Dell Latitude 9450 2-In-1 Review: A lean And Mean Business Laptop

Business users rejoice. The perfect blend of productivity and leisure is now available for purchase. Say hello to the Dell Latitude 9450 2-in-1 laptop. The Latitude 9450 (as I’ll refer to it henceforth) oozes premium. It’s got a flashy design, plenty of ports, and will please business users who don’t need to worry about the price tag. The Latitude 9450 is one of the top choices for business users. It comes with Intel’s AI-centric Core Ultra (dubbed Meteor Lake) chipset.

While the U-series chips have a 15-watt power rating, the downside is that Dell chose to stick with the regular Intel Graphics instead of the much more powerful Intel Arc graphics found in Core Ultra H-series chips. The unit I received for review had an Intel Core Ultra 7 165U chip and 16GB of RAM. It can be configured with up to 64GB of RAM and 2TB SSD

A classy laptop

The Latitude 9450 is one classy laptop in the Graphite colour. It has a metal shell on the outside with absolutely no flexing. It’s a solid build. It’s carved out of CNC-milled aluminium and has diamond-cut edges. It gives the HP Spectre x360 a run for its money in the design department. It’s a simplistic design but one to catch the attention of many. The unit feels heavy - coming in at 1.5kg - but has a sturdy hinge and the screen can be rotated 360 degrees. The matte finish and soft texture of the lid meant it was a pleasure to carry it around. According to Dell, it is the most compact commercial 14-inch laptop on the market.

Display

Dell has outfitted the Latitude 9450 with a 14-inch QHD+ (2560x1600 resolution) IPS touch display. It comes with an anti-smudge and anti-reflect coating, has a peak brightness of 500 nites and an FHD IR webcam up top. It sports a 16:10 aspect ratio and thin bezels. It may not be an OLED display with deep blacks but the IPS touch display is vibrant and colour-accurate.

With great viewing angles and rich colours, the Latitude 9450 is a great laptop for consuming content. The screen has Dell’s mini-LED backlighting. This helps with saving power. While I quite like the display, one glaring omission is holding it back. The display is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, as opposed to the 120Hz refresh rate seen on many competitors’ laptops. Considering the asking price, this is something Dell should have thought about. Going back to a 60Hz display, is frankly, painful.

On the other hand, the top-firing speakers get loud (one of the loudest on any 14-inch laptop) and don’t distort. They aid the content consumption experience. I watched half of a Mission Impossible movie alongside several YouTube videos and was immersed.

Limited Port Selection

With the Latitude 9450 2-in-1, you get a limited port selection. There are three Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports (with PowerDelivery and DisplayPort 2.1 compatibility) and a 3.5mm combo jack. That’s it. There is a compact dock (with a retractable Type-C cable) that Dell sells separately. If you’re considering the Latitude 9450 then the dock is a must. It’s an added cost that shouldn’t have been, unfortunately.

Keyboard And Touchpad

The Zero-Lattice keyboard (this is a keyboard with no spacing and bigger keycaps) is a pleasure to type on. From the get-go, my typing speed was faster than on most other laptops that I recently tested. It was a comfortable experience and the wrist area was soft. There’s plenty of key travel and the backlit lighting is great for when you’re in a low-light environment. The touchpad was smooth and spacious (yes, it takes up quite a bit of area). The haptics from the Haptic Trackpack weren’t as good as I expected, but there was nothing to complain about.

Performance And Battery Life

It didn’t knock it out of the park, but the Latitude 9450 held its own. The Core Ultra 7 165U processor provided ample power and performance for my daily workload. From YouTube to Google Chrome (with over 25 tabs) and from Adobe Photoshop to casual gaming, I was pleasantly surprised by the laptop.

If your workload is that of a business professional - even with the heavy Excel sheets - then this laptop will glide through daily. Where the laptop falters is when it comes to gaming. The fans kick in, and the games don’t play well on their highest settings. Yes, this isn’t a gaming laptop, but for the asking price one would have liked to have had Intel’s Arc Graphics so that even the casual games (with less workload) could play at their highest settings. The laptop can heat up and the fans will kick in when you are pushing the laptop too much. It is something to keep in mind.

I was left unimpressed by the battery life. It was strictly average. I was getting just under six and a half hours on average. It’s sufficient for most, but underwhelming for the rest.

Verdict

The Dell Latitude 9450 2-in-1 is an expensive laptop. There’s no two ways around that. At nearly 3 lakh rupees, this laptop is bordering on the dual-screen laptop/professional gaming laptop territory. I don’t see the need for it to be priced that high.

Nonetheless, Dell Latitude 9450 2-in-1 is a great choice for business users who want some flexibility with their devices. On the whole, it is a pretty impressive device. If you want a premium display, a powerful chipset, and a premium 2-in-1 design, then the Dell Latitude 9450 should be on your list. For me, I would have liked an OLED display and a chipset with Intel’s Arc Graphics. But yes, buyers of the Dell Latitude 9450 2-in-1 will not be disappointed.

Note: This laptop is strictly for professional/corporate users as it requires company affiliation and GST number before you can purchase it.