Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (7620) Review

The Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (7620) is Dell’s latest move into the laptop category of big-screen (some might say “oversize”) convertible 2-in-1s. It's an adaptation of the conventional-clamshell Inspiron 16 (7620) for people who really need as big a screen as possible that can still rotate 360 degrees to use as a tablet. At 5 pounds, the Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (starts at $799.99; $1,049.99 as tested) is pushing the expectation that a convertible has to be easy to handle and hold in tablet configuration. But if you frequently need to knock out a presentation in a classroom or conference room, then set up the unit in tent mode and share the screen with others, the 16-inch 2-in-1 format might be just right.

Big-Screen Tablet Mode: Asset or Gimmick?

The model 7620 Inspiron 16 2-in-1 comes with a U-series (ultraportable-class) Core i5 in its entry-level configuration. The system we tested has an upgraded Core i7-1260P, along with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB solid-state drive, and Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics. Our tester is equipped with the base full HD screen, though a 4K UHD one is optional.

The Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 is big for a 2-in-1 convertible laptop, measuring 0.72 by 14.1 by 9.9 inches (HWD). So it stands to reason that the lower deck has plenty of room, with wide-spaced keys, an ample touchpad, and room for a pair of speakers on either side of the keyboard. If this laptop ended up serving often as a complete desktop replacement, you might not miss a desktop’s larger monitor—in return for the reduction in versatility and portability. If you need to share drawings or designs with others, the Inspiron’s ability to convert to tablet or tent mode is an asset.

(Credit: Molly Flores)

Typing at speed is easy to master on the 7620. Though the keyboard is laid out well, the vertical travel of the keys themselves is a bit shallow. The touchpad is very sensitive and has a smooth feel, thanks to a Mylar coating. The 16:10 ratio display offers 1,900 by 1,200 pixels and is bright enough to be readable in a brightly lit room or a shaded outdoor area.

(Credit: Molly Flores)

The webcam offers full HD resolution (1,920 by 1,080 pixels), as well, producing an image with adequate sharpness, even with the captured image at full screen. In our testing, we paired up with an older laptop using the older webcam standard of 720p. That camera's display output, side by side with that of the Inspiron 16 2-in-1, was notably soft, even when presented in a reduced window. The camera at the top of the Dell machine's display can be covered with an unobtrusive slider, if you are concerned about snoops and hackers.

Audio capture for Zoom or Skype sessions was quite adequate, and the mics effectively suppressed ambient noise, including music from a track playing nearby. This can likely be attributed to the included temporal noise reduction. The system offers dual integrated microphones, which picked up conversation effectively.

(Credit: Molly Flores)

This year’s Inspiron 16 2-in-1 is differentiated from last year's non-convertible Inspiron 16 Plus (7610) by the 7620 model number, and includes a chassis redesign. The 7610, based on 11th Generation Core processors, included a numeric keypad, optional Nvidia graphics, and no touch screen. Last year’s “H” CPU designation on the Core i7-11800H in our test unit indicates Intel’s most powerful tier of mobile processor. This year’s “P” class of Core processor is new, fitting between the ultraportable-targeted “U” (which comes in the base model) and the power-user “H” (which we see in the non-2-in-1 version of the 7620, which we are reviewing in parallel).

As for the audio output, the unit features two down-facing speakers and two more on either side of the keyboard. Together, they provide a fuller sound than the two on the Inspiron 14 2-in-1, but both laptops suffer some distortion at higher volumes. But face it: Unless you need to provide audio to several people at once gathered around the machine, you’re always going to get better sound by plugging in a good set of headphones.

(Credit: Molly Flores)

The Inspiron 16 2-in-1 can use one of its two USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports for power input. Thunderbolt 4 is compatible with USB-C, but allows for faster peak throughput with compliant devices and some other connectivity perks. The Inspiron 16 2-in-1 comes standard with a 64-watt power adapter, but an optional 90-watt power adapter supports ExpressCharge, which Dell claims can restore the six-cell, 87Wh integrated battery to an 80% charge level in an hour.

(Credit: Molly Flores)

In addition to the two Thunderbolt ports on the left side of the unit, you get one USB 3.2 Type-A port and one HDMI 1.4 port. On the right side are one 3.5mm headphone/microphone combination jack, one USB 3.2 Type-A port, and one SD card reader.

On the wireless front, the Inspiron 16 2-in-1 offers Intel Wi-Fi 6E (6GHz) with 2×2 support. This means your system can use either the 2.4GHz or the 5GHz channel, and the “6E” indicates that the unit can also access the 6GHz channel, which, with its higher frequency, can carry more data—though it is more susceptible to interference, for example between floors in a building. Note: To get the benefit, all your devices, including the router, must support 6E.

The Bluetooth 5.2 version in the Inspiron 16 2-in-1 is the latest revision of the standard. As of version 5.0, Bluetooth supports wireless headphones, game controllers, and smart home devices within 800 feet, at data transfer speeds up to 50Mbps. Bluetooth 5.2 adds such tweaks as LE Power Control (LEPC)—the ability to allow the transmitter to adjust its transmission power by itself or as requested by a peer device.

(Credit: Molly Flores)

In addition to Windows 11 Home, the Inspiron 16 comes with Dell System Software (DSS), a utility that acts as a control center for critical updates and patches.

The Inspiron 16 2-in-1 offers optional levels beyond the included Dell basic hardware warranty. Dell Premium Support employs SupportAssist technology to detect hardware and software issues, and notifies you via system alerts and email when they occur. You also get 24/7 phone access to experts and onsite support if sessions of remote diagnosis don't fix the problem. Dell Premium Support Plus offers 24/7 access to experts, accident repairs, and technicians who come to you. Finally, Accidental Damage Service provides repair or replacement of your system for up to three years, after accidents not otherwise covered by the standard warranty.

