Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (2022) review

Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (2022): Two minute review

The Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (2022) is Dell’s latest 2-in-1 laptop offering, and it’s a sleek and gorgeous one at that. 

The starting price is $849.99 (£699 / AU$1,278) and is available in a multitude of territories including the UK and Australia. Just from looking at it, the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 reviews well, with its thin aluminium chassis translating to a decently light machine. It’s a little heavier than one would expect from a 2-in-1 but it also feels way sturdier while still managing to be travel-sized.

Once it’s open, the glossy touchscreen and simple yet near silky keyboard is immediately eye-catching. The touchscreen feels great and is incredibly responsive, while both the keys and touchpad have a good backlight and are wide and velvety, ensuring a solid typing experience. 

The bezels on the side of the screen are thin, though the top one is a little on the thick side which hampers the screen real estate a bit. The port selection is solid as well with three USB ports, an SSD card slot, an HDMI port, and a headphone jack.

On the inside, the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 is packing a 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1235U and Intel Iris Xe GPU, which means it can play midrange games pretty well. When we tested it with Sid Meyer’s Civilization VI, whether on ultra or low settings it was able to maintain a stable, playable framerate throughout. 

Just don’t expect to be running something as demanding as Cyberpunk 2077 or Hitman 3 on it. Of course it’s main use will be for everyday school or work tasks, and it’s fast to startup as well as to switch between tasks with little slowdown, and the high definition webcam comes in handy for those video calls and remote meetings.

The battery life is excellent as well, able to last nearly eight hours with regular use, meaning you’ll be able to use it for almost an entire workday without charging it. When dealing with a bit more of a strain, such as continuously playing a movie, its battery life was just as impressive considering the type of laptop this is. And recharging it takes no time as well, an extra bonus for those with limited access to an outlet.

All around, the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 is a great laptop for everyday use, with a little extra juice for playing games as well. It’s well-priced, portable, pretty to look at with a high-quality touchscreen and keyboard, while packing in great performance and features. If you need a laptop that can pretty much do anything, the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (2022) should definitely be one you consider.

Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (2022): Price and availability

• How much does it cost? Starting at $999/£1,099
• When can you get it? It is available now in the US, UK, and Australia

The starting price of the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 is $849.99 (£699 / AU$1,278), but can go as high as $1,049.99 in the US with additional updates to the memory and processor. 

In the UK the price can go as high as £945, including the option to increase the SSD storage to 1 TB. Australia's top spec goes as high as AU$1,699, and it includes an additional 512 GB upgrade to the storage as well as to Windows 11 Home Pro from the standard edition. Other than the price and upgrade option differences, the laptop is equally available to those three territories.

• Value: 5/5 

Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (2022): Design

• Sturdy but a little heavy
• Great touchscreen
• Nice variety of ports

The Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 features a high-quality aluminum chassis that has a nice weightiness to it. Though it trades that in for a bit more weight, making it slightly harder to carry around. It’s pretty thin, with a height of under one inch, so it won’t take up much space in your computer bag even with the 14-inch HD screen. The choice of silver gives the laptop an extra pop to help it stand out against other similar machines that tend to be either black or grey.

The touchscreen is sensitive and responds to touch commands well, though it can pick up a bit of glare if it catches direct light. Its 1080p FHD+ display showcases images nice and crisp, so whether you’re playing a game or streaming a movie it’ll look great. It’s complemented by the 1080p webcam, which is perfect for showing off your or your coworkers' face in high definition during that important Zoom meeting.

The keyboard features a lovely backlight that’s handy in the dark, and the keys themselves are surprisingly velvety and soft which along with the wider size makes typing on it a great balance of sliding your fingers easily between them and having enough of a catch that you don’t slip on the wrong ones.

Its ports are pretty varied, with one USB 3.2 Type-A and two Type C, the latter of which doubles as charging ports. However, I wish we had more Type-A USB ports, which would be handy for connecting various other devices. Also, a minor issue but one that might have an effect on longevity is that when removing a charger from a USB Type C, it can be oddly difficult to pull it out and even result in you having to slightly yank it a bit. There’s also an HDMI port, a headphone jack, and an SSD slot.

• Design: 4.5/5 

Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (2022): Performance

• Handles work/school tasks well
• Can play mid-range games
• Solid HD webcam

In terms of performance, the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 is quite impressive for the specs it has. In its benchmark tests, it compares to other similar 2-in-1 laptops that are much more expensive. Not only does it balance several tasks like video/voice calls, documents, streaming videos, and more without breaking a sweat, it can even run games such as Sid Meyer’s Civilization VI and maintain a stable frame rate of at least 30 FPS whether on high or low settings. So if you fancy being able to work or play, this is definitely a solid laptop. 

When switching to tablet mode, the larger touchscreen really shines. The touch controls are a fully functional replacement for the keyboard and its responsiveness works well with nearly any application or game that supports touch in the first place. The HD screen also really shines here, as it displays colors vibrantly, especially useful for any projects or games that require that level of clarity. It’s a shame that it doesn’t come with a pen, as I feel that would be a great complement and would make it an even better work machine. 

It has a great webcam, 1080p HD and runs at a stable 30 FPS. Many laptops in its price range either don't have one at all or have a shoddy 720p one that’s barely passable for work or school tasks. But the Dell Inspiron 14’s is nearly as clear as its normal display, and takes crystal clear pictures to boot. The sound quality is also nice and clear, which is a boon for online work meetings to ensure every word is heard and for any games or movies that require good sound to create an immersive experience. While it’s not winning any awards for being the best sound in a laptop, for a 2-in-1 it’s well developed and has more than enough depth for most tasks that need it.

Though the laptop hardly needs it since the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 won’t be running anything particularly taxing, it still has a good solid ventilation system that keeps it from overheating. In fact, even when putting it through its paces during our benchmark or battery tests, it ran almost completely silent and with barely any generated warmth.

• Performance: 4.5/5 

Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (2022): Battery Life

• Lasts long for its device type
• Fast recharge

The Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1’s battery life is excellent for a 2-in-1, lasting almost eight hours during the standard PCMark10 battery test and the same time for the movie test. The results are comparable to other similar laptops, only beaten out by the Samsung Galaxy Book2 360.

As for daily use, the battery lasts quite a long time, carrying us through an entire work day with no issues. For the average user who won’t be putting this machine through much stress throughout the day, it’ll most likely last about the same or even longer. Not to mention how fast the charge time with the USB Type-C charger, which takes at most an hour to fully charge the battery when closed and a little more when in use.

• Battery life: 4.5/5 

Should I buy an Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (2022)?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

HP Elite Dragonfly G2
This is a more expensive option, as it’s a 2-in-1 device, but it’s stylish, sleek, has a superior battery life to the Acer Swift 5, and features a 4K display. If you’re willing to pay the extra money, there are very few choices that are better.

Check out our full HP Elite Dragonfly G2 review 

Samsung Galaxy Book2 360
This 2-in-1 is well-priced and comes with some great positives like a gorgeous AMOLED display, long battery life, and it’s super portable whether in tablet or laptop mode. However, its webcam is only 720p and it doesn’t play too nice with games.

Check out our full Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 review 

• First reviewed July 2022