Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable review: A very good Surface Pro alternative

The Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable laptop is a convenient travel companion that gives you the flexibility to work or relax, offering solid performance and a great display in one portable package.

Our review unit impressed me with its vibrant webcam, fast SSD, and amazing display. Some downsides to look out for are the high price, mediocre speakers and the flimsy design of the kickstand and type cover.

Still, if you want a tablet that doubles as a laptop and have the budget to afford it, this 2-in-1 is a good choice. Read on for our full Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable review, which should help you decide if this system makes sense for you.

Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable review: Price and availability

• Expect to pay between $1,500 - $2,500
• Weak components given the high price

The Dell Latitude 7320 is on sale now via Dell's website and third-party retailers. Starting at an uncomfortably high $1,559, the base configuration includes an 11th Gen Intel Core i3-1110G4 CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. That's pretty paltry given the high asking price, and the worst part is that the keyboard and stylus need to be purchased separately. To get them you're paying nearly $2,000. 

The model that we reviewed just so happens to be the most expensive option, which includes an 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1180G7, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD. If you’re interested in this particular configuration, you may want to wait for a pretty good sale because the price for this is just over $2,500. 

Of course, Dell does offer a few other different customization options on its site, but you will have to pay more than the baseline price of $1,559. 

Additionally, you will also need to pay for the detachable keyboard cover, which costs $199, and you have the choice to buy the Active Pen for an additional $79. If you’re looking to save some money, you may be able to purchase the keyboard and active pen in a bundle with the tablet, and receive a small discount. 

Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable review: Design

• Small and lightweight
• Unsightly rectangular chunk protrudes from rear 

The Latitude 7320 has a modern-looking aluminum chassis, and the back features a flexible aluminum kickstand. There's also a raised rectangular area above the kickstand, and I can’t help but notice the big hunk of metal popping right out of Latitude's backside. Of course, if Dell intended to make its chrome logo more gaudy by being in the middle of the chunk, it definitely succeeded. 

Unlike the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Plus, the Latitude 7320 Detachable doesn’t have any hidden secrets under the kickstand; all you’ll find is “7320 Detachable”  spelled out in matte gray type along the bottom. However, the Latitude 7320 does have a fingerprint sensor on the top-right corner that blends in quite perfectly. Opposite from the sensor, hidden in the chunky metal section, you will see an “SC” label accompanied by a large opening. That’s where a security card would go. 

Each side of the Latitude 7320 contains some sort of useful button or port. When horizontal, the top right side contains the power button while the right side itself has different ports. The left side features the volume buttons, and both the left and right sides have a thin slit where the speakers are. Finally, the bottom of this detachable features a magnetic input for the type cover. 

Looking at the 13-inch screen, the bezels are all moderately small, with the sides being the smallest, and the top and bottom bezels stacking up slightly larger. Located on the top of the screen is a small webcam, which is also mirrored on the backside. 

The Latitude 7320 is on the smaller side, weighing in at 1.7 pounds and 11.4 x 8.2 x 0.3 inches, nearly having the same weight and size as the Surface Pro 7 Plus (1.8 pounds, 11.5 x 7.9 x 0.3 inches). If it weren’t for that chunky bit on the bottom side of the tablet, I’m sure it would have been even smaller and lighter. The Lenovo ThinkPad X12 detachable (1.7 pounds, 11.2 x 8 x 0.4 inches) is a tad bit smaller, but shares the same weight as the Latitude. 

Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable review: Ports

• 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports and little else
• Having 1 Thunderbolt 4 port on either side makes charging convenient

It’s sometimes hard to remember that the ports on this 2-in-1 Dell aren’t located in the same places they would be on a typical laptop. Every time I go to look, I’m always baffled. 

The right side of the Latitude features a Thunderbolt 4 port and a non-SIM card slot for 4G LTE Support. 

Meanwhile, on the left side you’ll find the volume buttons, a headphone jack, another Thunderbolt 4 port, and a lock slot. 

The coolest part about this Latitude is that the Thunderbolt 4 ports on either side can be used for charging, making it flexible as to which way you want your wire. 

Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable review: Display

• 13-inch, 3:2 display is sharp and vivid
• Great brightness and color reproduction

The Latitude 7320 offers a 13-inch, 1920 x 1280 pixel touchscreen display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, making this a tad bit larger than the Surface Pro 7 Plus as well as the ThinkPad X12. With a slightly bigger screen, not to mention a great color and brightness, you’ll enjoy streaming movies and shows when you’re not working.

When watching the trailer for Black Widow, the picture was vivid and sharp. Natasha’s vibrant red hair popped on screen, and the display caught each glistening strand of hair. In the scene where Natasha has her first battle on the bridge, the smoke and flames were intensely bright, but the balanced contrast made it easy to suss out details around the bridge.

The Latitude 7320's display blows its competition away. According to our colorimeter test, the Latitude 7320 covers 92.2% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, surpassing both the ThinkPad X12 (75%) and the Surface Pro 7 Plus (76%). 

Let’s not forget the Latitude 7320’s brightness, which reaches a whopping 429 nits of brightness, going above and beyond compared to the Surface Pro 7 Plus (358 nits) and the ThinkPad X12 Detachable (376 nits). 

Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable review: Type Cover and stylus

• Type cover is nice to have, but hard to use effectively
• Active Pen works well and charges quickly in type cover charging slot

The type cover on the Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable is nice to have, but its flimsy design throws me off. If you’re on the go and don’t have a stable surface to balance the Latitude 7320, then you can barely use the type cover. 

