Intel ’s latest Core Ultra chipset , Lunar Lake , is a response to Apple ’s highly efficient and fast M3 chipset , as well asQualcomm ’s Snapdragon Xand AMD ’s Ryzen AI 9 lineups . Each of these chipsets is a part of Microsoft ’s Copilot+ PC go-ahead , which has cursorily led to multiple devices featuring Copilot+ to earn slots on our tilt of thebest laptops . It has a profligate neural processing unit ( NPU ) , but the really important metric is battery life . That ’s where Intel ’s late Meteor Lake generation was most deficient by comparing .

The Asus ExpertBook P5 ( P5405 ) is one of the first Lunar Lake machines on the market place , and it ’s abusiness laptop computer . TheAsus Zenbook S 14is the first Lunar Lake laptop we look back , and it lives up to the efficiency promises . But the ExpertBook P5 is n’t quite a standout , leaving get to the question of just how good Lunar Lake really is .

ExpertBook P5 review update

When I first ran this review , the laptop evidence battery life that was less than expect given the configuration . Asus sent me a replacement revue unit , and I operate the shelling tests again . electric battery life was much better and in line with expected results given the Lunar Lake chipset , the assault and battery electrical capacity , and the IPS display . While not the honorable battery life we ’ve seen among like laptops , it ’s still a significant melioration over old Windows machine .

I updated the review throughout to reflect the raw battery run results . I also increased the ExpertBook P5 ’s score from a 5/1o to a 6/10 . It ’s still not one of the better Lunar Lake laptop , specially give the price , but it ’s a meaningful improvement .

Specs and configuration

The ExpertBook P5 starts at $ 1,100 , which include an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V chipset , 16 GB of RAM , a 512 GB SSD , and a 14 - inch QHD+ IP display ( the only choice ) . My review social unit , the high-pitched - oddment pick , costs $ 1,300 for a Core Ultra 7 258V , 32 GB of RAM , and a 1 TB SSD . you may configure extra depot with the extra M.2 expansion one-armed bandit . My recap unit had a 2d 1 TB drive configured .

Those are attractive Price , specially for a business - class laptop computer , which tend to be priced higher than strictly consumer laptop . We do n’t have many Lunar Lake laptops to compare to , but the Zenbook S 14 is more expensive come out at $ 1,399 and $ 1,499 for a standardized form . TheDell XPS 14is more expensive yet , starting at $ 1,500 list and ramping up to over $ 2,000 . That makes the ExpertBook P5 a relatively attractive value among Intel laptop computer . However , laptops running Qualcomm ’s Snapdragon X chipsets , like theHP OmniBook X , are comparably price .

Design

The ExpertBook P5 is a very conventionally contrive 14 - in laptop . It ’s a dark gray color scheme , with only a silver Browning automatic rifle housing a fairly generic logo breaking it up . The lines are minimalist , beseem today ’s most common aesthetic among most laptops . The Dell XPS 14 is a lot more advanced indoors and out , with its more streamlined bod and inner construction . The Apple MacBook Pro 14 , while a slew more expensive , also sports Apple ’s exacting innovation . in the end , the ExpertBook P5 is OK , and that ’s about it .

In price of build quality , Asus touts its durability testing such as run into MIL - STD 810H military tests , and I ’m trusted it ’s a well - built laptop computer . But I have to say , the keyboard pack of cards has some flex , and the very thin hat bends easily under even clean pressure . The XPS 14 and MacBook Pro 14 are much more fixed , as is the HP OmniBook X and passably much every other laptop I ’ve reviewed recently .

In term of portability , the ExpertBook P5 also is n’t a standout . It ’s not particularly thin or lightheaded , compared to comparable 14 - in laptops . Its top and side display bezels are reasonably thin but the bottom chin is a bit chunky — and , again working against a caliber flavour , the bezel are plastic . It ’s a portable political machine , but you wo n’t be take it based on that proportion alone .

Perhaps the more important design attribute focus on features of interest primarily to businesses . Most of those are around security and reliability , such as the Asus ExpertGuardian functionality that provides various security features at an OS and hardware degree . The BIOS is locked down and resilient , and SafeGuard can back up work - relate data file to a 2nd SSD , include encrypted key single file . There ’s also the said robustness hope , although as I mentioned , it was n’t pronto apparent as I tested the laptop .

Keyboard and touchpad

The keyboard is a standard island layout , with black keys sporting extremely visible and bold lettering and backlighting . There ’s plenty of primal spatial arrangement and the keycaps are prissy and large , while the switches are a bit loose even for me — I do n’t wish switches that require a lot of pressure to occupy — and they ’re a footling clunky . It ’s not my favorite keyboard .

The touchpad is mechanical , and it ’s big enough . It , too , is n’t my favorite . Its clit clicks are quite rough and tawdry , and completely unlike the much better haptic touchpads on the XPS 14 and MacBooks . There ’s also no - feeling - display option , which likely wo n’t matter to all that many but is something I miss when it ’s not there .

Connectivity and webcam

Connectivity is fairly strong , with a admixture of modern and legacy ports . That ’s typical of a lot of 14 - in laptop computer , although some car like the XPS 14 are a lot more limited . business run to exact more port , so the extras make sense here . Wireless connectivity is up - to - escort , with a pick of Wi - Fi 6E or Wi - Fi 7 . There ’s no cellular connectivity , though , which is sometimes on offer with job - year machines . And there ’s no South Dakota card reader , which is a downside .

The webcam is a 1080p interpretation , which has become the newfangled banner , and it provides a good enough range for videoconferencing . There ’s an infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello facial recognition , along with a fingerprint referee for more robust business - class security .

