The best Dell laptops cater to a range of needs, from high-end, premium laptops for creative professionals to more portable models for casual users.
Photographers, specifically, can sit comfortable knowing that Dell's powerful workstations frequently make it into our guide of the best photo editing laptops. Those who spend a lot of time on the move can opt for something lighter and more rugged. Meanwhile, business users needing a reliable laptop for video calls, emails and admin will benefit from a solid, secure model.
That might make choosing the best Dell laptop sound like a lot of work, but don’t worry. Just figure out what you’re going to need it for the most, and consult our list. Below, we’ve gathered the best Dell laptops out there for creative pros and novices, keeping in mind their different needs and budget.
Michelle is a writer and photographer based in Los Angeles, California. She regularly writes for Fodor's Travel, Steve's Digicams, Thrillist and Techlicious, and is currently a freelance SEO and Production Editor for TechRadar.
The Quick List
For photographers, we reckon this is the Dell laptop series that delivers the best balance of price, performance and portability.
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On a tighter budget? The Inspiron series gives you photo-editing power and an SD Card reader, without breaking the bank.
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Is power your priority? The 7780's premium components ensure smooth multitasking and rapid processing of large image files.
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At the other extreme from monster-sized powerhouses, the XPS 13 is so light and compact that you can edit photos pretty much anywhere. Read more below
The Latitude series is more geared towards helping you run a business, with tools geared towards communication.
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Alienware laptops are oriented towards gamers, with flashy looks encasing a tremendous amount of computing prowess.
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Best Dell laptops
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Best Dell laptop overall
The Dell XPS 15 has always been among the best laptops for prosumers, but it takes things to another level with this instalment. It’s one of a select number of laptops to boast an OLED display - the finest screen tech money can buy. An OLED display means deeper blacks, wide colour gamuts, and excellent contrast ratios as well as HDR support. If you want a non-OLED screen at less cost, that is still an option.
There's also plenty of processing power inside, with Nvidia RTX discrete graphics that should see you through your demanding photo editing needs, as well as basic video editing.
Best budget Dell laptop
Unlike Dell’s flagships, the Inspiron 15 delivers more than enough power for photo editing, but for much less outlay. It also boasts an SD card reader and a variety of other connection ports, so it’s easy to attach your accessories. There’s even the option for a fingerprint reader for effortless login. There are some inevitable compromises here to keep the price down, like the screen, but nothing major enough to be a deal-breaker.
Best compact Dell laptop
This Dell laptop is really well designed, emanating quality with its build and aesthetics, and offers a light, compact package you can take just about everywhere. That’s not to say that we’re convinced by everything that the XPS 13 offers. The battery life is unremarkable, and the quality of the webcam and the screen resolution could both be better. Performance is absolutely fine for everyday tasks, but don’t expect get through anything particularly demanding on this laptop.
On the other hand, this laptop looks gorgeous, runs very smoothly, and is generally a pleasure to work with. You can also use it in places where you wouldn’t even have space to bring out a larger, heavier laptop.
Read more: Dell XPS 13 review
Best Dell workstation
For photographers seeking a powerful laptop, the Dell Precision 7780 offers several compelling features. Its expansive 17.3-inch display provides ample screen real estate for detailed photo editing, allowing professionals to see their work with clarity and precision. The laptop's robust connectivity options are particularly appealing to photographers, with an SD card reader conveniently located on the right side of the device, making file transfers quick and easy.
The laptop's performance is another major strength for photography professionals. Powered by a 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13850HX CPU and an NVIDIA RTX 3500 Ada 12GB GDDR6 GPU, it can handle resource-intensive photo editing software like Photoshop with ease. The high-performance components ensure smooth multitasking and rapid processing of large image files.
This laptop is quite heavy at 3.05 kg and not ideal for on-the-go work, given the limited battery life of around 3 hours. However, for photographers who primarily work in a studio or office setting and prioritize performance over portability, the Dell Precision 7780 represents a robust and capable machine
Best Dell laptop for business
The Dell Latitude 3440 is more than capable of handling editing high-res images, so it can be your go-to tool for photo editing on the move. However, this is first and foremost a business laptop, which makes it a versatile tool that will see you through every aspect of your business – from communicating with clients and drawing up contracts to the less demanding of your creative tasks. The integrated HDMI port is very handy for giving presentations, for example. For security on the go, there’s a fingerprint lock as standard.
