Dell Inspiron 13 7359-4839 Convertible Review

The casing has not undergone any significant modifications compared with the former Inspiron 13 7347 and Inspiron 13 7348 tested over the past two years. Slip-proof, matte-silver surfaces that almost completely hide fingerprints, and which add a stylish contrast to the rear-sided logo, black keys, and glossy, black display bezel are found again. Dell still does not reveal what material it uses, and thus we still assume that it is plastic. Dell would surely advertise a metal material.

We still have not discovered the reason for the rubber lip around the display bezel. More information about this can be found by following the first link in the previous paragraph. Fortunately, the convertible can be opened with one hand. In return, the hinges allow the lid to rock, perhaps a bit too long for a highly mobile device. There were no problems with keeping the different modes. The solid-looking base withstood our warping attempts using medium force while producing restrained cracking and grinding noises.

We did not find any manufacturing flaws, such as too wide or irregular gaps. We were astonished that the base plate protrudes a bit although evenly on all sides. A dent that feels misplaced was palpable between the space bar and ClickPad. Very aggravating (deduction): The screen instantaneously responds to manual influences with image distortions especially in the lateral areas. This also happens in routine use, for example when holding the convertible in one hand and pressing the bezel, or simply when opening the device or adjusting the display. The fact that the device will likely normally be used on a table or on the lap due to its weight lessens this phenomenon a bit.

The necessities are installed. However, transferring data via a network is only possible via Wi-Fi due to the lack of an Ethernet port. VGA is no longer a priority, and it would likely have been difficult to accommodate it due to limited space. Only one of the three USB ports still works in the old 2.0 standard. HDMI version 1.4 is present so that external 4K monitors can only be operated at 30 Hz. Dell places the interfaces in the rear lateral areas in favor of ergonomics when cables and peripherals are inserted. Some typical for convertible features are found on the right: The power button followed by the volume control is situated in the front. The stylus is inserted far back. Noteworthy but likely not a problem: Inserting peripherals into the tight USB ports is quite difficult.

We use our Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II reference card for determining the card reader's performance. The very slow read speed of approximately 24 MB/s when copying standard JPG file of 5 MB each to the laptop and approximately 27 MB/s when reading a 1 GB file via AS SSD indicate that the card reader is connected to only a USB 2.0 interface. A bit of patience will be needed here.

The lack of cable LAN makes a good Wi-Fi connection all the more important. The installed Intel Wireless-AC 3165 (MIMO 1x1) module supports the still much less loaded 5 GHz band at a maximum gross data rate of 433 MBit/s and Bluetooth 4.2 (updating driver might be required). A higher speed could be achieved with, for example, the newer Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260, which supports two antennas in contrast to one and would theoretically double the possible throughput.

Like in seemingly 90% of all laptops, the manufacturer waives any accessories that go beyond the compulsory power supply and the usual manuals and warranty notes in the Inspiron 13 7359. This video conveys an impression of the convertible and presents Dell accessories, such as external speakers and a bag that would also function in conjunction with every other laptop.

Pleasingly, a maintenance hatch that is almost as big as the underside exists. Releasing the five screws was simple but the fit of the plate was so tight that we would have needed a tool to pry it off. Since it is a shop device, we did not want to risk damage and aborted our attempts.

The warranty issue confused us a bit. The relevant information is not found on the German laptop website. A major German retailer states a "2-year bring-in service warranty" (pick-up and repair service). Then again, a "1 Year Limited Warranty Plus Mail-In Service after remote diagnosis" is stated on the US webpage of the Inspiron 13. Upon inquiry in Dell's chat, the manufacturer includes 1 year of basic support for the next business day. In any case, the legal retailer warranty of 2 years with shifting the burden of proof after 6 months applies in Germany.

Many users value high viewing angle stability and good color reproduction in higher-quality laptops and, of course, especially in tablets so that IPS panels are the only option - and Dell seem to agree. 1920x1080 pixels distributed over 13.3 inches equal a very decent pixel density of 166 PPI. This alongside the impeccable image sharpness should even satisfy critical users. Like in the majority of convertibles, a glossy screen surface is used for cleaning reasons.

