Dell Inspiron 14 7400 Laptop Review: Portable office laptop with a Tiger Lake CPU
While the Dell Latitude 14 5411, which we recently reviewed, was a powerful, but thick, office notebook, the Dell Inspiron 14 7400 is also powerful, but it is slimmer. Our review configuration of the Inspiron 14 comes with the Intel Core i7-1165G7, Nvidia GeForce MX350, 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD.
We shall compare this hardware configuration of the Inspiron 14 7400 to other competing devices. Below each comparison chart, there is a field which can used to add additional notebooks to the respective comparison chart.
Likely Competitors
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 84.3 % v7 (old) | 03 / 2021 | Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW i7-1165G7, GeForce MX350 | 1.3 kg | 17 mm | 14.50" | 2560x1600 | |
| 84.1 % v7 (old) | 01 / 2021 | Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG i7-1165G7, GeForce MX450 | 1.3 kg | 16.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 82.5 % v7 (old) | 12 / 2020 | MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 i7-1185G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.2 kg | 16 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 85.6 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2020 | Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 R5 4500U, Vega 6 | 1.6 kg | 17.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 85.1 % v7 (old) | 01 / 2021 | Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE i7-1165G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.6 kg | 17.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 |
Case - Light Dell laptop
The housing of the Inspiron 14 is made of a magnesium–aluminium alloy. This is why the Dell notebook is so light and robust. Moreover, the display lid does not exhibits a lot of flex. The maximum opening angle amounts to 160°. The chassis is slightly raised when the display lid is fully open.
The Dell notebook is very light, weighing in at only 1260 g (~2.7 ℔). Other competing devices also have a similar weight. The same can be said about the hight and the width, but not the depth because the Inspiron 14 has a 16:10 screen, which needs a bit more depth.
Connectivity - Insprion 14 comes with Thunderbolt
The Dell Inspiron 14 7400 features all the necessary ports. The inclusion of a Thunderbolt 4 port is particularly notable since it can be used to charge the device and expand to the connectivity. Various Thunderbolt accessories can be connected to the Dell Latitude 14.
SD Card Reader
The Dell Inspiron 14 comes with an SD card reader. It is quite slow (read speed: 28.3 MB/s; write speed: 22.2 MB/s). Most competitors in this space no longer feature an SD card reader. We test the SD card reader with the help of our reference-grade SD card (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II).
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
| Average of class Office (22.7 - 198.5, n=34, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
| Average of class Office (25 - 249, n=30, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
Communication
The Dell Inspiron 14 7400 supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1. With our reference-grade router Netgear Nighthawk AX12, the Dell notebook achieves an average download speed of 784 Mb/s and an average upload speed of 1234 Mb/s. Nevertheless, the Inspiron 14 has the slowest download speeds of all the laptops in our comparison chart.
Web Camera
The Dell Inspiron 14 has only a 720p web camera. This is why the image quality is rather mediocre. What is more, the colours appear quite washed-out.
The web camera features a mechanical shutter, which is supposed to protect users against unwanted surveillance.
Security
In addition to the already-mentioned web camera shutter, the Dell Inspiron 14 7400 also has a TPM 2.0 module and a fingerprint scanner, which worked reliably in the course of our review.
Accessories
The box of the Inspiron 14 only contains the laptop itself and the power adapter. However, Dell offers a wide assortment of notebook accessories on its website.
Maintenance
The Dell Inspiron 14 7400 can be opened after all the screws on the underside are removed. Plastic locking tabs, which hold the back plate in place, also have to be released. This can be done with the help of a spudger or a similar tool. After this, you will have access to the internals. However, only the SSD can be replaced, because all other components are soldered onto the motherboard.
Warranty
The Inspiron 14 7400 comes with a 12-month warranty, which can be extended by buying an extended warranty package.
Input Devices - Good blacklight with a user-configurable timer
Keyboard
The keys of the Inspiron 14 offer a clear actuation point but do not provide good tactile feedback. It did not take us long to get used to the keyboard. We find the keyboard to be suitable for long typing sessions. The arrow and function keys are a little too small for our taste. However, there are dedicated delete, insert, page up and page down buttons. In the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), users can enable secondary key mappings and set specified times for the keyboard backlight. Here, the backlight can also be set to the always-on state.
