Dell Latitude 15 5511 laptop in review: Business laptop for productive work

The Dell Latitude 15 5511 is made of robust plastic and has a high-quality build. Uneven gaps or the like are not present in our test device. However, the screen can only be opened with two hands, since the base unit doesn't provide enough counterweight. The hinges hold the display firmly in the respective position and allow an aperture angle of up to 180 degrees.

In terms of dimensions, the Dell Latitude 15 5511 is considerably thicker than the comparable competition. The footprint and weight, on the other hand, are similar.

Dell equips the Latitude 15 5511 with many ports. However, since the included charger has a USB Type-C plug, this port isn't available when charging if you don't have a corresponding docking station. There is a nano SIM card slot below the microSD card reader for the use of an optional WWAN module.

The microSD card reader installed in the Dell Latitude 15 5511 achieves very good write and read rates with our reference memory card, the 64 GB Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC UHS-II. At 151.2 MB/s for copying data and 191.6 MB/s for reading data, the speeds are on par with the Latitude 15 5510.

The Latitude 5511 can establish wireless connections via Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 in our test configuration. With our Netgear Nighthawk AX12 reference router, Dell's laptop achieves 1,436 Mb/s for receiving data and 1,361 Mb/s for sending data. Once again, this places the result on par with the Dell Latitude 5510 and also above the rest of the test field.

As most current laptops, the Latitude 15 5511 uses a very low-resolution webcam with 0.9 MP. It reproduces colors much too brightly even in good lighting conditions, and it only captures subjects in a blurry way.

Besides the Latitude 15 5511, Dell only ships a corresponding power adapter with a USB Type-C connector. However, additional accessories can be purchased via the manufacturer's website.

Dell offers buyers of the Latitude 15 5511 a warranty period of 12 months that can be extended for a fee, though.

Keyboard

The Dell Latitude 15 5511's keyboard is quiet and well-suited for typing longer text. The pressure point is clearly felt, and only the slightly too small arrow keys need getting used to. The two-stage, glare-free backlight makes the labeling easy to read even in poor lighting conditions. The input field is also protected against splashing water.

Dell's Latitude 15 5511 is aimed at business users who not only value a certain variety of ports but who also appreciate diverse security features. Performance is geared towards this, and it's sufficient for a wide range of office tasks thanks to the latest Intel CPUs, their internal graphics units, and an extensive storage/RAM configuration.

An Intel Core i5-10400H is used in our test configuration. This quad-core processor runs at clock rates between 2.6 and 4.6 GHz and can process up to eight threads simultaneously. Our Cinebench endurance test also shows that the CPU can maintain its performance over a prolonged period of time without any notable performance drops.

In the individual benchmarks, the Core i5-10400H achieves very good results that even surpass an AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 4750U depending on the test.

The Dell Latitude 15 5511 achieves a slightly above-average result in the PCMark 10 test for system performance. However, the overall score isn't enough to get past the last place in comparison with our test field. In the individual disciplines, the strengths are in the Essentials and Productivity scores.

The business laptop didn't show any micro stuttering or the like in everyday use and ran smoothly at all times. The performance that other laptops could achieve in comparison in our tests can be found in our CPU Benchmarks article.

Dell uses a 256 GB Micron SSD in our test configuration. It delivers good read and write rates that can compete with those of most rivals. In our test field, only the SSD in the Lenovo ThinkPad L15 achieves significantly better speeds.

Our HDD/SSD Benchmarks article shows how the storage drive installed here compares with other hard drives.

The UHD Graphics 630 internal graphics unit from Intel is responsible for displaying image content in the Latitude 15 5511. Its performance is sufficient for applications with low requirements for graphics performance, but it's not suitable for complex 3D applications. Since the GPU benefits from RAM in a dual-channel configuration, users of the Dell laptop can still improve performance a bit with the use of a second RAM module.

In our GPU Benchmarks article, we have listed the performance that can be expected from other graphics cards.

The Intel UHD Graphics 630 is hardly suitable for games. Only very old titles or those with very low demands on graphics performance can be played smoothly. However, you still have to make do with reduced detail settings and low resolutions to achieve a smooth frame rate.

We have listed the frame rates that can be expected in different titles in our GPU Games article.

During our approximately one-hour stress test, the temperatures inside the Dell laptop climb to up to 99 °C (~210 °F). The fast-acting fans reduce this value to about 85 °C (~185 °F), which can be maintained until the end of the test. The clock rates are just under 2.6 GHz over the entire period, meaning that the base clock speed is just about maintained. Since a load like in our stress test scenario shouldn't occur in everyday use, users don't have to expect restrictions due to high temperatures.

In our practical WLAN test, the Dell Latitude 15 5511 achieves a runtime of almost 13 hours. This means that it can use its 68 Wh battery well and that it's also suitable for longer work without a power adapter at hand.

The laptop is fully recharged after about 2.5 hours with the included charger.