Dell Latitude E7250 Review: An All-around Ideal Business Laptop

Dell Latitude E7250: At First Glance

For portable and compatible business laptops, the Dell Latitude 12 7000 series is one that qualifies for the job nicely. The Dell Latitude E7250 is one model from the series that comes with a decent design and uncompromised performance.

The Dell Latitude E7250 was released in the year 2015, and to date, it still offers excellent performance.

Impressively, this laptop comes at a low cost that even small businesses can easily afford. Precisely, when I wrote this review in March 2022, the Dell Latitude E7250 has a start price of $245.89.

Now you might be wondering if this laptop’s performance is enough to single it out among its competitors.

To find out, let’s dive in.

Dell Latitude E7250: Design, Dimensions, and Weight

The Dell Latitude E7250 is definitely a rugged laptop, and you won’t miss that from the first glance at its appearance. The chassis is built of aluminum alloy, which makes it very durable.

If you’re curious about its color options, the Dell Latitude E7250 comes in a black color that makes it fit nicely into any business environment. The edges of the laptop are round and have a well-polished surface that makes it pleasant to touch.

Additionally, the laptop’s lid has a woven carbon fiber texture that makes it sophisticated.

While the lid is closed, you will easily see a ”Dell” logo enclosed in a circle at the center. This inscription not only represents the brand identity but also adds to the beauty of the laptop.

Meanwhile, when you open the lid, you will see the dual hinges that hold the lid to the laptop’s base. Thankfully, the hinges are tough enough to prevent the laptop’s lid from flexing.

Also, due to the rigidity of the hinges, you will need the assistance of your other hand to open the lid.

Upon opening the lid, you will notice the 12.5-inch display of the laptop. This laptop’s display comes in two resolutions that you can choose from.

Firstly, you will get the Dell Latitude E7250 in HD (1366 x 768 pixels) resolution. Secondly, this laptop is available in Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution.

Regarding the two display resolutions, the Full HD option is better because it has more pixels. With more pixels, the display will produce sharper and clearer content.

Hence, I will recommend the Full HD display option for this laptop. However, you can expect it to be more expensive than the HD resolution display option.

Meanwhile, this review is based on a Dell Latitude E7250 with a Full HD resolution display. In addition to its FHD resolution, this display option is also touch-enabled which implies that you can make screen inputs with your fingers.

Thankfully, the touch functionality is quite responsive. Also, the touchscreen display of this laptop is made of corning gorilla glass NBT.

The corning gorilla glass NBT is a very durable glass used for touchscreen devices. This glass protects the Dell Latitude E7250’s display from cracks and scratches.

In addition to that, the display of this laptop has an anti-fingerprint coating that prevents the display’s surface from getting messed up by fingerprints.

For screen brightness, the display of the Dell Latitude E7250 has a 360 nits maximum brightness. Thankfully, with the 360 nits of brightness, you will enjoy using the laptop both indoors and outdoors.

Despite the impressive display features of this laptop, one thing I do not like about it is the thick bezels that surround it. However, the top bezel houses an HD or FHD resolution webcam.

This implies that you can get the Dell Latitude E7250 with either an HD or FHD resolution webcam. Meanwhile, the Dell Latitude E7250 model reviewed in this article has an HD webcam.

Impressively, the webcam works well for video conferencing. The webcam also has an in-built microphone that works well too.

That is that about the top bezel. On the bottom bezel, you will find a Dell logo inscribed in the middle.

Moving on to the laptop’s deck, you will find the keyboard and the palm rest, which has a soft-touch surface. The chiclet-style keys on the keyboard are long and spaced 3mm apart which makes them easy to type on.

Additionally, the keys on the keyboard have short key travel and nice feedback. Basically, key travel is the distance between a key at rest and when it is fully pressed.

As expected, you will find the laptop’s dedicated touchpad just below the keyboard.

Impressively, the touchpad is responsive and has accurate cursor movement. Also, the buttons are clicky but pleasingly quiet when you click them.

Moving on, the laptop’s small speakers are located below the front edge of the laptop. Thankfully, because the base of the laptop has a curved edge and is raised by four short stands, the speaker’s sound comes out clear.

However, the speakers’ sounds are better at maximum volume when there seems to be less distortion.

The last feature you will find at the base of this laptop is the connectivity ports. Specifically, at the rear, you find one Ethernet port, one HDMI port, two USB 3.0 ports, and an AC charging port.

