Dell’s Latitude 9000 series is meant to compete with the likes of HP’s EliteBook 1000 series and Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 series. And while it’s the newest of those three brands, Dell is really beginning to impress as the brand comes into maturity. The Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1 is a phenomenal laptop.

To start with, it comes with a 14-inch QHD+ 16:10 display, so it has a high enough resolution to look pretty, but since it’s not 4K, it doesn’t have that impact on battery life. The whole machine is great though. The FHD webcam is solid, and when paired with excellent microphones and speakers, it’s great for taking meetings.

My one complaint is that as far as 14-inch premium convertibles go, it’s a bit heavy at 3.2 pounds. At that weight, you might find yourself not using it as a tablet very much.

It’s still great to take on-the-go though. It has a 500-nit display that works well outdoors, and if you’re planning to use it outside, you can make use of optional 5G connectivity.

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Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1 pricing and availability

• The Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1 starts at $2,169

The Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1 is available now from Dell.com, and it starts at $2,169. That price will get you a Core i5, 16GB RAM, a 256GB SSD, and an FHD+ display; also, that’s the clamshell model.

The model that Dell sent me comes in at $2,729. It packs a Core i7, 16GB RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a QHD+ display.

Businesses can, of course, get it from their usual sales channels, and they’ll probably pay less if they’re buying in bulk.

Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1 specs

Design: It’s made out of aluminum

• The Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1 has one USB Type-A port, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI, and microSD
• It’s made of metal and weighs 3.2 pounds

The Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1 comes in a gunmetal gray color, which is different from the brushed aluminum finish I’ve seen in previous years. Once again, it’s made out of all metal, and once again, it’s fairly heavy. It comes in at 3.2 pounds, making it one of the heaviest 14-inch premium convertibles on the market. That’s not particularly problematic, but it is worth noting how it compares to other devices; Dell does make a Latitude 7330 Ultralight if that’s more your speed.

The design itself isn’t particularly flashy. I’d say it’s more functional, as business laptops tend to be. If you’re looking for sexy, you go for a Dell XPS. The Latitude 9430 2-in-1 is all business.

And of course, it’s a convertible. You can get it as a clamshell if you’d like, and that unit only weighs in at 2.8 pounds. Of course, with the traditional clamshell form factor, you miss out on the ability to use the device as a tablet, or put it in different form factors like presentation mode. It’s a trade-off.

As far as ports go, there are plenty, like you’d expect from any good business laptop. On the left side, you’ll find two Thunderbolt 4 ports,, HDMI 2.0, a 3.5mm audio jack, and even a microSD card slot. On the right side, there’s a USB Type-A port.

Indeed, there’s a fair bit of versatility with the port selection on the Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1. Obviously, Thunderbolt 4 is the port that can do anything. You can connect a Thunderbolt dock that has any conceivable port on it, and you can go nuts and do things like connect an external graphics card. If you don’t want to connect your 4K displays on Thunderbolt, there’s an HDMI port. You have options here.

Display: It has a QHD touchscreen

• The 14-inch screen is 2,560×1,600, and offers 500-nit brightness
• The webcam is 1080p

The 4 in ‘9430’ actually means that it has a 14-inch screen, so the Latitude 9330, which has lots of cool new features, is a 13-inch laptop. The 14-inch display on this device is QHD+, or 2,560×1,600, which I think is the sweet spot for a laptop like this. It looks a lot better than an FHD display, but it doesn’t suck down battery life like a UHD screen would.

Of course, the display is a touchscreen, and it has pen support. It’s also 16:10, which makes it about 11% taller than previous 16:9 laptops. This also makes it better for portrait mode use when using it as a tablet.

From my testing, it supports 100% sRGB, 79% NTSC, 83% Adobe RGB, and 85% P3. All of these scores are pretty good. It’s not as good as a Dell XPS, which is a bit disappointing since the Latitude 9430 2-in-1 is positioned as the best business laptop that Dell has to offer. After all, it was only a few years ago that the company created the Latitude 9000 tier for a new level of premium, which should compete with the likes of HP’s EliteBook 1000 series and Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1. Still, the display is pretty good, sporting a solid color gamut and a high resolution.

