The Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (model number 7435) is a jack of all trades and a master of none. In its attempt to tick all the boxes, including a premium laptop and tablet experience, support for light gaming with AMD graphics, and a suitable productivity machine, it fails to excel in any one area.
It’s too heavy to be used comfortably as a tablet, too weak for most gaming, and it just doesn’t stack up to the performance you want from a productivity laptop. Its few redeeming qualities, like a satisfying keyboard, great connectivity options, and a cool silver exterior, do little to dissuade you from the slow operation and nagging feeling of “who is this for?”
Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7435) Laptop
Dell’s Inspiron 14 2-in-1 tries to do too many things at once. In its efforts, it falls short of establishing itself as a satisfactory productivity machine, gaming laptop, or 2-in-1 tablet. It has a few redeeming qualities, like a springy keyboard and a sleek design, but they can’t save the Inspiron 14 from being spread too thin.
A Sleek Laptop Paired With a Heavy Tablet
At first glance, the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 is your typical Dell laptop. You’ll find a sleek silver clamshell chassis on the outside, a typical dual-hinge design, and a standard keyboard and trackpad layout on the inside.
The Inspiron magic doesn’t show itself until you get to the hinges. Where a normal laptop’s screen rotation stops, the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 is just getting started. The hinges allow the Inspiron’s screen to rotate around 180 degrees and enter tablet mode.
But at 3.48 lbs (1.74kg), the Inspiron 14 doesn’t feel like a tablet. It’s over three times the weight of the 10th generation Apple iPad, which clocks in at 1.05lbs (480g). And when the screen is rotated to tablet mode, you have the keyboard to contend with on the rear. This made the tablet experience feel clunky and unnatural to me, so I opted to keep this 2-in-1 in the laptop setting for most of my testing.
Thankfully, it feels much better as a laptop due to the keyboard and trackpad.
When it comes down to it, the keyboard and trackpad are some of the most important aspects of a productivity laptop. The Dell Inspiron 14 delivers in this area.
Starting with the keyboard: it’s wide enough that I don’t feel cramped or error-prone and springy enough to provide a little haptic feedback when you bottom out a key and let your fingers dance to the next. With a full row of function keys along the top edge, you have just about everything you need to throw together a presentation or document. No specific issues keep me from recommending the Inspiron 14 for its keyboard alone.
The trackpad is similar but not quite as rewarding as its keyboard counterpart. It’s a solid size for scrolling and tapping, and it feels nice and smooth. The downside comes from clicking the left and right mouse buttons. They’re stiffer than I’d like, and I wouldn’t mind a clearer separation between left and right buttons. However, it’s far from the worst trackpad I’ve used. Using tap to click, I found myself settling in pretty quickly.
A Disappointing Display
The Dell Inspiron’s 14-inch, FHD+ 1920 x 1200px display is a lot like jumping on a trampoline: it has its ups and downs.
To start with the positives, it’s a fantastic size for media enjoyment, presentations, and general computer work like photo editing. The 10-point touch support never gave me any trouble and was convenient for quick clicks like pausing a video or closing an app. Without the keyboard or weight in consideration, the screen would make quite a suitable tablet.
However, a few key negatives prevent it from being an outstanding screen.
First and foremost is brightness. I prefer a brighter screen to work on, and the Inspiron 14 doesn’t offer anything close to “bright.” At around 250 nits, I had the screen on full brightness almost the entire time I used it. A 200-nit bump would do this 2-in-1 wonders. Next up on the chopping block are the washed-out colors—this screen needs help in the vibrancy department. Nothing “pops,” and instead you get one mass of color across the display. Lastly, I hope you like how you look today, because the screen may as well be a mirror in any direct sunlight. The reflections wouldn’t quit unless I was in a dimly lit environment.
As long as you’re inside and looking for a screen that’ll get the job done, the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 delivers. If you want something with vivid colors and beautiful depth like Apple’s liquid retina display, this just isn’t it.
Loud, Hollow Speakers
The speakers are loud enough to pack a punch, but the quality falters when compared to your average headphones.
Listening to Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” two words came to mind: hollow and tinny. The volume is there, but the full sound and booming base you want from a pair of speakers doesn’t show up to the party.
They’re good enough for podcasts and TV shows, but the audio almost sounds like it’s coming from behind the laptop. You’d do much better off purchasing a pair ofBluetooth headphonesor a decent speaker.
