ASUS ExpertBook 14" B5404CMA-XS74T Star Black

The ExpertBook B5404CMA-XS74T nails the essentials for business users. The 14-inch touchscreen is one of the best on the market, and the port selection is top-tier. Skip it if you want to game or need something lighter.

The Core Ultra 7 155H lands in the 76th percentile for CPUs, which means it's well above average and handles multitasking, spreadsheets, and video calls without breaking a sweat. The integrated Intel Arc Graphics sit at the 65th percentile, fine for productivity and light creative work but nothing to write home about. 16GB of DDR5 RAM is solidly middle of the pack, and the 512GB NVMe SSD is about average for storage. The real performance story is the screen, which ranks in the 88th percentile, and the port selection, which is top of the charts at the 95th percentile. Gaming is a weak spot at 19.8 out of 100, so keep your expectations firmly in the work zone.

Against the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Pro, the ExpertBook loses on raw performance and battery life but wins on port variety and touchscreen flexibility. The Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 6 is a closer rival, with similar business chops and often better build quality, though its screen rarely matches this ASUS. The HP OMEN Transcend 14 and MSI Raider are gaming machines that crush the ExpertBook in graphics but lack its business-focused security and port selection. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition is lighter and sleeker, but you give up the Thunderbolt ports and Ethernet jack.

The US price of around $1,500 is reasonable for a business laptop with this screen and port selection. You're paying for the display, the Thunderbolt connectivity, and the enterprise security features. But the European and UK prices are rough. At €2,040 or £2,569, this thing gets hard to justify when competitors offer more storage and lighter builds for similar money. If you're in the US, it's a fair deal. If you're across the pond, shop around first.

The ASUS ExpertBook B5404CMA-XS74T is a business laptop that punches above its weight where it counts. You get a Core Ultra 7 155H, 16GB of DDR5, and a genuinely excellent 14-inch touchscreen. It's built for work, not play, and the specs back that up.

That display is the star here. 2560x1600 resolution, 500 nits brightness, and full DCI-P3 coverage put it in the top tier of laptop screens we've tested. The port selection is also best-in-class, with dual Thunderbolt 4 and dual USB-A. Just don't expect it to game.

Skip this if you need any kind of gaming performance or GPU-accelerated creative work. The integrated graphics are a real limitation. Also skip it if portability is your top priority, at 2.50kg this is not the ultralight the marketing copy claims. And if you're in Europe or the UK, the price premium makes it a tough sell compared to US pricing.

This is a solid pick for office workers, analysts, and anyone who stares at spreadsheets all day and wants a screen that doesn't hurt their eyes. The display is genuinely excellent, the port selection is future-proof, and the Core Ultra 7 handles business workloads without complaint. Just know that gaming is off the table and the weight is higher than the marketing copy implies.