Something small: Dell has launched its first Snapdragon-powered laptop, and it’s priced under $500. The new Inspiron 14 is a Windows 11 device with a 14.0-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) anti-glare (non-touch) display. Inside is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 Compute Platform along with Adreno 690 graphics, 8GB LPDDR4x memory and a 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD.
Expansion ports include two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type C, one USB 2.0 Type A port, a headphone jack, as well as a micro-SD card reader. A standard 1080p webcam is located above the screen, surrounded by dual microphones. On the connectivity side, you get dual-band Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 support.
The 2-cell, 40Wh battery can provide up to 16 hours of local HD video playback. Thanks to the Snapdragon chip and SSD, buyers will also enjoy a silent experience.
The Dell Inspiron 14 measures 0.75 inches (18.99 mm) at its thickest point, measures 12.74 inches (323.67 mm) wide and 8.65 inches (219.76 mm) deep, and weighs 3.18 pounds (1.44 kg). It only comes in one color — silver — and the keyboard isn’t backlit.
The machine is presented in only one Snapdragon configuration (with the specs listed above) and its price is $499.99. According to Dell’s online store, orders placed today should arrive by March 23.
If you’re not sold on the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 (which was first announced in September 2020 and has since been succeeded by Snapdragon 8cx Gen3), there are traditional x86 options to choose from for the Inspiron 14. A model with a Ryzen 7 5825U processor and Radeon graphics from AMD is also available, as does a configuration sporting an Intel Core i7-1255U chip with Irix Xe graphics. Both AMD and Intel systems have twice the memory (at higher frequencies, too) and double the SSD storage, but they’ll set you back quite a bit more.
AMD system commands $579.99 While Intel setup goes $649.99both of which could be delivered this week.
