The concept of using a laptop as a tablet has been around for ages now, but I have never really been sold on this idea, especially since no matter how slim you make a 2-in-1, it still ends up being unwieldy compared to an actual tablet. I’m probably in the minority here, since even after all these years, this category is still alive and kicking. Today we’ll be looking at Dell’s latest refresh, called the Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1. This new models feature Intel’s 11th Gen CPUs and a tweaked design. With prices starting at Rs. 52,900, should you consider Dell’s new 2-in-1 for your next purchase? Let’s find out.

Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 design

The new Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 feels all grown up and gives off strong vibes of the company’s premium business-focused Latitude series. It’s only available in this Platinum Silver colour which looks very professional. The fit and finish of all the panels is great, and the quality of materials used feels very premium. This device is also quite slim even when closed (16.32mm), and isn’t too heavy at around 1.5kg.

For a slim 14-inch laptop, the Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 offers a good selection of physical ports. There’s a full-sized HDMI port and two USB ports (USB 3.1 Gen1), along with a USB Type-C port (USB 3.2 Gen2), a microSD card reader, and a headphone jack. The laptop can be charged via the supplied power adapter or via the Type-C port.

The Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 is a good-looking laptop, built with premium materials

The keyboard on the Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 is one of its best features. The keys are quiet, have good travel, and are very comfortable even for furious typists. The function (Fn) keys have shortcuts for volume, brightness, etc, and a fingerprint sensor is integrated into the power button. The latter can be used to unlock the laptop even in tablet mode. The trackpad is pretty spacious but I felt the responsiveness was a bit lacking.

This being a 2-in-1, the display can be folded all the way back, 360 degrees, turning the laptop into a tablet. As always, the device can be used in various modes in between a tablet and laptop, such as ‘tent’ mode. A Dell Active Pen (PN350M) came bundled with the variant that Dell sent me for review. It’s a handy accessory for a laptop that can be used as a tablet.

The 14-inch display has a full-HD resolution and relatively narrow bezels all around. The glass covering causes a lot of distracting reflections and even indoors, and I had to bump the brightness up quite a bit to use it comfortably. I like that the Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 has a physical privacy shutter for the webcam.

You get plenty of full-sized ports which makes connecting accessories a breeze

Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 specifications and software

Dell offers a variety of configurations for the Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1. My review unit had an 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU, integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, 8GB of RAM (4GB x2) and a 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD. This configuration is priced at Rs. 72,490 in India. Dell offers other options with Intel’s Core i3 and Core i7 CPUs, more RAM, and even a discrete Nvidia GeForce MX350 GPU. Based on the configuration you pick, prices range from Rs. 53,000 all the way up to Rs. 91,000.

The Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 ships with Windows 10 Home, which is upgradeable to Windows 11. You get a trial of McAfee LiveSafe, and a full version of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2019 is also preinstalled. There are plenty of programs from Dell too, which include Dell Mobile Connect, Cinema Colour and Support Assist.

The Dell Active Pen comes bundled with certain configurations of the Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1

Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 performance and battery life

As a productivity machine, the Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 was a joy to use during the review period. Windows 10 is snappy, booting is quick, and everything feels smooth. Your fingers will thank you for this keyboard, as it’s soft and comfortable, and I really enjoyed using it. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the trackpad, which felt a little unresponsive and can be finicky to use at times. I also found the touchscreen to be very responsive and Dell’s stylus worked well with it. The colours and viewing angles of the display are more than satisfactory but the maximum brightness is a bit low.

The Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 delivered great benchmark performance. I got a solid 3,879 points in PCMark 10 and a decent 2,814 points in 3DMark Fire Strike. Real-world test scores were pretty good too. It took 2 minutes and 59 seconds to compress a 3.24GB folder of assorted files in 7zip, and just over 12 minutes to render the BMW test scene in Blender.

This particular variant of the Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 isn’t really designed for gaming but the integrated GPU can handle simple titles from the Microsoft Store or Steam. I tried some older classics such as Half-Life 2: Episode 2, which ran just fine.

The exhaust vents placed between the hinges ensure that your thighs don’t bear the brunt of the expelled heat

All variants of the Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 have a 3-cell 41WHr battery, which was not quite enough to deliver a full workday’s worth of battery life, in my experience. Even with frugal usage, the most I was able to squeeze out of this Core i5 variant was about four and half hours of non-stop use. With a few breaks in between, you could go a bit longer, but don’t expect a lot. The intense Battery Eater Pro test ran for one hour and 53 minutes. If you’re working from home, battery life shouldn’t be a big concern. Also, you can use a high-wattage power bank with Type-C output to charge this device, but keep in mind that it will be slow.

Verdict

The Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 is a premium convertible laptop at a decent price. If you don’t need the 2-in-1 functionality, Dell also has a standard Inspiron 14 on offer, with slight variations in the specifications. The Inspiron 14 (5410) 2-in-1 offers excellent build quality, a comfortable keyboard, a bundled stylus (with some configurations), a responsive touchscreen, and relatively low weight. Battery life isn’t great, the trackpad could have been more responsive, and the maximum display brightness isn’t as high as I would have liked. Dell has some stiff competition in the form of the HP Pavilion X360, which is another 2-in-1 laptop with very similar specifications and pricing.