Reviewing the ASUSPRO B8430UA - The classic notebook for business professionals

The ASUSPRO B8430UA or ASUS PRO B8430UA (depending on where you buy it from) is a notebook that is aimed at the business sector. It's a device that has a classic look, it's built to last and it offers plenty of hardware power. We received this notebook for testing a couple of weeks ago and since then we have tested it on a daily basis. Now we are ready to share our findings with you, and tell you whether it's a good notebook or not. If you're on the lookout for a good business notebook and you are interested in what ASUS has to offer, read our review and, by the end of it, you will know whether ASUSPRO B8430UA notebook is worth buying or not:

Unboxing the ASUSPRO B8430UA

The ASUSPRO B8430UA notebook comes in a simple, traditional, cardboard box with not much information printed on it. For instance, on the top of the box, you'll only see the ASUS logo and the "In search of incredible" motto. The only thing that lets you know what's inside is the notebook's name tag from the bottom of the box. Inside the package, we found only the ASUSPRO B8430UA notebook and its power adapter. However, you should know that, when we wrote this review, the notebook was not yet available to purchase at retailers, so the one you'll buy will probably include other things in its box. Stuff like the user guide, the warranty, and probably a set of recovery discs for the software on the notebook.

Hardware specifications

The ASUSPRO B8430UA notebook can be bought in multiple hardware configurations. For starters, the processor it runs on can be an Intel Core i7 Intel vPro at 2.6 GHz (4 MB Cache, up to 3.4 GHz), an Intel Core i5 Intel vPro at 2.4 GHz (3 MB Cache, up to 3 GHz), an Intel Core i7 6500U processor or an Intel Core i5 6200U processor. All the processors belong to the Skylake family, the latest from Intel, which means both increased performances and more efficient energy consumption. The ASUSPRO B8430UA that we received for testing was running on the best processor of the lot, the Intel Core i7 Intel vPro running at a base frequency of 2.6 GHz, and at a turbo frequency of up to 3.4 GHz. In terms of RAM memory, this notebook comes with 4GB of DDR4 RAM memory running at 2133 MHz, soldered on the mainboard, to which you can add an additional RAM DIMM of up to 8GB. In total, you can get the ASUSPRO B8430UA with 12GB of RAM memory, which is more than enough for any task. It's worth noting that the model we reviewed had 12 GB of RAM memory. If you're wondering about the video capabilities of the ASUSPRO B8430UA, you should know that it doesn't have a discrete video card installed. It relies instead on the built-in Intel HD Graphics 520 chip, which offers support for DirectX 12 and 4K resolutions. The ASUSPRO B8430UA has a 14.0" screen with a Full HD resolution of 1920x1080 pixels at a 16:9 image aspect ratio. It uses a TN panel and a matte coating that should help in preventing sun glare. When it comes to the storage space, here too you can choose from a multitude of options. You can equip the notebook with:

• 2.5" SATA3 hard disk drives with the following characteristics: 1TB of space and 5400 RPM, 500GB of space and 7200 RPM or a hybrid hard disk drive with 500GB of space and 5400 RPM, and with a 8GB SSD part
• SATA3 SSDs with a capacity of: 512GB, 256GB (M.2 2280) or 128GB (M.2 2280)

And it's important to note that the notebook has 2 bays for storage drives, which means that you can install two drives. For instance, the model that we reviewed came with a 128GB SSD system drive and a 1TB HDD storage drive. The sound you get from the ASUSPRO B8430UA is delivered via two built-in stereo 1.5 W atts speakers. You also get a microphone and a HD web camera with 1 megapixel, capable of recording videos and photos at a 1280x720 pixels resolution. As for the networking options, the ASUSPRO B8430UA is ready for everything: it has a built-in 10/100/1000(Gigabit) Ethernet adapter, an integrated wireless card that offers support for the 802.11 a/b/g/n and ac standards, and a 4G LTE module. The latter will surely be useful to business people who travel a lot. The other connectivity options you get are as follows: 1 COMBO audio jack, 4 USB 3.0 ports, 1 RJ45 LAN Jack for Ethernet networks, 1 mini Display Port, 1 Smart Card port, 1 Fingerprint sensor, 1 SD card reader and 1 Micro SIM card slot. All the ports are easily identifiable on the sides of the notebook, but the Micro SIM card slot is not. If you're going to want to use it, you should know that you will find it under the battery, which you can reach by taking away the plastic cover from the back of the notebook. For those of you that are using high-end smartphones, you should know that it doesn't include a USB Type C port. The ASUSPRO B8430UA uses a 4110 mAh 48 Whrs polymer battery that ASUS says will give the notebook an autonomy of 9 hours. We'll see if that's true in the benchmarks section of this review. The notebook is 13.34 x 9.29 x 0.77 ~ 0.80 in (339 x 236 x 19.75 ~ 20.48 mm) in width x depth x height and it weighs 3.74 lbs (1.7 kg). In terms of software, the ASUSPRO B8430UA notebook comes with Windows 10 Pro, but you can downgrade it to Windows 7 Professional if that's what you prefer. The full list of detailed specifications can be found on the ASUS official website, here: ASUSPRO B8430UA Specifications.