I also wish the keys were a bit bigger, as well as the palm rests. While taking the typing test on 10fastfingers.com, it proved to be somewhat difficult for me to use, as I hit 42 words per minute, falling below my 56-wpm average.

For an additional $79 (originally $99), you can buy the Dell Premium Active Pen stylus, which is easy to use on the Latitude's responsive touchscreen. While drawing in a painting app, the lines came out very smooth and the lines synced effortlessly. 

Rather than having a home inside of the tablet, the pen can nestle on the top of the Type Cover, all while charging — though it shouldn't need to rest long if that's all you need, as the pen takes only 30 seconds to fully charge. 

Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable review: Audio

• Poor speakers can make things sound like they're underwater
• Echo-like effect hampers sound clarity

I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of the speakers on this Latitude, which are located on the upper backside of the Latitude 7320 Detachable.

While listening to Bo Burnham’s “All Eyes on Me,” I noticed an echo-like noise immediately, and it hampered the sound clarity. I also noticed the background instrumentals and musical beats didn’t seem to blend well with Bo’s singing, making it hard to hear a good balance between both. It sounded as though the speakers were underwater, even during the commercial before the song.

Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable review: Performance

• Core i7 config can handle daily multi-tasking with ease
• SSD offers speedy file transfers
• Don't expect to edit videos quickly

The Latitude 7320 came packed with an 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1180G7 vPro CPU and 16GB of RAM, and it did pretty well running all of my programs simultaneously. I opened 25 Google Chrome tabs, including a YouTube tab streaming my music among a variety of other programs, and the tablet ran through it like it was no big deal. 

On the Geekbench 5.4 overall performance test, the Latitude 7320 scored 4,291. Though this score is respectable, it falls short compared to the ThinkPad X12 Detachable's score of 4,778 (Core i5-1130G7) as well as the Surface Pro 7 Plus' score of 4,825 (Core i5-1135G7). 

On our Handbrake test, it took the Latitude 7320 21 minutes and 29 seconds to convert a 4K video to 1080p, which isn’t great. However, it did take less time than the ThinkPad X12 Detachable (22:54) and the Surface Pro 7+ (23:41).

Depending on the configuration you choose, you can determine how much storage you want. The Latitude we received came with a 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD, and boy did it do its job. When duplicating 25 GB of mixed media files, it took only 45 seconds, with a transfer rate of 597.7 megabytes per second. Meanwhile, the ThinkPad X12 fell behind with a transfer rate of 408 MBps, and the Surface Pro 7 Plus was even further behind with a transfer rate of 348.3 MBps.

Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable review: Graphics

• This is not a great laptop for playing games
• Runs Civilization VI at a meager 17 frames per second

You definitely don’t want to rely on the Latitude 7320 for your gaming needs. 

While running Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (Medium, 1080p), the Latitude 7320 was able to run at a measly 17 frames per second, which just barely surpasses the Surface Pro 7 Plus (15 frames per second) and the ThinkPad Detachable (12 frames per second).

Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable review: Battery life

• 9+ hours of battery life is enough for a day at work
• Some competitors last longer

The battery life on this particular Latitude lasted 9 hours and 18 minutes. While this will get you through a workday better than the Surface Pro 7 Plus, which only lasted 8 hours and 49 minutes, there’s a lot of tough competition out there. The Latitude 7320 falls behind both the category average of 10 hours and 4 minutes as well as the ThinkPad X12 Detachable, which lasted a whopping 11 hours. 

Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable review: Webcams

• 1080p webcam and 8MP rear camera deliver great image quality
• However, colors look dull

Webcams keep getting better and better, and the Dell Latitude 7320 doesn’t disappoint. With a 5-megapixel 1080p front-facing camera, the smallest details were easily picked up with no issue. I also noticed that the webcam was able to make out the tiniest detail of the frizz in my hair. 

Can’t exactly say I’m too keen on the color aspect though. Though the Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable was able to pick up different aspects of my face tones, like the rosy hues in my cheeks, or the dark circles under my eyes, there’s no denying the fact that the color just seemed dull. 

I love how the rear-facing camera, the one that will barely be used in a business setting, always seems to be better on a tablet. I feel like that should be reversed. 

The webcam located on the hood of the laptop is 8MP and it is breathtaking, even more so than the webcam on the inside. The details that were brought out by the webcam were so clear and precise. 

I took a picture of the only thing I had on my desk, which was a water bottle, and the accuracy of the dew droplets on the side of the bottle and the ripples from the designs in the clear plastic left me in awe.

Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable review: Software

There are quite a few different apps on the Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable, but not so many that it’s annoying. 

Along with the typical Windows 10 Pro apps, you can find Dell Digital Delivery (required purchase before use), Dell Optimizer for changing some of your laptop settings, Dell Power Manager for managing your battery life, and Dell Command/Update for updating your detachable. 

Some other applications include Groove Music, Xbox Console Companion, and Office Suite. 

The Dell Latitude 7320 also comes with a one-year limited warranty, but you have the option to extend it for an additional five years. 

Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable review: Verdict

The Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable is a great option if you're in the market for a tablet that can double as a laptop, one that has the ability to be customized to either fit your budget or preference. The webcams on both the front and back of the tablet are fantastic and high quality, and with the display being superb, it makes video chatting or even streaming enjoyable. 

Even so, the quality of the speakers could be better, especially for the starting price of the Dell Latitude 7320. And while it has decent battery life, some competitors last longer on a charge, and it doesn't help that the Latitude's kickstand and type cover have a flimsy design.

Overall, the Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable isn't our favorite 2-in-1 laptop, but it's definitely worth a look for business users on the go.