Touchpad
The Dell laptop uses a ClickPad as a replacement for the mouse. Both taps and presses are registered without any issues. All in all, the ClickPad is good enough for moving the mouse pointer around the screen.
Display - QHD resolution and 16:10 aspect ratio
The Inspiron 14 features a 14.5-inch IPS panel with a native resolution of 2560x1600 pixels and a 16:10 aspect ratio. The manufacturer specifies a maximum brightness of 300 cd/m². However, in reality, our review devices offers a maximum brightness of 360 cd/m². This is a very good result, which allows the Dell laptop to top our comparison chart. Howbeit, the Inspiron 14 has a brightness distribution of 86%, which is why it takes last place in our comparison chart in this particular area.
The manufacturer does not rely on pulse width modulation for brightness control, which is why users with susceptible eyes should not experience any issues when using the device. At the moment, Dell does not offer any other display options for the Inspiron 14 7400.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 83 %
Center on Battery: 320 cd/m²
Contrast: 800:1 (Black: 0.45 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2.04 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.89, calibrated: 0.92
ΔE Greyscale 2.84 | 0.5-98 Ø5.1
97% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
62% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
67.9% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
97.4% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
65.8% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.34
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW Chi Mei CMN1411, IPS, 2560x1600, 14.5" | Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Au Optronics B140HAN03.2, IPS, 1920x1080, 14" | MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 AUO B140HAN06.2 (AUO623D), IPS-Level, 1920x1080, 14" | Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 B140HAN05.7, a-Si IPS LED, 1920x1080, 14" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -7% | 4% | -42% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 65.8 | 60.9 -7% | 68.8 5% | 38.16 -42% |
| sRGB Coverage | 97.4 | 90.4 -7% | 99.4 2% | 57.2 -41% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 67.9 | 62.3 -8% | 70.9 4% | 39.42 -42% |
| Response Times | -61% | -113% | -71% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 29 ? | 39 ? -34% | 59.6 ? -106% | 46.4 ? -60% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 15 ? | 28 ? -87% | 32.8 ? -119% | 27.2 ? -81% |
| PWM Frequency | ||||
| Screen | -51% | 3% | -94% | |
| Brightness middle | 360 | 323 -10% | 293 -19% | 281 -22% |
| Brightness | 327 | 313 -4% | 277 -15% | 264 -19% |
| Brightness Distribution | 83 | 80 -4% | 89 7% | 87 5% |
| Black Level * | 0.45 | 0.36 20% | 0.18 60% | 0.25 44% |
| Contrast | 800 | 897 12% | 1628 104% | 1124 41% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 2.04 | 4.86 -138% | 2.95 -45% | 5.8 -184% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 4.69 | 7.52 -60% | 6.03 -29% | 22.3 -375% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 0.92 | 3.64 -296% | 0.9 2% | 4.9 -433% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 2.84 | 4.83 -70% | 4.2 -48% | 3.2 -13% |
| Gamma | 2.34 94% | 2.64 83% | 2.099 105% | 2.15 102% |
| CCT | 6360 102% | 7405 88% | 6622 98% | 6452 101% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 62 | 57.5 -7% | 71 15% | 36.2 -42% |
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 97 | 90.3 -7% | 93 -4% | 56.9 -41% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -40% /
-44% | -35% /
-12% | -69% /
-82% |
* ... smaller is better
Our measurements show that the Inspiron 14 7400 covers 97% of the sRGB colour space and 62% of the AdobeRGB colour space. The contrast ratio of 800:1 is rather low and the black value of 0.45 cd/m² is also quite elevated. This is why colours are somewhat difficult to tell apart and dark tones appear greyish.
Our CalMAN analysis reveals that the screen is well-calibrated straight out of the box. However, the colour reproduction can be improved further with the help of calibration. You can download our ICC profile by clicking the link below the box which contains all display measurements (this box is located to the left of the graphic showing the distribution of brightness).
Outdoors, the display of the Dell Inspiron 14 7400 is easy to read as long as you are located in a shaded place. However, in direct sun light the screen is marred by reflections, despite the fact it has a matte surface.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 15 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 4 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 11 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 33 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 29 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 2 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 27 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 35 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (32.7 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8619 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | ||
The IPS panel of the Dell laptop offers very wide viewing angles. The screen content can be read from any angle without any distortions.
