ASUS has refreshed its business-facing Expertbook B1 series of laptops, and, after two weeks of testing, I can honestly say they're pretty good — the laptop, even at the lowest specs, is sturdy, hardy, and very functional.

The B1 series is aimed at businesses and not individuals and so, you will not be able to buy it as an individual. This is the same reason ASUS hasn't released the starting price, as how much each laptop costs will depend on how many a company is purchasing and what deal it has struck with its vendor.

The Expertbook B1 comes in two display sizes — 14 inches and 15.6 inches. Barring the screen size, all other hardware is identical. Each laptop can be customised with up to an Intel Core i7 processor, 48 GB of RAM and 2 TB of solid state storage. The review device ASUS sent me came equipped with the 14-inch display, an i3 chipset, 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage, and I'm happy the company did that.

Let me explain why. Most companies usually send out the highest-specced variants of their laptops to reviewers in a bid to demonstrate exactly what the device is capable of. However, most consumers — or businesses, in this case — look at the price tag and settle for something on or close to the entry-level end of the spectrum. And my review unit is most likely what most businesses will buy for their employees, and so, represents the widest use-case, allowing me to paint a picture that most users will be able to experience.

To start off, the Expertbook is ridiculously compact and light — it comes in a midnight blue chassis that is fingerprint and smudge resistant, and sports a Full HD IPS display. It may not be the best display out there, but it is good enough to do its job.

Also read: ASUS ROG Flow X13 review: The 'Captain America' of gaming laptops

It has a very slim profile when closed and weighs a shade under 1.5 kilograms, making it extremely portable. The keyboard is just the right size, and the keys have decent travel. The only thing I had trouble with was the inverted "T" arrow keys which, if you're used to typing fast, are sometimes easy to mishit.

Another nitpick I have with the keyboard is that it's not backlit, and that, to me, is a dealbreaker. However, considering it is aimed at bulk orders for companies, a backlit keyboard may not exactly be on the list of must-haves.

What will, however, be on that list will be stutter-free performance, a good battery life especially if the user is mobile, a decent keyboard and a display that does its job. On that front, the Expertbook B1 ticks all the boxes. This is a laptop that is aimed at productivity and nothing else. If you're interested in gaming, forget about the B1. If you're a casual user, you can't even buy it. This is a productivity powerhouse and it has been optimised exactly as such.

I can easily envision a company handing out the Expertbook B1 to its employees and not burn a gaping hole in its coffers. It is fast, it is sleek, it is powerful enough to get the job done, and the entry-level model was more than up to my daily use-case — I used it as my daily driver during the entirety of the test run, and it never let me down.

I continue to have problems with Windows, but that's a Microsoft/me problem, and not an ASUS problem. As far as achieving the objective goes, the ASUS Expertbook B1 does it and does it extremely well.

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