Dell Latitude 12 7000 2-in-1 review: Slick, overpriced, and underpowered

Specs at a glance: Dell Latitude 12 7275 2-in-1
	Lowest	Best	As reviewed
SCREEN	1920×1080 IPS at 12.5-inch, multitouch	3840×2160 IPS at 12.5-inch, multitouch	3840×2160 IPS at 12.5-inch, multitouch
OS	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU	6th Generation Intel Core m5-6Y57 (Dual-core, 1.1GHz, 4MB cache)	6th Generation Intel Core m7-6Y75 (Dual-core, 1.2GHz, 4MB cache)	6th Generation Intel Core m7-6Y75 (Dual-core, 1.2GHz, 4MB cache)
RAM	4GB DDR3L	8GB DDR3L	8GB DDR3L
GPU	Intel HD 515
HDD	128GB M.2 SATA SSD	256GB M.2 SATA SSD	256GB M.2 SATA SSD
NETWORKING	Intel 8260 Dual band 2x2 802.11ac 2.4/5GHz + Bluetooth 4.1
PORTS	2 x USB 3.1 Type-C (Thunderbolt), microSD reader
SIZE	Height: 8.22mm (0.32") x Width: 290.87mm (11.45") x Depth: 192.85mm (7.59")
WEIGHT	1.61lbs (0.73kg)
BATTERY	2-Cell (30Whr) battery
WARRANTY	3 years
NOTE	Dell's prices can vary wildly thanks to its "instant savings." The prices below include VAT; but the prices on the Dell website, as they're for businesses, are excluding VAT.
PRICE	£1,168 ($1,680)	£1,488 ($2,140)	£1488 ($2,140)

Once a gimmick, the hybrid 2-in-1 has rapidly become the default design for a high-end portable laptop—or rather, Microsoft's take on the hybrid 2-in-1 has become the default design for a high-end portable laptop. For all its faults, the Surface Pro is a fine piece of hardware design, and everyone from the likes of HP to Lenovo has come up with its own iterative take on the concept. Dell has had a few attempts at it, too, with varying degrees of success. (What was it thinking with the wacky, horizontally spinning screen of the old XPS 12?)

The Latitude 12 7000 (actual model number 7275) is decidedly less out there, and not just because it hails from Dell's stuffy business PC range. It's very much a take on the Surface design, albeit with a different—though not necessarily better—case and keyboard, as well as an austere yet attractive soft-touch body. Dell's design chops have progressed leaps and bounds over the past couple of years, and the Latitude 12 7000 is no exception; business types and clean-cut consumers will have no problem whipping one out in a meeting or at a local Starbucks.

And yet despite some nice touches, it's hard to recommend the Latitude 12.

I’m all business, baby

Like the Surface, the Latitude 12 uses a keyboard case with a kickstand on the back rather than being a laptop with a 360-degree hinge. However, the screen doesn't actually form part of the structure of the thing—lift it off and the kickstand stays behind. This design helps keep the tablet sleek, but it does mean that if you don't have the kickstand-keyboard case with you, there's no way of propping the tablet up without resorting to some MacGyver-like hacking.

But boy is this thing sleek. The Latitude 12 is an ultra-skinny tablet closer in dimensions to an iPad Pro 12 than your typical "business tablet." It’s about as far removed from a Panasonic Toughpad as you can get. The highlight of the tablet is just how much of the front of it is taken up by the display. There's only about a centimeter of blank space to the left and right, giving you the sense that Dell has squeezed in as large a screen as it can. The bezel at the top and bottom of the screen is bigger, but if Dell tried to shrink it down, there would be no room for the decently sized trackpad that is part of the case—and a hybrid without a good trackpad makes Windows 10 a nightmare to use for proper work like spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations.

There are some smart design decisions in the Latitude 12, then, but it doesn’t have the glamour of the Surface. Its design is relatively plain. Unlike, say, the Lenovo Yoga 900 with its unbelievably blingy watch-inspired hinge, there are no flashy parts on show with the Dell. Though, as someone who finds the Yoga 900 a bit too showy for its own good, I'm fine with that. The tablet's frame is covered in a plain black soft-touch finish, while the case is covered almost entirely by what looks like gray tweed fabric.

Yes, Dell has dressed this thing up in a suit

Unfortunately, the soft-touch finish of the Latitude 12 makes it feel like plastic, but it's actually made from tough magnesium, the same stuff Lenovo uses to make Thinkpads. This material makes the tablet alone weigh a hefty 706g; if you add a keyboard to the mix, the device is a bit too heavy to hold comfortably in one hand for more than a minute or so. Plug in the keyboard and the hinge holds the screen much farther back than your average laptop, which is a nice touch. The hinge has a free-moving mechanism that has enough strength to hold up the screen at an airline-friendly 135 degrees.

The Samsung Galaxy TabPro S, Microsoft Surface Book, and Dell Latitude 12 all try to offer a picture of what the laptops of the future might look like. In doing so, some convenience is lost. With the keyboard attached, the Dell Latitude 12 is significantly thicker than a MacBook Pro, but it manages to lack any regular-size USB ports. USB Type-C might be the future, but the vast majority of devices still use the old standard, meaning you'll need an adaptor to connect them. Thankfully there are two Thunderbolt 3 ports, which support 40Gb/s Thunderbolt devices, 10Gbps USB 3.1, and 4K displays up to 60Hz. They're also used to charge the tablet. Plus, Dell bundles a full-size USB adapter in the box.

Really, though, Dell wants you to fork out for one of its desktop docks. The Dell WD15 adds a whole mess of video and USB connectors that make using the Latitude 12 at a desk a single-cable affair, but it costs a hefty £250. It's definitely one for the corporate card. There's also no full-size SD slot on the Latitude, just microSD. I edit photos using an array of SD cards daily, and even after accepting the downgrade to using microSD exclusively, the idea of having to deal with the fiddly little plastic flap every day is not appealing.