Peformance - The Inspiron 14 is able to sustain its peformance
The Dell Inspiron 14 7400 is a portable and powerful notebook. In addition to our review configuration, there is also a model with the Intel Core i5-1135G7 and without the dedicated GPU. Users can also configure the amount of storage space and RAM. The larger amounts of RAM and storage will carry a higher price tag.
Processor
Our hardware configuration of the Inspiron 14 7400 packs an Intel Core i7-1165G7, which is a quad-core CPU that can process up to eight tasks at the same time. It has a base clock of 2.8 GHz and a boost clock of 4.7 GHz. In our CPU benchmarks, it achieves slightly below-average results. This is why it takes a spot near the bottom of our comparison chart.
In the Cinebench R15 continuous loop, the Core i7-1165G7 in the Inspiron 14 7400 achieves a very similar result to the Asus ZenBook 14 with the same CPU in the first benchmark run. However, the Inspiron 14 is able to maintain most of its performance and by the end of the loop it even performs as well as it did in the beginning. We saw the same behaviour when we reran the Cinebench R15 loop.
Cinebench R15: CPU Single 64Bit | CPU Multi 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 -mmt1 | 7z b 4
Geekbench 5.5: Single-Core | Multi-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
| Cinebench R20 / CPU (Single Core) | |
| Average of class Office (229 - 766, n=86, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1165G7 (442 - 589, n=81) | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 | |
| Cinebench R20 / CPU (Multi Core) | |
| Average of class Office (590 - 5980, n=86, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1165G7 (1060 - 2657, n=81) | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Cinebench R15 / CPU Single 64Bit | |
| Average of class Office (98 - 284, n=88, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1165G7 (115 - 230, n=78) | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 | |
| Cinebench R15 / CPU Multi 64Bit | |
| Average of class Office (246 - 2642, n=89, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1165G7 (553 - 1027, n=86) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Blender / v2.79 BMW27 CPU | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1165G7 (468 - 1138, n=80) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| Average of class Office (208 - 1956, n=88, last 2 years) | |
| 7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 -mmt1 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| Average of class Office (2972 - 6687, n=88, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1165G7 (4478 - 5507, n=80) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 | |
| 7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 | |
| Average of class Office (7532 - 65460, n=89, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1165G7 (15347 - 27405, n=80) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Geekbench 5.5 / Single-Core | |
| Average of class Office (510 - 1995, n=88, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1165G7 (1302 - 1595, n=77) | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 | |
| Geekbench 5.5 / Multi-Core | |
| Average of class Office (1018 - 11980, n=87, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1165G7 (3078 - 5926, n=77) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 | |
| HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 / 4k Preset | |
| Average of class Office (1.72 - 18.7, n=86, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1165G7 (1.39 - 8.47, n=80) | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| LibreOffice / 20 Documents To PDF | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Average of class Office (31.3 - 129.6, n=86, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1165G7 (21.5 - 88.1, n=78) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| R Benchmark 2.5 / Overall mean | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-1165G7 (0.552 - 1.002, n=80) | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| Average of class Office (0.4244 - 1.135, n=85, last 2 years) | |
* ... smaller is better
System Performance
In the PCMark 10 benchmark, which we use to assess system performance, the Dell laptop takes next-to-last place, landing a spot just ahead of the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 with the Ryzen 5 4500U. In some sections of the benchmark, such as the Productivity section, the Inspiron 14 takes first place in our comparison chart.
You can find out how the Inspiron 14 7400 stacks up against other laptops on our CPU Benchmarks page.
| PCMark 10 Score | 4855 points | |
Help | ||
DPC Latencies
The Dell Inspiron 14 7400 exhibits the highest latency spikes among the devices that we selected for this review. This is why the Dell laptop is not suitable for work with realtime audio and video.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
Our configuration of the Inspiron 14 7400 comes with a 1 TB SSD from Samsung. It is not as fast as storage devices in competing laptops, but it provides a slightly above-average level of performance.
You can find out how the SSD in the Dell laptop stacks up against other storage devices on our HDD/SSD Benchmarks page.
