The Best Dell Laptops for 2020
If you’re shopping for a laptop, you have torrent of options to choose among, be it a thin mobile companion or a hefty, rugged notebook, with a vast range of options in between. Where even to start? Sometimes the easiest thing to do is to narrow down your options based on what you know. And sometimes that’s a brand you’ve long used and trusted.
If you’re familiar with Dell, you probably have some opinion regarding how reliable the company’s products are, how its customer service works, and the general quality of the user experience that those products and services deliver. If you’re brand-loyal, it’s a reasonable way to whittle down your options, while still helping you zero in on a great product. Picking a brand you trust does half the deciding for you.
Whether you’re after a powerful laptop for crunching numbers at work, or a laptop for staying productive at home or on the go, there’s a good chance that Dell has a model you’ve considered buying. The company has solid machines at all levels of the market.
Decoding Dell’s Key Laptop Brands
When you’re looking at Dell’s laptop product line, you’ll want to concentrate on which of its six main families of laptop best meets your needs. The ones to familiarize yourself with are Inspiron, XPS, Alienware, G Series, Latitude, and Precision. You’ll find both clamshell and 2-in-1 convertible entries in all of these families apart from the two gaming-oriented ones.
Inspiron: The Mainstream Choice
For use in home or school, Dell’s Inspiron brand comprises consumer laptops of every stripe: power machines, inexpensive “just enough” machines, big displays, ultracompacts. Whether you’re editing photos or managing your home finances, Inspiron’s copious options fit both screen-size and budget needs for most buyers. These machines are mostly Windows models; if you want something a little less expensive for simple tasks and browsing online, consider Dell’s Chromebooks, which put basic functionality into an affordable package that works great for kids and students.
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Dell breaks its Inspiron line into three gradations or levels: 3000, 5000, and 7000 series. As you go up that stack, you tend to see more premium features, and higher relative pricing. The number between the word “Inspiron” and the series number is typically the screen size of the laptop; an Inspiron 13 5000, for example, would be a 13-inch-screened laptop with middle-field characteristics.
XPS: The Power-User Class
The various guises of the Dell XPS 13 have been our “near-perfect” mainstream and power laptops for some time now. Refresh after refresh, Dell keeps tuning to keep this hardy machine on top. XPS signifies, on both the desktop and laptop side of the fence, a premium-design, fully decked-out machine that bridges demanding consumers and business users. It’s Dell’s line of power tools that are equally at home in a home office, a coffee shop, a conference room, or a high-stakes business meeting.
You won’t find a lot of variety in the XPS laptop line in terms of screen size or stratification, just configurable versions of the 13-inch-screened XPS 13 and 15-inch XPS 15 as both clamshells and swiveling-screen 2-in-1s. Notable developments in the XPS line in last year or so include the resurrection of the Dell XPS 17, the biggest model, now with the option for GeForce RTX graphics. The late-2019 XPS 13 2-in-1 is also much improved, with the addition of 10th Generation “Ice Lake” processors.
Alienware and G Series: Full-Spectrum Gaming
If gaming is more your style, Dell’s Alienware brand delivers, if you’re on the market for a serious, blinged-out gaming cruiser. The latest components combine with premium construction and design, earning Alienware a well-deserved reputation as an aspirational brand among PC gamers. The Alienware machines tend to be big, brawny models with heavy graphics firepower and prices to match, though the brand has made forays into some leaner machines with its m15 and m17 series models. That said, the wholly redesigned Alienware Area-51m is a futuristic, winning take on the classic gaming bruiser.
Dell also sells gaming laptops under its G Series brand, introduced in 2018. Before this new sub-brand’s introduction, this aggressively priced, lower-end line was part of the Inspiron family. Dell split it out as its own animal, and now the G Series is aimed at mainstream and budget-constrained gamers, with more modest designs than the Alienwares and component loadouts that are humbler but still workable for the latest games.
The G Series models hover above and below the $1,000 mark, while the Alienwares start north of that. Models in the G Series are gradated like the Inspirons, into G3, G5, and G7 classes, with the higher numbers indicating higher-grade builds and feature sets. One unit we have tested in 2020, the G5 15 SE, now incorporates AMD Ryzen CPUs and AMD Radeon graphics.
