ASUS ExpertBook B9450 vs Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon — by the numbers
The latest ASUS ExpertBook B9450 is definitely one of the lightest business laptops I have ever seen. But then again, it isn’t the only ultra-light business laptop in the market. A rather close contender would be the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, a laptop with a strong heritage from the IBM ThinkPad era. So, which of this will come up on top? Let’s check out the differences between the laptops.
ExpertBook B9450 vs ThinkPad X1 Carbon Specs
| ASUS ExpertBook B9450 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 7th | |
| Processor | Up to 10th Gen Intel Core i7 (Comet Lake) | |
| RAM | Up to 16GB LPDDR3 | |
| Storage | 2 x M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 2280 SSD | 1 x M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 2280 SSD 1 x M.2 PCIe 3.0 x2 2242 SSD |
| Connectivity | Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (WiFi 802.11ax up to 2.4 Gbps) Gigabit LAN (via micro HDMI dongle) 2 x Thunderbolt 3 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps) |
Intel Wireless-AC 9560 (WiFi 802.11ac Wave2 up to 1.73 Gbps) LAN via optional hardware 2 x Thunderbolt 3 1 x USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) |
| Display | 14″ FHD (1080p), non-touch HDMI 2.0 (4K@60 Hz) |
14″ FHD (1080p), non-touch 14″ FHD (1080p), touch 14″ 2K (1440p), non-touch 14″ 4K (2160p), non-touch HDMI 1.4 (4K@24Hz) |
| Security | Fingerprint scanner IR facial recognition TPM 2.0 support |
Fingerprint scanner IR facial recognition (optional) TPM 2.0 support |
| Dimensions | 320 x 202 x 14.9 mm | 323 x 217 x 14.95 mm |
| Battery | 2-cell, 33 WHr Li-Po battery 4-cell, 66 WHr Li-Po battery |
4-cell, 51 WHr Li-Po battery |
| Weight | 870 g (33 WHr variant) 990 g (66 WHr variant) |
1080 g |
Right off the bat, you can see that the ASUS ExpertBook B9 scores a few wins. The only area where the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon has an advantage in is its screen options, but I somewhat doubt anyone wants to use a 14″ 4K panel as you would have to deal with scaling, or obscenely small items on your screen if you decide to turn off scaling.
Portability
While both laptops offer 14″ displays, the ASUS ExpertBook B9 pulls ahead with a smaller footprint measuring just 320 x 202 mm, versus the 323 x 217 mm footprint that the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon touts. The ASUS laptop is also a hair thinner at 14.9 versus 14.95 mm, although that’s really very trivial compared to the 15 mm different in terms of width.
ASUS’ screen-to-body ratio is a whopping 94%, which allowed for the extremely small footprint despite a 14″ screen. Even with such slim bezels around the display, ASUS managed to cram in a webcam, an IR camera and also a physical lens cover above the display, which is really quite impressive.
Both the ExpertBook B9 and ThinkPad X1 Carbon are already much lighter than the average laptop in the market, but the ExpertBook B9 still manages to be 90 grams lighter while also packing a significantly larger 66 WHr battery. If weight is more of a concern to you than battery life, then you can opt for the ExpertBook B9 with the 33 WHr which weighs just 870 grams, a significant 210 grams less than the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. ASUS managed to achieve these significant weight reductions by opting to use magnesium lithium alloy in the construction of the ExpertBook B9, which is even lighter than the carbon fiber Lenovo employed in the ThinkPad X1 Carbon.
I/O
Despite being the smaller of the duo compared here today, the ASUS ExpertBook B9 offers better I/O options than the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. For starters, you get a more advanced HDMI 2.0 port, allowing you to connect the ExpertBook B9 to 4K 60 Hz displays, while the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is limited by its HDMI 1.4 port. The lone USB-A port on the ExpertBook B9 also supports USB 3.2 Gen2 for 10 Gbps throughput, versus the ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s USB 3.0 port and slower 5 Gbps speeds.
As commercial laptops, both the ExpertBook B9 and ThinkPad X1 Carbon come with Ethernet adapters built onto their motherboards. Their sheer thinness does prevent them from being able to offer a full-sized RJ45 LAN port, but the geniuses at ASUS managed to turn the LAN port into a micro HDMI port to save room, and the accompanying dongle comes included in the box. Meanwhile the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon also offers a unique LAN port, but the adapter is optional. So you will have to get it separately. The ASUS ExpertBook B9 does have the upper hand here there.
Even if you plan on using WiFi only, the ASUS ExpertBook B9’s support for WiFi 6 is an advantage over the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s support for up to WiFi 5 only.
Input
This is where it really gets interesting. Die-hard fans of the Lenovo ThinkPad series would probably swear by the TrackPoint. That’s fine, but for almost everyone else, the larger touchpad of the ASUS ExpertBook B9 should offer a more user-friendly experience. On top of that, ASUS has implemented their NumberPad technology here, allowing users to quickly input numbers. The touchpad sports a shortcut to the calculator too, which adds another layer of convenience to the rather feature packed touchpad.
The ASUS ExpertBook B9 also offers a backlit keyboard standard across the range, while the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon only comes with backlit keyboards in the higher-end variants. Sure, one can most probably type without looking at the keyboard by the time they are considering a laptop of this caliber, but the added visibility can come in handy when working in dimmer environments.
Conclusion
The ASUS ExpertBook B9 has clear advantages over the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, and might just be the best business laptop in its class. It goes without saying that both laptops are really excellent examples of business laptops, but the ASUS ExpertBook B9 just takes the cake by being lighter, smaller while also offering more features. ASUS really hit the ball out of the park with the ASUS ExpertBook B9 this round.
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