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MagyarDell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 laptop review: Dropping GeForce RTX for integrated Intel Arc
The Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 replaces the older Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 or 7430 by introducing new processor options and several external changes. It most notably drops any GeForce RTX options that were originally available on the 7420 model in favor of only integrated Arc 8 graphics.
Our test unit ships with the Core Ultra 7 155H, Arc 8 iGPU, 16 GB LPDDR5X 6400 MHz RAM, and 2.2K (2240 x 1400) IPS display for approximately $1000. Other SKUs double the RAM and may include a higher resolution 2.8K (2880 x 1800) display, but the iGPU is fixed across all current configurations. Future SKUs with the Core Ultra 9 185H and Ultra 5 125H are planned.
Alternatives to the Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 include other midrange multimedia 14-inch subnotebooks like the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14, Acer Swift Go 14, HP Pavilion Plus 14, or Asus VivoBook 14X.
More Dell reviews:
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 85.2 % | 03/2024 | Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 Ultra 7 155H, Arc 8-Cores | 1.6 kg | 18.99 mm | 14.00" | 2240x1400 | |
| 87.2 % | 08/2022 | Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 i7-12700H, GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU | 1.7 kg | 18.87 mm | 14.00" | 2240x1400 | |
| 86.6 % | 03/2024 | Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 Ultra 5 125H, Arc 7-Cores | 1.4 kg | 16.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | |
12/2023 | Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 Ultra 7 155H, Arc 8-Cores | 1.3 kg | 14.9 mm | 14.00" | 2880x1800 | ||
| 87.5 % | 12/2023 | HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU i7-1355U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.4 kg | 17.5 mm | 14.00" | 2880x1800 | |
| 85.6 % | 08/2023 | Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 i5-13500H, GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU | 1.4 kg | 18.9 mm | 14.00" | 2880x1800 |
Case — Still A Bit Large And Heavy
The chassis has been redesigned yet again for the third year in a row to be visually distinct from the 2022 Inspiron 14 7420 and 2023 Inspiron 14 7430. The ventilation grilles along the left edge, for example, are now gone while the edges and corners are now slightly rounder than before. The palm rests are also flatter along the top edge for a smoother flow with the rest of the base.
Build quality is about the same as on the Inspiron 14 7435 2-in-1 since the aluminum chassis materials haven't changed. The base, lid, and hinges feel firm and exhibit minimal creaking and twisting which is excellent for a midrange model.
The model includes no dGPU options unlike on the older Inspiron 14 Plus 7420. We therefore expected it to be noticeably thinner and/or lighter than the older model, but this is unfortunately not the case. Instead, the new model is essentially the same size in all three dimensions while weighing only 100 g less. Alternatives like the HP Pavilion Plus 14 or VivoBook 14X are each noticeably lighter than our Dell.
Connectivity
All ports from the older Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 design have returned. The HDMI port, however, has been downgraded to 1.4 and Dell even explicitly states that its maximum output is limited to 1080p60 with no 2K or 4K support. Thus, we highly recommend using DisplayPort-over-USB-C if connecting 2K or 4K external monitors.
We would like to see future models drop the dedicated barrel AC adapter port in favor of a second USB-C port which would arguably make the system more versatile.
SD Card Reader
The MicroSD card reader is again very slow. Moving 1 GB of pictures from our UHS-II test card to desktop would take almost 55 seconds compared to just 12 seconds on the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14.
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 (AV PRO microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
Communication
An Intel AX211 comes standard for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. We experienced no connectivity issues when paired to our Asus AXE11000 test router.
Webcam
The 2 MP camera is standard considering the price range. Pricier models like the HP Spectre x360 14 may ship with higher resolution 5 MP or 9 MP webcams for crisper images.
An integrated shutter slider is included for added privacy while IR is not available.
Maintenance
Internals have changed almost completely from the previous design. The cooling solution, for example, is now smaller while RAM is now non-removable.
Accessories And Warranty
There are no extras in the retail box outside of the usual paperwork and AC adapter. One year of Dell premium support is included in the price if purchased in the US.
