Dell Latitude 13 7370 Review: A Sleek Business-Class Ultrabook
Latitude 13 Design and Layout
The Dell Latitude 13 7370 is one of the most attractive business laptops we’ve seen, thanks in large part to the carbon fiber lid. Where the consumer-oriented XPS series has a flashy, metal exterior, the Latitude 13 7370 is dark and looks like it belongs to an executive. The silver Dell logo is almost lost in the carbon fiber pattern, but when it catches the light, the logo stands out.
Ultrabooks are always thin and light, but that portability often comes at a price, either in performance, durability, or both. With that in mind, we put them through some rough handling, including pressing on the lid and trying to bend the system with our hands. Some systems flex a bit under this treatment, but the Latitude 13 7370 is tough. It didn’t flex at all when we tried to bend it and the lid withstood the beating without suffering any noticeable damage on the lid or display.
And the system is indeed thin. The Latitude 13 7370 measures 12 inches wide by 8.3 inches deep and just 0.56 inches high. The laptop weighs 2.48 pounds, making it even a little lighter than its cousin, the XPS 13. You can hold it comfortably in one hand and use the touchpad with your other hand. If you are a frequent traveler and your present laptop is a typical 15-incher with an optical drive, you’ll notice the difference as soon as you slip the ultrabook into your bag. So will your back.
The front of the Latitude 13 7370 is bare except for a single white LED. The left side houses two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a micro HDMI port, a micro SIM card slot and a smart card slot. The SIM and smart card slots appear only on certain models. The right side features the system’s only USB 3.0 port, which has Power Share. This side also has a microSD card reader, an audio jack and a lock slot. The laptop’s power adapter plugs into one of the two Thunderbolt slots on the left side of the system and sports its own LED.
As small as the Latitude 13 7370 is, it’s not surprising that the keyboard is a little smaller than what we’ve seen on larger laptops. Still, Dell manage to squeeze in island-style keys and a fairly large touchpad, complete with two discrete mouse buttons. The keypad is solid and didn’t flex at all when we typed. The white keyboard backlight is very bright, even in dim (rather than dark) environments. Hinges on the back of the lid tilt the keyboard slightly, which is a nice touch.
Like the XPS 13, the camera ended up at the bottom of the display in the Latitude 13 7370. The difference in perspective (between the top and bottom of the laptop) turns out to be significant. If you type during a video chat, your fingers may well appear in the foreground and can even block you out. When we tilted the screen back to avoid catching our fingers, we found that the camera was pointed up at our face, which made for an unflattering image.
The camera's position makes for a weird angle (left), compared to a camera mounted on top of a laptop's display (right).
The display is downright stunning, which is what you’d expect from a screen with a 3200x1800 resolution. This display is actually a little darker than the 1920x1080 resolution display in the non-touch base models: the QHD+ screen is 350 nits and the lower resolution FHD displays offer a maximum of 400 nits. Whether that matters to you is a matter of preference, but for most users, we think the higher resolution is going to be the more satisfying choice.
We found the touchscreen to be very responsive to our taps and swipes. Swiping inward from the edge isn’t a problem, thanks to the InfinityEdge display. Watch a video on the Latitude 13 7370 at the end of the day and you might forget it’s a laptop designed for business.
Ultrabooks are always thin and light, but that portability often comes at a price, either in performance, durability, or both. With that in mind, we put them through some rough handling, including pressing on the lid and trying to bend the system with our hands. Some systems flex a bit under this treatment, but the Latitude 13 7370 is tough. It didn’t flex at all when we tried to bend it and the lid withstood the beating without suffering any noticeable damage on the lid or display.
And the system is indeed thin. The Latitude 13 7370 measures 12 inches wide by 8.3 inches deep and just 0.56 inches high. The laptop weighs 2.48 pounds, making it even a little lighter than its cousin, the XPS 13. You can hold it comfortably in one hand and use the touchpad with your other hand. If you are a frequent traveler and your present laptop is a typical 15-incher with an optical drive, you’ll notice the difference as soon as you slip the ultrabook into your bag. So will your back.
The front of the Latitude 13 7370 is bare except for a single white LED. The left side houses two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a micro HDMI port, a micro SIM card slot and a smart card slot. The SIM and smart card slots appear only on certain models. The right side features the system’s only USB 3.0 port, which has Power Share. This side also has a microSD card reader, an audio jack and a lock slot. The laptop’s power adapter plugs into one of the two Thunderbolt slots on the left side of the system and sports its own LED.
As small as the Latitude 13 7370 is, it’s not surprising that the keyboard is a little smaller than what we’ve seen on larger laptops. Still, Dell manage to squeeze in island-style keys and a fairly large touchpad, complete with two discrete mouse buttons. The keypad is solid and didn’t flex at all when we typed. The white keyboard backlight is very bright, even in dim (rather than dark) environments. Hinges on the back of the lid tilt the keyboard slightly, which is a nice touch.
Like the XPS 13, the camera ended up at the bottom of the display in the Latitude 13 7370. The difference in perspective (between the top and bottom of the laptop) turns out to be significant. If you type during a video chat, your fingers may well appear in the foreground and can even block you out. When we tilted the screen back to avoid catching our fingers, we found that the camera was pointed up at our face, which made for an unflattering image.
The camera's position makes for a weird angle (left), compared to a camera mounted on top of a laptop's display (right).
The display is downright stunning, which is what you’d expect from a screen with a 3200x1800 resolution. This display is actually a little darker than the 1920x1080 resolution display in the non-touch base models: the QHD+ screen is 350 nits and the lower resolution FHD displays offer a maximum of 400 nits. Whether that matters to you is a matter of preference, but for most users, we think the higher resolution is going to be the more satisfying choice.
We found the touchscreen to be very responsive to our taps and swipes. Swiping inward from the edge isn’t a problem, thanks to the InfinityEdge display. Watch a video on the Latitude 13 7370 at the end of the day and you might forget it’s a laptop designed for business.
