Favoured by professionals, the Dell Precision series has a range of devices that are capable of handling intense workloads. The Dell Precision 5470 packs good performance in a smaller 14-inch footprint, making it a good choice for professionals who do not want to move around with bulky 17-inch devices.
The Precision 5470 we received came powered by the 12-Gen Intel Core i9-12900H processor with 32 GB RAM and NVIDIA RTX A1000, 4GB GDDR6 laptop GPU.
The laptop also supports pen and touch support with 10 touch points.
In the box
Designed to work as a mobile workstation, The Dell Precision 5470 feels and looks premium and the unboxing experience reflects the same. In the box, you get the device, a USB-C charger, and a user manual.
Design
The Dell Precision 5470 is a hefty 14-inch laptop. Its aluminum body gives the device a premium feel and it takes some time to get used to the weight. The 18.95 by 310 by 210 mm device weighs around 1.48 kg and traveling with it should not be a problem.
The brushed metal grey lid of the laptop is sturdy and inspires confidence when travelling with the device, which is what it is designed to do.
Though the look and the feel of this workstation is premium it is also in its design that it faces one of its major downsides.
The laptop comes with four Thunderbolt 4.0 Type-c ports, one SD card reader, and a slot for the headset and mic. Users then will be reaching for multiport adapters.
The carbon fiber deck that houses the keyboard is pleasing as well as practical for users who will be using the device in open areas.
The inclusion of a fingerprint sensor in the power button along with a face ID sensor on bootup comes in handy when in a rush and both methods are reliable and quick to respond.
The keyboard itself is good, with a standard layout, decent travel, and resistance, and should not be a complaint for most users.
With its aluminum build, the Precision 5470 feels premium and sturdy | Photo Credit: Nabeel Ahmed
The touchpad is also capable, with a wide design and smooth surface for both pointing and gesture controls. The clickable buttons at the bottom of the touchpad are also accurate and provide a satisfying click every time you use it.
Display and sound
The Precision 5470 comes with a 14-inch QHD+ panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio. The native resolution of the display is 2560 × 1600 at 60 HZ. The display has a peak brightness of 500 nits and there we faced no problems when using it in open areas or well-lit rooms.
The 100% sRGB panel is accurate with good colour calibration.
The display also has a 10-point capacitive touch with should come in handy when showing 3-D models on the device.
The laptop comes with two speakers placed on either side of the keyboard which are matched by downward-firing subwoofers giving it good sound quality.
Performance and battery
Since the Precision 5470 is a mobile workstation, performance is one of its key areas. The laptop is more than capable of handling less demanding workflows and it is only when pushed hard that its fans kick in. For normal office tasks, the laptop delivers without breaking a sweat.
Though not meant for gaming, we did run a few titles on the device and it was able to handle them just fine.
However, since the device is aimed to cater to more demanding tasks we tried a few of those as well. The device was able to handle tasks like video and photo editing. It also performed well when rendering 3D models. Overall unless you are going to ask the device to crunch massive data sets or work intense CGI rendering the laptop should be able to hold its own just fine.
While undertaking intense tasks the battery of the Precision 5470 tends to drop with the fans whirring away to keep it cool.
Under normal day use, including internet browsing and MS office, the laptop was able to last a full day giving around 14 hours of battery backup making it full day laptop. With intense use it can drop down to 5-6 hours of use, so you will have to carry the charging cable.
The battery takes around 2 hours to charge from 0 to 100.
The figures mentioned here are for the 4-cell 72Wh battery with the 130 adapter, which is an optional extra with the device.
Connectivity
As we mentioned earlier, the lack of ports on the device is one miss, however, we suspect the choice was made to make the Precisions 5470 as compact as possible. However, support for Wi-Fi 6E makes sure that you have good internet speeds but it is still unable to fill the gap for an ethernet port. The device also supports Bluetooth 5.2 which makes connection peripherals easy.
The Precision 5470 has an HD IR webcam that sits between dual-array mics and is positioned in the top bezel in the center of the screen. The webcam quality is good with no complaints from users on either end of video calls.
Verdict
The Dell Precision 5470 is an impressive portable workstation. Priced at ₹2,90,000, the device’s compact form factor is its biggest selling point. However, we suspect the same selling point brings in minor tradeoffs like the lack of a wider array of connectivity ports and a hit in performance when handling intense workloads.
That said, if you are looking for a portable work companion with good battery life, features and the ability to occasionally game on without the hassle of lugging around a 16 or 17-inch device, the Precision 5470 is a good choice.