Testing the Inspiron 16 2-in-1: Mind Your H's and P's

For our benchmark charts, we compared the performance of four other competing systems with the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1. In this emerging category—16-inch convertibles—we were not able to corral all of them as full-size 16-inchers: the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (a clamshell) is 15 inches, the Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 is 15.6 inches, and the Lenovo Legion 5i Pro Gen 7 gamer, though 16 inches, is not a 2-in-1 convertible. But we included it to illustrate the power of an Intel 12th Generation H-series CPU, teamed up with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 graphics processor. The results for the Legion 5i Pro Gen 7 will skew some of our charts because of its killer GPU; for reference, it costs $1,399.99.

On productivity and storage benchmarks, the others grouped close to each other, including the HP Spectre x360 16, with its 11th Generation H CPU, though the HP was well ahead in the graphics tests, helped by its GeForce graphics. Again, the Lenovo Legion ran away from the field, though its battery life was a (relatively) weak 7 hours typical of a gaming unit. The others were all above 13 hours. But we get ahead of ourselves. Here are the full results.

Productivity Tests

The main benchmark of UL's PCMark 10 simulates a variety of real-world productivity and content-creation workflows to measure overall performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet jockeying, web browsing, and videoconferencing. We also run PCMark 10's Full System Drive test to assess the load time and throughput of a laptop's storage.

Beyond those, three benchmarks focus on the CPU, using all available cores and threads, to rate a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads. Maxon's Cinebench R23 uses that company's Cinema 4D engine to render a complex scene, while Primate Labs' Geekbench 5.4 Pro simulates popular apps ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning. Finally, we use the open-source video transcoder HandBrake 1.4 to convert a 12-minute video clip from 4K to 1080p resolution (lower times are better). We also run Puget Systems' PugetBench for Photoshop, which uses Adobe's famous image editor to rate a PC's performance for content creation and multimedia applications.

As noted, the Inspiron 16 was in the middle of the pack on PCMark 10 and PCMark Storage, and well behind the Legion 5i. On the HandBrake transcoder, the Inspiron came in second only to the Legion. On Geekbench, the Inspiron 16 was behind not only the Legion 5i but also the Samsung Galaxy, which is a little surprising, since both have the same processor and graphics. The Inspiron far exceeded the 4,000 points in PCMark 10 that indicate excellent productivity for common apps like Microsoft Office, as did all others in the group.

Graphics Tests

We test Windows PCs' graphics with two DirectX 12 gaming simulations from UL's 3DMark: Night Raid (more modest, suitable for laptops with integrated graphics), and Time Spy (more demanding, suitable for gaming rigs with discrete GPUs). 

We also run two tests from the cross-platform GPU benchmark GFXBench 5, which stresses both low-level routines like texturing and high-level, game-like image rendering. The 1440p Aztec Ruins and 1080p Car Chase tests, rendered offscreen to accommodate different display resolutions, exercise graphics and compute shaders using the OpenGL programming interface and hardware tessellation, respectively. The more frames per second (fps), the better.

The Inspiron and Galaxy are the only two with Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics, while the Surface Laptop 4 relies on a Radeon integrated solution; the other two have some variety of Nvidia GeForce discrete graphics, and it showed. The Surface’s AMD Radeon on-chip graphics didn’t help much, as it came out last on all graphics tests. The Spectre and Legion 5i, on the other hand, soared ahead of the others.

Battery and Display Tests

We test laptops' battery life by playing a locally stored 720p video file (the open-source Blender movie Tears of Steel(Opens in a new window)) with display brightness at 50% and audio volume at 100%. We make sure the battery is fully charged before the test, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting turned off. 

We also use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its Windows software to measure a laptop screen's color saturation—what percentage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts the display can show—and both its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per square meter).

The Inspiron 16 was in the central group of three on our battery rundown test, though its 13 hours lagged the nearly 14 of the Spectre and the Surface Laptop 4. The Legion 5i was last, as noted, while the Samsung Galaxy lasted an impressive 18 hours.

All the units recorded impressive gamut-coverage results in sRGB. In fact, the Inspiron’s score of 96%, while still excellent, came in last place. On Adobe RGB, the Inspiron, the Legion 5i, and Surface Laptop 4 all scored lower, while the Spectre and Galaxy hit 98% and 97%, respectively.

On DataColor's Brightness test at 100%, the Legion 5i reached 545 nits, with the others all in the high 300s, except the Inspiron, at 333 nits. On the DataColor 50%-level tests, the Inspiron topped them all, with 169 nits. The Spectre was close, at 152 nits, with the others grouped closer to 100 nits. This represents a challenge when interpreting the brightness results, because what matters most is the brightness you’re likely to encounter at a normal setting. The high score is more about how much you can crank up the display in a very bright location.

Verdict: Great, if You Need to Share in a Big Way

Of our five test systems, the Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 came closest to the Inspiron 16 2-in-1 in features and performance, though it's more than $300 dearer. On the flip side, if battery life is a priority, its 18 hours is attractive. On graphics results, the Samsung generally showed better performance, though neither it nor the Inspiron is really designed for, or pitched as, a content-creation system. The gamer-first Lenovo Legion 5i Pro Gen 7 does make a credible showing as either a content-creation or a gaming system.

Bear in mind that systems like the HP Spectre x360 16 are likely to see an upgrade to a 12th Generation Intel CPU, which might affect your preferences; the addition of Performance and Efficient cores to the Intel mobile line with 12th Generation Core really is a difference maker. Still, if you'd like to keep the spend under a grand and are looking for a big-screen convertible laptop more for on-desk sharing than in-hand tablet use, the 7620 Inspiron 16 2-in-1 will do the job, and get it done for general productivity, too.