The Dell Latitude 14 7490 is a budget-friendly option that's great for general use, offering solid performance for everyday tasks, a comfortable backlit keyboard, and good battery life, making it a reliable choice for business or personal use. It's also quite portable, with a smaller screen and lighter weight, ideal for those who need to work on the go. However, its gaming and engineering capabilities are limited due to its integrated graphics.
On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) is designed with performance in mind, particularly for gaming, 3D rendering, and machine learning tasks, thanks to its powerful dedicated Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU and high-refresh-rate display. It also has a larger, higher-resolution screen with superior color accuracy, which is beneficial for detailed work and immersive gaming experiences. The Legion Pro 5i is less portable due to its larger size and heavier build, and it has a shorter battery life, making it more suitable for users who prioritize performance and primarily use their laptop in one location.
In summary, choose the Dell for its portability, battery life, and suitability for general use, but if you need a laptop that can handle intensive tasks like gaming or engineering workloads, and you don't mind a bulkier device with less battery life, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) is the better choice. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Dell Latitude 14 7490
Very good portability
Good battery life
Very good speakers
Advantages of the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024)
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good overall display quality
Very good keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.2/10
7.8/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
305.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
368.0 nits
9.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
3.5 Hours
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
8.1/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.6/10
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) and Dell Latitude 14 7490 are both good for general use, though the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) is somewhat better.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Gaming and AI
5.9/10
8.5/10
3.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) is very good for gaming and AI, while the Dell Latitude 14 7490 is poor.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
6.5/10
8.7/10
3.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.8/10
3.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) is very good for engineering and design, while the Dell Latitude 14 7490 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
7.3/10
7.9/10
3.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.8/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) and Dell Latitude 14 7490 are both good for content creation, though the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) is somewhat better.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.1/10
7.7/10
3.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.8/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) and Dell Latitude 14 7490 are both good for software development, though the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) is somewhat better.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
6.7/10
8.1/10
14.0in
SIZE
16.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
305.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
368.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i has a better screen than the Dell Latitude 14 7490 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
9.5 Hours
3.5 Hours
The Dell Latitude 14 7490 has 9.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i has 3.5 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Very Good
Fair
14.0in
SIZE
16.0in
3.1 lbs
WEIGHT
5.6 lbs
0.8in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Dell Latitude 14 7490 has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$300
$1,500
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Dell Latitude 14 7490 has a price of $300 and the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024) costs $1,500.
"The Dell Latitude 7490's got the speed you need (and then some), a keyboard that's comfortable enough for writing all day long and a battery that supports a full 8-hour workday. If only the display were brighter and it managed heat better. If you need every minute of battery life you can get, the extended-battery version of the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 lasts 8 hours longer than the Latitude 7490, but its display is much less colorful."
"The midpriced Lenovo Legion Pro 5i Gen 8 follows some of our favorite gaming machines, including last year's model and the higher-end Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 tested earlier this year. But pedigree doesn't count for much in the computer world, and gaming laptops require a certain level of power and graphics performance to justify their prices. The Pro 5i Gen 8 just doesn't do that, offering middling CPU and GPU performance rather than the sort of muscle that would make it a great value."
Get a great deal on the Dell Latitude 14 7490 or the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (2024)
About Dell
Dell is a highly recognizable American technology company, and is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. Their laptops are very popular for both personal and professional use, and they also own the Alienware brand which makes mid to high end gaming laptops. Their premium XPS range of laptops offer great build quality and portability, while Latitude and Precision laptops are known for reliability, repairability and performance for business users.
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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Joe Golden, Ph.D
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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