Using the ASUSPRO B8430UA

The ASUSPRO B8430UA notebook is aimed at the business market and, as a consequence, uses a classic design with sharp edges. The case is carbon reinforced and the matte and dark grey surfaces look and feel great. The top of the notebook is a plain surface that holds only the ASUS logo in the middle. T he bottom of the notebook is also simple, with just a few screw holes, the four rubber feet that keep it stable on your desk and a pretty small air vent. When you open the lid, you get to see the screen of the ASUSPRO B8430UA. A nice thing about it is that it's matte. Therefore, it should prevent glare when you work in bright environments. However, what's not great about it, is that it uses a TN panel. That means that the display has some pretty low viewing angles. We were not impressed by it, but hey, maybe business users don't want their notebooks screens to be visible to the guy on the left or to the right. And a thing that compensates the rather low viewing angles on the vertical axis, is the fact that you can open the notebook's screen at 180 degrees. One feature that we appreciate in the ASUSPRO B8430UA notebook is its keyboard, which is very good. This entire review was written on this notebook, and we must say that the large and well spaced keys are a pleasure to type on. You can work on this notebook for long periods of time without your hands getting tired. Another thing that you will surely appreciate about the ASUSPRO B8430UA is that its keyboard is illuminated. It offers a subtle backlight with three different intensity levels which you can set with just a few keypresses. Great for impression and great for typing in darker environments. The ASUSPRO B8430UA offers both a touchpad and a trackpoint, so you can use the one you prefer. The touchpad works very well, it's large enough to feel comfortable and its buttons are not too easy to press so that accidental clicks are not very likely. On the top of the touchpad you'll find three other buttons that are easy to click when you use the trackpoint. As far as the performance levels go, we have nothing but good things to say. The model that we reviewed used a Intel Core i7 Intel vPro processor running at 2.6 GHz and up to 3.4 GHz in turbo mode, which put together with the 12 GB of DDR4 RAM memory and the 128 GB SSD used as system drive, offered more than enough power and speed for all our daily activities. Writing documents in Microsoft Word, Excel, Google Docs, browsing the web, using Skype for video conferencing, spending all the time in the world on Facebook and so on… all these are things that are dead easy to for the ASUSPRO B8430UA. On a full charge, the battery managed to last us for 6 to 7 hours, which is a really good result. Considering that we've tested the most powerful variant of the ASUSPRO B8430UA, it's likely that you'll get even more autonomy if you buy a variant with a lesser processor. Read the next page of this review to find out what apps are bundled with the ASUSPRO B8430UA, see what it scored in our benchmarks and check our final verdict.

Apps bundled with the ASUSPRO B8430UA

The ASUSPRO B8430UA comes with Windows 10 Pro pre-installed but, as we mentioned earlier, ASUS says that you will be able to downgrade to Windows 7 Professional if you prefer to. Besides that, the ASUSPRO B8430UA comes with a set of bundled apps and programs, as follows:

• ASUSPRO Business Center is an application that helps you manage your computer, from both a hardware and a software point of view. You can use it to manage power options, backups, updates, etc.

• ASUS Fingerprint allows you to capture fingerprint biometrics using the built-in fingerprint sensor and use it to authenticate into the notebook's operating system and applications.
• ASUS GiftBox is a simple app that lists some offers ASUS has for you. Stuff like 6 months of free Evernote Premium or 20% off Adobe Creative Cloud.
• ASUS HDD Protection Tool uses internal sensors to detect any movement of your laptop and offers protection for your hard drive in case of imminent physical shocks.

• ASUS Install is an application that lets you install ASUS software. This may be useful if you plan to use some of the apps that are bundled by ASUS.
• ASUS Live Update is an application that can be used for managing operating system updates. Windows already has Windows Update so you don't really need this application.

• ASUS On-Screen Display turns the on-screen display of notifications related to the use of some keyboard shortcuts like the ones that control the backlighting of the keyboard on or off .
• ASUS Smart Gesture lets you configure various settings for the touchpad. You can use it to set the actions performed when tapping or swiping your finger(s) on the touchpad.
• ASUS USB Charger Plus is a tool that lets you charge devices over the USB ports faster, even when the notebook is in sleep mode.
• ASUS WebStorage is a cloud storage solution from ASUS that offers 16 GB of free cloud storage space.
• ASUS WinFlash is a program specifically designed to write new BIOS firmware and make BIOS updates. You should keep it and use it.
• CyberLink PhotoDirector 5 is a photo editor with lots of options and features. It's worth a try before deciding whether to keep it or not.

