Dell Inspiron Chromebook 14 2-in-1 Review (7486) (2023)

The Dell Inspiron Chromebook 14 2-in-1, also called the Inspiron 7486 ($599 as tested), is the ultimateChromebookwhich is competitively priced with full-featured convertibles based on Windows 10. An example of this isDell's Inspiron 14 2-in-1(Inspiron 5482), which costs about the same money with similar hardware inside.An 8th Gen Intel Core i3 processor gives the Inspiron 7486 plenty of performance, while the 128GB eMMC storage drive has several times the capacity of the 16GB or 32GB drives typically found on cheaper Chromebooks. Overall, we think the Inspiron 7486 is a reasonable choice if Chrome OS suits your needs and you want something with more features than the average Chromebook, but we'd like to see longer battery life and a lighter design for its price.

Stylish exterior

Upgraded specs are only part of the Inspiron 7486's story. Its brushed aluminum chassis exudes a look that would be right for a few north of the price. Several clues reveal the Chromebook's status, the most obvious being the small Chrome logo on the lid. In terms of looks, that's about all this Chromebook shares with everyday plastic Chromebooks that cost a few hundred dollars or less. In terms of quality, the Inspiron 7486 has no problem directly competing with the high-end MacBooks and Windows devices that dominate your local coffee shop.

The Inspiron 7486's case and lid are nearly rigid, a major factor in the longevity of a convertible that's likely to be treated with indifference in all manner of ways. Its dimensions of 0.7 x 13 x 9.1 inches (HWD) are average for a convertible with a 14-inch screen. The screen isn't a bezel-less design, but some bezel or space around the edges is desirable on a 2-in-1 display so your fingers don't stray from the edges of the screen while holding it in tablet mode. Additionally, the sizable bezel allows the Inspiron 7486's Full HD webcam to sit in place above the screen. The webcam has a relatively detailed image that suffers, like most cameras with small sensors, in low-light conditions.

The 360 ​​degree double hinges work smoothly but are very stiff. You will need two hands to open itTheclose the lid. On the plus side, the strength of the hinges helps minimize screen wobble from touch or pen input. The heavy base also means the Inspiron 7486 isn't too heavy, so feel free to push and shove it as much as you like.

However, don't push too hard. While the screen doesn't move much, the Inspiron 7486 tends to slide around on tables. Its four thin rubber feet don't have much grip.

It's time for a New Year's resolution

Everyone I gave the Inspiron 7486 to said it was heavy. Its weight of 3.99 kg makes it portable as a tablet or in any other mode for that matter. half faceAcer Chromebook 14it's lighter at 3.7 pounds, but I'd really like to see a high-end 14-inch Chromebook like this drop under the 3.5-pound mark. Same price, Editor's Choice winnerChromebook HP x2It's more tablet-oriented with its 12.3-inch detachable design and tablet portion weighing just 1.62 pounds. The HP also has a more tablet-friendly 3:2 aspect ratio, as opposed to the screen-focused 16:9 screen of the Inspiron 7486 laptop.

While the Inspiron 7486's Intel 7265AC wireless card and Bluetooth 4.2 have you covered for wireless connections, it falls short in physical connectivity even by Chromebook standards. The left edge has a USB Type-C 3.1 port, where the power adapter is attached, a regular USB Type-A 3.1 port, and an audio combo port...

The right side has a microSD card reader and a USB Type-C 3.1 port with DisplayPort output, as well as a power button and volume rocker...

The lack of a slot for the security cable lock is disappointing, as the Inspiron 7486 is definitely worth keeping in public. It's also disappointing that you'll need to buy an adapter that will convert USB Type-C to DisplayPort or HDMI in order to get native video from this Chromebook. A dedicated HDMI video output port would be nice. (Again, you can always use Chromecast.)

receive in writing

The supplied stylus is stored on the right front edge of the Inspiron 7486. You have to use the tip on the back to pry it out with your fingernail as it is not spring loaded.

The square shape of the pen helped make its thin diameter feel larger in my hand. If you like heavier pens, you're out of luck here. the plastic design of this weighs next to nothing. Electromagnetic Resonance (EMR) technology means it needs no batteries and therefore never needs to be charged, which is a big advantage of EMR over competing N-Trig and Wacom Active Electrostatic Solution (AES) technologies.

Judging by one of theClearA work of art worthy of Sotheby's I wrote using the free Autodesk Sketchbook app I downloaded from the Google Play Store, the Dell EMR Pen has reliable pressure and tilt sensitivity and is accurate to the edges of the screen. There is only minimal input lag. However, at best it's as basic as a pencil, sans buttons and eraser. I had no problem with palm bouncing in many apps when I put my glove on the screen.

The 14-inch touchscreen has a native Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels), the best point for this screen diagonal. The default medium text size and 100 percent page zoom are pleasing to my eyes. Wide viewing angles come thanks to In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel technology, without which no convertible would be practical.