Furthermore, the right side has one USB 3.0 port, one headphone/microphone combo jack, and an SD card reader. On the left side, there are no ports, but there you will find the vent that ventilates the inner hardware components.

At this point, let’s talk about the laptop’s weight and dimensions. The Dell Latitude E7250 has a weight of 1260 g which makes it a very lightweight laptop.

For its dimension, the Dell Latitude E7250 measures 310.5 x 211 x 19.4 mm (W x D x H). Obviously, this laptop is not only lightweight, but it is also portable.

Therefore, carrying it in a bag when traveling will not add significant weight to your load.

However, I will be comparing this laptop’s weight to other business laptops to see how light it really is. In comparison, the ASUS X555QA-CBA12A business laptop has a weight of 2300 g.

Also, the HP Pavillion 17z has a weight of 3100 g. From the comparisons above, the Dell Latitude E7250 is lighter than the two business laptops I checked it against.

In conclusion, the Dell Latitude E7250 has an overall good design. Therefore, I will be rating it nine out of ten in this design section.

Dell Latitude E7250: Processor (CPU) Performance

The Dell Latitude E7250 comes with a fifth-generation dual-core Intel Core i7-5600U processor. This processor has a base frequency of 2.60 GHz, a boost frequency of 3.20 GHz, and a 4 MB cache memory.

From the processor’s specs, the laptop is capable of performing most tasks efficiently.

Nonetheless, to be sure of the laptop’s capability, I will be sharing its result in the Cinebench R15 benchmark test. The Cinebench R15 benchmark tests assess the performance of processors when executing tasks with their cores.

As a result of that, the Cinebench test is usually in two parts – the single-core and multi-core. Just as the name suggests, the single-core part of the test involves carrying out processing tasks using a single processor core.

Meanwhile, the multi-core test concerns performing processing tasks utilizing all the processor cores. You should be aware that high scores on this test are better.

That said, the Dell Latitude E7250 had a score of 264 points on the multi-core test. Meanwhile, in the single-core test, it had 114 points.

In comparison, the Lenovo Thinkpad X240 underperformed in the multicore test by scoring 248 points. However, in the single-core test, the Lenovo Thinkpad X240 performed better than the Dell Latitude E7250.

Specifically, the Lenovo Thinkpad X240 scored 124 points in the single-core test. For a better perspective, the Lenovo Thinkpad X240 uses a less powerful fourth-generation Intel Core i7-4600U processor.

Considering all I have said in this section, I will be rating the Dell Latitude E7250 nine out of ten in this processor section.

Dell Latitude E7250: Memory (RAM) Performance

The Dell Latitude E7250 comes with two RAM slots that house DDR3L SDRAM with a speed of 1600 MHz. For memory capacity, this laptop ships with a typical 8 GB of RAM.

Thankfully, you can upgrade it to 16 GB. Hence, to do that, you can add another 8 GB of RAM in the second slot.

Regardless, the Dell Latitude E7250 reviewed in this article has 8 GB RAM in one of its slots. With 8 GB RAM on this laptop, it is capable of performing a respectable amount of multitasking.

To be clear, this laptop is capable of opening over a dozen Chrome browser tabs with ease. Furthermore, with these multiple Chrome browser tabs open, you can switch from one tab to another without slowing down.

Nevertheless, to have a better understanding of the laptop’s memory performance, I will be sharing its PCMark 2007 test result. For your information, PCMark is a test tool that evaluates a computer’s memory performance.

Comparable to the previous test we talked about, high scores in this test mean better performance.

Therefore, the Dell Latitude E7250 had a score of 4662 points on the test. However, the Lenovo ThinkPad X240 performed lesser, with a score of 4629 points in the same test.

Hence, it is obvious that the Dell Latitude E7250 outshines the Lenovo ThinkPad X240. Therefore, it will be fair to rate the Dell Latitude E7250 nine out of ten in this memory review section.

Dell Latitude E7250: Storage Options and Performance

For storage, the Dell Latitude E725 comes with an SSD with a maximum storage capacity of 512 GB. In addition to that, the laptop also comes with an SD card reader for external storage expansion.

Having SSD storage has already given the Dell Latitude E725 an edge over some business laptops with HDD storage. This is because SSD storages are quicker than other storage types.

