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Dell Inspiron 11 3185 review

Dell Inspiron 11 3185

CHOICE Expert Rating

62%
What is the CHOICE Expert Rating?
Good points

Good Points

  • Small, but very comfortable keyboard
  • Silent operation
  • microSD card slot
  • Very good keyboard
  • Full-sized HDMI
Bad points

Bad Points

  • Screen viewing angles are too narrow
  • Uncomfortable to use as a tablet due to narrow screen angles
  • Has two USB 2.0 ports and only one USB 3.0 port
  • Keyboard is not backlit
  • Lacks USB-C ports
  • Poor speakers
  • High percentage of storage space taken up by the operating system and pre-installed software

Type

Ultraportable
Ultrabook
Tablet mode
Operating system
Windows 10 Pro

Recommended products

Recommended
Not recommended
Recommended for tablet use

Test results

CHOICE Expert Rating
62%
Performance score
45%
Tablet use score
50%
Ease of use score
77%
Battery life score
58%
Display score
56%
Audio score
40%
Wi-Fi score
71%
Storage write-speed (MBps)
94
Storage read-speed (MBps)
148
Wi-Fi speed (MBps)
33
Average battery life – heavy usage (hours)
4:20
Charging time to 80% full (h:min)
1:28
Expert tester comments
Dell's tiny Inspiron 3185 didn't quite make our recommended list, but may appeal to those for whom compactness is crucial. Consider it only if you want the most basic of tablet-convertible computers, and don't expect to get too much enjoyment out of it when using it as a tablet. The screen has narrow viewing angles that can make it difficult to view in tablet mode. On the plus side, it does have a very good keyboard, which is especially impressive given the short width of the laptop. Think of it more as a useful small laptop that can also be used as a tablet occasionally. Note: This laptop's performance is not directly comparable to current products due to it being tested with an older version of our benchmark.

Sustainability

Shop Ethical rating
C
Warranty (years)
1
Replaceable battery
Not collected
Replace/upgrade RAM
Not collected
Slots for additional RAM
Not collected
Replace/upgrade storage
Not collected
Slot for additional storage
Not collected
Replace/upgrade Wi-Fi
Not collected
Country of origin
Not collected

Related products

Availability
Discontinued model

Cost

Price
$719.00

Specifications

Screen size (inches)
11.6
Native screen resolution (pixels)
1366 x 768
Processor (CPU) type
AMD A9-9420e
CPU frequency (GHz)
1.8
RAM (GB)
8
Video graphics type
AMD Radeon R5
Storage capacity (GB)
128
Available user space (GB)
78
Storage type
SSD
Wi-Fi version
5
Weight of laptop (kg)
1.3
Weight of power supply (kg)
0.3
Size (mm, H x D x W)
22 x 202 x 292

Features

Screen finish
Glossy
Touchscreen
USB-C
USB 2.0 ports
2
USB 3.0 ports
1
USB 4 as USB-C port
0
USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 1 or 2, not Thunderbolt 3 or 4) ports
0
Thunderbolt 3 or 4 (as USB-C) ports
0
SD card slot (full-size)
SD card slot (micro)
HDMI port
Gigabit ethernet port
Rear camera
Backlit keyboard levels of brightness
0

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Recommended

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Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14Q8X9
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Recommended

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14Q8X9

$1,499

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