Dell Latitude 12 7000 Series (E7250)

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Pros Compact. Lots of connectors for the size. MIL-SPEC rated.

Cons Pricey. No pointing stick. Bottom Line The rugged features and compact form factor of the Dell 12 7000 Series (E7250) make this 12-inch business ultrabook a good choice if you travel frequently for work and need more PC functionality than a tablet or stripped-down ultraportable can offer.

By Joel Santo Domingo

The Dell Latitude 12 7000 Series (E7250) ($1,784.10 as tested) is a 12-inch high-end business ultrabooks. Its compact, rugged chassis manages to squeeze in a 1,920-by-1,080-resolution touch screen, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, plenty of ports, and a removable battery. Nine hours of battery life in our testing means that the system will last all day, and then some. You will have to pay for that portability, however, as its price tag is on the high side in today's market.

Design and Features
The carbon-fiber lid gives the Latitude E7250 a premium feel. It also acts as a visual indicator that this is the touch-screen-equipped model, since non-touch Dell Latitude laptops have a charcoal-gray exterior. The chassis measures about 0.8 by 12.25 by 8.25 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.34 pounds.

Like the Dell Latitude 14 7000 Series (E7450), the Latitude E7250 is MIL-SPEC rated, which means it was tested to make sure it could handle damp, dusty, high-vibration, and extremely hot and cold environments, so it is more than qualified to survive the day-to-day physical demands of an enterprise-class business laptop. It's not tested to survive stress for as long as the Dell Latitude 12 Rugged Extreme, but it will endure the occasional drop to the floor, vibration, and being out in a light rain for a few minutes.

The 12.5-inch, 1,920-by-1,080-resolution screen offers 10-point touch-screen functionality. Text and graphics are very sharp on the screen, which will help both accuracy and to ease eye fatigue. The edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass covering the screen has some shine to it, though the display remains viewable in a variety of lighting conditions, even under the bright lights over our PC Labs benches.

The Latitude E7250's backlit, chiclet-style keyboard is comfortable and easy to type on. The touchpad set into the palm rest has two physical mouse buttons within easy reach of your thumbs. Physical mouse buttons are more traditional, and may be easier to use if you are accustomed to using two finger taps for right-click. The system doesn't have a pointing stick, which may disappoint you if you are a veteran business laptop user. You'll have to request the larger Dell E7450 to get dual pointing devices.

Connectivity is excellent. The system has the same number of I/O ports as the larger, 14-inch Dell E7450. You'll find a mini DisplayPort, an Ethernet port, a headset jack, an HDMI port, a Noble security port, an SD card slot, a Smart Card reader, and three USB 3.0 ports on the system's sides. There's also a SIM slot under the battery for optional WWAN use, though our review unit didn't come with a WWAN module. The included 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 module handles wireless connections.

The 8GB of system memory is plenty for most business users, as is the 256GB solid-state drive (SSD). Thankfully, there is no bloatware on the system. The included Windows 8.1 Pro operating system can be downgraded to Windows 7 Professional on the same license, and you're set for the upcoming Windows 10, which will be a free upgrade. The system comes with a 3-year warranty, including onsite service after a remote diagnostic.

Performance
The Latitude E7250 comes with an Intel Core i5-5300U processor with integrated Intel HD Graphics 5500. That's a fairly beefy fifth-generation Intel Core CPU, and as a result, the system returned an excellent score of 2,839 points on the PCMark 8 Work Conventional test. That's faster than rivals, like the Dell Latitude E7450 (2,681), the HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 (G4U67UT) (2,775) and the Lenovo X1 Carbon Touch (2015) (2,646). These are much better performers on the same test than the Core-M –equipped HP EliteBook Folio 1020 (1,464).

The system also did well on the Handbrake (2:49) and Adobe Photoshop CS6 (4:57) test. Again, it is faster than the other systems listed above. Only the Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch, Retina Display (2015) was a bit quicker on the multimedia tests (Handbrake, 2:38; CS6, 4:17). 3D performance was adequate for a business system, which means that it should be fine with 3D elements on websites and in programs, rather than excelling on 3D games.

Battery life is very good, is very good at 9 hours, 3 minutes on our rundown test, which is about an hour and 15 minutes more than the Dell Latitude E7440 Touch. The 13-inch Apple MacBook's battery life was two hours more, but most other Windows laptops didn't last that long, ranging from just over 7 hours to just under 9.

If you are a business user who needs extra portability, the Dell Latitude 12 7000 Series (E7250) is a good choice. It is rugged, has a really nice screen, and good performance, including nine hours of battery life. We believe it could find a place in your business plans, whether you're a Fortune 500 company, or one that barely has 500 employees. Its 14-inch counterpart, the Dell Latitude 14 7000 Series (E7450), remains our Editors' Choice business ultrabook, as it has more battery life, is a little less expensive, and has more crowd-pleasing features like a larger screen and dual pointing devices. If you're willing to give up some of that for portability, however, the Dell Latitude E7250 will also serve you well.

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