Dell Inspiron 14 is one of the best-selling laptops from the American firm. Intended for large consumption and with mid-range features, it is available in Intel (Core i7-1255U) and AMD (Ryzen 7 5820U) versions.
Now comes a third model with the greatest novelty of a SoC with ARM architectureSnapdragon 8cx Gen 2. It must be said that this chipset is from the year 2020 and that it will not offer the performance of Generation 3 of the current models that are on the market and, in addition, Qualcomm is already developing the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 with the that it will try to reach the level of Apple with its Mac silicon.
And there is another problem, no less: the lack of performance of Windows computers on ARM. If the hardware section has been improving the big problem has been the software. And it has persisted since its inception. Supporting the huge Windows ecosystem and especially the Win32 applications that are still used by millions of users is a daunting task that Microsoft has not been able to solve and the lack of interest from developers to create native applications has done the rest. We do not know how it will have been resolved in this model with Windows 11.
Dell Inspiron 14 ARM, specifications
The version maintains the line of design and chassis of the Intel and AMD models, with a screen of 14 inches, FHD resolution. and a weight of 1.45 kg. Dell only offers a configuration with the aforementioned Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2, 8 Gbytes of LPDDR4x-2133 memory and a 256 GB PCIe NVMe SSD. Memory is not user upgradeable, storage is.
The laptop supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, offers two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C ports, one USB 2.0 Type-A port, a microSD card reader, 1080p webcam, stereo speakers, and a headphone jack. Its battery is 40 Wh and includes a 65W power adapter.
If so far we would never recommend this version over those used by Intel or AMD, it must be recognized that this model has some strengths to assess. One of them is that its cooling design is passive and does not need annoying fans. Another is that its chipset supports 5G broadband networks and Dell also promises “epic battery life”, another of ARM’s advantages.
Finally we have its price: $499, cheaper than the other versions. You choose. The new Dell Inspiron 14 with ARM is now available to pre-order in some regions and will ship starting March 23.
