Customer Ratings & Reviews

I have been super stoked to get my hands on the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus featuring a Snapdragon X Plus processor. I geek out a bit at the prospect of new hardware in the PC space. While ARM PCs running Windows have existed for a few years now, this latest push for the Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus is my first foray with the hardware. I have a feeling that will be the case for many people. Unfortunately, I must say at the beginning that I am not entirely sold on Windows 11 on ARM. There is a ton of potential and I hope that this recent push of Snapdragon X Co-Pilot PCs helps with the development of native applications. This could be my favorite laptop at this point next year, but as of right now, I have some mixed feelings. I think this laptop is good: it has an excellent screen, good keyboard, WiFi7, a dedicated NPU, and excellent battery life, but that does not seem to matter when applications are still not compatible, or applications run slower than a comparable PC with an AMD or Intel processor because the application is running through emulation. I do recommend the laptop. But users will need to check with their specific work or school needs to see if the PC is right for them. Installation / Setup: The laptop comes with the base computer and Dell’s standard at this point 65w USB-C charger. Turning the laptop on, Microsoft will guide you through the setup process. As to be expected, there were a fair amount of driver and software updates out of the box all handled through Windows Update. Experience: The Good: The first thing that stood out to me was this screen. The colors and black levels look great. I noticed no stuck pixels or light bleed. The speakers are loud. The webcam comes with a Windows Hello facial recognition scanner. You also have Dell’s trusty fingerprint reader. All worked very well. The keyboard and trackpad are great as per usual with Dell. Most of the hardware internals on the PC come from Qualcomm. I had some concerns about hardware compatibility, but Bluetooth microphones and USB headphones worked well. I had no printer compatibility issues. I heard about some potential quirks with Canon software, but I did not experience any hardware related hang-ups in my testing. However, I do not think you will be making many hardware upgrades on the internals. The machine simply does not appear to be as receptive to internal hardware changes or upgrades. Battery life is good. It is not 20 hours good. It is 10 to 12 hours good. Still. That is good. Microsoft Co-Pilot A.I. features work well. I have been using Co-Pilot for a while to help research a book I am working on. I was amazed that an A.I. tool could help me develop a character for my work. The Bad: The obvious thing that stood out to me was software compatibility. Many apps do work. Some applications have native ARM variants and the installers for those applications will detect the ARM processor when you go to set up or download the application. For instance, Chrome and CPU-Z have ARM variants. Windows applications like Office 365 work well. If an application is native for the CPU, it works great. But occasionally I would discover an application that did not work. For instance, I use the AppleTV and Apple Music apps, but those applications are not ARM compatible. Some applications will work in an apparent emulation mode. But that emulation takes a hit to the CPU performance. If you are looking into this PC, I would suggest making sure your important applications are compatible with the processor first. This is not meant to condemn the laptop. There is a lot of potential here. But students and people working from home will need to make sure that software and hardware compatibility is present before diving in. I tried testing out some games. I know this machine is not marketed for gaming, but I had to check. I thought I even read that this processor and GPU would run many games in emulation. But I had absolutely no luck. Sorry SIMS 4 players, this laptop did not work for me. Sorry Helldivers, you will not be spreading managed Democracy. It seems that nearly any game with an anti-cheat feature will struggle to even launch. I could not get any of my recent Steam library games to work on this laptop. I cannot claim that was an exhaustive test, but I was a tad disappointed. I was able to benchmark the CPU and the GPU using 3DMark. CPU numbers were good, but GPU numbers were abysmal. But I am not sure what good the recent benchmarks are if there is a performance hit due to emulation. So, if you want to play any games on this PC, I recommend streaming over Steam or a service like Geforce Now. Also, the laptop is hurting for connectivity. You get two USB-C ports (one of which will be dedicated to the charger), one USB-A port, a MicroSD slot, and a headphone jack. That is it. The laptop is really pushing wireless peripherals or dedicated docking solutions. Conclusion: I do like this laptop. I love the screen, but I cannot watch my purchased AppleTV movies and shows. Hopefully, software updates will continue, and more apps will gain ARM support. At the moment, it feels like there are two versions of Windows 11 and Windows applications: programs for X86 and programs for ARM. Many X86 programs will work in emulation at a slight performance hit, but others will not run at all in their current state... If you are primarily seeking a laptop for web applications, Microsoft Office, and some Adobe products, this laptop is great. It will work perfectly. But if you have specific software and networking requirements for work or school, you will need to do some research to decide if this laptop will work for you now or in the future. That ambiguity and the abysmal GPU performance are the only things keeping me from saying this is a 5/5 must buy. As is, I would say the laptop is more of a 3.5 or 4. It is a good machine. Hopefully future application updates and conversions will make it even better.

I like this laptop. it is fast and reasonable price but has several software compatibility issues due to SnapDragon chip: (1) does not recognize my scanner; 2) does not have fully compatibility with Zoom; (3) Nord VPN is not compatible. Supposedly Nord VPN is working on a solution. I am considering returning this laptop. If HP, Zoom, and NordVPN update their software to be SnapDragon-compatible, I will keep this laptop. My suggestion: before you purchase this laptop, research about its compatibility with the software applications you use. Otherwise, this is a great laptop - lightweight, good display, lots of ports. There is a lot of good in this laptop.

Don't buy this computer. You can't get drivers for the ARM processors therefore can't connect up a printer to this laptop. compatible hardware is few and far between

The Dell Inspiron 14 with Co-Pilot and the Snapdragon Elite X processor is a pretty cool blend of innovation and performance, setting a new standard for productivity-focused laptops. This model is particularly notable for its integration of the new Co-Pilot feature, which is a AI-driven and designed to enhance user efficiency and streamline tasks. With Co-Pilot (when used as intended and expected) you can get a decent boost in productivity, as it assists with a wide range of activities, from drafting emails and documents to managing schedules and tasks. It is also supposed to adapt to your behavior to give personalized suggestions and automate repetitive tasks. What you do have to keep in mind is this is still very new technology, and there are always going to be kinks to work out. Especially since a lot of this new technology may not be compatible with existing apps and software. That’s actually the main reason for my four star review because there are some things that don’t work quite like you want. Hopefully future updates will improve this. The Snapdragon Elite X processor is another new feature and it’s known for its high performance and energy efficiency. It should be the perfect partner for running co-pilot, and for the most part, it is. It provides a fairness seamless experience The Snapdragon Elite X excels in providing a seamless experience for browsing, streaming, or running multiple applications simultaneously. I don’t think the Dell Inspirons are by any means the flashiest of computers, but they’re usually pretty solid and reliable. Snapdragon is definitely another step forward in performance capabilities of lightweight laptops, which’s gives some balance between power and battery life. However, the Inspiron 14 does have a few drawbacks (as mentioned above). One of the main issues is the lack of software compatibility (particularly when trying to use co-pilot), which can be a significant hindrance depending on your needs. Some applications, particularly those designed for x86 architecture, may not run smoothly or at all on the Snapdragon platform. With that in mind, if you need specific software for work/school/etc. make sure it will work on the Inspiron. I would still consider the Inspiron 14 a solid choice. It’s a step in the right direction with its AI capabilities and strong processor to back it. While the software compatibility issues are a drawback, the overall performance, design, and innovative features make it a worthwhile investment. Plus software compatibility shouldn’t be a deal breaker because future updates will hopefully help resolve this.