Asus’s $599 Surface-Like PC Detachable Runs on Arm

Asus is going after Microsoft’s Surface devices with a $599 laptop-tablet hybrid that runs on an Arm processor. 

Asus today launched the ExpertBook B3 Detachable for consumers looking for a portable and flexible device suited for today’s hybrid work environment. 

The product operates as a 10.5-inch tablet built with a kickstand that can also connect to an attachable keyboard. As a result, the ExpertBook B3 can function as a traditional laptop, or be used as a touch-screen tablet, which can be propped up on a table. 

(Credit: Asus)

“Whether in the classroom, on the manufacturing line, or at the front of a small business, users can rely on the ExpertBook B3 Detachable as a laptop ready for anything,” the company says. 

However, the ExpertBook B3 doesn’t feature a traditional x86 chip from Intel or AMD. Instead, Asus opted to use an Arm-based processor in an 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 chip that has an up to 2.55GHz clock speed. This also means the product comes with the Arm-based Windows 11, which needs to rely on software emulation to run x86 64-bit apps. 

(Credit: Asus)

But on the positive side, Asus’s product promises to offer up to 21 hours in battery life on a single charge. The ExpertBook B3 also weighs in at mere 1.3 pounds. Other perks include a stylus that can be “garaged” inside the tablet, and a fabric-woven covering on back of the tablet.

Asus adds: “The laptop is also optimized for video conferencing and collaboration, featuring a dual-camera design with a 5-megapixel user-viewing camera and a 13-megapixel world-facing camera, and innovative 3D noise-reduction (3DNR) technology which eliminates up to 94% of the random noise that naturally affects any camera.”

Interested consumers can check out the full specs on Asus’s website(Opens in a new window). The ExpertBook B3 Detachable is already on sale via Best Buy(Opens in a new window). The model available has 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The company also plans on introducing a version with 8GB of RAM.