The panel’s response times are a bit on the slow side, but PWM is not used for brightness management. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 83% of all devices are better. Using the PCMark08 Work test, we ran the machine at maximum speed for 7 hours 51 minutes, and configured for longevity, the laptop managed an impressive 10 hours 51 minutes. That’s the other weakness of this design, but it shares this limitation with every Intel 8th-gen machine of whatever specification. While the 8 th-generation Intel CPUs all tend to experience an initial short burst of performance before subsiding somewhat, the Intel Core i7 in our previous 7490 review unit still distances itself from the Core i5-8350U in our CPU tests—ahead by some 9% and 15% in the Cinebench R15 multi- and single-core tests, respectively. After the first few runs, average multi-core scores are closer to the 530 mark in our tests—again, below the less-consistent but still quite a bit higher (roughly) 570 we received over the long-term from the Core i7 model.

Latitude 7490 Business Laptop | Dell USA Latitude 7490 Business Laptop | Dell USA

The Dell Latitude 7490's got the speed you need (and then some), a keyboard that's comfortable enough for writing all day long and a battery that supports a full 8-hour workday. If only the display were brighter and it managed heat better. Today’s Latitude 7490 retains the 1920x1080 resolution, but exchanges the embedded touch display of our previous unit with a conventional IPS, non-touch, matte panel. Subjectively, color seems vivid, contrast appears strong, and brightness is fairly good. Our measurements revealed an average brightness of 294 cd/m²—ever-so-slightly below that of the embedded touch model—and a very good contrast ratio of 1342:1. While the ThinkPad T480s and the EliteBook 840 G5 in our comparison table only achieve results slightly above these, the X1 Carbon absolutely blows them all away with an average brightness of 533 cd/m²—and the 840 G5 offers a superior FHD IPS display option with a mind-blowing 630 cd/m² result. While today’s screen is certainly nice enough, Dell should consider stepping up their options for the next model to stay in competition. Multimedia, Budget Multimedia, Gaming, Budget Gaming, Lightweight Gaming, Business, Budget Office, Workstation, Subnotebooks, Ultrabooks, Chromebooks As a replacement for the previous 7480 models, the new 7490 looks much the same from the outside, but has had a complete overhaul internally. The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 30.4 °C / 86.7 F and are therefore cool to the touch.The Latitude 7490 scored a high 14,458 on the Geekbench 4 general performance benchmark, which leaps over the 10,033 category average. We saw lower scores of 12,913 from the Huawei MateBook X Pro (Intel Core i7-8550U with 16GB of RAM), 12,047 from the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 (Intel Core i5-8350U with 8GB of RAM) and 13,463 from the HP EliteBook 1040 G4 (Intel Core i7-7820HQ with 16GB of RAM).

Dell Latitude 7490 - Full Review and Benchmarks | Laptop Mag Dell Latitude 7490 - Full Review and Benchmarks | Laptop Mag

The 256GB NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD in the Latitude 7490 duplicated 4.97GB of multimedia files in 17 seconds, for a rate of 299.36 MBps. That's faster than the 277.5 MBps premium-notebook average, the 282.73 MBps from the MateBook X Pro (512GB NVMe PCIe SSD), the 267 MBps from the ThinkPad T480 (256GB NVMe PCIe SSD) and the 282.7 MBps from the EliteBook 1040 G4 (512GB PCIe NVMe TLC SSD). I should note that I had to take the photo in front of the window, where I had natural light, because images taken at my desk were far darker. There isn’t room for a conventional 2.5-inch SATA device, though the M.2 slot will take a bigger module, and it is also compatible with NVMe PCIe M.2 drives. On price, the HP EliteBook 1040 G4 is a good fit, even if it is still using Intel 7th-gen silicon on that model.

Given the amount of gutter space to the left and right of the keyboard, maybe a wider design could have been employed. That said, the keyboard design works well enough for typing, even with large hands.

Dell Latitude 7490 review | TechRadar Dell Latitude 7490 review | TechRadar

The Latitude 7490 never was a loud machine, and it’s even quieter with today’s less power-hungry configuration. By slim margins, it’s in fact the quietest machine in our field, topping out at just 40.2 dB(A) and averaging under load a mere 29.9 dB(A)—barely above the ambient noise measurement of 28.2 dB(A). Like all of its competitors, while idling, the fan rarely even engages; and even when it does, noise levels barely increase to a paltry 29.9 dB(A). Once again, we come away from a Dell Latitude 7000 series machine thoroughly impressed. Along with Lenovo’s ThinkPads and HP’s EliteBooks, the Latitudes stand head and shoulders above the rest of the business competition. They’re thoughtfully designed, smartly updated, and carefully revised. While the 7490 remains a mere iterative update to the 7480 in every sense of the term, it truly leaves little to be desired. The case is sturdy, subdued, and attractive, the weight is manageable, the input devices are top-notch, performance is very good, battery life is lengthy, and it’s a quiet companion. The few areas of improvement we’d like to see are display options to match its competitors, improved thermal management, and better speakers.

Energy Management

An amazing display that lasts all day See the difference: An optional touch-enabled, high resolution display makes it simple to view and manage your work throughout the day. The Intel Core i5-8350U quad-core CPU is rapidly becoming the darling of laptop designers. It delivers much of the power that the Intel Core i7-8550U offers but has a lower unit cost and a less detrimental impact on battery life. Temperatures haven’t changed much since the Core i7 model, with load averages on top/bottom 35.2 °C and 37.5 °C, respectively (within a degree C of the previous measurements—though room temperatures were also a degree higher during today’s measurements, so it’s really closer to 1.5 °C or so of a drop). Idle values are actually higher, which might be an idiosyncrasy of firmware or something similar (because no other logical explanation suffices). Here, we recorded values of 28.7 °C and 32.5 °C, well above room temperatures. Connect your Latitude to almost any device with a convenient 6 -in-1 compact adapter, to collaborate from any location. According to our colorimeter, the Latitude 7490 reproduces 118 percent of the sRGB spectrum -- a measurement that rises above the 113-percent premium-notebook average. It's close to the 124-percent rating from the Huawei MateBook X Pro and the 114-percent rating from the HP EliteBook 1040 G4. The Lenovo ThinkPad T480 posted a less-colorful 77 percent.