As a freelance writer I sometimes travel for events, which means my laptop doesn’t just sit on a desk. And because I can work from anywhere, I don’t want to feel like I’m carrying a brick around. This is why my daily driver is a MacBook Air; when you’re on the go, weight and portability are essential.
Enter the Asus ExpertBook Ultra. At around 1.1kg, it’s lightweight but still feels premium rather than flimsy. This is why it stands out: portability combined with specs that don’t compromise on performance. The Ultra features a 14-inch OLED (organic light-emitting diode) touchscreen display powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB solid-state drive that keeps it snappy. It also has a 1080p camera, a backlit keyboard and military-grade durability.
The 14-inch 2.8K OLED display, with a 120Hz refresh rate, is fantastic for viewing multimedia content. Overall, the text looks sharp, the colours are rich and scrolling is smooth.
Most of the time I forget it’s a touchscreen display because it doesn’t feel natural to interact with a laptop that way. However, when you open the display, there are widgets that take you directly to the subject matter. I used these to get to the useful Premier League one.
The ExpertBook Ultra runs on Windows 11 Pro and has some common Windows issues: forced software updates, bloatware with expiry from software trials and, worst of all, frequent Copilot popups turned on by default. Also, small movements on the trackpad can cause browser tabs to move unpredictably, but I promptly disabled this in the settings.
Software gripes aside, the laptop performs well. There’s no stuttering; everything is effortlessly quick. I had a ridiculous number of browser tabs open, alongside documents, video calls, e-mail and other intensive web-based apps running simultaneously.
The ExpertBook Ultra is an AI-capable PC. But, like smartphones, most people are not buying consumer tech for its AI capabilities. However, if your job calls for it, there’s an Intel AI Boost NPU capable of up to 50-trillion operations per second (TOPS).
Typically, when it comes to thin laptops, ports are first to go. On this machine, Asus fits in two Thunderbolt USB-C, two USB-A and one HDMI port, plus there’s a 3.5mm audio jack. You may not need it all, but it’s there.
The chiclet keyboard has 1.5mm key travel, sufficient for tactile feedback, and is backlit. The 1080p camera is useful for video meetings, alongside IR support for Windows Hello biometric logins.
Battery life is an impressive 70Wh for a laptop this size, but the OLED display’s brightness directly affects it, alongside intensive or AI-related tasks. For average usage, you can get away with a day in the office without carrying the charger.
So, what’s the catch? Premium ultraportable laptops are not cheap, and the Expertbook Ultra comes in at R39,999.
If portability is high on your list but you don’t want to compromise on performance or AI demands, this is a laptop that makes a strong case for itself. I liked carrying it around without feeling weighed down by it.
Cool factor: 4.5/5
Usability: 4/5
Value for money: 3.5/5