Latitude: The Umbrella for Business Machines
Then there’s business. Dell’s Latitude brand is the mainstay for its business laptops, competing with options from Lenovo (the ThinkPad T series) and HP (the various EliteBook lines). Latitude offers options for workers in the office or in the field, with a mix of thin-yet-powerful laptops and durable systems that can take a beating.
Like the Inspirons and the G Series, the Latitudes make use of the same 3000, 5000, and 7000 nomenclature, with a new 9000 series just joining the family. The second number in the four-digit model number signifies the screen size. So a Dell Latitude 7390 is in the second-from-the-top of the four lines, with a 13.3-inch screen; a Latitude 9510 would be a top-grade machine with a 15.6-inch screen.
Beyond the “simply” durable units, the Latitude line is also home to a few costly, highly ruggedized models that are designed to be used in hostile environments: doused in water, clipped onto an ATV, exposed to cold and wind, and the like. These are branded under the Latitude Rugged Extreme moniker.
Precision: For Demanding Professionals
Mobile workstations are a breed of machines that share some traits with business models, but they stand apart for their Independent Software Vendor (ISV) certifications and, in some cases, specialized CPU and GPU options and support for highly precise ECC (error-correcting) memory. ISV certifications give users of demanding professional business apps (in areas such as scientific computing, architecture, and engineering) assurances that the workstation will run up to snuff with a given application. Companies such as Adobe, Autodesk, Avid, Dassault Systemés, and Siemens tend to be the ISVs involved.
Dell’s line of mobile workstations is its Precision line, which comprises both laptop and desktop models. On the laptop side, Precision makes use of the same 3000, 5000, and 7000 series lingo as the other lines, with the screen size indicated within the model number.
A workstation might make use of consumer- or business-grade Intel CPUs, but the mark of a high-end workstation is the presence of a mobile Intel Xeon CPU and a dedicated workstation-grade graphics processor from Nvidia (Quadro) or AMD (Radeon Pro, much less common). The latter are in contrast to their consumer-GPU counterparts (GeForce GTX/RTX and Radeon RX, respectively) and are designed specifically for the kind of heavy-duty calculations that ISV-class applications require. Dell also offers a few 2-in-1 SKUs in the Precision line; convertible workstations are far less common than their consumer counterparts.
So, Which Dell Laptop Is Best for Me?
There are plenty of solid Dell systems to choose from, but don’t be overwhelmed by the options. We’ve combed through our many reviews and singled out the best Dell systems in multiple categories. For more (Dell and non-Dell) options, check out our 10 favorite laptops overall (updated constantly), as well as our lists of the best Chromebooks, the best budget laptops, and the best gaming laptops.
Where To Buy
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The Best For Value Hunters in a Mainstream Laptop
Dell Inspiron 14 7000 (7490)
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The Best For Outdoor Professions, Vertical Markets, Data Collection
Dell Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme Tablet
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The Best For Style-Conscious Frequent Travelers
Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (7390)
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The Best For Shoppers Seeking a Premium, Do-It-All Laptop
Dell XPS 15 (9500)
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The Best For Multimedia Editors and Big-Screen Fans
Dell XPS 17 (9700)
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The Best For Extreme Gamers Seeking a Desktop CPU
Alienware Area-51m
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The Best For Business Travelers Seeking Wide Configurability
Dell Latitude 7400 2-in-1
$1,579.00
at Dell Technologies -
The Best For Mobile Workstation Users
Dell Precision 7540
$1,269.00
at Dell Technologies -
The Best For Style-Conscious Bleeding-Edge Dwellers
Dell XPS 13 (9300)
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The Best For Consumers Who Use a Pen Onscreen
Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 Black Edition (7390)
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Dell Inspiron 14 7000 (7490)
Pros: Packs 14-inch screen in 13-inch chassis.
Thin and light magnesium alloy enclosure.
Intel “Comet Lake” CPU is powerful and efficient.
Nearly around-the-clock battery life.
Wi-Fi 6.Cons: Screen could be brighter.
Touchpad a bit noisy when clicked.Bottom Line: The Dell Inspiron 14 7000’s enviable blend of performance, screen size, and portability unseats the company’s near-legendary XPS 13 as our favorite ultraportable.
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Dell Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme Tablet
Pros: Supremely sturdy construction.
Extra-bright display.
Comfortable keyboard cover.
Hot-swappable, long-life batteries.Cons: Expensive and heavy.
No HDMI or Thunderbolt 3 port.