Nevertheless, to establish how fast the SSD storage on this laptop is, let’s consider its result in the CrystalDiskMark 3.0. For a brief explanation, CrystalDiskMark is a benchmark test that checks the read and write speed of storage drives.

By read speed, I mean how long it takes a computer to open files. Meanwhile, by write speed, I mean how long it takes a computer to save files.

Just like the other benchmarks that we have used in this review, high read and write speeds in the CrystalDiskMark test indicate better performance.

With that in mind, the Dell Latitude E7250 had a read speed of 509 MBps. On the other hand, it had a write speed of 244 MBps.

In comparison, the Fujitsu LifeBook T904 had a read speed of 503.56 MBps. Meanwhile, it had a write speed of 473.77 MBps.

From the comparison above, the Dell Latitude E7250 opens files faster than the Fujitsu LifeBook T904. However, the Fujitsu LifeBook T904 saves files faster.

Based on this, I will be rating the Dell Latitude E7250 seven out of ten in this storage review section.

Dell Latitude E7250: Graphics Card Performance

The Dell Latitude E7250 comes with an integrated Intel HD Graphics 5500. This graphics card has a base frequency of 300 MHz and a boost frequency of 950 MHz.

However, because the Intel HD Graphics 5500 is an integrated graphics card, it does not have Video RAM. As a result of that, the Dell Latitude E7250 will not be able to handle demanding graphics applications or gaming.

Yet, the graphics card will be capable of performing light graphics tasks. As a matter of fact, the laptop should play games like Tomb Raider (2013) smoothly at 44 fps but, you have to stick with low settings.

Similarly, the laptop will also play FIFA 15 (2014) smoothly at 35.1 fps also, at low settings.

For further evaluation of this laptop’s graphics performance, let’s examine its result in a 3DMark test. 3DMark benchmark test is used to estimate a computer graphics handling ability.

Once again, in this benchmark test, high scores mean better graphics performance. Thus, in the 3DMark test, the Dell Latitude E7250 scored 4633 points.

In comparison, it performed better than the Lenovo ThinkPad X240. Specifically, the Lenovo ThinkPad X240 scored 3985 points on the test.

However, the Lenovo ThinkPad X240 uses a less powerful Intel HD Graphics 4400.

Based on the outstanding performance of the Dell Latitude E7250 in the 3DMark benchmark test, I will be rating it eight out of ten in this graphics review section.

Dell Latitude E7250: Battery life and Performance

The Dell Latitude E7250 comes with two battery configuration options. You can get it with either a 3-cell 39 Whr or a 4-cell 52 Whr Lithium Polymer battery.

Sadly, Dell did not say anything regarding how long these batteries will last per charge. However, we can expect that the 52 Whr battery will last longer than the 39 Whr battery.

Therefore, I will recommend the 52 Whr configuration of the Dell Latitude E7250. At this point, I will share with you the battery performance of the 52 Whr battery configuration option.

To do that, I will consider a WiFi web surfing test performed by notebookcheck.com. From the test, the Dell Latitude E7250 lasted 7 hours which is enough to last you through almost the work hours of the day.

In comparison, the Dell XPS 13 9310 outperformed the Dell Latitude E7250 in the test. That is because the Dell XPS 13 9310 lasted up to 11 hours and 10 minutes in the same web surfing test.

Also, the ZenBook 13 outperformed the Dell Latitude E7250. The ZenBook 13 delivered up to 13 hours and 20 minutes of battery life.  

It might interest you to know that the two competitors mentioned above are also powered by a 4-cell 52 Whr battery. In closing, the Dell Latitude E7250 performed below two of its competitors with the same battery capacity.

However, it delivered 7 hours of battery life which is quite respectable. Based on this, I will be rating the Dell Latitude E7250 seven out of ten in this section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Contrary to most business laptops in this price range, the Dell Latitude E7250 features high-performing hardware that gives it an edge over some of its competitors.

The Dell Latitude E7250 is built with quality materials; it has a good design, a decent display, a satisfactory keyboard, and an impressive overall performance. Most impressively, you will be getting all that at about $245.89 (price valid as of March 2022).

However, I still find this laptop lacking in a few places. One of such place is that it comes with a few ports.

Nonetheless, the ports available are sufficient to take care of your basic connections. Therefore, if you are in need of a portable and reliable business laptop, the Dell Latitude E7250 should suffice.

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