Dell Latitude 9510 review: incredible mobility with a large screen

The Dell Latitude 9510 is a rare business laptop that will be able to meet your business needs even if they change next week or in a year. Maybe now you are work from home and you want a laptop with lots of connections, good sound for crystal clear conference calls, a bigger screen, and seamless background updates to your email, calendar, and notifications . But eventually you might also need a device designed for mobility with the best battery life possible, a great wireless that includes 4G or 5G mobile access and reliable performance that is the same whether plugged in or not. That’s what the Latitude 9510 gives you – a laptop for the present and the future.

A complete mobile office

The Latitude 9510 was developed under Intel Athena Project, a co-engineering program focused on innovations to help the most demanding users who need to be incredibly mobile. At the time Dell approached Intel about this, the program focused on 13 and 14 inch laptops. Dell’s goal was to give you the same mobility as these smaller models but with a 15-inch screen. The result is a device that you can use just about anywhere – from your desk or sofa to a park bench or airplane table top – without the constraints of a small screen.

However, Dell also wanted the 9510 to be a full premium experience, similar to its range of XPS laptops but with features designed to appeal to business users. It was in fact announced alongside the XPS 13 updated at CES 2020. This premium experience comes with an equally premium price. Available as a traditional flapper or as a two-in-one as I tested, the price starts at $ 1,849 but was $ 2749 for my configuration. It starts to £ 1,252 in UK and AU $ 3,385 in Australia. While this is expensive compared to a mainstream laptop, business laptops like the 9510 are designed to handle more difficult treatments while still being repairable by your IT department.

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There are a bunch of other little things that give the Latitude 9510 a head start. It has a fingerprint sensor in the power button for secure connections. But it also has an infrared camera to connect with facial recognition and a proximity sensor so that it knows when you leave your computer and automatically locks it, then unlocks it when you return.

Then there is the Dell Optimizer software, which learns how to adjust performance and battery according to your usage patterns. It starts picking up your models after as little as an hour, but once you work with it for a few weeks, it learns how you use your apps and will maintain the performance of your five most used apps. It also learns when you are typically plugged in and for how long, to help you manage power.

The battery life is amazing – it lasted over 25 hours in our video streaming test. Most importantly, I can work on it for a whole day, turn it off and come back the next day and start working again without worrying about the load in between. It also charges quickly via the USB-C ports (both located on the left side). It wakes up instantly when I lift the lid, and with facial recognition, it unlocks, Wi-Fi connects, and I’m ready to go in seconds.

Because battery life and consistent performance were the priority when designing the 9510, Dell does not offer discrete graphics or UHD resolution displays. The components you get are by no means disappointing when it comes to performance. Additionally, with Intel’s vPro platform, the 9510 gives IT departments better tools for all the security and remote management that are now even more needed with the increase in remote workforce.

Basically, if you’re ready and able to pay for the Dell Latitude 9510 (or your business), you’ll be rewarded with top-notch work experience. It’s a great choice if you’re working from home right now, but still small enough and light enough to be a traveling companion on the road.