ASUS ExpertBook P5 Review: A Solid Business Laptop With AI Still in Progress
It may have slipped under your radar, but ASUS only recently ventured into the world of strictly-business laptops with the ExpertBook series. ASUS, of course, is no stranger to high-performance laptops, having impressed us with the Zenbook and ProArt series.
With the ExpertBook series – more specifically, the ExpertBook P5 (P5405) – you get a suite of work-focused AI features out of the readily installed AI ExpertMeet application. To double down on the AI hype, the ExpertBook P5 is also a Copilot+ PC, meaning you’ll have another set of AI features accessible with a tap on the dedicated Copilot key.
Yes, AI is undoubtedly at the core of its functions, which, in theory, should make work easier and seamless (I’ll pen my experience with it later on). AI aside, the laptop boasts plenty of noteworthy hardware designed to meet the demands of the modern workforce.
We’ll be the first to say that we had zero doubts the ExpertBook P5 would deliver. However, at a steep price of RM6,859, it does beg the question: is it worth the price?
ExpertBook P5 (P5405) specs
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 7 258V |
| Graphic Card | Intel Arc GPU |
| RAM & Storage | 32GB LPDDR5X RAM, 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD |
| Display | 14″, WQXGA (2560×1600), 16:10, sRGB 100% |
| Battery | 63Whr |
| Security | 2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack, 1x Kensington nano lock |
| Webcam | 1080p FHD w/ webcam shield |
| Weight | 1.29kg |
ASUS ExpertBook P5: Getting the basics right
Built
The one thing business laptops need to be is lightweight, and ASUS has nailed this perfectly. It’s not the absolute lightest 14-incher in the ExpertBook series, as that honour goes to the ExpertBook B9 OLED and its 990g heft.
However, at 1.27kg, the ExpertBook B5 sits comfortably in the portable range, making it suitable for both office and on-the-go professionals. Despite its lightweight build, the laptop is far from flimsy, having endured MIL-STD-810H military-grade testing. It’ll shrug off a few hard knocks and unpredictable temperature fluctuations, but don’t go treating it like a punching bag when a bad email comes in.
As far aesthetics go, it’s all business here. The metallic lid is clean and minimalist, with only an engraved ASUS EXPERTBOOK badge positioned neatly off-center like a well-combed side parting.
Display
First things first, there’s no OLED display here, unlike what you’d find on the ZenBook and ProArt series. If design is of utmost importance in your profession, shifting focus to the ProArt or Zenbook series will likely be a better fit.
That being said, you don’t really need to zero in on displays with corporate laptops like this anyway. The ExpertBook P5 offers a safe and standard 14″ display with WQXGA (2560×1600) resolution in a 16:10 aspect ratio.
For what it’s worth, it boasts 100% sRGB colour accuracy, but with 400 nits brightness, it’s not the most optimal choice for outdoor work. In an office setup, or perhaps well-shaded cafes, it will get by flawlessly.
What might come in handy during team or group meetings is the laptop’s versatile 180-degree hinge, which allows it to lie completely flat on a surface.
Processors
The ExpertBook P5 is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V CPU and an Intel Arc GPU. Our variant came with 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM paired with 1TB of SSD storage. As mentioned earlier, ASUS is investing heavily in the AI game, which means the ExpertBook P5 is facilitated with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to handle AI functions.
This is precisely what we’re focusing on, particularly the ASUS AI ExpertMeet application that ASUS has been emphasizing throughout the series.
ASUS AI ExpertMeet
In brief, the AI ExpertMeet app is ASUS’ on-device assistant designed to simplify work meetings. An important disclaimer: at the time of writing, the app is still in Beta. Nevertheless, we had the privilege of testing it ourselves to see just how useful it really is in a real work context.
At its core, the AI ExpertMeet offers three main features: AI Meeting Minutes, AI Translated Subtitles, and Watermark, which we’ll look at one-by-one.
AI Meeting Minutes
You know how every long, drawn-out meeting requires a poor soul to keep tabs on every vital topic discussed, then summarize it into a digestible format? AI Meeting Minutes automates that process by converting recorded audio into text.
