Dell Inspiron 14 Plus launched with Core i7-12700H processor

The entry-level to midrange Inspiron series of computers from Dell has a troubled past. For instance, the 2022 Inspiron 14 2-in-1, one of the most recent machines we’ve looked at, presented a poor experience because of its terrible display and little battery life. In contrast to previous incarnations that were featured on our list of the best 2-in-1s and affordable laptops.

Dell Inspiron 14 Plus Overview:

Design & Display

Although the laptop’s plastic display bezels aren’t the tiniest or most cutting-edge, they’re big enough to allow for a practical chassis. It is fairly thick at 0.75 inches in the back before becoming more respectable at 0.64 inches in the front. A 14-inch computer that weighs 3.7 pounds is the Inspiron 14 Plus. The additional thickness is required to enable a thermal system that can move enough air to keep the 45-watt CPU and discrete GPU from overheating, which some similarly equipped 14-inch laptops with thinner bodies and lesser weights struggle with.

The keyboard has a conventional design with big keycaps and accommodating key spacing. With just enough bounce to deliver a precise movement, the switches are quick and light. I instantly got into full-speed typing and didn’t feel tired while penning this article.

The power button’s inbuilt fingerprint scanner, which is the ideal location, supports Windows 11 Hello password-less login. When I tested it, it operated promptly and consistently.

The webcam’s 1080p version, which also has a physical privacy button, offers a clear image in a variety of lighting circumstances. During videoconferencing, the audio is of the highest caliber thanks to AI-powered noise reduction and dual microphones.

The Inspiron 14 Plus’s display was noticeably better than the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 I had previously evaluated, and I could sense that as soon as it powered on. My colorimeter confirmed that the panel had deep, vibrant blacks and was brightly coloured.

The 14-inch 16:10 2.2K (2,240 x 1,400) display measured 392 nits, above our 300-nit threshold and providing enough brightness for most indoor (and some outdoor) environments. Its 1,800:1 contrast ratio, which results in deep blacks and text that stands out on a white background, was particularly high for an IPS panel. The accuracy was excellent with a Delta of 1.02 and color width was slightly above the premium laptop average (1.0 or less is indistinguishable to the human eye). Unlike the panel on the “regular” Inspiron, as was already said, it is a display that matches a computer at its price.

Its display will be especially appreciated by productivity workers and media consumers, however creative will find the colours a little too muted for professional work. It is more than adequate for fast photo and video editing though.

Performance

One of a new generation of 14-inch laptops with 45-watt 12th generation Intel CPUs is the Inspiron 14 Plus. It takes a strong processor to fit inside a 14-inch chassis, yet this has happened more frequently than with previous Intel generations. The performance of the Core i7-12700H in my test unit has been inconsistent in 14-inch laptops, but it has been excellent in larger computers.

I also perform the Puget bench Premiere Pro test, which utilizes a discrete GPU and runs a live instance of Adobe Premiere Pro. In balanced mode, the Inspiron 14 Plus scored 569, while in performance mode, it scored 627. That is a respectable result for beginning designers as it is nearly twice as quick as machines with Iris Xe graphics.

Performance all around was strong. The Inspiron 14 Plus can quickly manage creative programmers while handling taxing productivity activities. With the Core i7-12700H, it offers the best performance of any 14-inch laptop we’ve evaluated so far.

Other Specs

The many Dell lines might be confusing, with several configuration options occasionally making for a difficult purchase decision. The opposite is true of the Inspiron 14 Plus. Just two configurations are available as of the time this article is being published. A 14-inch 2.2K (2,240 x 1,400) IPS panel, a 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 45-watt, 14-core, 20-thread Core i7-12700H processor are included in the $1,000 model.

The only other model, which I evaluated, costs $1,150 and replaces the Nvidia RTX 3050 GPU with Intel’s integrated Iris Xe. A 12-core/16-thread Core i5-12500H will be offered, along with additional RAM and storage choices, according to Dell’s specifications.

The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus significantly outperforms the basic Inspiron line in terms of performance speed and display quality. However, it isn’t much more expensive, so Dell now provides a more competitive selection if you’re looking for a low- to mid-range laptop.

Dell Inspiron 14 Plus Specifications:

Dell Inspiron 14 Plus Price And Availability in India:

The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus will Cost Rs.92,000 in India.

Also Read: Dell G15 re-updated with latest processor