The single-fan cooling system combined with ASUS Expert Cooling Technology keeps CPU temperatures below 80°C even during extended gaming — a result that is genuinely impressive for an integrated GPU laptop. Thick rubber grips on the bottom allow excellent airflow for sustained performance.

⌨️ Keyboard & Trackpad

The full-size spill-resistant backlit keyboard has 1.35mm key travel with three brightness levels (F7 control). Keyboard flex under heavy typing pressure is minimal — nearly absent. The keyboard is designed for long-duration work, and the DRC audio branding on the palm rest area signals the business-first intent of this machine.

The trackpad is standard-sized but smooth — supporting all Windows 11 gestures. The integrated fingerprint sensor in the trackpad has a reliable, fast response time and is a convenient addition for quick login.

The IPS panel delivers natural, accurate colours for document work, spreadsheets, and OTT content consumption. 300 nits is sufficient for indoor use and even covered outdoor environments. The anti-glare coating significantly reduces reflections, making it usable in bright offices with overhead lighting.

The Intel Core 5 210H is Intel’s 2nd generation naming — the successor series to the i5-13420H. It uses the same hybrid core architecture with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. Performance cores handle intensive tasks (editing, gaming, compiling) while efficiency cores manage lighter daily tasks, preserving battery life.

The 5–8% performance gain over i5-13420H is meaningful in sustained workloads like video rendering, large file exports, and multi-threaded compilation. In casual daily use, the difference is less noticeable but adds up over hours of multitasking.

The port selection is genuinely excellent for a business laptop. The inclusion of an RJ45 LAN port means wired internet is always available for faster, more stable connectivity — especially important in office environments. Two USB-C ports with 10Gbps data speed and power delivery gives flexibility for charging from any USB-C adapter or power bank.

Cinebench R23 multi-core score above 9000 places the Core 5 210H firmly in the capable mid-range performance category. For multitasking — running Outlook, Teams, Chrome with 15 tabs, and Excel simultaneously — there is no slowdown or lag. The 5000+ score in multitasking benchmarks confirms smooth parallel workload handling.

For a business laptop without a dedicated GPU, the editing performance is genuinely impressive. A 4–5 layer 1080p Filmora project rendered in 48 seconds — faster than many mid-range laptops with discrete GPUs. The Intel Core 5 210H’s Quick Sync video acceleration engine plays a key role here, offloading encoding tasks from the CPU.

Adobe Premiere Pro with a 2-minute FHD project rendered in 5 minutes 15 seconds — acceptable for a laptop at this price point with integrated graphics. Real-time timeline playback was smooth at 4–5 layers. Adding more layers (8+) may start to introduce minor frame drops.

Photoshop handled multiple PSD files open simultaneously without slowdown. Text effects, smart filters, and layer blending were applied without lag. For Lightroom photo editing or standard graphic design work — this laptop handles it confidently.

While this is a business laptop, the Intel Core 5 210H’s integrated graphics performs surprisingly well for casual gaming. Three games were tested in detail:

The most important observation: CPU temperature stayed at or below 80°C across all three games. No thermal throttling occurred. ASUS Expert Cooling Technology effectively manages heat even under continuous GPU 100% load — keeping gameplay stable and consistent without performance degradation over time.

Battery life is one of the strongest improvements over the previous generation. The Intel Core 5 210H’s efficiency cores significantly reduce power draw during light tasks — web browsing, document editing, and video calls. At 100% brightness and full volume playing video, 7 hours is a practical result for office use through a full workday.

The PPS-enabled 65W USB-C charger is a meaningful quality upgrade over standard adapters. It delivers 60% charge in 49 minutes — fast enough for a lunch break top-up. The compact adapter is also travel-friendly.