Dell Latitude 9430 vs HP EliteBook 1040 G9: Battle of premium business lapt

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Dell Latitude 9430 vs HP EliteBook 1040 G9: Battle of premium business laptops



Dell recently announced a bunch of refreshed models in its Latitude family of business laptops. The new models now feature Intel’s new 12th gen Alder Lake mobile Core processors, premium design, and more. The Dell Latitude 9430 is one of the most premium offerings in the Latitude family now, featuring high-end specs and a modern design. In this article, we’re going to take a look at the Dell Latitude 9430 vs HP EliteBook 1040 G9 comparison to find out which one’s a better premium business notebook to buy in 2022.

Navigate this article:

• Specifications
• Performance
• Display
• Design and Ports
• Which one should you buy?

Dell Latitude 9430 vs HP EliteBook 1040 G9: Specifications

Before we begin the comparison, let’s take a quick look at the specifications of each notebook to see what they bring to the table:

Specification Dell Latitude 9430 HP EliteBook 1040 G9 CPU

• Up to 12th Generation Intel Core i7 U-series processor with vPro

• 12th Gen Intel with vPro (Exact SKUs TBA)

Graphics

• Intel Iris Xe graphics (integrated)

• Intel Iris Xe Graphics

RAM

• Up to 32GB LPDDR5 5200MHz

• Up to 64GB DDR5 memory (user-upgradeable)

Storage

• Up to 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD

• up to 2 TB, M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD (user-upgradeable)

Display

• 14-inch 16:10 FHD+ (1920 x 1200), anti-glare, Super Low Power, 500 nits, 100% sRGB, Intelligent Privacy
  2-in-1
• 14-inch 16:10 QHD+ (2560 x 1600), anti-reflective, anti-smudge, Super Low Power, 500 nits, 100% sRGB, Intelligent Privacy, touch and pen support

• 14-inch diagonal 16:10 WUXGA (1920×1200) IPS, 250 nits, touch
• 14-inch diagonal 16:10 WUXGA (1920×1200) IPS Low power, 400 nits with HP Eye Ease, non-touch
• 14-inch diagonal 16:10 WUXGA (1920×1200) IPS, 1000 nits with HP Sure View Reflect, and HP Eye Ease, non-touch

Battery

• 2-cell 40Whr battery
• 3-cell 60Whr battery
• Up to 90W USB Type-C power adapter

• 38Whr or 51Whr with Fast Charge

Ports

• 2 x Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C)
• 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
• 1 x HDMI 2.0
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• microSD card reader
• Nano SIM slot

• 2x USB-A 3.1 (1x charging port, 1/side)
• 2x USB-C (Thunderbolt 4)
• 1s HDMI 2.0
• Nano SIM slot
• Combo Headphone /Mic

Audio

• Quad stereo speakers (two top-firing, two bottom-firing) with Waves MaxxAudio
• Quad noise-canceling microphones

• 4 x Speakers, tuned by Bang & Olufsen

Webcam

• 1080p Full HD + IR camera with Dell Express Sign-In and SafeShutter

• 5MP IR camera

Security

• IR webcam
• Fingerprint sensor (optional)

• Windows Hello IR
• Fingerprint sensor (optional)

Connectivity

• Wi-Fi 6E
• Bluetooth 5.2
• Cellular options:
  • 5G sub-6
  • 4G LTE Cat16

• Wi-Fi 6E
• Bluetooth 5.2
• Optional: 4G LTE, 5G, Tile ready

Size (WxDxH)

• 310.59 x 215.18 x 13.91 mm (12.2 x 8.47 x 0.54 in)

• 315x 225 x 17.95/19.2 mm (12.40 x 8.86 x 0.71 in)

Weight

• Laptop: Starts at 1.27kg (2.8 lbs)
  2-in-1: Starts at 1.4kg (3.2 lbs)

• Starting weight 1.18 kgs (2.60 lbs)

Price

• Starts at $2,245

• TBA

Dell Latitude 9430 vs HP EliteBook 1040 G9: Performance

Both the Dell Latitude 9430 and HP EliteBook 1040 G9 notebooks are powered by Intel’s new 12th gen Core vPro processors. The Dell Latitude 9430 can be configured with up to a Core i7 processor U-series processor, which means Dell is using the low-powered chips as opposed to the 28W P-series processors. HP hasn’t mentioned the exact processor model, but we expect it to be powered by a P-series or a U-series processor too. We’ll update this article with info about the exact SKUs for each notebook, so be sure to keep an eye on this space for more info.

The new 12th gen Intel Core Alder Lake processors have a 28W TDP compared to the 15W we usually saw in ultrabooks up until now. These new P-series chips are more powerful too, as you get up t0 14 cores (6P + 8E) and 20 threads. The U-series Alder Lake chips offer up to 10-cores (2P + 8E) and 12 threads for the top-of-the-line chip, i.e. Core i7-1265U. We suggest you take a look at our Alder Lake P-series vs U-series processor comparison to get a better understanding of the kind of performance you can expect to see from these new chips.



Both the Alder Lake P-series and U-series processors also come with support for DDR5/LPDDR5 memory. The Dell Latitude 9430 comes with up to 32GB LPDDR5 memory with speeds of up to 5200MHz. HP, on the other hand, is using DDR5 modules in dual channels. We don’t know the frequency of the chip, but you do get up to 64GB of memory. As far as the storage is concerned, you get up to 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD with Dell Latitude 9430 and up to 2TB SSD with the HP EliteBook G9. One thing that’s worth pointing out about the HP EliteBook 1040 G9 is that its memory and storage can be upgraded by the user after purchasing, which is great.

