DELL Plus 14 test: a bureau laptop in lack of arguments

Here it is finally, the new generation of laptops Dell. Furthermore, Now weakened over a decade of all kinds of appellations. Meanwhile, the ranges of Laptops of the American manufacturer are now distinguished by a succession of succinct suffixes, but complicated to apprehend at first.

Three main categories are offered for different user profiles. For example, We will not dwell on the Pro and Pro Max categories, which are eyeing professionals (logic) and power users. For example, It is rather the part consumer which interests us. However, bringing together the entry -level, but also certain luxurious options such as the Dell Premium, replacing the XPS.

It is in the center of Dell and Dell Pro that the Dell Plus 14 is placed, a machine with horseback between entry and the mid -range with a price range ranging from € 1149 to € 1499. In addition, Our configuration. Nevertheless, tariffed at € 1299 on the brand’s website, has an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor with 8 cores, 32 GB of RAM and a SSD 1 TB of storage.

There is no doubt that Dell 14 Plus is an inspiration more in everything. Similarly, except in the name. However, Its brushed aluminum chassis is almost identical to that encountered in the previous generations of Dell. Nevertheless, with a global and “pro” aesthetic aspect, but which is sank at the slightest slightly sustained pressure, which gives a poor quality feeling to the construction of the laptop.

No complaints nevertheless on the side of the keyboard, always very good. Similarly, The shot is pleasant, responsive and precise, the scissor switches fully filled the specifications expected on a bureau laptop. Moreover, We would have liked to be so dithyrambic on the touchpad, always as unfortunate to use. For example, The click sounds hollow, its base sinks into the chassis … In addition, It nevertheless has the politeness of enjoying all the vertical space offered, which is far from luxury.

The Dell 14 plus has dimensions (314 x 226 x 14 mm). a classic weight (1550 g) for a bureau laptop PC of this diagonal. That said. an additional effort would have been preferable to really enter the category of ultraportables, as it is slightly too heavy to be transported open at arm’s length without problem. He will nevertheless enter the dedicated pockets of all backpacks worthy of the name.

The connection has changed since our last Inspiron Plus test. There are always two USB-C ports (a USB 3.2 Gen 2. a Thunderbolt 4), a USB-A port and a headphone output, but the mini-SD port has been replaced by an HDMI output. An exchange whose value will depend on everyone’s uses. Connectors always offer Bluetooth 5.4, but especially WiFi 7, which is appreciable on a laptop sold in 2025.

The dell 14 cooling system is better than its previous Inspiron, but not much. In full encoding session on Handbrake, our thermal camera raised a heat peak at 48.2 ° C at the exhaust point of ventilation. on the lower part of the chassis, while the upper left part of the keyboard is subject to average temperatures of 38 to 44 ° C. Far from being an ideal.

If its fan is triggered frequently, even during light use, Dell 14 Plus has the politeness of remaining relatively silent with a peak of 38.8 dB during a heavy load. A good point only tainted by the thermal measures indicated above.

Our Dell 14 Plus of tests embarks the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor from Eight Hearts Lunar Lake (four performance, four energy efficiency) and at a maximum frequency of 4.8 GHz with 32 GB of unified RAM. A chip from the Blue team that we know well. already seen in the Ultrabook Asus Zenbook S dell plus 14 test: bureau 14 (2024), but also in the MSI Claw AI 8+ portable console.

The strength of this CPU is based on its energy frugality, which is generally translated into beautiful autonomies. Before approaching this subject, let’s focus on its raw performance through the results of our benchmarks.

As illustrated, Dell 14 Plus is in the average of Ultraportable Windows among our comparison. He places himself just in front of the processors of the Qualcomm Snapdragon family. especially that of the last Dell Inspiron more tested in our columns. The Dell 14 Plus nevertheless offers a lower performance than that of the Asus Zenbook S 14. however equipped with the same CPU, and even worse as the Acer Aspire 14 dell plus 14 test: bureau AI and its Intel Core Ultra 5 226V, yet clocked at a maximum frequency of 4.5 GHz. All remain far behind the Apple MacBook Air (2025) and its M4 chip.

What to remember from this benchmarks cascade? Well. that Dell 14 Plus pays attention to the vast majority of the so -called conventional office automation tasks, both content consultation and word processing. Things get complicated, however, for creatives, who will quickly reach the limits of the CPU.

The graphic part of the Core Ultra 7 258V. the Intel Arc 140, is valiant, evidenced by our test under Shadow Of The Tomb Raider With 35 frames per second (I/S) obtained on average in 1200p, the details set on very dell plus 14 test: bureau high.

The on -board storage module (Samsung BM9C1) also disappointed us. Its sequential reading flows in reading (4900 MB/s). especially in writing (1493 MB/S) are not at the expected level for an ultraportable SSD.

The Dell 14 Plus dell plus 14 test: bureau has an IPS slab of an QHD+ resolution (2560 x 1600 pixels) in 16: 9 format. clocked at a maximum refresh rate of … 90 Hz. A value that we are not used to seeing on laptops. office automation or other, and which seems strange to us. Even more strange in the absence of VRR. it is impossible to adjust the refresh speed to 60 Hz, but only at 45 Hz.

Besides, the screen calibration is dell plus 14 test: bureau average. The default color delta e, measured at 2.5, is honest and below the 3 threshold from which the colorimetric drifts are visible to the naked eye. The color temperature. evaluated at an average of 7083 K, is a little too high for our taste, far from the platonic ideal of the 6,500 K. Good news. the matt treatment of the slab makes it possible to contain the reflectance rate at 21 %, which is very practical for the spreadsheet sessions.