I spent a few weeks testing the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus - if you're looking for an affordable MacBook Air alternative, this is it

Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441: Two-minute review

The best way to think of the Dell Inspron 14 Plus 7441 is as a Windows version of a MacBook Air. Not as superpowered as a Dell XPS (or a MacBook Pro), but snappy performance, a thin and light chassis, and long battery life are all features you can expect here.

For the right person, namely someone who wished there was a Windows MacBook Air, the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441 might be the best laptop for them. Its performance, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, is snappy while being power efficient. The battery life is very, very impressive, even if it doesn’t reach its advertised heights. And as one of the many laptops built in the mold of the clamshell MacBook, it’s thin, light, and encased in an all-aluminum chassis.

It’s also at a similar price point, though it doesn’t get much more expensive at its maxed out configuration. Of course, since it is a tinier bit cheaper, there are elements that feel a little lower quality than I would expect. Namely, the keyboard, touchpad, and audio quality are a bit underwhelming considering the price. They’re all fine, but feel like they belong on a computer a couple hundred dollars cheaper.

Still, the pros vastly outweigh the cons. The quality of the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441’s performance and battery life bode well for future Qualcomm-equipped laptops, and offer a solid alternative to the MacBook Air and other $1,000 Ultrabooks.

Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? Starting at $949.99 (about £760 / AU$1,470)
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

Since it’s a solid mid-range option utilizing Snapdragon ARM CPUs, it’s no surprise that the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441 is available just about everywhere. While it leans more mid-range than a premium Ultrabook, its starting price of $949.99 (about £760 / AU$1,470) feels a little high. I would expect it to be closer to around an $800 / £600 price point.

At the very least, going up in price is not hugely significant. Going from a 256GB to 512GB SSD adds just about $50 to the price. It should be noted that this configuration with the slightly larger drive is the base configuration in the UK and Australia with a price point of $999.99 / £749.99 / AU$1,597.20. Going up to the max configuration with the slightly more powerful Snapdragon X Plus X1E-80-100 CPU and 1 TB SSD goes for $1,099.99 / £899.99 / AU$1,897.50.

For around the same price, you can get the base configuration of the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, which has better battery life and at least equal performance. However, upgrading the RAM or SSD adds quite a bit to its cost – the configuration with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD is pricier at $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$2,099.

If you want more performance in a similarly slim form factor and are okay sacrificing battery life, the slightly older version of the Acer Swift X14 starts at the same price point (the new 2024 version got a bit of a price bump).

• Value: 4 / 5

Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441: Specs

When it comes to different configurations, the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441 only allows a small amount of customization. Not including software upgrades (Windows 11 Home vs Windows 11 Pro primarily), you can choose between just two CPUs: the 10-core 3.4GHz Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 and the 12-core 3.4GHz Snapdragon X Plus X1E-80-100 that can be boosted to 4.0 GHz. There are also three SSD options: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. The faster CPU and the 1TB SSD are tied together, so if you upgrade one, you have to upgrade the other.

It’s also worth noting that there’s an additional M.2 slot if you want to expand the memory at a later date.

The display that comes with the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441 is a 14-inch 1600p screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio and 400 nits of brightness. It’s also a touch screen. Only the one screen is available - no luck if you were hoping to upgrade a mid-tier performance laptop to have an OLED screen.

Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441: Design

• Utilitarian Ultrabook form factor
• Light and thin
• Keyboard and touchpad are nothing special

The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441 follows in Dell’s Inspiron line insofar that it’s a bit utilitarian in its design. Well, that’s certainly the case here. It fits that Ultrabook mold of trying to compete with Apple’s more entry level laptops, with a focus on non-power users who want a competent, portable, and attractive device. So, then this laptop is thin, light, and comes in an attractive if discreet silver aluminum chassis.

I’ll cover its competence in the next section, but it’s certainly thin at just over a half-inch thick and light at a little over three pounds. You don’t have to worry about portability with this version of the Dell Inspiron. And the aluminum chassis feels sturdy as well if you tend to throw your laptops in a backpack with a case.

As far as the display goes, it’s a sharp 1600p touchscreen with up to 400 nits of brightness. While HDR is not on hand, the color accuracy is good enough for photo editing with a 97.6% sRGB, though its DCI-P3 color coverage is 69% so video editing, especially with HDR is not a good idea here.

The keyboard is responsive and attractive with its white backlighting, but is a little stiff to touch. I do wish the individual keys had a little more of a concave shape to them as well. Essentially, it’s good enough, but a little below what I would expect for a laptop like this.

The touchpad is likewise good enough. It’s not the smoothest feeling I've used, but it does the job and is as responsive as it should be.

Lastly, the port selection is about par for this form factor. There are two USB-C 4 ports (one of which is taken up by the charger when plugged in), one regular USB port, an audio jack, and a microSD reader. The last one is something you won’t find on a MacBook Air, by the way.

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

(Image credit: Future / James Holland)

• Design: 4.5 / 5

Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441: Performance

• Speedy performance for day-to-day tasks
• Has Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 for speedy connectivity
• Audio and webcam are adequate

The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 and integrated Adreno Graphics are plenty powerful for everyday users. It’s not powerful enough for any real gaming as is to be expected and video editing is going to be an exercise in patience. But, if you need enough power to have 15 tabs open without suffering a slowdown even while streaming, then this laptop can do it.

I was even able to do some light gaming, so if you like to blow off some steam with less demanding titles like Counter-Strike, you shouldn’t have any issues. For most people, the performance on tap is enough.

It’s also pretty quick when it comes to connectivity as it comes with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. That also helps with having those 15-20 tabs open, not to mention that connecting devices should be speedy as well.

The audio and webcam are similar to the keyboard and touchpad in that they’re serviceable, but just that. Again, I would expect slightly better. Starting with the audio, it gets plenty loud, but also gets a bit boomy as the volume goes up.

The webcam is sharp enough at 1080p. The 30 fps it’s capable of is okay, but isn’t the smoothest. Plus, there’s some graininess to it as well. At least, there’s a physical privacy shutter.

• Performance: 4 / 5

Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441: Battery life

• Lasts over 18 hours on a single charge
• Takes awhile to charge back up

The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441’s battery life both fails to meet its advertised benchmark, though it's still utterly impressive. When a laptop is supposed to last 21 hours and gets pretty close, it’s quite the feat.

In test, this laptop made it to almost 18 hours and 20 minutes on a single charge. During use, that means I’ve been able to cart this laptop around and use it when needed for three days without plugging it in and still have 50% battery life.

Since the battery life is so long, it does take some time to get back to full. It took me about 35 minutes to back up to 99%. While that’s not bad at all, you’ll want to give it some time to juice back if you get it down to nothing.

Another bright spot with the battery life is the fact that, like MacBooks and unlike many other Windows laptops, the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441 doesn’t use a whole lot of battery when inactive, but not off. There have been plenty of laptops that I’ve used where the battery life would still drain from when the lid is closed to when the laptop is woken back up.

• Battery life: 5 / 5

Should I buy the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441?

 Buy it if…

Don't buy it if...

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How I tested the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441

• Tested for a couple weeks
• Used it for work, gaming, and streaming
• Tested the hybrid features