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW Samsung PM981a MZVLB1T0HBLR | Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Samsung PM981a MZVLB1T0HBLR | MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 Phison 512GB SM280512GKBB4S-E162 | Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 Toshiba BG4 KBG40ZNT512G | Average Samsung PM981a MZVLB1T0HBLR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 | 36% | 36% | -23% | 6% | |
| Write 4K | 127 | 211.8 67% | 248.4 96% | 102.3 -19% | 139.7 ? 10% |
| Read 4K | 42.72 | 50.1 17% | 56.4 32% | 32.12 -25% | 49.9 ? 17% |
| Write Seq | 2025 | 2938 45% | 2513 24% | 1518 -25% | 2036 ? 1% |
| Read Seq | 2205 | 2639 20% | 2250 2% | 1501 -32% | 2014 ? -9% |
| Write 4K Q32T1 | 465 | 656 41% | 589 27% | 356.4 -23% | 461 ? -1% |
| Read 4K Q32T1 | 376.4 | 723 92% | 696 85% | 459.6 22% | 499 ? 33% |
| Write Seq Q32T1 | 3020 | 3022 0% | 2515 -17% | 1507 -50% | 2903 ? -4% |
| Read Seq Q32T1 | 3478 | 3561 2% | 4915 41% | 2327 -33% | 3479 ? 0% |
| AS SSD | 19% | 12% | -100% | -1% | |
| Seq Read | 2891 | 2861 -1% | 3760 30% | 2007 -31% | 2553 ? -12% |
| Seq Write | 1398 | 2837 103% | 2335 67% | 1118 -20% | 2084 ? 49% |
| 4K Read | 56.1 | 60.3 7% | 66.8 19% | 46.95 -16% | 53.1 ? -5% |
| 4K Write | 138.4 | 164.2 19% | 184.3 33% | 124 -10% | 131.2 ? -5% |
| 4K-64 Read | 1137 | 1598 41% | 1801 58% | 1221 7% | 1477 ? 30% |
| 4K-64 Write | 1904 | 1572 -17% | 1754 -8% | 774 -59% | 1805 ? -5% |
| Access Time Read * | 0.052 | 0.046 12% | 0.135 -160% | 0.108 -108% | 0.04983 ? 4% |
| Access Time Write * | 0.022 | 0.021 5% | 0.018 18% | 0.195 -786% | 0.04222 ? -92% |
| Score Read | 1482 | 1945 31% | 2244 51% | 1468 -1% | 1786 ? 21% |
| Score Write | 2183 | 2020 -7% | 2172 -1% | 1009 -54% | 2144 ? -2% |
| Score Total | 4359 | 4966 14% | 5500 26% | 3191 -27% | 4826 ? 11% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 28% /
26% | 24% /
22% | -62% /
-68% | 3% /
2% |
* ... smaller is better
Continuous read speed: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
Graphics Card
In addition to the integrated Xe Graphics G7, the Inspiron 14 7400 also comes with the Nvidia GeForce MX350. This dedicated graphics chip offers slightly more performance than the integrated GPU and features 2 GB of dedicated video memory. In the 3DMark benchmarks, the MX350 in the Inspiron 14 performs slightly better than in other notebooks with the same graphics chip.
You can learn what kind of performance you can expect from the GeForce MX350 on our GPU Benchmarks page.
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 6543 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 3985 points | |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score | 1752 points | |
Help | ||
Gaming Performance
The Inspiron 14 7400 can achieve playable frame rates at low to medium settings. It can run some older titles at Full HD resolution. However, the Dell laptop is not powerful enough to achieve playable frames at its native QHD resolution.
To learn what kind of gaming experience you can expect from the MX350, go to our Gaming Benchmarks page.
