Not Enough People Are Talking About My New Favorite Work Laptop (and It's Not A Thinkpad)

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The Asus ExpertBook P3 is presently connected waste astatine nan company's website for $1,230.
• It's a awesome laptop, boasting a compact design, a long-lasting battery, and powerful speakers.
• However, nan dull show and anemic webcam support it from being a cleanable all-rounder.

Follow ZDNET: Add america arsenic a preferred source on Google.

Work laptops are an absorbing category, because they're each retired to do nan aforesaid thing: thief professionals and students powerfulness done their day. So, erstwhile I reappraisal these computers, I look astatine nan subtleties. 

Even though 2 models look identical connected nan surface, it's nan mini differences successful creation and functionality that make 1 laptop a amended acquisition complete another. Case successful point: nan Asus ExpertBook P3.

Also:  Best early Black Friday laptop deals 2025

It mightiness beryllium because I precocious reviewed it, but nan ExpertBook P3 instantly reminded maine of nan Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1. Both purpose to beryllium reliable and versatile PCs, but Asus' exemplary does a amended job. It feels much purposeful. Where nan IdeaPad felt for illustration it was checking disconnected boxes, nan ExpertBook understands its domiciled by having smart creation choices and polish that make it a awesome day-to-day companion.

Comfortable, portable

The ExpertBook P3 is simply a compact laptop that's easy to tote around, measuring 12.31 x 8.94 x 0.71 inches and weighing conscionable nether 3 pounds. Asus uses nan disposable abstraction rather efficaciously here. The all-black keyboard is amazingly comfortable, pinch a bully magnitude of recreation region that avoids mushy keys. It moreover has a full-sized number pad that doesn't overly compress nan cardinal sizes. 

Like nan IdeaPad, nan trackpad connected nan ExpertBook sits somewhat off-center, though it is importantly bigger, occupying astir nan full width of nan thenar rest. It's a comfortable arrangement, and I didn't person to repetition manus motions conscionable to move nan cursor crossed nan screen. As nan cherry connected top, Asus' exemplary passes nan one-finger trial pinch flying colors. It remains perfectly still while nan lid is being opened.

Audio/visual trade-offs

Asus' ExpertBook P3 features a crisp 14-inch, 2K show pinch a 16:10 facet ratio. A surface for illustration this outputs crisp matter and visuals while besides providing plentifulness of vertical room for scrolling done documents, managing spreadsheets, and more. In fact, it allows nan laptop to execute an awesome 86% screen-to-body ratio. 

Also: The apical 10 laptops our readers bought this twelvemonth (No. 1 amazed us)

However, brightness is constricted to 300 nits, which tin beryllium alternatively dim. However, nan anti-glare coating does a awesome occupation astatine minimizing reflections, truthful visibility stays strong.

Color accuracy is wherever nan show stumbles. With only 45% NTSC sum and nary image-enhancing software, nan sheet is dull. Colors deficiency vibrancy; thing really pops, which limits nan laptop's usability for dedicated imaginative work. Ultimately, however, it's not really designed for that usage case. 

Cesar Cadenas/ZDNET

The speakers connected this laptop are thing short of impressive, producing clear and rich | audio that elevates videos, music, and spoken speech to nan adjacent level. You tin prime retired individual instruments successful songs arsenic good arsenic perceive subtle enunciations successful speed. 

Additionally, nan measurement connected nan ExpertBook doesn't person a debased headdress limit. It gets large capable to capable an full room while maintaining clarity. It's almost arsenic though Asus tucked a soundbar inside.

Also: The champion laptops nether $1,000 of 2025: Expert tested and reviewed

However, I wish I could widen those compliments to nan webcam. The 1080p lens produces grainy, noisy recordings. Even successful optimal lighting conditions, nan image value is still poor. I should constituent retired that Asus equipped its instrumentality pinch a proprietary app called AI ExpertMeet. While it doesn't reside nan camera quality, it offers useful features that heighten nan conferencing acquisition by incorporating devices specified arsenic sound reduction, AI transcription, and customizable watermarks.

Performance test

Under nan hood, my reappraisal portion was equipped pinch an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 processor, an AMD Radeon 860M graphics card, and 32GB of RAM. A operation for illustration this puts nan ExpertBook up of galore likewise priced laptops. In fact, it's 1 of nan strongest performers I've tested successful caller months. 

As nan benchmark array beneath shows, nan ExpertBook P3 outpaces different akin Windows 11 machines I've precocious tested, moreover approaching scores from the M4 MacBook Pro. These numbers construe to coagulated real-world powerfulness for demanding tasks.

My accent trial progressive my accustomed gauntlet: 50 Chrome tabs pinch ZDNET articles, Google spreadsheets, Amazon listings, Slack channel, and YouTube livestreams, positive a virtual instrumentality moving different lawsuit of Windows 11. The ExpertBook handled everything pinch comparative ease. 

I did announcement immoderate slowdown erstwhile nan virtual instrumentality was active, but a fewer tweaks to its settings smoothed things out. For productivity, it performed perfectly. As mentioned above, I conscionable wouldn't urge it for imaginative tasks. The hardware tin grip ray video editing and different GPU-intensive tasks, but nan dull show holds it back.

Cesar Cadenas/ZDNET

A cool characteristic that deserves a callout is its upgradability. Users tin physically unfastened nan chassis and adhd much representation and retention connected their own, thing that isn't imaginable connected galore different competing laptops. There is simply a limit, though: it caps retired astatine 64GB of DDR5 RAM and up to 3TB of storage.

Also: The apical 10 laptops our readers bought this twelvemonth (No. 1 amazed us)

One advantage of nan AMD hardware is its powerfulness efficiency. In my testing, Asus' instrumentality lasted complete 12 hours of continuous usage connected a azygous complaint -- plentifulness to get done a afloat workday and past some. When it's clip to powerfulness up, nan included 90W charger useful quickly: a 30-minute complaint brings nan artillery to conscionable complete 60%. 

ZDNET's buying advice

Prices for nan Asus ExpertBook P3 commencement astatine $1,150, pinch my reappraisal unit's configuration connected waste for $1,230. For professionals who want a lightweight, competent activity machine, nan ExpertBook P3 is an fantabulous choice. It's 1 of nan amended laptops successful its class for 2025. If you're looking for thing a small much affordable pinch moreover amended artillery life, see the Acer Aspire 16.