of the screen and the edge of the laptop.

The ExpertBook B9450CEA is one of the least flashy laptops I have used, but that's just fine. This computer is sleek and ready to blend into any office environment. Even the backlighting on the keyboard is somewhat understated, as its white LED lighting effect further hammers in the monochrome color scheme.

Great Keyboard

Generally, laptop users aren't attaching external keyboards into their computers, so the keyboard on a laptop needs to be high quality. Thankfully, the ASUS ExpertBook B9450CEA's keyboard is great to type on. It isn't mechanical, but the keys have a nice give to them and spring back quickly. The keys are also spaced out nicely, which is nice to see considering how large the touchpad is. Sometimes laptops can really compact the keyboard into something that is awkward to type on, which is not the case here.

To make the typing experience even better, the ExpertBook B9450CEA's hinge is set back ever so slightly from the edge of the laptop. This allows the top portion of the laptop to tuck under the bottom portion, giving the keyboard a slight angle. While I find myself writing in less-than-ideal positions when using a laptop, this is a nice touch for those who use laptops while sitting at tables or desks.

Perhaps the nicest feature found in the ExpertBook B9450CEA is on the laptop's touchpad. There is a digital number pad that can be turned on and off. For those who love their number pads, this is the perfect way to both save space to keep the laptop small while still offering highly-desired features.

The B9450CEA's number pad can be turned on and off with the press of a touch-sensitive button on the touch pad itself. Once activated, the number pad comes to life and works great. The touchpad is sensitive and accurate, so you never hit the 3 button and accidentally get a 6 or something like that. What's even better is that the touch pad can still be used to control the laptop's cursor, meaning you don't have to keep turning the number pad on and off if you use it frequently.

The only major downside to the ExpertBook B9450CEA's keyboard/touchpad area is that the touch pad can sometimes behave in strange ways. Most notably, the touchpad will sometimes act like I am clicking and holding on something when all I wanted to do was click. This has resulted in me accidentally creating new browser windows from tabs instead of just switching between tabs as I was intending to do, or highlighting blocks of text when I only wanted one word selected. These are minor annoyances and are easily fixed, but they do happen on a somewhat regular basis.

Large, But Small Screen

The screen on the ASUS ExpertBook B9450CEA is somehow both large and small. The screen looks large in proportion to the rest of the laptop thanks to the fact that the screen goes almost entirely to the edge of the laptop frame. However, the screen feels small because, well, it is when compared to many other screens out there.

The B9450CEA screen is only 14 inches, and has a 1900 x 1080 resolution. After using some 4K monitors with my desktop, the screen on the B9450CEA feels like a downgrade. That said, it is certainly fine enough for what the laptop was designed to do, which is to run basic work applications. This is not the best choice of laptop for gamers or media consumers, after all.

More Than Accessible

The ASUS ExpertBook B9450CEA is ready to support just about any device out there thanks to its large number of ports. These include a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, a 3.5mm port for headphones and/or a microphone, two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports for charging the laptop or other use, an HDMI port and a micro HDMI port that supports RJ45 adapters. The last one allows the B9450CEA to connect to the internet via LAN cables.

Because the ExpertBook B9450CEA uses a USB-C port for charging, that means it can work with a wider range of chargers than the one it comes with. I have the ChargeHub X5+ Elite charger, and the B9450CEA works just fine when plugged in. That helps with cutting down on the number of chargers and cables that are needed when packing for a trip.

Zoom Ready

Seeing as how this past year has shown the world that video calls and meetings are the way of the future, it's great to see the ASUS ExpertBook B9450CEA have some built-in features that make video calls better. The first is small, but it's nice to have a webcam blocker built right into a laptop. You don't need to have a goofy Post-It note or something similar, as all you have to do is flick a very small switch to completely block the on-board webcam.

On the more advanced side, the ExpertBook B9450CEA has AI noise cancelling technology. This feature can be easily turned on or off, and when activated, filters out many background sounds from being picked up by the microphone. This includes common sounds like dogs barking, keyboards clicking away and the whirring fan of air conditioners.

In my tests, the noise cancelling feature on the B9450CEA does work at filtering out some sounds, but it certainly isn't perfect. The offending background noises were still picked up, but they were muted compared to when the tech was off.

Battery Life

The battery life on the ASUS ExpertBook B9450CEA is fine, but nothing to get too excited about. I've lost around 30 percent of my battery life over the course of the day, which has been spent writing this review and occasionally getting distracted by YouTube videos. I would expect one charge to last me either most of a full day or around two days of just business-hours work.

The B9450CEA's recharge time is pretty quick as well, with the laptop capable of charging to 60 percent in under 40 minutes. That's pretty solid, though pushing the battery up to a full 100 percent does take a little longer.

There is a really nice slider built into the laptop's battery indicator area that allows for super easy control over battery life compared to performance. This slider automatically goes to full performance mode when the laptop is plugged in, and typically drops down towards battery saver mode once unplugged.

Final Thoughts

To put it simply, the ASUS ExpertBook B9450CEA is a great laptop. It is crazy thin and ridiculously lightweight, making it perfect to carry around and get work done on the go. Its large number of ports allow for the B9450CEA to serve as a portable hub to plug into other workstations. The keyboard is nice and spacious, and I seriously love the number pad that can be turned on and off.

Sure, the battery life with the B9450CEA isn't revolutionary and the screen feels a little underwhelming, but these are minor issues considering the laptop's overall appeal. If you're looking for a great, straight-forward work laptop that is easy to carry around and comes packed with video call-ready features, the ASUS ExpertBook B9450CEA is a perfect choice.