The screen brightness of 260 nits is sufficient for working in a room with natural light, although the glass surface acts as a mirror for ambient light, especially outdoors. The colors are vivid. I don't find it hard to believe the advertised 72 percent NTSC color gamut.

Key (connector) for Chrome OS

The Inspiron 7486's full-size keyboard has extra space between the keys, in keeping with the current laptop keyboard design trend. The base travel is shallow as is the haptic feedback, but I still find it enjoyable to use. Bright white backlighting takes the guesswork out of low-light situations.

You'll need some familiarity with the key layout if you're using a Chromebook for the first time, but the tutorial that appears after initial power-up should tell you everything you need to get started. In my experience, it's easier to switch from Windows 10 to Chrome OS than Windows 10 to Mac because of the greater similarity in keyboard layouts and shortcuts.

Loud clicks and very steady clicks ruin what would otherwise be a good buttonless trackpad. However, the Inspiron 7486 gives you plenty of alternatives if you want to keep it quiet: tap to click, tap the screen, or pull out the EMR stylus. The pad is perfectly proportioned for a 14-inch screen.

Dual speakers are loud enough for personal listening. However, the sound has a strained timbre and falls straight into the bass notes. The speakers themselves are located under each side of the palm rest, and their downward-facing nature means the sound can be muffled if you use the Inspiron 7486 on your lap or other soft surface in handheld mode.

Performance Testing: Nothing average about this book

The Inspiron 7486's Core i3-8130U processor and 4GB of RAM may be basic by PC standards, but that's the ultimate workload for a Chromebook. Google's Chrome OS requires fewer resources than Windows 10, so the hardware goes further. For example, cheaper Chromebooks achieve a reasonably responsive user experience with low-power Pentium or Celeron processors, which is hard to say for Windows devices using similar hardware. When you add a much faster processor like the Core i3-8130U to the Chromebook mix, most users will get extra performance.

That was certainly the case for me with this Inspiron model. Navigating multiple tabs in Chrome, streaming Full HD video from Amazon, and drawing in Autodesk Sketchbook at the same time was a breeze. Apps opened almost instantly and switching between them was seamless. There are Chromebooks with more RAM, but the Inspiron 7486's 4GB is plenty. (However, I wouldn't buy a Chromebook with less for the future.)

First thing to test: boot time. You probably won't boot up your Chromebook that often, but if you do, the Inspiron 7486 does it in 6 seconds. It's about as fast as Chromebooks can get.

I then used Principled Technologies' CrXPRT test suite to test the Chromebook's overall performance (it uses a number of simulated Chrome OS productivity apps) and the WebXPRT 2015 test suite to test JavaScript and HTML performance.

The Dell Inspiron 7486's 15W Core i3-8130U processor helped it tame these CPU-intensive tasks. The last generation 5W Core m3 in the HP Chromebook x2 just couldn't keep up. The aging Celeron N3160 in the Acer Chromebook 14 is by far the slowest of the bunch, but surprisingly this machine has useful performance for basic tasks. That's why I said that the Core i3-8130U in the Inspiron 7486 will have much more performance than most users need for Chrome OS.

In our battery life test, the Dell Inspiron 7486 lasted just under 9.5 hours playing a locally stored video file...

A little forgiveness might be needed as the Inspiron 7486's 14-inch 1080p display uses more power than smaller, lower-resolution panels, but we'd still expect it to top the 10-hour mark given the Chromebook's caliber. However, our recorded time is pretty much in line with Dell's advertised 10-hour battery life, so we can't say it's a surprise it didn't last longer.

Premium price, (mostly) premium features

The Dell Inspiron 7486 is a clear sign that Chromebooks have evolved from humble beginnings as cheap secondary devices to potential stars in their own right. While expensive by Chromebook standards, this is not your average Chromebook. It has the features you'd expect from a high-end PC or MacBook: an aluminum exterior, a backlit keyboard, and a vibrant display with EMR pen support. The computer is expected to have a Core i3 processor and 128GB of storage for a retail price of $599, but this is a Chromebook. utensils, accessoriesvamore for Chrome OS because the operating system requires less resources. There is no lack of performance here for what it is.

Where the Inspiron 7486 stumbles a bit is portability. It's at least half a pound heavier than we'd like, and an extra hour or two of battery life would make it more competitive. Less controversial objections are the excessively stiff screen hinges and the lack of a dedicated port for video output (ideally HDMI). A touchpad with a quieter click would also be nice.

The price of the Inspiron 7486 would place it as a "primary device" for most of us. Its feature set is at least as good as similarly priced PCs, so it all depends on whether or not you prefer to actively work with Google's Chrome OS. Now that Chrome OS runs Android apps from the Google Play Store, the practical gap between Chrome OS and Windows 10 or macOS is smaller than ever. And given what we saw testing the Inspiron 7486,device qualityThe gap became even smaller. As we said, Chromebooks have come a long way. The most important question is: Have youvesselAre you advanced enough with Chrome OS to pay the money for a mainstream PC for a Chromebook as your primary choice?