The Dell Inspiron 14 is one of the first laptops to ship with Windows 11, bringing out some of the best features of the OS. The laptop packs the 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 chipset with the Iris Xe integrated GPU.
Coming as one of the powerful machines, this Dell laptop packs a thin and lightweight body. I've been using the laptop for a while now and I've experienced both its pros and cons. Here's my detailed review of the same.
Specifications
- CPU: 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7
- GPU: Integrated Intel Iris Xe
- Memory: 8GB DDR4
- Storage: 512GB PCIe SSD
- Display: 14-inch FHD display with touchscreen support
- Battery: 51 Wh
- OS: Microsoft Windows 11 OS
Dell Inspiron 14 Design: Flexible And Elevated
The design of the Dell Inspiron 14 is what catches the eye. Dubbed as a 2-in-1 laptop, users get to experience the flexible, convertible hinge. Whether you wish to use it as a laptop or switch it to a tab for a seamless viewing experience, the Dell Inspiron offers both. Do note the speaker grilles are placed at the rear, which gives a better audio output when you're viewing something in the tab mode.
The Dell Inspiron is available in a single Platinum Silver color where the body is coated with an aluminum casing. To note, the aluminum coating offers enhanced protection and durability. The design element of the Dell Inspiron 14 also includes the 1.3mm keys on the keyboard, which gives the perfectly satisfying click. Dell has also upgraded the design of the trackpad with room to do more.
More importantly, the Dell Inspiron 14 includes a mechanical shutter for the camera. The feature offers additional privacy and security for conscious users, allowing them to manually open and close the shutter. Since using Windows Hello face recognition to log in would be a hassle, Dell has included a fingerprint embedded power button.
Dell Inspiron 14 Display Details
The Dell Inspiron 14 features a 14-inch FHD display with touchscreen support. The display of the laptop has super-narrow bezels, giving you a wide-viewing angle with clear and crisp views. This is true even if you aren't looking at the display directly, making it a great laptop for viewing something in a group.
I had to mention more about the narrow bezels on the Dell Inspiron. Here, the all-around bezel-less display and the company size give a more expansive screen-to-body ratio. I used the laptop for video streaming, a few games, and even video calling. The expansive display enhances the overall experience, thanks to its narrow bezels.
Additionally, the laptop ships with a Dell Pen out-of-the-box. Be it doodling or content creation, the Dell Pen lets you do more with this display. However, like most laptops with Pen support, there isn't a dedicated slot or space to keep the Pen locked with the laptop.
Dell Inspiron 14 Performance: Benchmark Scorecard
Under the hood, the Dell Inspiron 14 draws power from the 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 coupled with an integrated Intel Iris Xe GPU. The model used in this review packs 8GB DDR4 RAM and 512GB storage. There are a couple of other variants for this laptop too. I ran a couple of benchmarks to determine its performance.
On Geekbench, the Dell Inspiron scored 1310 in single-core and 3991 in the multi-core test. Also, the CPU-Z benchmarking site gave the laptop 345 and 1908 scores in single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. I also ran the Cinebench test, where the laptop scored 4108 points in multi-core and 1219 points in the single-core test.
To determine Dell Inspiron's prowess in GPU performance, I ran the PC Mark 10 benchmark. Here, the laptop scored an overall of 4395 points with 8148 points under Essentials, 6234 points under Productivity, and 4535 points under Digital Content Creation.
The benchmark scores show that the Dell Inspiron 14 laptop is quite a powerful one. In comparison, the Asus VivoBook K15 OLED with Intel Core i3-1115G4 CPU scored 1140 and 2722 points on Geekbench.
Similarly, one can compare the benchmark scores with the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, which ships with the Intel Core i7-L16G7. Here, the Lenovo laptop scored 581 points on single-core and 1527 points on multi-core CPU performance on Geekbench. Despite the difference in the chipset, the Dell Inspiron 14 comes as a powerful system.
Dell Inspiron 14 Real-Life Performance: Not A Glitch
Benchmark scores aside, the Dell Inspiron 14's real-life performance is seamless and smooth. I used the laptop for a wide range of activities, both personal and professional. One of the features I loved about the laptop is its smooth wake feature. You don't even need to press the start button to boot the machine.
Here, Dell has included a lid-open sensor that automatically kick-starts the machine when you simply open it. The fingerprint-embedded power button checks for easy log-in and smooth performance. Speaking of its performance, the Dell Inspiron 14 can handle your usual laptop tasks. Be it online meetings, your work-related tasks, excel sheets, doodling, browsing, social media, and so on.
Additionally, the laptop comes with Windows 11 OS. As noted earlier, the Dell Inspiron 14 is among the first laptops that ship with Windows 11, surpassing the need to update a new PC. With this, you can explore more of everything that the new Windows update has to offer.
Plus, I used the laptop for video streaming and to play a few games as well. Here too, the laptop's performance was seamless and without a glitch. This is also where the battery performance is noteworthy, which I've explained below.
Dell Inspiron 14 Battery Performance: Satisfactory
The Dell Inspiron 14 ships with a 51 Whr battery that offers a good battery backup. The laptop also includes Dell's ExpressCharge feature, which minimizes the time required to fuel the laptop. The feature claims to recharge the battery up to 80 percent in 60 minutes.
During my time with the Dell Inspiron 14, I found this claim to be quite true. I found the laptop bouncing back from power-saver mode to full charge in roughly two hours. It does come to 80 percent in about an hour, but the remaining 20 percent feels like forever to fully charge. That said, the battery backup is satisfactory, even with 80 percent fuel.
The Dell laptop comes with an Intel chipset integrated with an Intel GPU. However, it skips on another key feature - Intel Evo. I've used a couple of devices with Intel Evo and it further elongates the battery performance. It would have been even better if the Dell Inspiron 14 included this feature.
Dell Inspiron 14 Verdict: Worth The Money?
The Dell Inspiron 14 5410 2-in-1 laptop starts from Rs. 52,989 and is available on the Dell India website and other top retailers. For the asking price, the Dell Inspiron 14 makes a good buy for all the features it offers. The convertible design and touchscreen are key components that struck the right chords for me.
Additionally, the smooth performance with the Intel chipset, enhanced camera privacy, and multiple ports on the laptop were other key factors that make it a worthy buy. Shipping with in-built Windows 11 OS doesn't hurt either. If you're looking for a new laptop with a convertible design and powerful performance, then this is the right choice for you.