Dell Inspiron 14: A Budget Laptop That Keeps Up with Your Demands

Dell's Inspiron computers are known to be workhorse machines that just get the job done, and in my testing of the Dell Inspiron 14 (5441) with a Spandragon X Plus processor, I wasn't disappointed in what I've come to expect from these machines.

The laptop itself is classic, with an aluminum chassis, backlit keyboard, and the 14-inch display (this version is non-touch). It looks very much like you'd expect a Dell laptop to look. It's what's inside that really matters on this machine.

I spent some time putting this machine through the same paces that I use my everyday computer for. Here's how that went.

Getting Started With the Dell Inspiron 14

The first thing you notice when you take this laptop out of the box is that it's not particularly stylish. It's what you expect when you're looking at any of the computers in the Inspiron line. The silver metal chassis looks and feels like it can withstand being handled by a student. It's slim, but sturdy.

The backlit keyboard is a nice-to-have feature that I find useful when I'm working at night. While my fingers know where all the keys are, sometimes my brain needs a little help, which the backlight provides. I'm also fond of the large trackpad. I found that I had fewer mis-clicks with this trackpad than I do on laptops with smaller versions.

I was also very happy with the 'snap' you get when you type on the keyboard. The keys are quieter than some, but they have just enough resistance that you know when you've depressed them far enough. I know it seems like a small thing, but if you've ever spent 10-12 consecutive hours typing away, you know why this is an important feature to me.

But Does the Inspiron 14 Keep Up?

What's more important than the laptop's look and feel is its performance. This version of the Inspiron has a Snapdragon X Plus (X1P-42-100) 3.42GHz processor. To give you some clarity on how that compares, my usual laptop is an M2 MacBook Air, which is rated at 3.49GHz. So, the Inspiron is slightly slower, but I didn't notice enough of a difference to slow me down.

I was able to have my browser with a dozen or so tabs open and running without noticing any lags in what I was doing. It operated my cloud-based documents and spreadsheet programs without a hitch, even when I was running several open programs at the same time.

The Inspiron 14 I tested had 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage—enough, though honestly, I don't think it would take too long to burn through that storage if you're doing intense graphics work or, like me, taking tons of pictures that end up on your hard drive.

It also has decent battery life. Dell claims you should see about 28 hours of use, and I found that to be pretty accurate. I didn't ever run the battery all the way down, and I spent a few sessions working on this laptop for more than 5 hours at a time.

It runs Windows 11 Home Edition, which gives you access to Windows Hello biometrics and Copilot AI features. There is a dedicated Copilot key, so you can access the AI assistant with a single stroke, which I found helpful when I wanted to ask the AI questions. I will say that when the system is updating (as is typical for Windows computers), everything slows down, and the fan kicks in. That's a frustration targeted at Windows, I think, and not so much at the machine it's running on.

What I Don't Like About the Inspiron 14 (5441)

That brings me to the one thing about this laptop that I'm not fond of—the fan. I'll admit I might be spoiled by my MacBook Pro, but the fan is noticeable when it kicks on. It's not 'loud' per se, but it's noticeable—and necessary—because this laptop will get warm when you push it hard. If you're a Windows laptop user, you may find this more acceptable than I did because it's truly not that loud. Just jarring when you're not used to dealing with fan noises.

One last thing, this Inspiron 14 is a little shy on ports. It has one USB-A port, two USB-C ports (one of which is for power), an audio jack, and a MicroSD card slot. That's enough, I suppose, but if you need to connect more than one thing (like a mouse dongle and something else) that needs a USB-A port, you'll have to connect a USB hub. I know this is the way most laptops work these days, but it's a trend that I'm just not thrilled about. I'd love to carry less in my gear bag, not more.

Is the Dell Insprion 14 (5441) Worth It?

The Dell Inspiron 14 (5441) with Snapdragon X Plus processor is one of the more budget offerings in this line. The version I tested is just $650 at the time of this writing. You can move up to the 10-core version of this laptop for $800. That increases your hard drive to 1TB, but for the money, I'd stick with the 8-core version.

And I do believe this workhorse machine is with the price tag. It kept up with my multi-tasking, AI-using, and picture editing without missing a beat. I was also able to seamlessly stream videos and music and wasn't disappointed in the quality of either. So, yeah, this one is a buy for anyone looking for a basic laptop to get things done.