Like most business laptops, it won’t come cheap. But, it isn’t that pricey either, which means it’s among the best-value laptops out there for business. We only wish it had a brighter display.
Best Dell laptop for gaming
With their emphasis on pure performance, gaming laptops often make great creative laptops too, especially the best of them like Alienware’s m18 R2. (Alienware is a Dell subsidiary.) This powerful laptop delivers a whole lot of power, thanks to its mighty innards.
Even the lowest-end configuration you can get will see you comfortably through your photo editing and graphic design needs, but you have the option to trick it out with an extraordinary 8TB of storage and one of Nvidia’s most powerful graphics processors, giving you a turbo-charged portable video editing suite. You’ll view your work on one of the biggest screens you’ll find on any laptop.
Just keep in mind that the m18 R2’s power comes at a price. It’s also big and heavy, and only has a short battery life as a result of its performance.
FAQs
What size laptop should I buy?
Laptops are meant to be portable, so it can be tempting to get the smallest, thinnest, lightest machine out there. However, while 13-14" laptops are indeed great for travel, that small screen size can soon feel frustratingly restrictive for longer image/video edits.
The best 17-inch laptops are the exact opposite: great for a more comfortable Photoshop experience, but big and heavy to lug about town. 15.6-16" laptops offer the ideal compromise, and are large enough to house a big battery, too.
What processor (CPU) do I need?
Laptop processors – the 'Intel' or 'AMD' entry on the specs list – are the major factor that determines a laptop's speed. However, there's a bewildering range of different processor models, with naming/numbering conventions that don't always have a logical connection with their real-world performance.
Generally, Intel processors are called Core i3, i5, i7 and i9. The bigger the number, the faster they are. However there can be crossover between models, as some faster i5 processors can outperform slower i7 chips. AMD has adopted a similar number convention to Intel, with their CPU line-up called Ryzen 3, 5, 7 and 9 processors. Again, the higher the number, the faster... usually.
We'd recommend a Core i5 / Ryzen 5 CPU as the minimum for image or video editing, with the highest number of processor cores you can afford: the more cores, the more a processor can work on at any one time. Just bear in mind that the faster the processor, the more power it'll consume, and the faster your battery will drain. For an idea of how different processor models will perform, check out this handy chart from PassMark.
How much RAM (memory) do I need?
The amount of RAM determines how fast your laptop can be 'fed' with work. You can have the fastest processor in the world, but if it doesn't have enough RAM to feed it the data to process, the computer will have to fall back on the hard drive/SSD for temporary data storage, leading to frustrating slowdowns.
There's really no downside to having more RAM, so buy the most you can afford. 16GB is a bare minimum when editing larger files, with 32GB being a safer amount for a future-proofed editing machine. And don't rely on being able add an extra stick of RAM yourself further down the line. Many new laptops have RAM permanently soldered in, so the amount you spec at purchase is the amount you're stuck with.
How much storage does a laptop need?
Laptops now pretty much always use an SSD for data storage; they're way faster than an old mechanical hard disk drive. As with RAM, buy the largest capacity you can afford. However storage can be easily increased after purchase with one of the best external hard drives or best portable hard drives.
The only thing to bear in mind with this upgrade path is the speed and extent of your laptop's connectivity. Generally most new laptops will have at least one USB 3.2 / Thunderbolt 3, or USB 4 / Thunderbolt 4 connection. Either will be plenty fast enough to run an external hard drive to the max. Generally, the larger the laptop, the more physical USB ports it'll have. That's useful when connecting multiple peripherals, like an external keyboard, mouse and secondary monitor.
How to choose the best Dell laptop
To select the best Dell laptop for you, decide which key features – for example display quality, battery life, performance and portability. – are most important to you. Consider battery life for prolonged usage, and look for a lightweight and sleek design for portability. Additionally, check for features like SSD storage and connectivity options to suit your needs.
How we test laptops
When reviewing a laptop, we assess its internal hardware features, build quality, ergonomics, performance in a variety of usage scenarios, value for money, and its overall suitability for its target buyer. Although we'll evaluate a laptop with a typical user in mind, we will also pay particular attention to the perspective of photo and video enthusiasts, with special focus given to screen quality and color space coverage. Where possible, a monitor calibrator will be used to measure a laptop's display performance to assess whether it matches a manufacturer's claims, and software benchmarks like GeekBench are used to measure a laptop's processor and graphics card capabilities.
Find out more about how we test and review on Digital Camera World
