Dell Inspiron 14 review | A no-nonsense performance-oriented workhorse

Laptops between the ₹50,000 to 1 lakh price point are targetted at college students and professionals looking for a reliable machine with a touch of flair for post-work entertainment. The segment is full of some great value-for-money choices, and to stand out, laptops need to offer a good overall user experience without neglecting the basics.

The Dell Inspiron 14 targets this segment of users who look for good computing performance supported by good audio-visual features and a contemporary design. We used the Inspiron 14 with a 13th Gen Intel i7 processor backed by 16GB RAM for review, and here is what we found.

Unboxing

In the box, you get the laptop, along with the charging brick and paperwork. We found the unboxing experience straightforward, without the hassle of multiple boxes or additional plastic.

Design

The Dell Inspiron 14 has a clean minimalist design and looks like a business laptop silver. The laptop, which weighs 1.53 kg, is easy to carry around and does not feel bulky. The build quality is also good, and the device feels rugged enough to handle everyday commutes in a backpack.

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The lid opens to a maximum of 135 degrees, as claimed, enough for normal use. Overall, the laptop is thin, lightweight, and easy to live with.

Display and sound

The Inspiron 14 comes with a 14-inch 16:10 FHD+ (1920 x 1200) display with anti-glare and 250 nits of brightness and ComfortView Support​. The display, though not as remarkable as some competitors, is no slouch. It is sufficiently bright, with good colour accuracy and vibrance for indoor use. In outdoor, well-lit environments, we found the display to be decent. The auto-brightness feature on the device works well and comes in handy when moving between indoor and outdoor environments.

The display is good for content consumption and is an ideal companion for long work hours with its anti-glare finish.

The Inspiron 14 gets two tuned speakers. The speakers are loud and clear. However, they lack bass, and their output tends to be high on treble. While this is a shortcoming when listening to music, it comes in handy during video calls or when listening to podcasts.

Technical specifications

• Dimensions: 16.49mm –19.50mm x 314mm x 226.6mm), weight: 1.59 kg
• Processor: 13th Gen Intel CoreTM i7, 12MB Cache, up to 5.00 GHz
• Display: 14-inch 16:10 FHD+ (1920 x 1200) anti-glare with 250nits 
• Storage: 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
• RAM: 16GB, LPDDR5, 4800MHz​
• Input: HDMI 1.4, Intel Thunderbolt 4.0, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, SD card reader, audio jack
• Battery: ​4-Cell Battery, 54 Whr
• Sound: Tuned speakers, audio processing by Waves MaxxAudio Pro
• Camera: Widescreen FHD 1080p webcam with dual digital microphone array

Performance and connectivity

The Dell Inspiron 14 is available with i5 and i7 configurations. The device we received was powered with the 13th Gen Intel Core i7 processor clocked at 1.7Ghz, and 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM clocked at 4800MHz. The device also gets Intel Iris Xe Graphics which, while not crafted for gaming enthusiasts, can support casual gaming.

The laptop is quick to boot up and shows no signs of lag over long hours of use with multiple apps. The device can also handle multiple desktops with varying workflows without any hiccups.

The Inspiron 14’s backlit keyboard is good, with decent key travel that offers up a satisfying typing experience. Key spacing and size is great for users with bigger hands, and the keyboard was reasonably comfortable to use for extended periods. The fingerprint sensor, integrated into the power button, is also responsive and unlocks the device without lag.

The precision touchpad has good touch sensitivity and is accurate and easy to get accustomed to. Though the touchpad does not lack in performance, we would have preferred bigger dimensions for added ease of use.

For connectivity, the laptop comes with one HDMI 1.4 Thunderbolt 4.0 port along with two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports. The device also gets an SD card reader along with a universal audio jack. The SD card reader is a neat feature that comes in handy when transferring large files between devices.

The laptop also gets WiFI 6E for internet connectivity; however, users will need an adapter for ethernet connectivity.

Webcam

The laptop comes with an integrated widescreen 1080p FHD webcam with a dual digital microphone array and temporal noise reduction.

The webcam is capable enough for video and conference calls; though the picture quality is nothing to brag about, it should suffice for most users. The webcam also gets a manual shutter for added privacy.

Battery

The battery on the Inspiron 14 is a 4-cell 54Whr pack with a 65-Watt Barrel AC charger. Dell claims the device can charge 80% in an hour; in our testing, however, the device took around 2 hours for a full charge.

Battery life is one of the highlights of the device, and it can manage between 7-8 hours of mixed-use. Battery standby times are impressive, and the device was able to survive more than two days on backup.

Verdict

The Dell Inspiron 14, with a quality overall user experience and capable performance is a good value proposition for working professionals and students. While the laptop delivers a power-packed performance, it skims on a few features like better display and sound quality. This makes it more of a one-track workhorse than an all-rounder, but this job it does very well. The device then is a strong contender in the market, especially for users who prefer a powerful performer for workflows rather than an all-rounder with a weaker performance.

The Dell Inspiron 14 is priced at ₹83,392.