A thin and lightweight travel companion with the grunt to get things done, the Dell Latitude 7450 Ultralight notebook is designed for professionals on the go.
There was a time when choosing a business notebook demanded sacrifices in terms of size, weight or performance. One way or another it was going to slow you down: either because it was too heavy to lug around, too underpowered to be productive or the screen and keyboard were simply too small to be useful.
Thankfully those days are long behind us, and there’s a range of powerhouse 13 to 15-inch notebooks that tip the scales around the 1 kg mark. They’re slim and light enough to slip in a satchel and take on the road, without compromising on performance.
Dell’s Latitude range offers a spread of price, performance and form factor options, with the Dell Latitude 7450 Ultralight likely hitting the sweet spot for business users who don’t need the flexibility of the top-shelf Latitude 9450 2-in-1.
Dell Latitude 7450 Ultralight review
Dell Latitude 7450 Ultralight first impressions
While it sports a slimline design, the Dell Latitude 7450 Ultralight is not a flashy fashion statement. It sticks with Dell’s trademark conservative look and feel that won’t look out of place in the boardroom.
To be fair, even at 1.058 kg it’s not quite the slimmest or lightest notebook around – for that, you’d probably be looking at the more fashionable Apple MacBook or Asus Zenbook.
A note on the Dell Latitude 7450 Ultralight in Australia
Here’s when things get complicated. After spending some time with the Latitude 7450 Ultralight provided for review, I realised that it didn’t match up with the listing on Dell’s Australian website. In Australia, the website only lets you select the standard 1.5 kg Latitude 7450 with a few lower specs, such as a 1920×1200 display and only 16 GB of RAM.
It turns out, the Ultralight model loaned to me is only sold in the US. Despite this, Dell assures me it can be bought in Australia as a custom order if you speak to a member of the Dell sales team.
I confirmed this by getting a quote for the Ultralight from Dell’s Australian sales team, for a whopping $8,979.73 as a personal purchase (as a business customer they could knock off up to 10 per cent). That’s for the 1.058 kg Ultralight with a 2560×1600 pixel touchscreen, Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD.
That ultra-high price is especially frustrating considering it sells for around US$1,900 on the American website, which works out at just over AU$3,000 once you allow for the exchange rate and GST.
In the end, I also got my hands on the standard Latitude 7450. All things considered, I’m pushing ahead with the Ultralight review because technically you can buy it in Australia. It’s something to keep in mind if you’re looking up the details of this unit online.
More impressions
One nice touch with the Latitude 7450 Ultralight is that the power brick isn’t too large or heavy, so it won’t weigh down your travel bag – something that tended to be a gotcha on lightweight notebooks in the past.
Open up the Latitude 7450 Ultralight and you’re faced with a sharp 2560 x 1600 IPS LCD display (up from the standard 7450’s 1920 x 1200) with a productivity-friendly 16:10 aspect ratio.
The screen on the 7450 Ultralight offers a decent 400-nit brightness, which is good for working in a range of lighting conditions. It’s a big step from the standard 7450 which offers a choice of 250 or 300 nits depending on the model.
Regardless of which 7450 model you end up with, you’re also presented with a reasonably spacious backlit keyboard – with speakers on each side – accompanied by a decent-sized trackpad.
There’s no fingerprint reader on the power button, but the 1080p webcam supports Windows Hello facial recognition. There are also extra security options that detect when you walk away from the notebook and automatically lock it.
The keyboard features full-sized shift keys and half-sized up/down arrow keys, which typists tend to prefer rather than contending with half-sized shift keys. There’s also a dedicated Copilot button (a repurposed right Control button), for calling up the preview version of Microsoft’s AI-powered smart assistant.
Another frustration is that, while the keys offer good travel, the keyboard is a little squishy in the middle and you feel it flex slightly as you type. Surprisingly, this is the case with both the Ultralight and standard models.
Turn the Latitude 7450 Ultralight over in your hands and you’ll find HDMI and two USB-C/power ports on the left, accompanied by two USB-A ports, a headphone jack and a lock slot on the right.