Input Devices — Classic Inspiron Feel
Keyboard
The Power key is smaller on this model when compared to the keyboards on other Inspiron models like the 7420 or 7435 2-in-1 while the rest of the keyboard remains the same. Key feedback is relatively soft and quiet save for the Space and Enter keys which are noticeably louder and firmer than the main QWERTY keys.
Touchpad
Clickpad surface area has not changed at 11.5 x 8 cm. Feedback and travel also remain largely the same and so they continue to feel spongy and shallow, respectively. A firmer and deeper click would have gone a long way to making the clickpad more satisfying to use.
Display — Good With Some Downsides
Dell has swapped out the InfoVision 140NWHE panel on the older Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 for the BOE NV14N44 panel on the newer 7440 design. The two panels are otherwise nearly identical when it comes to contrast ratio, sRGB colors, refresh rates, and even response times. We're a bit disappointed to see no improvements to refresh rates or black-white response times since 90+ Hz or OLED are becoming commonplace on competing midrange models like the HP Pavilion Plus 14 or Asus VivoBook 14X.
A total of three panels are planned for the model all of which are matte IPS with no touchscreen capabilities:
- 2.2K (2240 x 1400), 300 nits
- 2.8K (2880 x 1800), 300 nits
- FHD+ (1920 x 1200), matte, 250 nits
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 93 %
Center on Battery: 403.2 cd/m²
Contrast: 1493:1 (Black: 0.27 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 4.15 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5, calibrated: 1.04
ΔE Greyscale 5.1 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
71.4% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
99.5% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
69.3% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.2
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 BOE NV14N44, IPS, 2240x1400, 14.00 | Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 InfoVision 140NWHE, IPS, 2240x1400, 14.00 | Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 LENOVO LEN140WUXGA (LEN88AC), OLED, 1920x1200, 14.00 | Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 ATNA40YK11-0, OLED, 2880x1800, 14.00 | HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU Samsung SDC4197, OLED, 2880x1800, 14.00 | Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 Samsung ATNA40YK07-1, , 2880x1800, 14.00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -1% | 27% | 27% | 23% | 27% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 69.3 | 68.8 -1% | 99.9 44% | 99.75 44% | 97.9 41% | 99.9 44% |
| sRGB Coverage | 99.5 | 99.3 0% | 100 1% | 99.99 0% | 99.6 0% | 100 1% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 71.4 | 69.5 -3% | 96.7 35% | 98.56 38% | 92.1 29% | 96.5 35% |
| Response Times | 18% | 97% | 74% | 70% | 72% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 41 ? | 32.8 ? 20% | 1.3 ? 97% | 2.2 ? 95% | 10.8 ? 74% | 1.15 ? 97% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 26.8 ? | 22.8 ? 15% | 1.2 ? 96% | 12.8 ? 52% | 9.29 ? 65% | 14.4 ? 46% |
| PWM Frequency | 240 | 300 | 120 ? | 90.02 ? | ||
| Screen | 7% | 157% | 25% | 298% | -1% | |
| Brightness middle | 403.2 | 331.1 -18% | 392 -3% | 388 -4% | 387 -4% | 369 -8% |
| Brightness | 388 | 326 -16% | 388 0% | 391 1% | 387 0% | 364 -6% |
| Brightness Distribution | 93 | 85 -9% | 97 4% | 98 5% | 97 4% | 85 -9% |
| Black Level * | 0.27 | 0.29 -7% | 0.02 93% | 0.0411 85% | 0.01 96% | |
| Contrast | 1493 | 1142 -24% | 19600 1213% | 9440 532% | 38700 2492% | |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 4.15 | 2.23 46% | 1.75 58% | 6.32 -52% | 2.03 51% | 2.85 31% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 6.92 | 5.44 21% | 4.46 36% | 8.82 -27% | 3.86 44% | 4.22 39% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 1.04 | 0.63 39% | 1.59 -53% | 4.79 -361% | 1.6 -54% | 2.18 -110% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 5.1 | 3.6 29% | 1.8 65% | 2.61 49% | 2.3 55% | 2.2 57% |
| Gamma | 2.2 100% | 2.21 100% | 2.249 98% | 1.772 124% | 2.23 99% | 2.15 102% |
| CCT | 6677 97% | 6022 108% | 6574 99% | 6202 105% | 6523 100% | 6518 100% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 8% /
7% | 94% /
120% | 42% /
33% | 130% /
207% | 33% /
18% |
* ... smaller is better
