The Dell Latitude 9330 isn’t cheap. Its midrange and maxed-out configurations will set you back more than $2,000, which is pretty high, even for a business laptop. But if you’re in the market for a premium portable, don’t let the price dissuade you. As the old saying goes, “You get what you pay for,” and while the Latitude might cost an arm and a leg, it won’t ever feel like you overpaid. It’s that good.
Latitude 9330: Design
Featuring a gray aluminum chassis, a 13.3" touchscreen with super-slim bezels, a snappy, low-profile keyboard, and generous touchpad, the Latitude 9330 is a conventional-looking (yet undeniably chic) laptop. It’s classified as a convertible 2-in-1, meaning it functions as a laptop and a tablet.
The Latitude’s 13.3" display makes it the smallest laptop in Dell’s 9000-series. It’s also thin and surprisingly lightweight, at roughly half an inch wide and weighing a mere 2.8 lb—enough to place it in the “ultra-portable” category.
Having such a snatched waist means the Latitude 9330 doesn’t have a whole lot of room for ports. On the left are two USB Type-C/Thunderbolt™ 4 ports; on the right are a USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 1 port and 3.5mm audio jack.
The absence of an HDMI port means you’ll have to use an adapter if you plan on using the Latitude 9330 with an external monitor that doesn’t have a DisplayPort connection. For our review, we connected the Latitude to a Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 via Thunderbolt™, and it worked seamlessly.
Despite its trim design, the Latitude 9330 doesn’t feel flimsy or cheaply made (nor should it, considering the price). It’s certified MIL-STD 810H, meaning it can withstand certain hazardous environmental conditions, such as extreme temperatures, moisture, dust, shock, vibration, and many more.
Beneath the Latitude 9330’s svelte hood are more premium trimmings: a 12th Gen Intel® Core™ processor, up to 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 512GB of M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 storage, and a Wi-Fi 6E wireless card with Bluetooth 5.2.
As mentioned, the Latitude’s 2-in-1 display is a convertible 13.3" touchscreen with a 2560 x 1600 resolution. Above the display is a 1080p webcam with IR functionality and proximity detection.
Latitude 9330: Performance
To clock the Latitude 9330’s performance, we tested a rig featuring a 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 10-core processor, an integrated Intel® Iris™ XE GPU, and 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM.
After several weeks of testing, we can attest that the Latitude 9330 does, in fact, deliver the “CEO-level experience” Dell proudly claims. We ran it through a series of benchmarks, focusing on productivity, real-world applications, and content creation.
To test everyday use and productivity, we used the PCMark 10 benchmark, which is widely considered the industry standard for measuring performance in modern working environments. Here, the Latitude 9330 scored very high: 5,168.
To put that score into context: 4,000 is the threshold of excellence for the PCMark 10 benchmark. In other words, laptops that score 4,000 or higher on the PCMark 10 offer excellent productivity performance. A score of 5,000 or higher is reserved for the most premium of performers.
The Latitude 9330 also performed well (though not exceptionally) on our real-world video rendering test. Using Adobe Premiere Pro, we were able to render a 10-minute 4K file to 1080p in just over nine-and-a-half minutes. That’s decent speed for a business laptop (especially an ultraportable), but if your daily workflow includes heavy-duty video editing, you might want to look elsewhere.
We didn’t rely on any official benchmarks or standardized tests for measuring the Latitude 9330’s battery performance. Instead, we used the Latitude as if it were our daily driver and kept tabs on the battery life throughout the day. Based on our experience, you should have no problem getting through a full day (and night) of use.
Latitude 9330: Value
Work and business laptops often cost more than your run-of-the-mill daily driver, and the Latitude 9330 is no exception. Fully kitted out, you’re looking at an MSRP around $2,500, which, as the philosopher Larry David once said, is “pretty, pretty, pretty” high.
Of course, the reason the Latitude 9330 costs so much more than your average laptop is because it’s so much better than the average laptop. This is not a commercial airline laptop; this is a supersonic private jet.
With that in mind, we think the Latitude 9330 delivers solid value and plenty of bang for your considerable buck. Its chic ultra-portable design and excellent performance make it a legitimate desktop replacement that can travel anywhere and tackle just about any workflow.
Latitude 9330: Verdict
The Latitude 9330 is an elite ultraportable reserved for those who demand the best and are willing to pay for it. It’s powerful, portable, durable, and unless you’re working with graphically intense applications such as hardcore video rendering, it can tackle most everyday workflows with ease.
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