Dell's Latitude 9440: Innovative mini-LED backlight and unified keyboard

The following article was published originally in August 2023. We are sharing it now for your perusal, but take into account that the following information may be outdated. 

Dell's Latitude 9440 is one of the first laptops in the world to adopt the latest trend - energy-efficient mini-LED backlighting for keys and a unified keyboard instead of separate keys. We tried it out.

One of the latest trends in the laptop world is transitioning from using regular LED lighting to backlight the keyboards to smaller mini-LED lights. At first glance, it might seem like a minor change, but it's actually significant: it reduces the power consumption of the backlight by 75%, which could translate to up to three extra hours of battery life on a laptop, and that's substantial. The Latitude 9440, one of Dell's new flagship models, utilizes this technology alongside a unified keyboard, meaning all the keys are a single surface, with almost no gaps between keys. Both technologies, each intriguing on its own, were compelling reasons to take the Latitude 9440 for a test drive.

Let's start with the more intriguing technology - the mini-LED. In terms of lighting, we didn't notice significant differences, perhaps slightly more accurate, soft, and eye-friendly lighting compared to traditional LED lighting on keys. There are also two levels of illumination, similar to what we've seen on other laptops.

However, when it comes to battery life, this technology truly makes a difference. In our estimation, the lower power consumption of the key lighting added between an hour to an hour and a half of usage per charge compared to regular LED lighting, and that's significant. While not at the manufacturer's stated level, it's still a substantial addition to battery life, so this technology definitely has the potential to change the battery life of laptops in the near future.

As for the unified keyboard, which Dell calls the Zero-Lattice Keyboard and was introduced on XPS laptops at last year's CES, I was less enthusiastic. At first glance, due to the reduced spacing between keys, the keys on this keyboard have more surface area than regular keys, and seemingly, they're more comfortable to type on (they also have a 0.3mm travel).

After years of working with keyboards where each key is separate, adapting to the unified keyboard, despite its wonderful and elegant appearance that perfectly complements its surroundings, was less comfortable and requires getting used to the fact that there are practically no spaces between the keys. The muscle memory of someone accustomed to blind typing on "regular" keyboards isn't applicable here - it's almost like learning to type blindly all over again.

A Bit About the Latitude 9440

Beyond the two innovative technologies in the keyboard, if we've gotten our hands on the Latitude 9440, here are a few words about it: it's a very elegant 14-inch laptop made of space gray aluminum with robust hinges, but slightly heavier compared to the lightweight laptops of recent years at around 3.5 pounds - although Dell claims it's the smallest 14-inch laptop in the world.

It's a serious work and business laptop and is well-built. It features a front-facing camera with an electronic shutter (including an indicator light on the key), which includes biometric identification, and also includes biometric fingerprint identification on the power button in the upper corner of the keyboard. On the ports side, we have a headphone jack and a USB-C port on one side, and on the other side, there are two more USB-C ports - all ports support Thunderbolt 4 and DisplayPort 1.4, and there's also a SIM card slot as this laptop also includes a modem for cellular data communication, which is fantastic.

In terms of multimedia, this laptop has nothing to be ashamed of: it has two front-firing speakers next to the keyboard, and two more speakers on the bottom front, providing excellent sound for music and movies. The display, which is by the way a touchscreen, is a 4K display with deep and vibrant colors, with a resolution of 2560 by 1600 pixels, and its performance and display quality are on par with those of audio systems.

The Latitude 9440 is a quite impressive work and leisure laptop, and with its interesting keyboard technologies, it's definitely at the forefront of laptops available in the country in 2023.