The Dell Inspiron 13 7386 2-in-1 packs plenty of power under the hood and comes a sleek updated webcam and a slim display. It is a good notebook that gets a speed boost from new Intel CPUs, but the bad battery life and image quality still hold it back from its potential.
With top-notch design and performance, the XPS 13 is the best laptop you can buy. The Dell Inspiron lineup, however, promises a similar experience without the significant price tag. Enter the Inspiron 13 7386, Dell’s latest 2-in-1 in the family.
Our review device comes with an 8th-gen Intel Core i7-8565U processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB M.2 PCIE NVMe solid-state-drive (SSD) on board. It also comes packed with a 13.3-inch Full HD display. There are other options available for a UHD display, 16GB RAM, or a 512 SSD, but those cross the price of the Inspiron into XPS territory.
Prices start at $890, so is the Inspiron 13 worth the money? Or are competing notebooks like the HP Spectre x360, Yoga 730, or ZenBook 13 UX331UA better buys? Let’s dive deeper and explore.
For under $1,000, the Dell Inspiron 13 7386 comes with a premium inspired design. Relatively unchanged from last year’s model, a brushed all-aluminum platinum silver finish still wraps the entire device, making it look like a MacBook from the outside.
On the inside, the aluminum finish slopes just slightly inwards to greet the touchpad, for a sharp, flashy finish. That is a change from last year, where the keyboard deck was recessed in its own island, away from the rest of the aluminum body.
Unfortunately, that also means the Inspiron 13 7386 is not as strong as we hoped. Pressing too hard on the aluminum areas above the keyboard will cause some slight flexing in the chassis. The hinge which supports the screen to the body is also a bit too weak when compared to the watchband system onboard the Yoga 730. It is still firm enough to hold things strong in laptop mode, but it gets a little wobbly when applying pressure to move the device into and out of tablet mode.
As another inconvenience, opening the lid on the Dell Inspiron 13 isn’t a smooth process. It requires two hands, which is something that is just slightly annoying for some people. That same problem persists on the XPS 13 and with such a premium inspired design this is a bit of a letdown.
Despite the slightly unstable hinge, the weight and the dimensions make the Dell Inspiron 13 a very portable device. Coming in at 3.08 pounds and 0.54 inches in thickness, it is just a bit heavier than the similarly priced Yoga 730 (2.3 pounds) or even the HP Spectre x360 (2.8 pounds.) We were able to throw it into our bag along with a notebook and travel to and from our office without feeling the extra weight.
The Dell Inspiron 13 2-in-1 also comes with a nice collection of ports which make it perfect companion for a home office. On the left side, there is an HDMI port and a USB-C port which is not Thunderbolt 3 compatible. On the right side, there is USB-A, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and a microSD card slot. The inclusion of a microSD card slot and HDMI are both huge conveniences. It means you can expand on the included storage and plug in to monitors without dongles.
For Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, Dell goes with 802.11ac 2×2. That makes it a very connected machine, meant to pull the most out of fiber optic connections and new Bluetooth 4.0 accessories.
Another new feature on board the Inspiron 13 for 2018 is the miniaturized webcam. Unlike the awkward webcam placement on the bottom lip of the XPS 13, Dell manages to push things back to the top of the display on the Inspiron 13. It is a 4-element lens webcam, which utilizes Temporal Noise Reduction technology, to increase the image quality in low light. When on a Skype, this made things bright and more lifelike, according to the person on the other end of our call.
As is typical for 2-in-1s, the Inspiron 13 7386 comes with a comfortable keyboard. The keys might a bit rough on the top, but still quietly sink into the chassis with minimal effort. Our usual typing tests didn’t cause us to experience any pains or any harsh bottoming out when speeding through a Word document.
The black chiclet-style keys are also backlit in up to two levels and are easy to spot in the dark.
