Asus ExpertBook Ultra Lands in South Africa With 3K Tandem OLED And Heavy Price Tag

As the “AI PC” era moves from a marketing buzzword to a hardware standard, Asus is expanding its reach in the commercial sector with the launch of the ExpertBook Ultra. Debuted originally at CES 2026, the laptop is now making its way to broader markets, positioning itself as a direct competitor in the ultralight business segment.

Rather than just a refreshed chassis, the ExpertBook Ultra leans heavily into Intel’s latest silicon and a high-end display tech usually reserved for premium tablets and creator-class machines.

Under the hood, the ExpertBook Ultra is powered by up to the Intel Core Ultra 7 (Series 3) processors. The standout metric here for professionals is the dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which Asus claims delivers 50 TOPS (Trillions of Operations Per Second). When combined with the CPU and GPU, the total platform output reaches up to 180 TOPS, intended to handle local AI workloads like real-time meeting summaries and background noise cancellation without taxing the main processor.

To keep the thin-and-light frame from throttling under these loads, Asus has implemented its “ExpertCool Pro” system. The cooling solution utilises a triple air outlet design that reportedly increases central air pressure by 12%. This allows the machine to maintain a 50W performance profile in turbo mode, even while the lid is closed. Which is a common pain point for professionals using docked setups.

Perhaps the most notable hardware inclusion is the 14-inch 3K tandem OLED touchscreen. Tandem OLED technology uses a dual-layer structure to achieve higher peak brightness – up to 1400 nits in this case – while actually consuming less power than traditional single-layer OLED panels. This is paired with a 120Hz variable refresh rate and a layer of Gorilla Glass for scratch resistance, a necessary addition for a touchscreen intended for travel.

The chassis itself is constructed from an aviation-inspired magnesium-aluminum alloy, keeping the weight down to just 0.99 kg (roughly 2.18 lbs). Despite the sub-kilogram weight, Asus claims the device meets 9H durability standards and features a “Nano Ceramic” coating designed to resist the stains and scratches that typically plague matte-finish business laptops.

For IT departments and those obsessed with particulars, the ExpertBook Ultra includes the “ExpertGuardian” suite. This provides BIOS-level controls and is compliant with NIST SP 800-193 security guidelines. Hardware-level security is also present via a TPM 2.0 chip and Microsoft Pluton, alongside a physical fingerprint sensor for biometric login. My key takeaway here? The fingerprint sensor login.

While various configurations exist globally, the primary retail variant for the South African market features the Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, 32GB of LPDDR5x RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The ExpertBook Ultra is priced at R59 999 and is available through major tech retailers including Takealot, Incredible, and Computer Mania.

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Papi Mabele

Papi Mabele has a marketing background, he is a digital marketing expert with extensive experience in launching and building global brands in the emerging markets. Papi is also an avid tech writer, enthusiast and all round tech junkie. As a freelance writer and analyst he has been numerously published in Popular Mechanics (SA), GQ South Africa, Premier Magazine, Driven Magazine, Bloem News, Courant, The Weekly, Enthooze Magazine and PiE magazine amongst others.