| The Witcher 3 | |
| 1366x768 Medium Graphics & Postprocessing | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Average of class Office (12 - 106.3, n=52, last 2 years) | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce MX350 (35.2 - 51.9, n=13) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| 1920x1080 High Graphics & Postprocessing (Nvidia HairWorks Off) | |
| MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Average of class Office (7.6 - 59.1, n=59, last 2 years) | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce MX350 (20.6 - 29.9, n=13) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 | |
| Final Fantasy XV Benchmark | |
| 1280x720 Lite Quality | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce MX350 (36.5 - 49.2, n=5) | |
| Average of class Office (12.1 - 103.1, n=83, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| 1920x1080 Standard Quality | |
| Average of class Office (5.8 - 51.7, n=83, last 2 years) | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce MX350 (20.4 - 23.9, n=5) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| 1920x1080 High Quality | |
| Average of class Office (4.18 - 35.7, n=82, last 2 years) | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce MX350 (10.7 - 15.1, n=5) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| Far Cry 5 | |
| 1280x720 Low Preset AA:T | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce MX350 (58 - 64, n=7) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| Average of class Office (21 - 99, n=44, last 2 years) | |
| 1920x1080 Medium Preset AA:T | |
| Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG | |
| Average of class Office (10 - 57, n=44, last 2 years) | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce MX350 (24 - 30, n=7) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW | |
| low | med. | high | ultra | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Witcher 3 (2015) | 41.9 | 22.9 | 15.3 | |
| Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 145 | 130 | 77.6 | 67.2 |
| Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 36.5 | 20.4 | 10.7 | |
| X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 81.9 | 56.8 | 52.1 | |
| Far Cry 5 (2018) | 58 | 25 | 22 |
Emissions - Quiet in office applications
System Noise
Under load, we measured a sound pressure level of up to 43 dB(A), which is quite audible. However, the fan noise is not particularly annoying and is therefore easy to ignore. Moreover, the Dell laptop only gets this loud under load. When using office applications, the Inspiron 14 7400 is silent most of the time. There are no abnormal sounds to report.
Noise Level
| Idle |
| 27.6 / 27.6 / 27.6 dB(A) |
| Load |
| 43.8 / 43.8 dB(A) |
 | ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min:  , med:  , max:  Earthworks M23R, Arta (15 cm distance) environment noise: 27.6 dB(A) | ||
Temperature
According to our measurements, the surface temperatures of the Dell notebook reach up to 45.3 °C (113.54 °F) under load. The Lenovo laptop does become quite warm, but it never gets so hot that you cannot place it in your lap. The wrist rest area also never becomes hot, which is why the laptop can be used for work under all circumstances.
During our stress test, the temperatures inside the device hit 100 °C (212 °F). The clock rates tempoparily fell to 367 MHz, but by the end of the stress they stabilised at 1.9 GHz. These clock rates were below the base frequency throughout the stress test. When using very taxing applications, users might experience some slowdown in the first few minutes.
(-) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 45.3 °C / 114 F, compared to the average of 34.3 °C / 94 F, ranging from 21.2 to 62.5 °C for the class Office.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 41.7 °C / 107 F, compared to the average of 36.8 °C / 98 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 24.1 °C / 75 F, compared to the device average of 29.5 °C / 85 F.
(±) Playing The Witcher 3, the average temperature for the upper side is 35.4 °C / 96 F, compared to the device average of 29.5 °C / 85 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 29.6 °C / 85.3 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(±) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 27.6 °C / 81.7 F (-2 °C / -3.6 F).
Speakers
The speakers of the Inspiron 14 7400 offer a relatively low volume but a wide sound stage. They are good enough for use in quiet environments. However, we recommend you get a pair of headphones or external speakers if you want to use the Dell laptop for media consumption on a regular basis.
Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW audio analysis
(-) | not very loud speakers (70.1 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 21.6% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (12.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 3% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.3% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (16.9% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 20% of all tested devices in this class were better, 6% similar, 73% worse
» The best had a delta of 7%, average was 21%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 27% of all tested devices were better, 7% similar, 66% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Apple MacBook 12 (Early 2016) 1.1 GHz audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (83.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 11.3% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (14.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 2.4% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (5.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (4.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (10.2% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 6% of all tested devices in this class were better, 2% similar, 92% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 19%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 4% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 95% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Energy Management - Requires some tweaking
Energy Consumption
According to our measurements, the Dell notebook draws about 7.3 W when idle, which is a normal power draw for such a device. The peak power consumption of 65 W can also be described as normal.