Moving on to the battery, the Dell Latitude 9430 packs either a 40Whr or a 60Whr battery depending on the variant you pick. The HP EliteBook 1040 G9, on the other hand, packs a 38Whr or 51Whr battery. While the new Latitude 9430 has slightly bigger batteries, we expect both laptops to have decent battery life thanks to the hybrid core architecture of the new Alder Lake chips. The variants powered by the U-series chips will definitely have a better life, although we’ll have to wait until the full specs sheet is available to see if that will be the case.

Display

You get 14-inch 16:10 aspect ratio displays with both laptops, but you can buy the Dell Latitude 9430 with a high-resolution QHD+ (2560 x 1600) display. The HP EliteBook 1040 G9’s WUXGA display tops out at a maximum resolution of 1920×1200. There have been variants of this laptop with a higher resolution panel in the past, but that no longer seems to be the case. However, HP is offering a variant that packs 1000 nits brightness, which is great. The Dell Latitude 9430 and the HP EliteBook 1040 G9 are available in touch and non-touch variants, so no difference there.



Another interesting thing that’s worth highlighting about both laptops is that they feature improved privacy and security features for the display. The Latitude 9430 can blur the screen when it detects somebody looking over your shoulder. There’s also a Look-away Detect feature, which dims the screen to save battery and protect your data when you look away from it. These features are a part of Dell Optimiser 3.0, which also includes features including the Dell ComfortView+.

The HP EliteBook 1040 G9 also has some features focused on privacy. You can get one of the variants with an HP Sure View Reflect, which uses proprietary technology to reduce up to 95% of the visible light, obscuring the screen when viewed at an angle. All these privacy features are very much appreciated on a business notebook, and it’s good to see all OEMs taking them into consideration, at least in the enterprise space.

HP EliteBook x360 1040 G9


Both the Dell Latitude 9430 and the HP EliteBook 1040 G9 have a webcam on top of the display. The webcam has seen a significant improvement on the Latitude 9430 notebook. It’s great considering the importance of a good webcam in the age of remote and hybrid work. The Latitude 9430 comes with a new Full HD (1080p) webcam by default, replacing the 720p camera we got with the Latitude 9420. The webcam on the Latitude 9430 also includes an electromechanical SafeShutter that covers the camera when it’s not in use. It’s also an IR camera which means it can be used for Windows Hello authentication.

Moving on to the HP EliteBook 1040 G9 notebook, you get a 5MP webcam that we’ve seen on the Elite Dragonfly and Elite Dragonfly Chromebook. This particular webcam can do 1080p video recording, and you also get features like HP Auto Frame with which the camera will automatically try to focus on you as you move around the frame. While we can’t pick an outright winner in terms of the image quality right now, we’re glad to see some improvements in this area. It’s high time manufacturers start catching up to high-quality cameras.

Design and Ports

The Dell Latitude 9430 comes in both clamshell and 2-in-1 configurations, and it’s the most premium notebook in the Latitude lineup right now, according to Dell. This particular notebook now comes in a new colorway called “metallic graphite”, which we think looks much better than the standard silver one that we got with the previous model. The new colorway is sort of a dark shade of silver, will standard silver edges. It gives it a fresh new two-tone finish that we’ve come to love over the years on many devices.



The HP EliteBook 1040 G9 is also a premium business notebook as a part of the EliteBook 1000 series. You can either get the standard clamshell or the convertible EliteBook x360 1040 G9 variant. They both sport a 14-inch panel as we mentioned in the display section above. The EliteBook 1040 G9 is thicker than the Dell Latitude 9430, but it’s not as heavy. The Dell Latitude comes with a starting weight of 1.27 kgs whereas the EliteBook 1040 G9 starts at 1.18 kgs. If you look at the overall dimensions in the specs table above, you’ll also notice that the Latitude notebook has a relatively small form-factor overall.



As for the ports, both laptops offer almost the same set of ports, except for a few changes. The Dell Latitude 9430 sports two Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C) along with a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port. You also get an HDMI 2.0 port, a microSD card reader, and a 3.5mm headphone jack along with a nano-SIM slot. The HP EliteBook 1040 G9, on the other hand, comes with two USB-A 3.1 ports, two USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, a single HDMI 2.0 port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a nano-SIM slot.

The HP EliteBook 1040 G9 is missing the SD card reader, but it’s also rocking two USB Type-A ports as opposed to just one on the Latitude 9430. Connectivity options on both laptops include support for WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, along with LTE and 5G support.

Which one should you buy?

Looking at all the available info right now, we think it’s safe to say that both laptops are on-par with each other in terms of the specs. The HP EliteBook 1040 G9 does have a slight advantage over the Dell Latitude 9430 with more memory and storage. In fact, it’s user-upgradeable, which makes it even better. While the Dell Latitude 9430 comes with an optional QHD+ display, we don’t have any complaints with what HP is offering either. You still get a 14-inch 16:10 aspect ratio panel with features like touchscreen support, HP Sure View, and more.

There’s not a lot of difference in terms of the form-factor too, although the Dell Latitude 9430 seems to be a tad smaller than the EliteBook overall. It’s hard to conclude with a final verdict in this particular comparison mainly because there are still a few things we don’t know about each laptop including the exact processors in use. We’re also waiting for HP to announce the pricing and availability details of the EliteBook 1040 G9 too, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, be sure to check out our collection of the best business laptops to find some other options on the market. Alternatively, you can also see our collection of the best HP laptops and the best Dell laptops, if you are looking for something in specific from each of the manufacturers.


The post Dell Latitude 9430 vs HP EliteBook 1040 G9: Battle of premium business laptops appeared first on xda-developers.



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