The 14-inch Dell Latitude 7490 retains the same design as last year's Latitude 7480 but sports a new quad-core U-series CPU. The Core i7-8650U is a significant upgrade over the dual-core chip in the previous iteration. Does the increase in power warrant an upgrade?

quad-core CPU grants major boost in performance over last year's model; attractive carbon fiber finish on lid (optional; sturdy chassis; excellent keyboard; plethora of ports; Windows Precision Drivers greatly improve the touchpad; fast storage performance; excellent SD card performance; reliable...

microSD card slot instead of full-sized SD; left side of keyboard gets warm under load; trackpoint is too sensitive (but can be adjusted in software; inconsistent long-term performance; CPU throttles under load

Dell's been busy updating its collection of laptops, and the Latitude 7000-series - primarily suited for business folks - has not gone untouched. However, the new 14-inch Latitude 7490, the refreshed version of the 7480, holds onto many of the same attributes, receiving most notably eighth-gen Intel...

Outstanding battery life; Plenty of configurations; Performance meets expectations; Durable; understated chassis; Decent port selection

Small touchpad; Price rises quickly when upgrading

Excellent sleeve. Soft and protective at the same time. Materials looks like high quality. Opens and closes effortlessly. Fits perfectly. Laptop does not wiggle while inside. External pocket can be used for additional memory cards and some other flat accessories.

These are the same chips that all the other laptop makers have access to, so the challenge Dell has is to make the 7490 stand out in other ways.

Reasonable price; Excellent performance; Great battery life

Dell proprietary PSU

The Dell Latitude series of laptops are generally geared more towards the business market but that doesn't mean they wouldn't make a good home machine too. The Dell Latitude 7490 is a lightweight and durable 14″ Windows laptop with a utilitarian design and good build quality.

Solid build quality; Comfortable keyboard; Fingerprint and Face detection unlock; Good battery life; Competitive price; Lightweight; Nice display with good viewing angles

Utilitarian design; Trackpad isn't clicky; Speakers could be better

I didn't pay for it myself. It was issued by my employer. I think for the price i would get something with a better screen.

Screen isn't the best; It's not on the same level as an macbook screen but it works

Can't think of any

Dell's Latitude 7490 sits in a crowded sub-range of Latitude 7xxx laptops with screen sizes ranging from 12 inches to 14 inches. The Latitude 7490 has a 14-inch screen, and unlike smaller models, does not come in a 2-in-1 version .

Robust build; Good performance; All-day battery life; Responsive pointing stick and buttons; Lots of configuration options

No touch-screen option; Too much key travel for some people; Enter key design needs a rethink; Relatively chunky and heavy; Large; weighty power brick with proprietary connector