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Yesterday, Dell announced it was updating its Dell XPS 13 range with Intel’s Core Ultra 200V processors. Today its dancing partner is Qualcomm, with Dell introducing two new laptop ranges based on its 8-core Snapdragon X Plus chips.
The main promise of Qualcomm’s X Plus range is that it offers all the AI benefits of the X Elite chips but for a cut-down price. You lose some speed and some cores in the process, but frankly I doubt whether most people could tell in practice.
It should also allow laptop manufacturers to produce more affordable Copilot+ PCs. And that means more people will be able to take advantage of local AI processing, rather than sending requests to cloud-based services such as ChatGPT.
I await prices for the Dell Inspiron 14 and Latitude 5455 with 8-core Snapdragon X Plus chips, but certainly hope the former to be under £850/$850.
You could already buy the new Dell Inspiron 14 with a 10-core Snapdragon X Plus: and now there’s a version with the cheaper 8-core version of the X Plus. I have previously tested the 10-core version, with an X1P-64-100 inside, and my verdict was of a snappy, decent value machine. But that if you’re spending £1,000/$1,000, you might as well pay a little more for a higher quality display.
The Inspiron 14 actually makes more sense with a lesser chip inside. Here, that means the Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100, which includes eight cores. You still benefit from the same NPU with up to 45 TOPS.
If it can dip close to the £850/$850 mark, then it will start to look like a great deal. After all, you’re buying a half-decent 14in IPS panel and plenty of connectivity: two speedy USB-C 4 ports and Wi-Fi 7 are the highlights. But Dell doesn’t forget about those people who need USB-A as well.
Where it falls behind more expensive rivals – other than styling and panel quality – is its 1.5kg weight and relatively bulky 17.9mm rear. But the webcam, speakers and microphones are all up to scratch, so if you’re on a budget and you want a Copilot+ PC then it’s tempting.
Within Dell’s business range of laptops, the Latitude 5000 series serves a similar role to the Inspiron 14 range for consumers. It’s there to deliver value and volume. Again, then, the 8-core Snapdragon X Plus makes a lot of sense.
In terms of connectivity and compromises, the Latitude 5455 follows a similar path to its consumer cousin. You get two fast USB-C 4 ports on the left, with a USB-A port and 3.5mm jack on the rear. There’s no RJ45 port for physical networking, but Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 both come as standard.
I haven’t tested the Latitude 5455, but judging from its specs sheet the IPS panel will offer similar quality to that of the Inspiron 14. Good but not sparkling. I can deduce that because of its specs, with a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, peak brightness of 300 nits and promise of 100% sRGB coverage. Expect solid colours rather than ones that blast you between the eyes.
Memory and storage options are relatively conservative – up to 16GB and up 1TB respectively – but that makes sense for its target audience. I expect real-world battery life to be around 12 hours, based on the 54Wh battery, but like the Inspiron 14 this is no featherweight at 1.5kg.
With the weighty caveat that I haven’t yet tested them, I think Qualcomm’s new chip makes a huge amount of sense for budget-orientated laptops like the Inspiron 14 and Latitude 5455.
They’re also a major injection of hope for Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs as a whole. The idea of local AI makes sense to anyone who hates paying subscription fees for AI services, for those who don’t like using a smartphone’s worth of charge to create a Midjourney image, and for those who value their privacy.
But they cost too much. Most laptops cost around the $500-$700 mark, and that’s where Copilot+ PCs need to be. Or at least close, which is why I welcome both new Dell laptops and Qualcomm’s X1P-42-100 chip.