It also promises 500-nit brightness, which is awesome. And on top of that, Dell is underpromising and overdelivering on this. In my testing, brightness maxed out at 544.9 nits, which is even better. If you’re taking this laptop on the go, which you can do with optional cellular connectivity, it’s one of the better laptops for using in direct sunlight.

The webcam is 1080p, which is important in the age of working from home. That’s becoming standard in more of the Latitude lineup, which is always good to see. There’s also a privacy guard, so if you’re worried about being spied on through your webcam, you can flip that switch.

I’ve also learned over the last couple of years that privacy guards aren’t just for worrying about someone accessing your webcam. It’s also just that we take so many video meetings these days that it’s the ultimate reminder that your camera isn’t still on.

Note that there’s also an IR camera for Windows Hello. Dell has a feature called ExpressSign-in, which lets you seamlessly log into your PC without ever touching it. The sensor detects when you sit in front of your PC and wakes it up. Then, the IR camera recognizes that it’s you and logs you in.

Keyboard: The Chiclet-style keys feel good to use

• The keyboard includes a fingerprint sensor
• There are top-firing speakers on both sides of the keyboard

I really enjoy the keyboard on the Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1. Maybe it’s because the last laptop I reviewed was sub-par, but this one feels really comfortable to type on. As usual, Dell uses Chiclet-style keys.

As you can see, the touchpad takes up most of the available real estate, which is nice to see. And there are powerful speakers on both sides of the keyboard. In fact, there are also dual speakers on the bottom of the laptop, so you actually get sound firing at you no matter which orientation you’re using the laptop.

Between the excellent microphones and speakers, along with the FHD webcam, the Latitude 9430 2-in-1 is an excellent laptop for meetings, making it perfect for working from home.

The power button doubles as a fingerprint sensor. Unfortunately, Dell still won’t scan your fingerprint before the laptop boots up, unlike every other PC vendor that puts a fingerprint sensor in the power button. Of course, if you want seamless login, you can just use ExpressSign-in.

Performance: It has 15W Intel processors

• Dell chose U-series processors for the Latitude 9430
• Battery life is up to eight hours, which is great

While some companies are opting for higher-TDP processors in convertibles and laptops, Dell stuck with a 15W chip. Having tried the rest, I’m confident in saying that the traditional 15W U-series is the correct way to go for all use cases that don’t involve needing dedicated graphics. If you want a productivity PC, 15W has been the standard for a while, and that’s not changing. Performance is great, and unlike higher-wattage parts, it won’t suck down battery life.

My workload consists of working in a Chromium browser, and then using other productivity apps like OneNote, Slack, Skype, Teams, Zoom, Microsoft To Do, and more, so that productivity use case is perfect for me. The Latitude 9430 2-in-1 didn’t miss a beat for me, and there’s no reason that it would. It even starts at 16GB RAM, which is the sweet spot. Of course, all of that doesn’t come cheap.

For benchmarks, I ran my normal PCMark 10, 3DMark, Geekbench, and Cinebench.

The results aren’t surprising. I like to compare to a P-series laptop or something along those lines, just to show that performance isn’t necessarily better, despite the fact that the chip is more powerful and more taxing on the battery.

Speaking of battery life, it’s pretty great. I was able to get up to eight hours in some cases, and even average battery life was more like seven hours. That’s with the power slider set to balanced, and my regular workflow using apps that I described above. The brightness was actually set a bit below medium this time, just because the display is so bright to begin with (it’s a good problem to have).

Who should buy the Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1?

You should buy the Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1 if:

• You want the best you can get from a business laptop
• You take a lot of video calls, often without dedicated headphones or a microphone
• You travel a fair bit

You should NOT buy the Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1 if:

• You need something that’s light and super portable
• You need graphics power for creative work

The great part about the Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1 is that it has an awesome webcam, great speakers, great microphones, and the combo of long battery life and optional 5G means it’s perfect for taking on the go. It is a bit heavy for what it is though, so keep that in mind. If you need something lighter, check out the Latitude 7330 Ultralight.