Color temperature is slightly too cool out of the box at 6677. Calibrating the display ourselves with an X-Rite colorimeter would improve average grayscale and color deltaE values from 5.1 and 4.15 to just 1.8 and 1.04, respectively, to better exploit the full sRGB coverage of the panel. Our calibrated ICM profile is available to download above for free.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 26.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 15.4 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 11.4 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 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 62 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.5 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 41 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 19.4 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 21.6 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 60 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.7 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 17900 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
While the display is 20 percent brighter than before, it's not nearly enough to make a noticeable difference when it comes to outdoor visibility. Colors still look washed out even when under shade. The MacBook Pro 14 is 50 percent brighter than our Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 to be easier on the eyes if working outdoors.
Performance — 1st Gen Core Ultra
Testing Conditions
We set MyDell (previously Dell Optimizer) to Ultra Performance mode prior to running the benchmarks below. The software includes a handy toggle that automatically changes the Windows power profile to match the MyDell power profile. Otherwise, it's possible to have conflicting profiles with Windows set to Power Saver mode and MyDell set to Ultra Performance mode at the same time which can confuse users.
Processor
CPU performance is where we expect it to be relative to the average laptop in our database equipped with the same Core Ultra 7 155H CPU. This also means that the Dell is neck-to-neck with the older 12th gen Core i7-12700H as found on the 2022 Inspiron 14 Plus 7420. Jumping from the 7420 to the 7440 offers no major advantages in terms of raw CPU power as a result.
New to the Core Ultra series is the integrated NPU to accelerate AI applications like Microsoft Co-Pilot. However, the vast majority of AI applications are not yet optimized for this as they still rely on the cloud to do all of the heavy lifting. This is expected to change in the near future when Windows is properly updated with improved local AI support.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 6.2: Multi-Core | Single-Core
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 6.2: Multi-Core | Single-Core
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
| Performance Rating | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (6670 - 18470, n=25) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (43630 - 93181, n=25) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (1940 - 4436, n=25) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (64698 - 93266, n=25) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (5639 - 10641, n=25) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (21052 - 47685, n=25) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (45713 - 152179, n=25) | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (557 - 1250, n=25) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (3569 - 9802, n=25) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (32719 - 54223, n=25) | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
Stress Test
The CPU would boost to 3.7 GHz, 84 W, and 107 C (!) when initiating Prime95 stress. However, this would immediately drop to just 1.6 GHz and 48 W in order to maintain a slightly cooler core temperature of 100 C instead. It's clear that the CPU is pushing the system as far as it can go to maximize performance, but it's also clear that the CPU could have likely benefited from a more capable cooling solution as well.
Core temperature would stabilize at 82 C when running Witcher 3 compared to 65 C and 80 C on the HP Pavilion Plus 14 and Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14, respectively.
| CPU Clock (GHz) | GPU Clock (MHz) | Average CPU Temperature (°C) | |
| System Idle | -- | -- | 52 |
| Prime95 Stress | 1.1 | -- | 100 |
| Prime95 + FurMark Stress | 1.8 | 1300 | 99 |
| Witcher 3 Stress | ~0.8 | 1850 - 2250 | 82 |
System Performance
PCMark scores are nearly identical to the older Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 since the Core Ultra 7 155H performs very similarly to the Core i7-12700H as mentioned above. Thus, the newer 7440 doesn't necessarily run day-to-day tasks like web browsing or light editing any faster than its two-year old predecessor.
