Battery life is an essential feature of a good laptop, and few do it better than the Dell Inspiron 14 And Asus Zenbook 14. But what else do these beasts have to offer to make you make a final decision?
Dell and Asus are both reliable brands. We’re fans of the Zenbook 14 laptops that have come out in recent years, and the Inspiron range has been booming with long battery life recently, so it’s no surprise that this one has done the same.
However, only one laptop belongs in your shopping cart. Let’s see if it’s the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus or the Asus Zenbook 14.
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus vs. Asus Zenbook 14: Specifications comparison
| Model | Dell Inspiron 14 | Asus Zenbook 14 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $899 | $749 |
| CPU | Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 | Intel Core i7 1650H |
| R.A.M. | 16 GB | 16 GB |
| graphic | Qualcomm Adreno | Intel Arc Graphics |
| Advertisement | 14 inch, 2560 x 1600, 60 Hz, touch | 14 inch, 1920 x 1200, 60 Hz, OLED |
| Weight | 3.17 pounds | 3 pounds |
| Mass | 12.36 x 8.81 x 0.58~0.67 inches | 12.3 x 8.67 x 0.59 inches |
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus vs. Asus Zenbook 14: Price
Despite relatively low prices, there is a big price difference between the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus and the Asus Zenbook 14. Let’s break down what you get and how much it costs.
For $899, the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus features a Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 processor, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 14-inch 2560 x 1600 60Hz touchscreen display.
For $749 (original price: $1,049), the Asus Zenbook 14 features an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 14-inch 1920 x 1200 60Hz OLED display.
The Zenbook 14 is cheaper and even offers twice the storage as the Inspiron 14 Plus. In return, the Inspiron 14 Plus offers a sharper display. But is that really worth the current $150 price difference? After all, the Inspiron’s display is IPS, while the Zenbook 14’s is OLED, which means it offers richer colors and deeper blacks.
You can get the Inspiron 14 Plus down to a 256GB SSD, which costs $999 (yes, really), while you can get it down to $999 with a 1TB SSD and the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 CPU. The Zenbook 14 had a low-end configuration with an Intel Core Ultra 5 135H processor, 8GB of DDR5 memory, and 512GB of SSD storage, but that costs $799, so that doesn’t mean anything right now.
The high-end Zenbook 14 is on sale and beats the Inspiron 14 Plus. And it’s probably full price, too. Even if it isn’t when you read this, wait until the sale comes around again.
Winner: Asus Zenbook 14
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus vs. Asus Zenbook 14: Design
The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus and Asus Zenbook 14 face traditional, boring laptop designs, but I like one better than the other.
The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus boasts a sleek silver chassis, while the Zenbook 14 is a few shades darker, with a mysterious grey that you could get lost in. While the Inspiron looks like a perfectly ordinary laptop, the Zenbook 14 offers a more alluring look due to the way the light reflects off its dark chassis.
The Inspiron 14 Plus weighs 3.17 pounds and measures 12.36 x 8.81 x 0.58~0.67 inches, and the Zenbook 14 weighs 3 pounds and measures 12.3 x 8.67 x 0.59 inches.
From the luxurious color to the slimmer chassis, the Zenbook 14 is an easy choice.
Winner: Asus Zenbook 14
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus vs. Asus Zenbook 14: Display
OK, this section is a little more complicated because you might think one of the two is the winner, but it’s actually the other. The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus has a 14-inch 2560 x 1600 60Hz touch display, and the Asus Zenbook 14 offers a 14-inch 1920 x 1200 60Hz OLED display.
The Inspiron 14 Plus offers a sharper Display straight from the factory, while the Zenbook 14 has Quality display technology. So how do they perform in benchmarks?
The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus covers 69.1% of the DCI-P3 color space and emits a brightness of 470 nits. The Asus Zenbook 14 outputs 79.8% of the DCI-P3 color space and supports a brightness of 339 nits.
The Inspiron 14 Plus is super bright and offers a sharper display, so what’s 10% color coverage? I can tell you, that’s a lot. Thanks to its higher color coverage and OLED panel, the Zenbook 14 offers a more pleasant viewing experience. Unfortunately, the Inspiron 14 Plus looks too washed out to really enjoy your favorite content.
Winner: Asus Zenbook 14
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus vs. Asus Zenbook 14: Performance
The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus and Asus Zenbook 14 have completely different processors, but their performance race is closer than expected. The former features the new Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 chipset, while the latter is equipped with the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU. So how do they stack up?
In the Geekbench 6.3 overall performance test, the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus scored 13,281 points, beating the Asus Zenbook 14, which scored 12,707 points.
In a more practical test, the Inspiron 14 Plus transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in 6 minutes and 23 seconds, narrowly beating the Zenbook 14’s time of 6:36.
Our storage test revealed a larger gap. We measured the transfer rate of 25GB of multimedia files and the Inspiron 14 Plus’ 512GB SSD reached 1,510 megabytes per second, while the Zenbook 14’s 1TB SSD managed 1,236 megabytes per second.
The performance difference is not groundbreaking, but the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus remains stronger overall
Winner: Dell Inspiron 14
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus vs. Asus Zenbook 14: Battery life
Both the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus and Asus Zenbook 14 scored so highly in our tests because of their excellent battery life. And while both will get you more than a day’s work, which will last longer?
On the LaptopMag In the battery test – which involves continuously surfing the Internet via Wi-Fi at a brightness of 150 nits – the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus lasted a full 18 hours and 20 minutes.
The Zenbook 14 was a little further behind at 15 hours and 52 minutes. While that’s a big difference, that doesn’t mean the Zenbook 14 has bad battery life. In fact, it’s one of the laptops with the best battery life.
Winner: Dell Inspiron 14
Overall winner: Asus Zenbook 14
Despite their slightly different ratings, the race between the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus and the Asus Zenbook 14 was closer than that Predator handshake. But like the Predator, only one character lives, and that’s the Zenbook 14.
Yes, the Inspiron 14 beats it in terms of battery life and performance, but the Zenbook 14 is quite competitive in both areas. Not to mention, it’s much cheaper, its display is more vibrant, and it’s more portable overall.
However, the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus is still a good choice. If you want to get the most out of battery life, it’s the better of the two. I wouldn’t make the choice based on performance alone unless you’re using the NPU in the Inspiron 14 Plus to do AI work.
Overall, the Asus Zenbook 14 is the champion and would end up in my shopping cart ahead of the Inspiron 14 Plus.
winner: Asus Zenbook 14