Unremarkable, but Reliable Webcam and Microphones
The 1080p webcam and dual-mic array are nothing to write home about; they’re par for the course of your average laptop setup. I don’t have any major complaints in this department.
The FHD webcam works well enough for video chats, though you do need to be a well-lit area if you don’t want a grainy appearance. Similarly, the microphones get your message across clear enough that the recipient won’t have to piece together what you’re trying to say, but you can easily get a better performance from an affordable headset or USB mic.
Frustrating, Bogged-Down Performance
Before I get into the benchmark scores, I’ll offer an anecdote that paints the performance picture. With just six Microsoft Edge tabs and Steam’s desktop app open, I had maxed out the 8GB of RAM offered in my Inspiron 14 review unit.
I couldn’t even access all of the Edge pages at once; the fifth and sixth tabs gave me a “not enough memory to open this page” error. Regular desktop processes, like opening the file manager, took a big hit in speed.
That doesn’t bode well for today’s performance standards when it comes to productivity.
What about gaming? The Inspiron 14 (7435) features onboard AMD Radeon graphics and a Ryzen 5 7530U processor, so it isn’t the least equipped 2-in-1 on the market in that regard. It’s certainly no custom gaming rig, either, though.
Starting with the ol' reliable Rocket League, I was able to squeeze out 50 to 60FPS on the lowest setting available. Then, I tried Dark Souls: Remastered. At the lowest possible settings, it ran at around 30 to 50FPS with frequent stutters and screen tearing (not something you want in a souls-like game).
If you’re looking for a 2-in-1 that can handle some gaming in your downtime, the Inspiron 14 may be enough if you don’t mind low settings and less-than-stable FPS. You won’t be able to get a game like Cyberpunk 2077 off the ground, but you’re able to run less graphically intensive games with relative success.
Now, onto some benchmark scores. Running Geekbench 6, the Inspiron 14 scored slightly higher than the recently reviewedLenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 4 2-in-1, which felt counter to my experience.
The Inspiron 14 earned a single-core score of 1,899 and a multi-core score of 6,881, narrowly beating out Lenovo’s ThinkBook Plus Gen 4 by 61 and 82 points respectively. When it comes to the GPU score, I was less shocked to see AMD’s Radeon graphics winning with a score of 13,713 in comparison to the ThinkBook’s Intel Iris Xe graphics score of 12,660.
PCMark 10 granted a narrow victory to the ThinkBook Plus Gen 4. Dell’s Inspiron 14 earned a score of 5,654 overall, whereas the ThinkBook won out with 5,662 points.
These scores make me think my performance issues were largely due to the limited 8GB of RAM. Opting for 16GB of RAM would likely alleviate most of the slow operation issues, albeit in exchange for a bit hit to your wallet.
Excellent Connectivity Options
With two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports, one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, an HDMI port, an SD card reader, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, it’s easy to respect the connectivity options you get with the Dell Inspiron 14. Nothing feels like it’s missing, and you always have the option to expand with a USB-C hub if you need more room for peripherals.
The one gripe I have in this area is that both USB-C ports are located on the laptop’s left side. This means you must plug the charger in on that side regardless of how you want to position the machine, which can lead to an annoying in-the-way cable.
Respectable Battery, as Long as You’re Not Gaming
The battery life held up decently well throughout my testing. I was able to get an average of seven to eight hours out of a full charge when it came to tasks like browsing media and writing. Gaming, on the other hand, decimated the Inspiron 14’s life expectancy. At 40% battery, downloading Dark Souls and playing it for just 20 minutes had me reaching for the charger to quell the “low battery” warning (which appeared at 7%).
Surprisingly, the 65W power adapter didn’t charge the Inspiron 14 as quickly as I’d like, either. It took around three hours to charge from 5% to 100%, with very light use during the charging time.
In all, I’d trust the Dell Inspiron 14’s battery to get me through a day at work or school, but I wouldn’t attempt any gaming without an outlet nearby.
Should You Purchase the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7435)?
While a redeeming factor can be found in the reasonable $700 price tag, I would much rather opt for a laptop with better performance specs in lieu of the clunky 2-in-1 capabilities offered by the Dell Inspiron 14. As a master of none, the Inspiron 14 fails to satisfy any area of productivity, gaming, or media enjoyment.
If the 2-in-1 functionality is non-negotiable, and you can find it on sale, the Inspiron 14 may be a worthwhile purchase. Otherwise, I would recommend steering clear and spending your money elsewhere.