Tablets are often used in changing and unfavorable light conditions or outdoors. Apple has realized this a bit more than Dell with its consistently extremely bright iPads. The review sample's maximum brightness of just 232 cd/m² is only mediocre to satisfactory, even for a purebred laptop. Apart from Lenovo's Yoga, the other rivals present a brightness of around 330 cd/m², which is a plus of over 40% and fulfills mobility requirements. On the other hand, the measured illumination is unremarkable and the naked eye could observe minor bleeding at most at the lower edge in a completely black image. According to Dell, an IPS panel with 1366x768 pixels is also available.

An i7 CPU but only DDR3L single-channel RAM? Then an i5-6200U would have done the job in our opinion. The higher frequencies of the installed processor only bring small advantages when using higher-requirement software and excessive multitasking. That does not apply to the office environment and multimedia. Strongly parallelized software, such as many current games, would clearly benefit from more physical cores. Commercial software, even from the league of Adobe Photoshop, is coped with easily.

The installed Intel Core i7-6500U is a frugal Hyperthreading dual-core CPU from Intel's latest Skylake generation. Its base clock of 2.5 GHz can be boosted up to 3.1 GHz automatically via Turbo. However, that only takes effect when one core is loaded. 3.0 GHz is the limit when both cores are loaded. The CPU has to share the low TDP of 15 watts with the integrated Intel HD 520 GPU.

Skylake can deal with a DDR4 RAM for the first time, but the review sample (DDR3L) does not utilize this. Besides common office applications, the processor can also easily manage performance-driven software and intensive multitasking, but highly parallelized programs like many up-to-date games are too much for it. The Cinebench score does not change in battery mode.

Intel's HD 520 is a processor-integrated GPU without dedicated memory that processes 2D tasks energy efficiently and easily. However, it quickly finds its limits in the 3D sector. It benefits greatly from dual-channel RAM and DDR4, but neither is found in the review sample. As expected, Dell's 13 takes one of the last places among the laptops with an i7-6500U tested to date in terms of graphics performance according to 3DMark 11. However, it is only outperformed by 13% at most in the test field. 3DMark 2013 (Cloud Gate) attributes leads of 24 to 30% to the 15-watt laptops. Intel's HD Graphics 5300 in the overall slower Lenovo Yoga based on a 4.5-watt CPU cannot keep up at all. The performance does not drop in battery mode.

With a processor-integrated graphics unit like Intel's HD 520, users will have to be satisfied with older and/or graphically undemanding games if they are to look better than in the often unsightly minimum settings at least in the 3D sector. This is all the more true for the clipped version (see above) in Dell's convertible.

The speakers that radiate sound from the sides are not very enjoyable. The maximum volume that we use for performing our music tests is at most sufficient for medium-sized rooms. Although the sound is considerably more dominant and more pleasant with the tweaks enabled ex-factory, the required compression produces a flat, tinny, and unnatural sound that lacks real basses and emphasizes the midranges and trebles too strongly. Hints (!) of dynamic and surround were audible in some songs. Many instruments cannot be differentiated. We did not notice distortions or volume fluctuations.

Frequency diagram in comparison (check boxes above can be turned on/off!)
Rate 1: Pink Noise 100 % volume; Rate 2: Audio off

Power Consumption

Unnecessary: Dell's Inspiron 13 still treats itself to 0.26 watts when shutdown, and 0.6 watts in standby. Since we do not have a database, it is not possible to compare 13-inch convertibles with the i7-6500U. Thus, we simply used all convertibles with the same size as the review sample. The consumption at least proved to be below average in three idle mode states; it is roughly on average during load. The power supply can always manage the load.

Again, we have to compare apples and oranges here because, besides the different battery capacities, we are also dealing with different processors. It is striking that Acer's Aspire R13 furnished with a slower CPU and a marginally bigger battery is slightly less enduring than the review sample. Our Acer Aspire Switch wastes a bit too much energy in view of the just 7 Wh lower capacity. The lag of 46% seems absurd for the nominal most frugal contestant in the form of Lenovo's Yoga (44 Wh) in the practical Wi-Fi test (Our test criteria). HP's Spectre has a whole 12 Wh more, but cannot take a lead on Dell's Inspiron. In summary, that is extremely impressive.