• CyberLink PowerDirector 12 is a video editor that you can use to enhance your videos. Just as with the PhotoDirector app, our recommendation for you is to first try the app, then choose whether to keep it.
• Dropbox is a cloud storage service that, together with ASUS, offers you 25 GB of free space for 6 months.
• Evernote is the famous cross-platform app that is designed for taking notes.
• Flipboard is a popular news app which you can use to create customized magazines based on your interests. You may want to experiment with it before deciding whether to keep it or not.
• Gameloft Games is an app that shows you a list of games from Gameloft, with links to their pages on the Windows Store. We are not sure of the value of this app on business laptops.
• TotalRecovery Pro is a tool that allows you to create backups of your files or entire drives, as well as recovering them. This one might be worth keeping and using from time to time. Backups are always good, because you never know when a hard drive might be failing you, or when you accidentally delete something you shouldn't have.

• TripAdvisor is the famous travel app. You can use it to find hotels, plan your vacations and so on. It is useful if you travel a lot.
• WildTangent Games App is a portal where you can purchase and download various PC games.
• WPS Office is an office suite that lets you open, create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Performance in benchmarks

Up until now, we've only told you our subjective opinion - but what about some objective facts? Let's see what the ASUSPRO B8430UA managed to score in our benchmarks: The first thing we measured was the boot time of this notebook, meaning how much it takes for it to start Windows 10, from the press of the power button to the desktop being loaded and ready to use. To do that, we used Bootracer , and we measured a time of 29 seconds, which is a good result. Then we checked how the ASUSPRO B8430UA does in usual home computing activities. Things like browsing the internet, writing stuff in office apps, making video calls, maybe some picture editing and some gaming from time to time. To measure all that, we turned to PCMark 8 and we ran its Home conventional tests. The notebook got 2752 points, which is a very good result. This notebook has much more power than it needs to do the activities we just mentioned. Seeing as the ASUSPRO B8430UA is a notebook destined for business professionals, we also considered it worth while to measure its performance in work s ituations. That's why we also ran PCMark 8's Work conventional tests. The notebook achieved a score of 2962 points, which is a great result. Office work like writing documents, editing spreadsheets, browsing the web and making Skype calls are all things that are dead easy for the ASUSPRO B8430UA to do. The ASUSPRO B8430UA is a business notebook, so it's clearly not built for gaming. However, even CEOs play some casual games from time to time. 🙂 Because this notebook doesn't include a discrete video card, we didn't run the latest video benchmarks on the market. We believe an older video benchmark like 3DMark Vantage is better at showing us what this notebook can do in gaming terms. After all, all you get is a built-in Intel HD Graphics 520 video chip. The ASUSPRO B8430UA managed to score 5690 points in the Performance tests. That means that this notebook is able to play older games, as well as casual gamea, but just as we suspected, is not the device that you should buy if you want to play newer 3D games at decent video settings. Then we moved to the storage tests. As we mentioned before, the ASUSPRO B8430UA notebook is available in multiple combinations from a storage point of view. The model that we reviewed was equipped with a 128GB solid state drive and a 1 TB hard disk drive. The solid state drive is manufactured by Hynix and, as you can see in the screenshot below, offers good transfer speeds both at reading data and writing data. The hard disk drive is manufactured by Western Digital, has 1 TB of storage space and spins at 5400 rpm. A benchmark with CrystalDiskMark revealed the results you can see in the screenshot below. They're not impressive, but they don't have to be. The hard disk drive is used as storage space only, the system drive is the solid state drive that we mentioned before. Next, we wanted to see how good the cooling system of the ASUSPRO B8430UA is. To do our measurements, we used Prime95 to stress the notebook and CoreTemp to check the temperatures of the processor. After more than an hour of "intensive thinking" the CPU didn't get higher than 170 degrees Fahrenheit (77 degrees Celsius ). Finally, we tested the battery of the ASUSPRO B8430UA. In order to do that, we used the PowerMark benchmark. The tests run by this benchmark aim to measure how long your battery will last when you use the notebook in regular activities like surfing the web, using office applications or playing media files. The benchmark revealed that, in such situations, the notebook will last almost 9 hours, which is what ASUS promised and, honestly, is quite impressive.

Pros and cons

The ASUSPRO B8430UA has lots of good aspects:

• Powerful hardware
• A simple and classic design
• Sturdiness and carbon reinforced case
• Matte screen
• Spacious and illuminated keyboard
• Very good autonomy
• Lots of connectivity options, including 4G LTE
• Storage combinations that let you use both an SSD and an HDD

There are also some downsides:

• A rather low screen brightness (because it uses a TN panel)
• Poor display viewing angles (also because of the TN panel used by the screen)
• No HDMI port available

Verdict

The ASUSPRO B8430UA notebook is a device that is targeted at business owners and professionals. It has a classic look, with sharp edges and matte gray surfaces, it's reliable and it's definitely built to last. The hardware that powers it is more than enough to make any office work or regular computing activity a breeze, and the large number of ports and connectivity options makes this notebook a wise choice if you intend to work on the go. Among the other things we appreciated in this notebook are the very good keyboard and touchpad, as well as the matte coating of the screen. On the other hand, what we didn't like about it, is the fact that ASUS chose to use a TN panel for the display. Unlike IPS (In Plane Switching) panels, TN panels have small viewing angles, low brightness levels and generally washed out colors. We believe that ASUS could have used a better display in order to deserve the maximum rating.