The included 65-W power adapter should be able to provide the laptop with enough energy at all times.
| Off / Standby | 0.6 / 0.4 Watt |
| Idle | 3.1 / 7.3 / 9 Watt |
| Load |
47 / 65.4 Watt |
   
| |
Key:
min: ,
med: ,
max: Metrahit Energy | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW i7-1165G7, GeForce MX350, Samsung PM981a MZVLB1T0HBLR, IPS, 2560x1600, 14.5" | Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG i7-1165G7, GeForce MX450, Samsung PM981a MZVLB1T0HBLR, IPS, 1920x1080, 14" | MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 i7-1185G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, Phison 512GB SM280512GKBB4S-E162, IPS-Level, 1920x1080, 14" | Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 R5 4500U, Vega 6, Toshiba BG4 KBG40ZNT512G, a-Si IPS LED, 1920x1080, 14" | Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE i7-1165G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, Lenovo UMIS AM620 RPJTJ512MEE1OWX, IPS LED, 1920x1080, 14" | Average NVIDIA GeForce MX350 | Average of class Office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Consumption | -10% | -13% | -4% | 6% | -16% | -6% | |
| Idle Minimum * | 3.1 | 3.4 -10% | 5 -61% | 4.6 -48% | 3.6 -16% | 3.97 ? -28% | 4.48 ? -45% |
| Idle Average * | 7.3 | 7.6 -4% | 7 4% | 7.6 -4% | 7 4% | 8.26 ? -13% | 7.46 ? -2% |
| Idle Maximum * | 9 | 14.2 -58% | 11 -22% | 9.7 -8% | 9.1 -1% | 10.7 ? -19% | 8.96 ? -0% |
| Load Average * | 47 | 56 -19% | 54 -15% | 39.1 17% | 27.2 42% | 55.2 ? -17% | 41.7 ? 11% |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 46 | 41 11% | 39 15% | ||||
| Load Maximum * | 65.4 | 50.4 23% | 65 1% | 50.3 23% | 65.2 -0% | 65.8 ? -1% | 61.7 ? 6% |
* ... smaller is better
Battery Life
In our web-browsing battery test, the Dell Inspiron with the 52-Wh battery lasted more than 7 hours. These are good results for a 52-Wh battery. However, competing devices, which have batteries with similar capacities, last slightly longer in our Internet-browsing test.
Howbeit, with some tweaking, which can be done in the Dell Power Manager
utility, the battery life can be improved further. In our review, we used the Optimised profile and did not enable the Battery Extender function, which lowers the CPU performance on battery power and allows users to limit the screen brightness.
| Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW i7-1165G7, GeForce MX350, 52 Wh | Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG i7-1165G7, GeForce MX450, 63 Wh | MSI Prestige 14 Evo A11M-005 i7-1185G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, 52.4 Wh | Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20T7S00W00 R5 4500U, Vega 6, 45 Wh | Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen2-20TA000DGE i7-1165G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, 45 Wh | Average of class Office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | ||||||
| WiFi v1.3 | 438 | 507 16% | 451 3% | 498 14% | 505 15% | 628 ? 43% |
Pros
Cons
Verdict - Slim laptop with a good display
The Dell Inspiron 14 7400 is a good office notebook, which is powered by Intel’s Tiger Lake chip. With some tweaking in the power management utility, users can boost the battery life, which is on a satisfactory level as it is, but could be better.
The Dell laptop offers enough performance for a wide range of tasks and can even handle graphically demanding applications thanks to the inclusion of the Nvidia GeForce MX350. Those who do not need a dedicated GPU can save some money by getting a model without it.
The slim and light Dell Inspiron 14 7400 offers enough performance for a wide range of applications thanks to a Tiger Lake processor and Nvidia's Geforce MX350.
The Dell notebook provides a very solid user experience in day-to-day use. The fan noise rarely becomes bothersome and the overall level of performance is very good. The 16:10 QHD display is the standout feature, even though its contrast ratio could have been higher. The main negative is the limited selection of ports. However, thanks to a Thunderbolt 4 port, expanding connectivity should not be problematic. Buyers of the Dell Inspiron 14 7400 should be very satisfied with their purchase even if they have to do some tweaking to the power management settings.
Price and Availability
In the US, the Dell Inspiron 14 7400 is known as the Dell Inspiron 14 7000. It can currently be purchased on Dell’s website for $1079.
Dell Inspiron 14 7400-VY8JW
- 03/15/2021 v7 (old)
Mike Wobker
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