It’s simple enough that even your less tech-savvy coworkers can navigate. You only need to boot up the AI ExpertMeet app, head to the AI Meeting Minutes tab, and press the red record button at the bottom left. Once the meeting is done, press stop recording, and the app will transcribe everything said over the span of the discussion.
Alternatively, you can also import audio files into the app, and it will transcribe them for you.
Like all AI features that have to do with transcription, the question of accuracy arises. Having tested it on a podcast audio file, I was quite impressed that it delivered near-perfect accuracy. There were some words that were transcribed incorrectly, or even not detected at all, but these to me were minor. You do have the option to edit the transcript if you spot any mistakes.
There are a few other things here that I feel are worth highlighting. Firstly, Multiple Speaker Recognition is, for the most part, highly accurate. It can detect the number of speakers and label them with impressive precision. However, it does help if each speaker has a distinct voice.
The timestamps also work great if you need to home in on a particular point (or count how many times you’ve been interrupted).
Perhaps the most crucial of all is the Summary function, which funnels the discussion into simple point form. What’s great here is that it not only summarizes the overall meeting but also breaks it down into a speaker summary, summing up all the key points brought up by each speaker.
Overall, my impression of the feature is positive. Even in its Beta stage, I can see AI Meeting Minutes becoming a heavily utilized time-saving tool for SMEs and small businesses. However, for high-stakes corporate discussions where leeway for mistakes is slim, it’s probably still best to rely on a trusty human.
AI Translated Subtitles
AI Translated Subtitles is exactly what the name suggests. It provides real-time subtitles for any audio detected from your company meetings or content, with the option to translate it into a language of your choice.
It’s a spectacular idea in theory, but I feel its execution still needs work, particularly in terms of the speed at which the subtitles appear. It seems a little sluggish, and often lags behind by a few sentences. I get that if you’re consuming content in a foreign language, the delay might not be as noticeable, since you don’t speak the language anyway.
However, I did find that even for English content, the subtitles were prone to errors. Punctuation also tends to be wayyy of, often adding full stops when the speaker only meant for a slight pause. It does translate good portions of the video accurately, but unless the speaker is talking with robot-like precision in pronunciation and tone, you’ll have a hard time deciphering the subtitles.
Another thing to note is that Bahasa Malaysia is not yet supported. For now, it can detect English, Traditional Chinese, Italian, German, and Portuguese, with the option to translate into English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Portuguese.
If none of these apply to you, worry not – we’ll likely see more supported languages as the ExpertMeet app moves out of the Beta phase.
Watermark
The next feature isn’t particularly groundbreaking, but it’s useful nonetheless. The Watermark feature, although not AI-powered, can be activated on the AI ExpertMeet app.
It allows you to display your virtual business card and contact information during online meetings, which is especially useful for virtual meetings with new clients and online conferences. At least for Google Meet, it automatically integrates the business card into the screen. So, turning on the Watermark feature in AI ExpertMeet will also enable it on Google Meet.
Additionally, the Watermark feature includes an option to place large watermark strips across the display for highly confidential meetings that might be screen-recorded.
ASUS ExpertBook P5: Worth the RM6K AI hype?
Tagging a heavy price comes with high expectations to deliver. Forking out over RM6,000 isn’t something done casually, even under company budget, so it needs to be well-justified.
There’s no doubt that ASUS has great intentions with the on-device AI ExpertMeet app. And indeed, features like AI Meeting Minutes exceeded my expectations and hold great promise for the future. However, from a strictly AI standpoint, there are also areas that require significant refinements before I can be fully convinced by the ‘AI-driven’ hype.
This sentiment isn’t exclusive to ASUS, by the way. Everywhere you look, brands are doubling down on the AI PC hype, promising AI features that claim to make life easier when they are still mostly half-baked.
AI aside, the ExpertBook P5 does have excellent hardware, along with commercial-grade security features such as TPM 2.0 and a Kensington Nano Security Slot, making it a solid choice if your work requires top-level protection.
My verdict? If you’re sold on the AI hype, I’d suggest waiting for later editions of the ExpertBook, when the AI features are a little more established. For any other reason – such as hardware performance or portability – this is a premium yet solid choice that will keep you in good company.
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