Dell Latitude 12 7000 2-in-1 Preview – Surface Pro 4 competitor with UHD and USB-C
Microsoft’s Surface Pro seems to grow in popularity with each generation, and the pressure on traditional PC manufacturers to develop a tablet counterpart to the Redmond giant’s tablet is increasing as a result. At CES, Dell announced the Latitude 12 7000 2-in-1, a convertible with a 12.5-inch screen that should offer businesses an alternative to the Surface Pro 4 and similar competitor devices.
| Dell Latitude 12 7000 2-in-1 | Microsoft Surface Pro 4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Screen | 12.5″, 1920×1080, 3840×2160 pixels | 12.3″, 2736 x 1824 pixels |
| Dimensions | 290.87×192.85×8.11mm | 292.10×201.42×8.45mm |
| Weight | 0.73 kilograms | 0.77/0.79 kilos |
| Processor | Intel Core M | Intel M3/Core i5, Core i7 |
| Memory | Maximum 8GB | Maximum 8GB/16GB |
| Storage | Maximum 512GB SSD, NVME | Maximum 512GB SSD |
The Latitude 12 7000 2-in-1 is Dell’s thinnest and lightest tablet of its caliber to date. It is thinner and lighter than a Surface Pro 4, partly because the standard is not built into the back. The casing of the Latitude is made of a magnesium alloy.
The Dell is also smaller in size. This is because Dell provides the screen with thin bezels, especially on the sides. The manufacturer is one of the few to use this kind of screen, including the XPS 13 and 15, and the Latitude 13 7000 announced at the same time as the Latitude 12 7000 2-in-1, have such thin bezels. In the past it was sometimes said that tablets should have thick edges, because you can then grab them more easily without touching the touchscreen, but in practice this hardly played a role in our short test.
The resolution of the 12.5″ screen is 1920×1080 pixels, but Dell also comes with models with a UHD resolution of 3840×2160 pixels. The latter model shows a particularly sharp image, with 352ppi, but the question is what the additional cost of the 4k screen will be and what the impact on battery life will be The aspect ratio is 16:9, where the Surface Pro 4 shows the image in a ratio of 3:2.
The tablet can be connected to a keyboard cover via a magnetic connection. The cover that Dell supplies with the tablet is a striking one. The tablet can be inserted into the hinge and the back is then completely covered by the part of the cover that also contains a kickstand. This stand can be put in different positions.
The cover has a fabric layer on the outside that gives a good grip and is comfortable to hold. The keyboard features keys with little travel , as we often see on thin 2-in-1 machines. The trackpad is decent in size, but feels cheap. It is striking that a holder for the Dell Active Pen is present on the side, but that this stylus is not included as standard.
Dell optionally offers a second keyboard cover, which has a better keyboard and trackpad. This Latitude 12 Premier Keyboard is a bit thicker, but the keys feel better and offer more travel. The keyboard is close to that of a full-fledged laptop, but it floats and is so light and thin that it still feels a bit cheap. The biggest disadvantage of this accessory is that the tablet can only be used in one position; the screen cannot be moved further back. Both keyboards also have backlighting.
Dell has managed to keep the tablet so thin by adding a minimum of ports. Not so long ago, business machines had a multitude of interfaces and ports, but at CES we see many laptops with a few USB-C ports. This Latitude, for example, only has two USB-C ports, which do support Thunderbolt 3. The bandwidth of 40Gbit/s per port is more than sufficient to realize full expansion via adapters and Dell therefore supplies a USB-C adapter with HDMI, VGA, Ethernet and USB 3.0 at an additional cost. The company supplies a USB-C to USB 3.0 adapter as standard. One of the ports is for the power supply. It is a pity that Dell does not include the extended adapter as standard.
In addition to the USB-C ports, there are still an SD card slot and a SIM card holder, behind a cover, as well as the audio port and a connection for a lock. The tablet has an 8-megapixel camera and a 5-megapixel version that focuses on the user.
Dell is including a model of the new Core M business line with vPro functionality, such as hardware encryption, in the Latitude 2-in-1. Those socs make it possible to passively cool the tablet. Benchmarks will have to show whether the Skylake socs with HD Graphics 515 GPU offer sufficient computing power. The tablet also features Intel’s 8260 WiFi-AC network card with a 2×2 antenna and support for Bluetooth 4.1. For 4G support, the manufacturer optionally installs the Snapdragon X7 LTE modem.
Preliminary conclusion
Dell’s Latitude 12 7000 2-in-1 combines a compact form and thinness with high-end hardware and a very high resolution. It’s nice that Dell offers two different keyboard covers, but even the better keyboard of the two doesn’t match that of a full-fledged laptop. For those who type a lot, the Latitude 13 7000 is a better candidate at first glance. On the other hand, the Surface Pro 4 shows that there is a real demand for business tablets with ‘sticky keyboards’ and Dell’s alternative has a number of advantages over Microsoft’s machine, such as fast USB-C ports. There is a hefty price against that; the starting price of the Latitude 12 7000 series 2-in-1 7275 is 1450 euros.