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
WebXPRT 3: Overall
WebXPRT 4: Overall
Mozilla Kraken 1.1: Total
| PCMark 10 / Score | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (5159 - 7529, n=17) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (9557 - 11214, n=17) | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (7822 - 10591, n=17) | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (4985 - 9999, n=17) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| CrossMark / Overall | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (1366 - 1903, n=17) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| CrossMark / Productivity | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (1291 - 1717, n=16) | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| CrossMark / Creativity | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (1519 - 1929, n=16) | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (939 - 1700, n=16) | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| WebXPRT 3 / Overall | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (255 - 299, n=17) | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| WebXPRT 4 / Overall | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (241 - 263, n=13) | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Mozilla Kraken 1.1 / Total | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (520 - 565, n=17) | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
* ... smaller is better
| PCMark 10 Score | 6655 points | |
Help | ||
| AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (62397 - 95631, n=25) | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (60544 - 90647, n=25) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (64852 - 93451, n=25) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| Average Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (125.8 - 173, n=25) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
LatencyMon reveals DPC issues when opening multiple browser tabs of our homepage or when running Prime95 stress for a few seconds. 4K video playback at 60 FPS is otherwise perfect with no dropped frames recorded.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
Our unit ships with the midrange WD SN740 PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD offering read rates of up to 5100 MB/s. This maximum rate is unsustainable, however, as transfer rates would throttle to 2300 MB/s after just a few minutes of DiskSpd stress. A stronger cooling solution would have likely addressed this issue, but the throttling isn't significant for the vast majority of tasks related to office or multimedia.
| Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
| Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance — Getting Closer To GeForce GTX Performance
The integrated Arc 8 is a massive leap over the aging Iris Xe 96 EUs. Raw performance is comparable to both the GeForce GTX 1650 and competing Radeon 780M.
When running actual games, the Arc 8 may sometimes perform slower than the Radeon 780M depending on the title and laptop. Far Cry 5, Final Fantasy 15, and GTA V, for example, would heavily favor the integrated AMD GPU in the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 14. A key drawback to integrated GPUs is that they must share a limited power budget with the CPU which can impact overall performance. The slower-than-expected results in titles like GTA V suggest that the Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 can suffer more heavily from the CPU-iGPU power struggle.
| Power Profile | Graphics Score | Physics Score | Combined Score |
| Performance Mode | 8258 | 22982 | 2930 |
| Balanced Mode | 8354 | 23509 | 2953 |
| Battery Power | 8260 | 23330 | 2975 |
Dropping to Balanced mode or battery mode from Performance mode does not entail significant performance deficits as shown by our Fire Strike results table above.
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 12415 points | |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 26066 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 7605 points | |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score | 3335 points | |
Help | ||
* ... smaller is better
| Tiny Tina's Wonderlands | |
| 1280x720 Lowest Preset (DX12) | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ey0095cl | |
| Average Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (80.8 - 87, n=6) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Asus ZenBook 14 UM3402Y | |
| 1920x1080 Low Preset (DX12) | |
| Average Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (44.9 - 53.8, n=6) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ey0095cl | |
| Asus ZenBook 14 UM3402Y | |
| 1920x1080 Medium Preset (DX12) | |
| Average Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (35.3 - 42.7, n=6) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ey0095cl | |
| Asus ZenBook 14 UM3402Y | |
| 1920x1080 High Preset (DX12) | |
| Average Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (24.7 - 31.5, n=6) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ey0095cl | |
| Asus ZenBook 14 UM3402Y | |
| 1920x1080 Badass Preset (DX12) | |
| Average Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (20.2 - 25.1, n=6) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| HP Pavilion Plus 14-ey0095cl | |
| Asus ZenBook 14 UM3402Y | |
| Baldur's Gate 3 | |
| 1920x1080 Low Preset | |