Performance

The headliner of the show here is the new 17 - James Watt Intel Core Ultra 7 258V , an 8 - substance ( four Performance and four Low Power Efficient cores ) , 8 - thread chipset . It ’s a fellow member of the Lunar Lake multiplication , or Core Ultra Series 2 , look on how you want to destine it . The entire purpose of this chipset is to overtake up with Qualcomm and Apple in the efficiency game , while still providing inviolable performance . And that ’s a challenge , because the Qualcomm Snapdragon X and Apple ’s M3 chipsets are stiff competitors .

Really , the Core Ultra 7 258V is tuned more like the Meteor Lake U - serial , which runs at 15 Isaac Watts and , in the Core Ultra 7 155U , has 12 core group and 14 threads . On paper , it ’s less herculean than the 28 - watt Core Ultra 7 155H that sports 16 nucleus and 22 threads . And then there ’s the 12 - core Snapdragon X Elite and 10 - core Snapdragon X Plus , the 12 - core/24 - thread AMD Ryzen 9 HX 370 , and the 8 - burden CPU/10 - core GPU Apple M3 to contend with .

All of these chipsets are propose primarily at demanding productivity users and , with their more common integrated graphics not really suited for creators or gamers . In our equivalence group , only the Asus ProArt PX13 has a distinct GPU , and that show up in the 3DMark Steel Nomad Light benchmark . Even as an ingress - stage GPU , it blows aside this field .

But in slight and unaccented laptop computer like these , we ’re most concerned about CPU performance , and here the ExpertBook P5 and the Zenbook S 14 with the Core Ultra 7 258V sit close to the middle between the Core Ultra U and H Meteor Lake chipsets . That ’s most ostensible in the Handbrake test that ’s entirely CPU - intensive , where the ExpertBook P5 was well behind the H - series in theZenbook 14 Q425 . The Lunar Lake unmarried - core functioning is a step up , but multi - core performance is lacking . The AMD Ryzen AI 9 37o is a much faster chipset across the table , while the Apple M3 is the fast at individual - core performance while also being fast in multi - nitty-gritty .

None of these laptops will be perceptibly faster for most users . But the ExpertBook P5 did n’t do anything to remain firm out .

I ’ll note as well that the Lunar Lake NPU is blackleg at up to 48 tera operations per second ( TOPS ) , compared to Meteor Lake at just 10 height . So , it forgather the Copilot+ 40 TOPS NPU requirement , as does Qualcomm ’s and AMD ’s later chipsets . However , we do n’t have a consistent means to measure NPU performance , and in any case , NPUs are best for more efficient on - gadget AI performance , while distinct GPUs stay much quicker .

Battery life

As we ’ve seen , all of these laptops are more than tight enough . The real doubtfulness then becomes : How efficient are they ? That ’s where the real battle lies , and Windows laptop computer makers have been struggling to catch up with Apple ’s incredibly efficient machines built around Apple Silicon . Lunar Lake is speculate to bridge the gap , at least until Apple ’s M4 chipset arrives .

When I first critique the ExpertBook P5 , it was n’t the best example of Lunar Lake ’s efficiency . It has a reasonable amount of battery capacity at 63 W - minute and an IPS display , compare to the Zenbook S 14 with the same chipset , an OLED show , and a slimly expectant 72 W - hr battery . There ’s nothing specific to the laptop itself that would bear it back , so when compared to the Zenbook S 14 , I would have expected alike battery lifetime .

The first recapitulation unit I looked at was n’t as telling as the Zenbook S 14 . However , when I ran the tests on a replacement unit of measurement , thing were much better . It was a bit behind the Zenbook S 14 , but still give rise very good barrage living that ’s ahead of previous - coevals Windows auto . While the Zenbook gave theMacBook Air M3more of a run for its money , the ExpertBook P5 was also fair competitive .

Display and audio

The ExpertBook P5 has one presentation option , a QHD+ ( 2560 x 1600 ) IPS control board that runs at a red-hot 144Hz . I ’m not exactly sure why the refresh rate is so high , given that it ’s not a gambling laptop , but I suppose it does make for a smooth Windows 11 experience .

grant to my colorimeter , the showing is indicatory of the very good information processing control panel that manufacturers have been using for several eld . I rarely review a laptop with a forged informatics show , even against the slap-up OLED and mini - precede option available . This one was lustrous at 482 nit , had good colour at 99 % of sRGB , 77 % of AdobeRGB , and 79 % of DCI - P3 with accuracy issue forth in at a Delta - E ( color difference ) of 1.18 ( 1.0 or less is considered fantabulous ) . And contrast was very good at 1,510:1 .

Sure , the Zenbook S 14 ’s OLED showing had much wider semblance at 100 % of sRGB , 96 % of AdobeRGB , and 100 % of DCI - P3 , but its accuracy was unusually bad for OLED at a Delta - E of 4.92 . And it was n’t as bright at 313 nits .

The stage is that the ExpertBook P5 ’s display is more than just enough for productiveness users . It wo n’t please creators or culture medium consumers . That ’s where OLED wins . But for most mass , it ’s a practiced exhibit .

Audio is provided by two down - firing speakers . They ’re unspoiled enough for watching a YouTube video and hearing notifications , but that ’s about it . Use some phone .

The ExpertBook P5 proves that not all laptops are created equal

We like the Zenbook S 14 quite a bit . It ’s not as tight as we hoped , but it had unattackable battery life , a tone build , and a heavy OLED showing . I was promising that the ExpertBook P5 would offer the same qualities , only with a slant toward business . Unfortunately , that ’s not the shell .

To begin with , the build quality just is n’t what it should be . In particular , the lid feels slight . The ExpertBook P5 is pretty affordable , but that ’s not acceptable . While the battery sprightliness was much better when I ran the tests again on a replacement whole , I still ca n’t recommend the Expertbook P5 over other Lunar Lake laptops at around the same price .