Dell Latitude 7450 Ultralight specifications
| Display size | 14-inch |
| Display resolution | 2560×1600, 16:10 aspect ratio |
| Display technology | IPS LCD 400-nits |
| CPU | Intel Core Ultra 7 165U, vPro 12 MB cache, 12 cores, 14 threads, up to 4.9 GHz Turbo |
| GPU | Integrated Intel Graphics |
| RAM | 16 GB: LPDDR5x, 6400 MT/s |
| Webcam | FHD HDR IR Camera with ExpressSign-In + Intelligent Privacy, TNR, Camera Shutter, Microphone |
| Operating system | Windows 11 Pro |
| Ports | 2 Thunderbolt 4 with DisplayPort Alt Mode/USB Type-C/USB4/Power Delivery 1 Universal audio port 1 HDMI 2.1 port 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports |
| Slots | 1 Nano SIM (optional) 1 Wedge-shaped lock slot 1 Smart card reader (Contacted and Contactless + NFC) Optional fingerprint reader |
| Wireless connectivity | Intel BE200 Wi-Fi 7 2×2 Bluetooth 5.4 Optional 5G module |
| Storage | 512 GB, M.2 2230, TLC PCIe Gen 4 NVMe, SSD |
| Charging | Supplied 65W AC adapter, USB Type-C, EcoDesign |
| Battery | 3 Cell, 57 Wh, ExpressCharge, ExpressCharge Boost capable |
| Audio | Stereo speakers with Realtek ALC3281 Audio Controller |
| Security | Windows Hello optional fingerprint reader optional contact and contactless smart card readers |
| Dimensions | Height: 17.95 mm, Width: 313.00 mm, Depth: 220.20 mm |
| Weight | from 1.058 kg |
| Price | approx AU$8,979 for an Ultralight with a Core Ultra 7 processor, as a custom order from Dell Australia |
| Warranty | Basic Onsite Service after remote diagnosis with Hardware-Only Support, 37 months |
| Official website | Dell Australia Dell US |
Features
Under the bonnet, the Dell Latitude 7450 Ultralight offers the choice of an Intel Core Ultra 5 or Ultra 7 powerplant, but your choice of processor impacts a lot of your other options. For example, if you want to step up from 16 to 32 GB of RAM, or down from a 512 to 256 GB SSD, you’re forced to settle for a 1920×1200 pixel display.
Intel’s Ultra processors are designed to optimise AI, featuring a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for handling AI-heavy tasks to reduce the load on the CPU. This is why every PC maker is jumping on the bandwagon and slapping an “AI-powered PC” sticker on the box of these new machines, even though Windows 11’s AI features aren’t that impressive at the moment.
Thankfully, the Latitude 7450 Ultralight runs on an Intel x86 processor and not an ARM processor, such as the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor used in the new “CoPilot+ PCs” (like the new Snapdragon-powered Dell Latitude 7455).
Because Copilot+ PCs run a version of Windows designed for ARM processors, they rely on an emulator to run most third-party Windows applications, which can result in performance issues.
Some people might find that an ARM-based Copilot+ PC meets their needs, but I’d proceed with caution. It’s hard to forget Microsoft’s previous ARM-based blunders, such as the ill-fated notebooks running ARM-based Windows RT.
While ARM-based processors have the advantage over Intel x86 processors when it comes to power consumption, the Core Ultra 5 or Ultra 7’s inclusion on a dedicated NPU will still help extend the Latitude 7450 Ultralight’s battery life when working on AI-heavy tasks.
The notebook features a 3-cell, 57-Wh battery, which helps save on weight yet should still comfortably get you through a long workday.
Hardware aside, Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant software is still in its infancy. Right now it’s little more than a novelty for consumers. Copilot has more potential in the business space, but that will depend on how your employer decides to approach it.
A few other AI-powered features are sprinkled around the place on the 7450 Ultralight that might prove useful to some people. For example, AI-powered eye tracking supports video auto-framing on calls, while intelligent audio uses neural noise cancellation to remove unwanted background noise on both ends of the call.
Collaboration is one area where the Latitude 7450 Ultralight stands out, with genuinely useful features like the ‘Collaboration Touchpad’, something that isn’t available on every 7450 model.
Across the top of the Collaboration Touchpad are four touch-sensitive virtual buttons, which light up when you’re in a Teams or Zoom call (only when using the desktop app, not a browser). These virtual buttons are shortcuts for turning the camera and mic on or off, opening the chat window and sharing your screen.
While they’re a very handy feature, some people will be frustrated that they’re not programmable and aren’t available to use with other video conferencing platforms.
It’s also worth noting that the Latitude 7450 Ultralight features Wi-Fi 7 but, from my testing with the Netgear Orbi 970 mesh Wi-Fi 7 system, the improvement over Wi-Fi 6 can still be hit-and-miss while vendors work out interoperability teething issues.
It’s interesting and frustrating to note that Dell’s fine print on the 7450 product page reveals:
“Wi-Fi 7/ 6E connectivity (6 GHz) with Windows 11 is limited and will leverage prior generation of Wi-Fi until drivers are available and hardware adoption increases.”
In other words, for now, the 7450’s Wi-Fi 7 features are deliberately hobbled, so the notebook has no chance of reaching its full Wi-Fi 7 potential – something Dell should make clearer to shoppers up front (not to mention tech reviewers).
Who is the Dell Latitude 7450 Ultralight for?
The Dell Latitude 7450 Ultralight is an impressive business-focused notebook, well-suited to professionals who need a portable yet powerful Windows machine in their carry bag.
There’s plenty of grunt, along with the capacity to support AI-intensive applications as they become more common. Yet labelling it “Wi-Fi 7 ready” would have been more honest than hiding its true current Wi-Fi capabilities in the fine print.
Of course, the biggest frustration is how Australians are denied the Ultralight’s best features unless they want to pay through the nose for a custom order – seeing them pay about double that of their American brethren.
If you can’t stomach that kind of price tag, and Dell doesn’t officially add the 7450 Ultralight to its Australian lineup, then it’s best to look around at ultra-portable notebooks which are actually sold in Australia off-the-rack at a more reasonable price.
The post Dell Latitude 7450 Ultralight notebook review: down to business appeared first on GadgetGuy.
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