| Average Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (24.5 - 36.9, n=5) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| 1920x1080 Medium Preset | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| Average Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (22.8 - 30.2, n=6) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| 1920x1080 High Preset | |
| Average Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (20.6 - 26.8, n=6) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| 1920x1080 Ultra Preset | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 | |
| Average Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (19 - 24.4, n=6) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 Phantom Liberty | |
| 1280x720 Low Preset (FSR off) | |
| Average Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (37.3 - 53.8, n=6) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| 1920x1080 Low Preset (FSR off) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Average Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (11.3 - 35.7, n=13) | |
| 1920x1080 Medium Preset (FSR off) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Average Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (9.42 - 29.6, n=12) | |
| 1920x1080 High Preset (FSR off) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Average Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (7.3 - 25.2, n=13) | |
| 1920x1080 Ultra Preset (FSR off) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 | |
| Average Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU (13 - 22.1, n=8) | |
Witcher 3 FPS Chart
| low | med. | high | ultra | |
| GTA V (2015) | 163.3 | 154.9 | 33.4 | 13.7 |
| The Witcher 3 (2015) | 131.3 | 76.8 | 40.4 | 23 |
| Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 106.8 | 95.3 | 76.7 | 74 |
| Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 68.4 | 38.8 | 26.6 | |
| X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 47.5 | 39.2 | 32.1 | |
| Far Cry 5 (2018) | 65 | 37 | 35 | 33 |
| Strange Brigade (2018) | 177.4 | 70.5 | 57.8 | 46.8 |
| Tiny Tina's Wonderlands (2022) | 44.9 | 36.3 | 25.7 | 20.2 |
| F1 22 (2022) | 72.7 | 65.1 | ||
| Baldur's Gate 3 (2023) | 24.5 | 22.9 | 21.2 | 19.9 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 Phantom Liberty (2023) | 31.5 | 26.3 | 22.9 | 19.7 |
Emissions
System Noise — Loud When Necessary
Fan noise is quieter than the older Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 due to the more efficient CPU and lack of a dGPU. Even so, the system can still be quite loud when running demanding loads. Witcher 3, for example, would induce a noise level of 46 dB(A) to be louder than the IdeaPad Slim 5 14 under similar conditions. We're able to record a maximum fan noise of 51 dB(A) when the CPU is at 100 percent utilization which is very loud for a subnotebook powered only by integrated graphics.
The system is otherwise quiet when web browsing or video streaming with fan noise levels typically hovering between 27 and 31 dB(A) against a silent background of 23.6 dB(A).
Noise Level
| Idle |
| 23.7 / 23.7 / 27 dB(A) |
| Load |
| 41.8 / 50.7 dB(A) |
 | ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min:  , med:  , max:  Earthworks M23R, Arta (15 cm distance) environment noise: 23.6 dB(A) | ||
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 Arc 8-Cores, Ultra 7 155H, WD PC SN740 SDDPTQD-1T00 | Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU, i7-12700H, SK Hynix BC711 512GB HFM512GD3GX013N | Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 Arc 7-Cores, Ultra 5 125H, SK hynix HFS512GEJ4X113N | Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 Arc 8-Cores, Ultra 7 155H, SK hynix HFS001TEJ9X110NA | HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU Iris Xe G7 96EUs, i7-1355U, SK hynix PC801 HFS001TEJ9X101N | Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU, i5-13500H, Samsung PM9B1 512GB MZVL4512HBLU | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noise | -1% | -2% | 2% | 23% | -1% | |
| off / environment * | 23.6 | 23.2 2% | 24 -2% | 25 -6% | 19.35 18% | 21.46 9% |
| Idle Minimum * | 23.7 | 23.2 2% | 25 -5% | 25 -5% | 20.57 13% | 22.08 7% |
| Idle Average * | 23.7 | 23.2 2% | 26 -10% | 25 -5% | 20.57 13% | 22.08 7% |
| Idle Maximum * | 27 | 23.2 14% | 31 -15% | 26.2 3% | 20.57 24% | 22.08 18% |
| Load Average * | 41.8 | 47.5 -14% | 43 -3% | 35.7 15% | 32.18 23% | 52.98 -27% |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 45.7 | 51.7 -13% | 40 12% | 29.44 36% | 52.7 -15% | |
| Load Maximum * | 50.7 | 51.7 -2% | 45 11% | 45.5 10% | 32.26 36% | 52.67 -4% |
* ... smaller is better
Temperature
Surface temperatures are warmer on the left half of the laptop than the right which is in contrast to the more symmetrical temperature map of the older Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 design. The WASD keys can reach 40 C when gaming to be warmer than the same keys on competing systems like the Asus Vivobook Pro 14. Hot spots aren't warm enough to be uncomfortable to the touch, but the temperature discrepancy between the two halves of the laptop is noticeable.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 39.2 °C / 103 F, compared to the average of 35.9 °C / 97 F, ranging from 21.4 to 59 °C for the class Subnotebook.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 41 °C / 106 F, compared to the average of 39.4 °C / 103 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 23.9 °C / 75 F, compared to the device average of 30.7 °C / 87 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 30 °C / 86 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(±) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.3 °C / 82.9 F (-1.7 °C / -3.1 F).
