Asus is taking the business laptop segment very seriously indeed. Its latest Asus ExpertBook P2 is designed to offer enough power to handle most day-to-day tasks with business-grade capabilities and security at a fairly reasonable price. It even comes with utilities like a fingerprint scanner, webcam shield, an enterprise-grade security chip and more. So how does the Asus ExpertBook P2 fare in daily use? We reviewed it to find out.
Asus ExpertBook P2 price in India: Rs 69,290 for Core i5, Rs 93,990 for Core i7
Asus ExpertBook P2 specifications: 14-inch Full HD display| Up to 10th gen Intel Core i7 processor| 8GB RAM + 1TB storage| Windows 10 Pro |720p HD web camera |1.60kg | 3-cell lithium-Ion battery
Design, build, display
The latest laptop from Asus is exceptionally light and quite thin, which makes it perfect for those on the move. =While this might not be a big concern right now, Asus has made sure that you get a business laptop with a compact form factor, good overall design and build quality. However, you will have to live with thick bezels. Honestly, this won’t be much of an issue for corporate workers who anyway mostly end up looking at Excel sheets all day long.
The Asus Expertbook P2 has a slim profile and features a 14-inch screen. (Image credit: Ankita Garg/Indian Express)
With lid and deck made of aluminium alloy, the Asus ExpertBook P2 feels quite strong. The company claims the device is MIL-STD 810G certified, which means it can survive drops and tough environmental conditions.
It doesn’t come with the Ergo lift design found on Asus Zenbook laptops for a better typing experience. Asus has instead offered a durable 180-degree hinge design, which makes it easy to share the screen with everyone. You can basically lay it completely flat at a 180-degree angle with the rest of the body. While this makes it an ideal choice for small meetings or discussions, the laptop sadly doesn’t have a very good display or touch capabilities.
Asus has managed to add most of the essential ports. (Image credit: Ankita Garg/Indian Express)
Asus has fit in a 14‑inch screen into a 13‑inch chassis, which is nice. But for a Rs 90,000 device, the 60Hz Full HD panel has restricted viewing angles. The lack of vibrancy, which makes movies and other videos look dull, would limit to your use case of this device strictly to work. And from this aspect, the laptop is good, making the content look sharp. Also, the matte anti-glare panel, which cuts down on tube light reflections is good for those who have to be in front of the screen for long hours, but for others it might appear that the display is not bright enough for well-lit rooms.
Ports
Asus has tried to fit in most of the ports needed for corporate work, which is impressive. These are a USB 2.0 port, two USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, HDMI port, a VGA port, an audio jack, and an Ethernet port. What else do you want? The company has also added a microSD card slot just in case.
This device has most of the ports that a business laptop should have. (Image credit: Ankita Garg/Indian Express)
Keyboard and touchpad
The Asus Expertbook P2 has a good keyboard design and key travel. There is no deck flex in the keyboard and it does have good build quality. The keys are spaced out well and I enjoyed typing the stories using this laptop. The SensePoint nub — Asus’s answer to the tracepoint — might feel a bit intrusive initially, but you will get used to it after a few days. The trackpad is large enough and responsive with Windows precision mechanism. he keyboard also supports three-stage backlit, which always comes in handy when working late night in dim light. Those in the finance and accounting sectors might miss the number pad in the keyboard though.
General performance, battery life, software
We got the Intel Core i7 variant for review. The company ditched Intel’s vPro chip meant for better security and device management, most probably to keep the cost lower. Nevertheless, you get the top-end Core i7 processor, Windows 10 Pro 64 and two customizable DIMM slots for up to 32GB RAM and up to 1TB SSD.
The Asus Expertbook P2 performed day-to-day tasks very well and there were no signs of slowing down. We didn’t witness any lag even with around 45 tabs open in the browser and a few apps running in the background along with some data transfer.
The Asus Expertbook P2 has a good keyboard design and is comfortable to type on. (Image credit: Ankita Garg/Indian Express)
The laptop did struggle a bit when we started using it for light video/photo editing and resource-heavy gaming. The reason is likely the entry-level Nvidia GeForce MX110 graphic card and low-level Core i7 processor with 4 cores, instead of 6-cores. So if you want to take a break from work with some heavy gaming, ensure these are at the lowest setting for a decent experience. But you don’t have to worry much about this as your company IT policy will not allow this anyway.
I liked the fact that the laptop didn’t get warm even after heavy usage or while charging. And the fan is super silent even while doing heavy tasks. All-in-all, this business laptop from Asus can handle everything, as long as you stick to business.
Asus claims the ExpertBook P2 can deliver up to 13 hours of battery life, but in our conditions this was mostly in the seven-hour range. Of course, results will vary based on the usage pattern. You will get a much better battery life if you turn on the battery saver, but that restricts a few background activities. The bundled charger took 2 hours to top up the battery from zero to 100 per cent.
The company ships the device with Windows 10 Pro and Asus Business Manager app for a better experience. The latter offers Secure Storage, System Backtrack, an option to delete files permanently, update BIOS and software, and more. The company’s MyAsus app is also quite useful to transfer files to other devices, control fan profile and other functions.
For security, there is a fingerprint sensor, which is very fast to unlock the laptop and more convenient than entering the registered PIN. It should be noted that this device doesn’t support the face unlock feature, which is fine as the camera itself is not that great. There is no smart card reader port for secure logins, most probably another cost-cutting measure. But, the device has TPM 2.0 for enhanced security.
The laptop has a privacy shield too, which is a nice addition. (Image credit: Ankita Garg/Indian Express)
Cameras, speakers
Like most laptops come with a 720p HD camera, this one too is not anything to write home about. There was a lack of detail and colour accuracy as well as some purple fringing in decent lighting conditions. Suddenly, the laptop camera has become an important feature given how much all of us are working from home. But it might still take companies some time to upgrade. I liked the fact that Asus has added a physical camera shutter with a keyboard toggle to turn it on and off. This business laptop has dual speakers that are loud and strong enough in a very small room. The device won’t ruin your binge-watching experience in this regard and has decent microphones.
Asus ExpertBook P2: Should you buy it?
The Asus ExpertBook P2 is competent and can handle everything as long as it is being used for the sole purpose it is meant for. It comes with comprehensive I/O capabilities essential for a business laptop and sufficient security features. However, you get a moderate display with limited viewing angles and a camera that could have been better.
If you can live with these, then you can buy this Asus laptop. The Core i5 model is priced at Rs 69,290, whereas the Core i7 variant is currently available for Rs 93,990. The Asus ExpertBook P2 is a budget offering, and if you are looking for the best business laptop, then you will have to spend more than 1 lakh.
If your budget is around 1.5 lakh, then you should consider buying Dell Latitude 9510 2-in-1. You can also opt for Asus ExpertBook B9 Core i7 variant, but the cost is much higher than the Dell laptop. In the same price range, there is also Lenovo Yoga C640.