Dell Inspiron 14 5481 Review

The Dell Inspiron 14 5481 is a laptop that offers many of the features you need for school or work. It has a fast processor, plenty of storage space, and is surprisingly lightweight. The battery life is not as long as some other laptops on the market, but this trade-off means you can enjoy more mobility. If you are looking for something fast and portable, then this Dell Inspiron 14 5481 review might be just what you are looking for!

Specifications

Dell Inspiron 14 5481
Processor Intel Core i3-8145U
Graphics Card ‎Intel UHD Graphics 620 Graphics
RAM 4GB DDR4
Hard Drive 128GB M.2 PCIe SSD
Screen 14-inch HD (1366 X 768)
Weight 2.9 pounds

Design

The Dell Inspiron 14 has a slim and sleek design, making it look more expensive than its affordable price. It’s a 2-in-1 laptop, which means the screen can rotate 360 degrees and use it in tent mode, tablet mode, or stand mode. In all these three modes, it’s easy to use the touchscreen no matter if it’s for taking notes or light gaming. The hinge is tight and feels solid.

It weighs 2.9 pounds, which is about the average weight of a 14-inch laptop. So it’s not too heavy to move around, but it’s not so light that you’ll feel like you’re carrying nothing.

On the back of the screen, there’s a white Dell logo. Unfortunately, the laptop’s lid and keyboard deck are made from plastic, so it feels a little bit flimsy when holding the computer.

Display

Dell has included a 720p HD display in the Inspiron 14 series, which works well for media consumption. The colors are accurate and consistent, and it has decent contrast levels for watching movies or playing games.

The biggest downside of the display is the poor viewing angles. Since it’s a standard TN panel, the viewing angles are very limited, and you’ll have to adjust the screen quite a bit if multiple people are trying to view it.

We also would have loved to see a Full-HD display in this laptop, but the lower image quality is a sacrifice you have to make to stay under budget.

The screen is also a touchscreen, making it easy to navigate through Windows and perform basic tasks. You can use your fingers or buy a stylus to interact with the screen. The touch response is smooth and accurate, and testers didn’t experience any lag while using it.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The Inspiron comes with a full-sized keyboard with adequate spacing between the keys. In addition, the keys have a decent amount of travel, making them tactile enough to type comfortably on.

The trackpad is large and has a smooth surface. It supports gestures, making it easy to navigate around the OS. The trackpad is also multi-touch enabled, so you can use more than one finger to interact with it.

Ports

  • 1 HDMI v1.4b port
  • 2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 port
  • 1 USB 2.0 port
  • 1 SD-card reader
  • 1 Power connector port
    • 1 Universal audio jack

The Dell Inspiron 14-inch laptop comes with a range of ports, including one HDMI port, two USB ports, and an SD card reader. The lack of an optical drive might be a downside for some people, but most users will likely find that they don’t need it.

Audio and Speakers

When it comes to the Dell Inspiron 14-inch laptop’s speakers, they’re found underneath the front lip of the chassis. Surprisingly, the audio quality is great for a laptop this size. The speakers are loud enough for personal use but can’t fill a room with music.

If you prefer to use headphones, you can find the audio jack on the left-hand side of the laptop. With a good pair of headphones, the audio is crisp and clear.

Performnace

If you’re a gamer, you will be able to play non-demanding games such as Minecraft and League of Legends, but don’t expect to play more demanding games such as Battlefield or Call of Duty.

The Dell Inspiron 14-inch laptop is powered by an Intel i3-8145U CPU. The i3 processor is from Intel’s 8th generation and has a respectable CPUMark of 3828. It will run office programs and web browsers without any problems, but you might notice some loading times when opening more demanding programs.

With only 4GB RAM, it’s quite easy to max out the memory and find yourself with a slow laptop. Avoid heavy multitasking and make sure to close any unnecessary programs when you’re not using them. The 4GB of RAM is acceptable for basic users, but if you’re a power user looking to do heavy multitasking or run more demanding programs on your laptop, you’ll want to look for notebooks with at least 8GB RAM.

If you want a laptop that will run games and other demanding applications, then the Dell Inspiron 14-inch is probably not right for you. The integrated Intel UHD 620 graphics isn’t designed for demanding games, but it should be enough to run some popular casual titles such as Minecraft or League of Legends.

Note: The Dell Inspiron 14 5481 is a good laptop under $500, perfect for anyone looking for a portable budget laptop. However, if you’re looking for a gaming laptop or something with higher specs, you may want to look at the guide of the currently highest-rated gaming laptops under $500 here on LaptopBlogger.com.

A common complaint about this laptop is that it has Windows in S mode as its operating system. However, there is a way to disable this feature to choose what apps you want to run on the laptop. Getting out of S mode can be a little tricky but can be done if you follow this guide.

Battery Life

Battery life is not the best, but the Windows 10 Operating system has a battery saver feature that helps to conserve power. This allows you to get a few extra hours of work done without needing to plug in your charger and slowing down your progress.

The battery is a 42-watt-hour lithium-ion battery, so expect (with the battery saver on) around six hours of work on a full charge. The battery size is about average compared to some of Dell’s competition (for example the Lenovo Ideapad s145 has a 30Whr battery while the HP Chromebook x360 14b has a 47Whr battery).

Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Lightweight design Slightly bulky when compared to other laptops in this price range
Comfortable keyboard The screen has poor viewing angles and only HD resolution
Touchscreen with good contrast Only 4GB RAM

Buy the Dell Inspiron 14 5481

Dell Inspiron 14 5481 on Amazon

The link above is an affiliate link. If you buy it from the link above LaptopBlogger gets a small commission. This is used to keep this site going.

Conclusion

This laptop has good value for money despite the cons. The touchscreen display works well, and its lightweight design makes it a suitable choice to take with you on the go.

The Dell Inspiron 14 makes working away from your desk easier than ever without sacrificing performance or speed, all while looking sleek and slimline in a stylish white finish.

The Dell Inspiron 14 5481 gives power users economy but still delivers a high-quality computing experience at an affordable price point.