Glove-compatible touch screen and touchpad require extra pressure compared to civilian systems.Bottom Line: Dell’s Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme Tablet lives up to its name by laughing at drops, splashes, and temperatures that would blow the average slate to smithereens. It’s ideal for first responders and factory floors.
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Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (7390, 2019)
Pros: Excellent design and build quality.
Intel 10th Gen “Ice Lake” CPU and graphics.
Wi-Fi 6 support.
Top-notch screen.
Long battery life.
Bundled USB adapter.
microSD slot.Cons: Shallow keyboard.
No USB Type-A ports.
Balky fingerprint reader.Bottom Line: With sterling build quality, a brilliant display, and an Intel “Ice Lake” CPU with real graphics pep, the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is tops among convertible laptops.
Dell XPS 15 (9500)
Pros: Sleek premium design and beautiful display
Speedy all-around performance
Plenty of configuration options, including capable discrete GPU
Three USB-C ports, two with Thunderbolt 3 support
USB Type-A and HDMI adapters included
Robust speakers and roomy touchpadCons: A tad hefty for its size
USB Type-C only could prove an obstacle for some users
GPU falls short of hardcore gamers’ requirementsBottom Line: The 2020 Dell XPS 15 is a near-ideal 15.6-inch desktop-replacement laptop. Its sleek design, fast performance, and robust feature set make it our top pick among premium Windows options at its size.
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Dell XPS 17 (2020)
Pros: Roomy 17-inch display with option for 4K-resolution panel
Relatively compact for a 17-incher
Comfortable keyboard, gigantic touchpad
Four Thunderbolt 3 ports and SD card reader
Excellent audio quality
Available Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 graphics
Long battery lifeCons: Expensive as configured
Occasional coil whine
Even when plugged in, slight power drain during intense gaming sessions
No USB Type-A portsBottom Line: The 2020 resurrection of Dell’s XPS 17 is a bold, sleek laptop with a gorgeous 17-inch display, long battery life, and serious computing power.
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Alienware Area-51m
Pros: Astounding graphics and general computing performance.
Desktop-class processor.
Nvidia RTX 2080 GPU.
Built-in eye tracking.
Comfortable keyboard.
144Hz display.
Excellent component access for upgrades.Cons: Heavy, bulky.
Requires two power bricks.
Expensive.
No 4K display option.
Very short battery life.Bottom Line: Packing an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 graphics chip and a desktop-class Intel Core i9, Alienware’s massively rejiggered flagship, the Area-51m, is the best-performing gaming laptop we’ve tested, a monster in every sense a laptop can be.
Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 Black Edition (7390)
Pros: Classy design with ingenious pen-holder hinge. Solid performance. Decent display.
Cons: No Thunderbolt 3 port. Typically game-proof integrated graphics. Subpar speakers.
Bottom Line: Dell’s new Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 Black Edition (the moniker for just-south-of-XPS deluxe models) shoots to near the top of the convertible ranks with impressive features at a fair price, and the best pen storage bar none.
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Dell Latitude 7400 2-in-1
Pros: Proximity sensor streamlines sign in. Sturdy, sleek chassis. Thin screen bezels, and relatively large 14-inch screen. Excellent touchpad and keyboard. Three-year warranty. Prime-time battery life.
Cons: Relatively low maximum screen brightness. Lackluster audio quality.
Bottom Line: With a deluxe chassis, keyboard, and touchpad, paired with a snappy sign-in feature and superb battery life, Dell’s Latitude 7400 2-in-1 is a top contender among business convertibles.
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Dell Precision 7540
Pros: Spectacular eight-core Xeon CPU and Quadro RTX 5000 graphics.
Excellent 4K display.
Comfortable keyboard.Cons: Pricey when tricked out.
Brief battery life.
No onboard color calibrator.Bottom Line: When it comes to 15.6-inch laptops, mobile workstations make gaming rigs look like wimps—and the new king of the hill is Dell’s costly but colossal Precision 7540, tested in a maxed-out Xeon/Quadro RTX configuration.
Dell XPS 13 (9300)
Pros: Sleek styling
Improved touchpad
Excellent 16:10 display
Narrow screen bezels
Long battery lifeCons: Expensive as configured
Limited port selectionBottom Line: The 2020 version of the Dell XPS 13 is an excellent ultraportable laptop, with head-turning looks and plenty of power for everyday tasks.
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