Last Updated on March 29, 2020
Design
One of the major reasons why Dell Inspiron Chromebook 11 is a good purchase is because it’s lightweight and has a compact design, so if you must move around with your laptop day long, you will love it. Measuring 11.96x 8.18x 0.82 inches, this Chromebook is so small and lightweight, that you can carry it in any bag.
Determining the level of attractiveness of this device is a subjective decision, as it has a ossy lead that could be very appealing for some people and completely unattractive for others. Most people would say that it appears to be more like a toy than a practical tool for adults with this shiny, cover. ⠀ We like its rubberized surface and all-black textured keyboard deck, its rounded contours. Just like the laptop’s trackpad, which is fairly sensitive to scroll and click, although you can find it a bit too stiff if you are a trackpad presser.
The 360 degree hook is strong enough to hold different modes but not too stiff that you have to exert undue pressure to swing. This design allows four modes of use: the classical laptop layout, tablet setup, tent and stand layout. Remember that in the last three modes, the keyboard automatically disables.
Display and Audio
The 14-inch FHD display (1920×1080) is one of the best we saw in a such a device so far. The IPS panel is fairly bright at approximately 320 nits. Although this is typical for most mid-range notebooks, it’s much brighter than most of his brothers in Chromebook. The backlight is clearer only in the Pixelbook. The contrast ratio of the Inspiron is also far superior to most other Chromebooks at around 1250:1. ⠀
The inconsistent backlight is our biggest concern. It is only apparent at the highest light levels, and even then only watchful eyes will see a subtle difference. Some users are not going to notice anything. In the display department Chromebooks are continually improving, and Inspiron is a prime example of just how far these devices have come.
The speaker is actually loud in view of the size of the Chromebook, but the sound is soft, there is hardly any bass and the sound is quite weak. The Dell Inspiron Chromebook 112-in-1 offers only a 1.366x 768 display, which wastes a bit of prime real estate. This display, however, is a touchscreen with an alternative for night light, which you can calibrate from cool to warm at a certain time.
Performance and battery life
Dell Inspiron Chromebook 112-in-1 may not be the fastest one on the market for most tasks. Nonetheless, it is convenient enough to meet the needs of most people. The laptop is having trouble keeping up with the more cpu-hungry software, but it can easily support the less demanding ones. As the Dell Inspiron Chromebook 112-in-1 is only fitted with Intel Celeron N3060 and 4 GB RAM, it can hardly be future-proof. You would likely have to change it for a newer and quicker version in a few years.
There is also the issue of the 64 GB eMMC capacity of the laptop, which is standard for Chromebook models. Not that you’d need much space for big files, including photos and videos, because Chromebooks are all about the internet. However, 64 GB is not enough if you do not have Wi-Fi access or rely on your offline space, particularly if you need to download movies or TV shows. The only possibility to maximize capacity is with Micro SD cards, suitable for files but hardly efficient for applications. What blowed us away with this Chromebook is its multi-tasking capacity, which made us feel like we use a traditional laptop. We didn’t really expect all of this for that price. However, it is admirably capable of offering divided-screen (activated when dragging a browser window to the left or right of the display) and running several mobile applications and browser windows at the very same time.
Although it has a 3-cell battery with 42 WHz integrated, the Dell Inspiron Chromebook 11 provides a relatively longer life than other Chromebooks. Chromebooks usually have a standard battery life of about 10 hours. But after running several movies, we found that this particular Chromebook lasted more than 11 hours.
Should you buy the Dell Inspiron Chromebook 2-in-1 Laptop/Tablet?
Dell did a very good job with this Chromebook. Although there are a lot of skeptical mouths out there that would discard such a laptop immediately, this model is here to prove them wrong. The Inspiron Chromebook 142-in-1 (Inspiron 7486) is the best Chromebook we reviewed so far. The build quality is similar to that of Pixelbook, the screen is gorgeous, the included stylus and EMR pen support are great bonuses and performance surpasses nearly every other Chrome OS laptops.
The Core i3-8130U might be the ideal CPU for Chrome OS; the chip does a perfect job, so that heat and power draw result in complete efficiency to give you a buttery smooth feel that provides little to no heat or fan noise. Battery runtimes are surprisingly good.
We have a few slight concerns. The speakers are clear, but silent, which is a pity, given the potential for media playback. Because of the large display deck, the device is also rather heavier than other 2-in-1s. The 14-inch screen makes it somewhat difficult to hold the phone in tablet mode.
Finally, some users already claim that the device is quite expensive, but this doesn’t mean that it should be your opinion, as well. We really think that it is more of a subjective decision, based on expectations and reality.