Dell Latitude 14" 7490 QUAD Core i5-8350U 1.70GHz Review

Let's be real, this Dell Latitude 7490 is an older machine. Its Intel Core i5-8350U CPU sits in the 12th percentile, which means it's going to feel slow for anything demanding. But it does have one massive, surprising strength: its integrated AMD graphics are in the 98th percentile. That's a weird, specific win for an old business laptop.

You get 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a 14-inch 1080p touchscreen. It runs Windows 10 Pro and weighs 1.77kg. For basic tasks, the specs are fine. But that CPU score tells you everything you need to know about its limits.

Performance is a story of extremes. The GPU is shockingly good for integrated graphics, landing in the 98th percentile. That means it can handle light photo editing or old games way better than most laptops in this class. But the CPU is the anchor. At the 12th percentile, the quad-core i5-8350U is a bottleneck. Expect sluggishness when you have more than a few browser tabs open or try to run modern software.

The 16GB of RAM is decent (32nd percentile), but the 256GB storage is tight and scores in the 13th percentile. The 1080p screen is also down in the 17th percentile, so don't expect great color or brightness.

At around $220, the value proposition is simple. You're paying for that surprisingly capable GPU and a full 16GB of RAM in a portable package. For very specific, lightweight uses where graphics matter more than CPU speed, it could be a steal. But for most people, that slow processor is a deal-breaker. You're buying a niche machine, not a general-purpose laptop.

Compared to a modern ultrabook like the ASUS Zenbook Duo, this Dell gets left in the dust on CPU, screen, and battery life. The Zenbook is in another league. Against a modern business laptop like the Lenovo ThinkPad P14s, the Dell loses on every metric except maybe initial price. Even compared to older machines, that 12th percentile CPU is a serious problem. The only area it competes is in its specific GPU performance, which is a weird fluke for this category.

This is not a laptop for most people. That 12th percentile CPU is a hard stop for general use. But if you need a ultra-budget machine for very basic tasks that happen to benefit from better-than-average integrated graphics, and you can't spend a dime more, it's a curious option. For literally anyone else, especially students or professionals, save up a bit more for something with a modern processor.