Dell Precision 5470 Workstation: Mobile Workstation Power

Dell’s Precision mobile workstations include a number of high-end 17-inch laptops that offer impressive performance, but their size, weight, and limited battery life mean they’re not ideal for working on the go. transfer.

In contrast, the 14-inch screen Accuracy 5470 aims to offer a more portable option, with Dell claiming it is “the world’s thinnest and lightest 14-inch workstation”. In fact, at 1.48kg, the Precision 5470 is only slightly heavier than Apple’s recent upgrade. 13-inch MacBook Pro (1.4kg), but it outperforms the M2 MacBook Pro in raw performance. However, that lightweight design comes with a hefty price tag, especially for the Core i7-based model reviewed here, and Dell also made some disappointing cost-cutting decisions for a laptops in this price range.

Design & Features

The build quality of the Precision 5470 is impeccable. The laptop measures 19mm along the back edge, tapering down to 11mm at the front, 310mm wide and 210mm deep. Its aluminum housing is both light and sturdy (MIL-STD-810H tested), and well-suited to life on the road. The keyboard and trackpad feel solid and responsive, the keys travel well when typing at high speeds, and there’s a soft carbon fiber palm rest on the front part of the keyboard panel.

However, there are signs of compromise. The FHD+ (1920 x 1200) display (161.7dpi) delivers a 16:10 aspect ratio and thin bezels give it a smart, compact look with a 91% screen-to-body ratio. The display also offers 500 nits of brightness and produces bold, colorful images with nearly 180-degree viewing angles.

However, that resolution is quite modest for a laptop priced above $2,500, and it’s disappointing that you have to pay an extra $200 to upgrade to the QHD+ (2560 x 1600) resolution. The display also only supports the sRGB color standard, which should be fine for basic graphic and photo editing work, but will disappoint creative users who need a more precisely calibrated display. for graphics or video.

And while the stereo speaker system – with two woofers and two tweeters – sounds pretty complete, the 720p webcam is a disappointment, despite it having IR support for Windows Hello Face Authentication. The webcam performs quite well in low light, but the slightly grainy image shows low resolution so it won’t be ideal for video calls or teleworking.

However, the Precision 5470 is well-connected, has Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax at 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz) and Bluetooth 5.2, plus four Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports with DisplayPort support. There’s also a combo 3.5mm jack for audio input and output and a MicroSD card slot. There are no HDMI or USB-A ports, though, so you’ll need to provide your own adapters for older displays or peripherals that use those connectors.

Prices & options

Dell’s website currently offers several pre-made configurations for the Precision 5470, all of which feature the same 14-inch display with FHD+ (1920 x 1200) resolution. Dell’s prices fluctuate quite a bit from day to day, but at the time of writing, prices in the US start at $1,659 for the low-end configuration with the 12th generation. Core i5-12500H processor and integrated Iris Xe graphics, along with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of solid-state storage. Curiously, the UK price for that model is significantly higher at £2,928.59 (e.g. VAT).

We tested the Core i7 model, priced at $2,679 with the 12th generation Core i7-12800H Processor. It’s a 14-core processor that combines six high-performance cores that can run at up to 4.8 GHz, along with eight ‘efficient’ cores to preserve battery life for less demanding tasks. than. That price also includes 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD and removable Nvidia RTX A1000 graphics with 4GB of dedicated video memory. The UK also pays a premium here, with that configuration weighing in at £3,666.48 (e.g. VAT).

If you dig a little deeper, Dell’s US site also includes a ‘build your own preferences’ includes some additional upgrades (from the Core i7 model), including Core i9-12900H processor for $325.05 and a 14-inch touch screen with QHD+ (2560×1600) resolution (215.6dpi) for $257.71.

It’s also worth reiterating that there is another 14-inch laptop available in Dell’s Precision range, called the Accuracy 3470. This has a very similar design and specs to the Precision 5470 reviewed here, although its graphics capabilities are more modest, based on integrated graphics and an FHD+ display with a brightness of just 250 nits. . At the time of writing, the Precision 3470 starts at $1,479 for a Core i5-1250P The model has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage.

Performance

It’s not quite in the same class as its 17-inch stabilizers, but the Precision 5470 offers powerful performance that will appeal to many professional and creative users.

The M2 processor in Apple’s new 13-inch MacBook Pro, scores 1,900 for single-core performance in Geekbench 5 CPU test, which is slightly higher than the Precision 5470’s score of 1,700. However, the Dell laptop turned the tables with its multi-core performance, scoring 11,000 points against the 8,986 of the M2 MacBook Pro. It went even further on Geekbench’s Compute test in terms of graphics performance, scoring 51,700 points while the MacBook Pro only managed 30,180.

That graphics performance is confirmed at runtime 3DMark Wildlife Extreme, where the MacBook Pro hit 30 fps while the Precision 5470 sat comfortably at 40 fps. To be fair, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is about $2,000 cheaper, but the MacBook Pro also includes a 2560 x 1600 display at no extra cost and delivers battery life that the Precision 5470 can’t match.

In fact, Dell’s website tries its best to avoid the topic of battery life, but in our battery test, the Precision 5470 lasted 7 hours and 22 minutes playing full-screen video from BBC iPlayer. using the integrated Iris Xe Graphics and with the screen brightness set to 50%. If you don’t use wi-fi all day then you should certainly be able to get a full day’s work from the Precision 5470, but that’s still not quite the 19 hours and 56 minutes we got from the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Conclusion

The Precision 5470’s slim design is appealing and will appeal to professional users who need a powerful laptop that’s portable enough to carry on long trips or when working outdoors.

However, the Precision 5470 is perhaps too focused on portability, leaving room for improvement elsewhere. Battery life is relatively modest, even when using integrated graphics, and the FHD+ display and 720p webcam are both disappointing compared to what many competitors in this price range offer.

Dell Precision 5470 . Workstation Specifications

Alternatives to consider

There are a number of 14-inch laptops available today that aim to deliver workstation levels of performance, with Apple’s MacBook Pro lineup setting the standard for battery life. But if battery life isn’t a priority, there are larger 16-inch and 17-inch laptops that can really compete with traditional desktop workstations.

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