The Dell Latitude 7430 2-in-1 is a premium business convertible with some cool and useful features. But I had expected better battery life from a device that could — with the optional 4G connectivity — be used on the go. The 2-in-1 is also rather expensive compared with the clamshell laptop-only version.
Quick specs
- 14-inch 1,920 x 1,080 pixels touchscreen
- Core i5-1245U processor with 16GB system memory
- From 1.35kg
- 58 watt-hour battery
My first impression of the Dell Latitude: It feels like it could take a few knocks. Thanks to the use of carbon fiber, the lid feels sturdy. It also has a checkerboard pattern that stands out from the usual bland business machine. I liked that I could open the lid with one hand. The notch at the front lip helps here, while the hinge is tuned just right. You rotate the screen to flip it into tablet mode — a stylus is included. This 2-in-1 convertible isn't that light at around 1.35kg. And its 16:9 aspect ratio doesn't play well in portrait mode — 16:10 would also be more appropriate for work. The 14-inch display, while a tad reflective, has decent brightness (300 nits), and thin bezels at the sides.
One of its key features is the Windows Hello compatible infrared webcam. Not only does it securely authenticate users, this webcam also enables the Latitude's presence detection features. For example, the screen will automatically dim when the webcam sees no one in front of it — to save power. Conversely, when a person moves into view, the webcam will wake the device, and start the facial recognition sign-in process. There's also an option to blur your screen when a potential snooper is detected hovering behind you. These presence detection features are similar to the ones I tried in the LG Gram 16. And they work equally well here. Meanwhile, the 1080p webcam has decent quality, though there's a fair amount of noise. A physical shutter lets you manually block the camera for privacy.
Those who would like to work anywhere can add 4G connectivity to the Latitude via its micro-SIM card slot. Dell says its ExpressConnect feature lets the convertible connect to two networks at once for faster data and video downloads. I didn't test this feature, though. What I did test was the 12th-gen Core i5 Latitude, though Dell only has the Core i7 version on its website. You can expect the Core i7 model to have higher PCMark 10 scores than the 4,950 produced by my review set. This result is similar to that of the Asus Expertbook B7 Flip (5,091), which is also a business 2-in-1 convertible. The Dell comes with two Thunderbolt 4 ports that can rapidly charge the device (up to 80% charge within 60 minutes). There's also a HDMI 2.0 port, a USB 3.2 Type-A port, and an option for a smart card reader.
Battery life could be much better. The Dell clocked around 5.5 hours in our video-loop test at maximum brightness. It fared slightly better (6hr 12min) for office workloads in PCMark 10's battery test. Coupled with its relatively steep price tag — it costs S$3,379 for the Intel Core i7 version — the Dell Latitude 7430 2-in-1 doesn't offer especially good value. Unless you really need a 2-in-1 convertible I would instead recommend the clamshell Dell Latitude 7430, which is around S$700 less. You can shop for these Dell PCs on its website, though I also found them on Lazada.
Note: Review unit provided by Dell.
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