The Dell Inspiron 5420 is a mid-range, all-in-one desktop computer for the home office. Beyond its clean snowflake aesthetic, this AIO PC sports a premium design and lots of connectivity options at a more reachable price than most competing AIOs. Plus, it’s got decent performance to run most tasks, but if you’re a demanding user, then you might consider looking at something beyond the Core i5-1335U packed into this Inspiron 5420.
But for those looking for a stylish, simple everyday PC with a bright screen, this is a clear winner. The 24-inch display, which also houses the processor and other critical circuitry looks great, and has a plastic body with a fabric cover in the front.
Under the hood, you have a 13th Gen Core i5 processor, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD storage, and Intel Iris Xe graphics. It features an infinity edge display like the 27-inch Dell Inspiron 7700 AIO, which makes the screen area look bigger than it is. If all you need is a simple, attractive, versatile desktop for basic tasks, the Dell Inspiron 5420 is easily an excellent choice.
About the Dell Inspiron 5420
Here are the specs of the desktop in this review:
- Processor: Intel Core i5-1335U
- Graphics: Intel Iris Xe
- RAM: 16GB DDR4
- Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Wireless connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
- Weight: 11.88 pounds
- Size: 1.58 x 21.36 x 14.11 inches
The Inspiron 24 model in our review is the non-touch version, but there’s a touch model, which comes with an Intel Core i3-1215U processor, 8GB RAM, and 512GB SSD storage.
What we like
Attractive design for less money
The Dell Inspiron 5420 starts below $1000, which is reasonably affordable for a modern all-in-one computer. That’s not a lot to spend on a modern all-in-one PC, yet Dell cleverly avoids any noticeable compromises and shortcuts that are often glaring in budget AIO designs; it looks fantastic.
Dell uses a simple, thin-bezel display with a fabric-covered chin that houses a pair of speakers. It’s a beautiful design that should blend nicely with most home office setups. I [particularly like Dell’s choice of a warm, white color palette and fabric touch points, which doesn’t struggle to imitate the silver, black business-like look of the Lenovo IdeaCentre and the Acer C Series AIOs.
It’s worth the money you’re spending, on closer inspection, the fabric used across the Inspiron 24’s chin feels soft and pleasant. Turn it around and you’ll find a sturdy white matte plastic rear panel with a chrome Dell logo. Most components are plastic, but the triangle legs are solid metal and feel incredibly durable.
It’s just hard to see where Dell could improve on this design, especially at this price. Every aspect of this AIO PC is inviting, every panel feels sturdy and durable, and every seam is slim or hidden from sight. Dell’s only serious competition must be HP, which uses a similar design for its Pavilion All-in-One. The main difference is on the stand; Dell uses wide, TV-style legs, while HP uses a traditional square monitor base.
It runs fast and quiet under stress
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Dell equips the Inspiron 5420 with a mobile chipset and Intel’s Core i5-1335U processor. This chip is meant for laptops, so it sips power and generates as little heat as possible.
The Inspiron 24 is much larger than a laptop, of course, and that keeps everything cooled with zero fuss. The always-on fans are whisper-quiet and extremely difficult to hear in a quiet room. The fan kicks up slightly under full load, but it remains indistinct most of the time.
On the other hand, the pair of speakers beneath the Dell Inspiron 24’s fabric-covered chin are loud, deliver respectable bass and sound clear even at high volume. Most sounds are impressive thanks to the speakers’ bass which, in turn, provides ample room for the upper and mid-range to deliver clear sound without sounding muffled.
However, don’t confuse this with being an “audiophile” experience, the speakers have a limited sound stage, which is noticeable when listening to tracks that should be broad and dynamic, such as live recordings of classical music. Even with those limits, it’s still a good experience. It’s great to hear quality audio from a mid-range all-in-one, as computers in this price range often get away with just passable sound.
What we don’t like
Performance is pretty basic, at best
The Intel Core i5-1335U is a 10-core mobile processor, that on paper, sounds great, but only two of those are Performance cores. The rest are Intel’s far slower Efficient cores, and this limits performance in demanding workloads.
Since it has a similar clock speed as the older Intel Core i7-1250U, the Core i5-1335U isn’t as powerful as the Core i7-1365U which offers higher clock rates and a faster iGPU. The Dell Inspiron 5420 achieves a 5,236 score in PCMark 10 tests, which is a better score than the Acer Aspire C24 AIO (4,653), but well behind the HP All-in-One 24-cb1144z (6,109) and the Lenovo IdeaCenter AIO 5i (5,796).
The Inspiron 24’s graphics performance is also sub-par, as it relies solely on Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics. It achieves a score of just 1123 in 3DMark Time Spy, which is below the Acer Aspire TC’s score of 1896. The Acer Nitro N50, a barebones gaming desktop with GTX 1650 discrete graphics, achieves 8071.
This means the Inspiron 24 can only handle the most basic games, and even then, you might have to dial settings down to medium for smooth gameplay at over 40 fps per second. Those who want to play modern titles on an all-in-one are better off with a model with at least an Nvidia GTX 1650 graphics, such as the HP Envy 34 or Dell OptiPlex 5490.
Again, the Dell Inspiron 24 5420 All-In-One is not slow in day-to-day tasks but is not suited to more demanding applications like photo or video editing. It’s also a bad choice if you intend to play games. This will make it less appealing to those who only use a computer for anything beyond document editing, web browsing, and retro gaming.
Middling 1080p display
All Dell Inspiron 24 models have a 1080p display. Our review unit has a matte, non-touch screen, but there’s a touch model too.
It impresses at first glance. The screen looks bright and vivid at first glance and the glossy coat provides a sense of depth and brightness that’s not easy to replicate on a matte screen. The gloss creates glare, however, so the Inspiron 24 can be difficult to view in a bright, sunlit room.
Then, there’s the “screen door effect,” which results in faint, visible lines across the display caused by a gap between pixels that’s large enough to be noticeable. The Inspiron 24 suffers a mild version of this issue, so everyone might not see it, but those who do will most likely find it distracting.
That said, 1080p isn’t a terrible resolution for a 24-inch display, so the pixel density isn’t an issue. Fonts look fine and streaming video can look soft.
The Inspiron 24’s display is on par with what I expect in this price bracket. All-in-one computers with 1440p or 4K resolutions will set you back several hundred dollars more. Still, it will quickly feel dated as the world is fast moving on to 4K, OLED, Mini-LED, and other new display technologies.
Should you buy the Dell Inspiron 5420?
Yes, it’s a fantastic, home-office PC for everyday users. The Dell Inspiron 5420 is especially an excellent choice if you want a simple, attractive, versatile desktop for basic daily tasks. It will look great in both the home office and living room; it isn’t overly large and runs quietly. It gets plenty of connectivity for both wired and wireless peripherals and even HDMI-in for external video sources, such as a game console.
The Inspiron 24’s performance isn’t without limits, though. It’s not a good choice for content creators of any cadre; and, it’s a terrible PC for gaming. The 1080p screen will not impress, which in turn can result in soft-looking video streams – especially when compared to a 4K TV or monitor.
The minor issues, however, are common to the Inspiron 24’s competitors as well, including the HP Pavilion 27 and Acer’s C-Series. Mid-range all-in-one PCs are, as a category, not intended for demanding tasks or gaming. There are most niche, yet practical PCs for folks who want a great, out-of-the-box experience with little fuss. That’s what the Dell Inspiron 5420 delivers, and it does so with a beautiful design and a competitive price.
Last update on 2024-07-02 at 04:00 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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