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU | Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU | Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, Intel Arc 7-Cores iGPU | Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU | HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU Intel Core i7-1355U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs | Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 Intel Core i5-13500H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat | -2% | -8% | -11% | -5% | -33% | |
| Maximum Upper Side * | 39.2 | 40 -2% | 43 -10% | 36.5 7% | 36.6 7% | 49.2 -26% |
| Maximum Bottom * | 41 | 36.4 11% | 48 -17% | 49.5 -21% | 37.2 9% | 54 -32% |
| Idle Upper Side * | 25.4 | 27 -6% | 26 -2% | 25.5 -0% | 31.6 -24% | 33.6 -32% |
| Idle Bottom * | 26.8 | 29.2 -9% | 27 -1% | 35 -31% | 30 -12% | 37.6 -40% |
* ... smaller is better
Speakers
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (82.5 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 9.1% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (10.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 4.2% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.5% away from median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (7% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (10.7% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 6% of all tested devices in this class were better, 3% similar, 91% 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 25%, worst was 134%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.7 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(+) | good bass - only 3.8% away from median
(+) | bass is linear (5.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 1.3% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (2.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 1.9% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (2.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (4.6% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 0% of all tested devices in this class were better, 0% similar, 100% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 18%, worst was 45%
Compared to all devices tested
» 0% of all tested devices were better, 0% similar, 100% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Energy Management
Power Consumption
Running Witcher 3 demands around 57 W on average to be almost half of the older Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 with RTX 3050 graphics. The much lower consumption is expected due to the switch from Core H to Core Ultra and the slower integrated GPU.
We're able to record a maximum draw of 114 W from the small (~12.3 x 6 x 2.6 cm) 100 W USB-C AC adapter when running both Prime95 and FurMark simultaneously. Dell is planning on additional SKUs in the future which may ship with a barrel-type AC adapter instead since the model supports both USB-C charging and proprietary barrel charging.
(Editor's note: This section will be updated when repairs on our Metrahit Energy multimeter are completed. We apologize for the inconvenience.)
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 Ultra 7 155H, Arc 8-Cores, WD PC SN740 SDDPTQD-1T00, IPS, 2240x1400, 14.00 | Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 i7-12700H, GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU, SK Hynix BC711 512GB HFM512GD3GX013N, IPS, 2240x1400, 14.00 | Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 Ultra 5 125H, Arc 7-Cores, SK hynix HFS512GEJ4X113N, OLED, 1920x1200, 14.00 | Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 Ultra 7 155H, Arc 8-Cores, SK hynix HFS001TEJ9X110NA, OLED, 2880x1800, 14.00 | HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU i7-1355U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, SK hynix PC801 HFS001TEJ9X101N, OLED, 2880x1800, 14.00 | Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 i5-13500H, GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU, Samsung PM9B1 512GB MZVL4512HBLU, , 2880x1800, 14.00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Consumption | ||||||
| Idle Minimum * | 6.3 | 5 | 5.5 | 6.7 | 4.96 | |
| Idle Average * | 10.3 | 8 | 10.1 | 7.16 | 7.54 | |
| Idle Maximum * | 20 | 16 | 11.2 | 11.17 | 9.31 | |
| Load Average * | 106.2 | 53 | 45.9 | 46.5 | 83.4 | |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 96.1 | 47.7 | 60.9 | 37.2 | 73.3 | |
| Load Maximum * | 136.5 | 70 | 104.1 | 64.36 | 91.74 |
* ... smaller is better
Power Consumption Witcher 3 / Stresstest
Power Consumption external Monitor
Battery Life
Although battery capacity remains the same as on the older Inspiron 14 Plus 7420, our 7440 model is able to last for several hours longer due to the more efficient CPU and lack of a power-hungry Nvidia GPU. We're able to record 12.5 hours of real-world WLAN browsing to be one of the longest-lasting 14-inch Windows laptops we've tested by quite the margin.
Charging from empty to full with our 100 W USB-C adapter takes about 2 to 2.5 hours even with rapid charge enabled.
| Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 Ultra 7 155H, Arc 8-Cores, 64 Wh | Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 i7-12700H, GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU, 64 Wh | Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14IMH9 Ultra 5 125H, Arc 7-Cores, 57 Wh | Acer Swift Go 14 SFG14-72 Ultra 7 155H, Arc 8-Cores, 65 Wh | HP Pavilion Plus 14-ew0153TU i7-1355U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, 68 Wh | Asus VivoBook 14X K3405 i5-13500H, GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU, 63 Wh | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | -46% | -27% | -21% | -23% | -25% | |
| Reader / Idle | 1971 | 712 -64% | ||||
| WiFi v1.3 | 749 | 432 -42% | 544 -27% | 479 -36% | 578 -23% | 486 -35% |
| Load | 78 | 54 -31% | 74 -5% | 67 -14% | ||
| H.264 | 720 | 626 | ||||
| Witcher 3 ultra | 75 |
Pros
Cons
Verdict — The "Plus" In Inspiron 14 Plus Has Lost Its Meaning
The Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 feels like a step backwards in many respects when compared to the excellent Inspiron 14 Plus 7420. RAM, for example, is now soldered whereas it was removable on the older design. Meanwhile, discrete GeForce graphics is now gone in favor of integrated Arc 8. Though the new intel solution is pretty good, it can't yet keep up with older entry-level RTX offerings.
CPU performance is also a mixed bag as the Core Ultra 7 155H is only slightly faster than the Core i7-12700H. Its integrated NPU is limited at the time of writing and so overall performance hasn't increased by significant margins despite the two-year gap between models.
The above drawbacks could all be forgiven if the new model were thinner, lighter, and sleeker than the older design. Unfortunately, that is not the case as the Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 is just as big and nearly as heavy as its predecessor. The fact that the new model has a proprietary AC adapter port even though it ships with a universal USB-C adapter is another baffling decision. Battery life is certainly longer this time around, but that doesn't outweigh the slower graphics performance and largely stagnant CPU and display features.
The Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 drops key features that made the series special. One might expect a thinner and lighter design due to the loss of discrete GPU options, but the new model is still just as large and heavy as before.
Users interested in the Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 will find that the older Inspiron 14 Plus 7420 can offer essentially the same display and CPU performance but with vastly superior graphics performance. Users who can get by without GeForce graphics will find alternatives like the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14 or HP Pavilion Plus 14 to be thinner and lighter while offering the same Core Ultra CPU options.
Price and Availability
Dell is now shipping the Inspiron 14 Plus 7440 starting at $999 as reviewed.
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7440
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03/26/2024 v7
Allen Ngo
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Transparency
The present review sample was made available to the author as a loan by the manufacturer or a shop for the purposes of review. The lender had no influence on this review, nor did the manufacturer receive a copy of this review before publication. There was no obligation to publish this review.
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