Nowadays, a lot of the standard devices for home or office usage are based on Intel 12th or 13th Gen hybrid CPUs with efficient and performance cores. These chips aren't power-hungry and their performance is enough for normal work. The Dell Latitude 15 3540 is a device for unpretentious daily or business tasks. The manufacturer offers this machine with a large variety of processor options including Alder Lake and Raptor Lake 15W U-series chips. There is even a Celeron 7305 in the mix which may be a bit underpowered for some users since it has just one P core and four E cores. If the iGPU inside the CPU isn't enough for your needs, you can get the optional NVIDIA GeForce MX550. With it, you can play some Dota 2 or other light games after work or during the lunch break. The presence of a 768p TN display is a bit strange. Our advice is to avoid this panel and get the 1080p IPS model or the touchscreen variant with the same resolution (if money isn't a problem). The rest of the specs seem more or less usual for such a notebook - two 2W speakers, an optional fingerprint reader, an IR Web camera (option) as well as Wi-Fi 6 / E + Bluetooth 5.3, and eSIM functionality (which again will cost you an extra amount of money). The upgradability options are decent and the same can be said for the I/O. You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/dell-latitude-15-3540-2/ Specs, Drivers, What's in the box Drivers All drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/latitude-15-3540-laptop/drivers What's in the box? Inside the package, we found some manuals and the laptop itself. Depending on the CPU model, you get a 60W, 65W Type-C, or 65W barrel plug adapter. Design and construction The design of the Dell Latitude 15 3540 is stealthy and there is a rounded Dell logo on the lid. The latter can be pressed down in the middle and it's averagely flexible in an opened position. The base is more stable - we saw slight bends in the zone between the Space key and the touchpad and below the Arrow keys but nothing too serious. Now, you can open the lid with a single hand but the front of the base always jumps up at the beginning of the process. The machine is made of plastic which results in decent dimensions (for a 15-incher) of 1.81 kg / 18.13 mm - 20.40 mm profile thickness for the iGPU-only iterations and 1.86 kg / 18.13 mm - 21.41 mm for the notebooks with a dGPU. The top and lower bezels are a bit thicker but at least the ones on the sides are thin. The Web camera can be found in the middle of the upper bezel. You can choose between three versions with a privacy shutter. The base one has a 720p resolution while the other two are 1080p units. The most expensive variant supports the IR function. The max angle of opening is big but the laptop can't lay fully flat. The lid doesn't have a lever design. The keyboard with an optional backlight is comfortable. It has long key travel and clicky feedback. There is a NumPad for the accountants out there but the half-sized "Up" and "Down" Arrow keys aren't comfortable to press. The power button doubles as an optional fingerprint reader. The touchpad is small (115 mm x 67 mm), it feels smooth but the accuracy is average at best. Still, the pad is fine for regular usage. Three rubber feet, two speaker cutouts, and a ventilation grill can be seen on the bottom plate. The hot air is being exhausted through a vent on the back of the laptop. Ports On the left, you get a power plug, an HDMI 1.4, a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port with PowerShare function, a USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 2) port with Power Delivery and DisplayPort capabilities, and an Audio combo jack. On the right side, we can spot a lock slot, LAN, and two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports. Display quality, Health impact (PWM), Sound Dell Latitude 15 3540 is equipped with a Full HD IPS panel, model number AUO MCX7D-B156HAN (AUO4599). It comes with a 60Hz refresh rate. Its diagonal is 15.6" (39.6 cm), and the resolution - 1920 x 1080p. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:9, the pixel density – 142 ppi, and their pitch – 0.18 x 0.18 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 60 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels). Viewing angles are good. We offer images at different angles to evaluate the quality. Also, a video with locked focus and exposure. The maximum measured brightness is 295 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 287 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 6%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6280К. In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits) – in this particular case at 46% Brightness (White level = 144 cd/m2, Black level = 0.12 cd/m2). Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work (a maximum tolerance of 2.0). We measured a good contrast ratio - 1230:1. To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy. Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people on HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook. Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day. The yellow dotted line shows Dell Latitude 15 3540's color gamut coverage. Its display covers 50% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976, and 39% of DCI-P3. We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. Below you can compare the scores of the Dell Latitude 15 3540 with the default settings sRGB. The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light. The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale, and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions. Response time (Gaming capabilities) We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa. We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 23.5 ms. After that, we test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “Gray-to-Gray” method from 50% White to 80% White and vice versa between 10% and 90% of the amplitude. Health Impact: PWM (Screen flickering) Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the display is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM. Dell Latitude 15 3540's display doesn't use PWM for brightness adjustment. Health Impact: Blue light emissions Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light. Health Impact: Gloss-level measurement Glossy-coated displays are sometimes inconvenient in high ambient light conditions. We show the level of reflection on the screen for the respective laptop when the display is turned off and the measurement angle is 60° (in this case, the result is 66.9 GU). Sound Dell Latitude 15 3540's speakers produce a sound of very good quality. Its low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations. Buy our profiles Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Dell Latitude 15 3540 configuration with 15.6" AUO MCX7D-B156HAN (AUO4599) (1920x1080) IPS. *Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com. Read more about the profiles HERE. Performance: CPU, GPU, Gaming Tests All benchmarks and tests were conducted with the “Best performance” preset activated in the Windows “Power & Battery” menu. Also, the “Ultra Performance” mode is enabled in the BIOS. CPU options The CPU options are the following - Intel Celeron 7305, Core i3-1215U, Core i5-1235U, Core i5-1245U, Core i3-1315U, Core i5-1335U, Core i5-1345U, and Core i7-1355U. GPU options There is one dGPU option and that's the NVIDIA GeForce MX550. Gaming tests CS:GO HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings) HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings) Average FPS 58 fps 55 fps 28 fps DOTA 2 HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings) HD 1080p, High (Check settings) Average FPS 76 fps 42 fps 25 fps [eBook Guide + Tools] How to MAX OUT your Laptop Temperatures and comfort, Battery Life Max CPU load In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering. Average P-core frequency; Average E-core frequency; CPU temp.; Package Power Intel Core i7-1355U (15W TDP) 0:02 - 0:10 sec 0:15 - 0:30 sec 10:00 - 15:00 min Dell Latitude 15 3540 3.28 GHz @ 2.53 GHz @ 88°C @ 37W 2.77 GHz @ 2.14 GHz @ 90°C @ 27W 2.37 GHz @ 1.71 GHz @ 69°C @ 20W Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 4 (Intel) 3.22 GHz @ 2.43 GHz @ 85°C @ 33W 3.00 GHz @ 2.26 GHz @ 89°C @ 28W 2.01 GHz @ 1.46 GHz @ 70°C @ 16W Dell Latitude 14 5440 4.03 GHz @ 3.03 GHz @ 71°C @ 50W 3.91 GHz @ 2.97 GHz @ 93°C @ 47W 2.65 GHz @ 1.99 GHz @ 70°C @ 22W Dell Latitude 14 7440 3.65 GHz @ 2.67 GHz @ 83°C @ 44W 3.26 GHz @ 2.43 GHz @ 94°C @ 36W 2.63 GHz @ 1.87 GHz @ 76°C @ 25W Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 4 (Intel) 3.59 GHz @ 2.66 GHz @ 80°C @ 39W 3.52 GHz @ 2.68 GHz @ 94°C @ 39W 2.50 GHz @ 1.84 GHz @ 77°C @ 20W HP Pavilion 15 (15-eg3000) 3.67 GHz @ 2.80 GHz @ 76°C @ 45W 2.67 GHz @ 2.06 GHz @ 73°C @ 25W 2.22 GHz @ 1.73 GHz @ 69°C @ 18W HP ZBook Firefly 14 G10 3.83 GHz @ 2.88 GHz @ 74°C @ 49W 3.74 GHz @ 2.90 GHz @ 86°C @ 49W 2.69 GHz @ 1.96 GHz @ 75°C @ 23W HP ZBook Firefly 16 G10 3.85 GHz @ 2.89 GHz @ 67°C @ 50W 3.32 GHz @ 2.48 GHz @ 75°C @ 37W 2.14 GHz @ 1.44 GHz @ 66°C @ 17W HP EliteBook 860 G10 3.90 GHz @ 2.95 GHz @ 77°C @ 50W 3.35 GHz @ 2.12 GHz @ 86°C @ 36W 2.48 GHz @ 1.77 GHz @ 65°C @ 20W Acer TravelMate P2 (TMP216-51) 3.90 GHz @ 2.93 GHz @ 89°C @ 55W 2.73 GHz @ 2.49 GHz @ 86°C @ 37W 2.93 GHz @ 2.08 GHz @ 77°C @ 28W Acer TravelMate P6 (TMP614-53) 3.52 GHz @ 2.59 GHz @ 67°C @ 45W 3.22 GHz @ 2.40 GHz @ 73°C @ 40W 2.63 GHz @ 1.90 GHz @ 72°C @ 28W Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 4 3.76 GHz @ 2.88 GHz @ 85°C @ 50W 3.46 GHz @ 2.67 GHz @ 97°C @ 44W 2.02 GHz @ 1.55 GHz @ 69°C @ 18W Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 3.66 GHz @ 2.80 GHz @ 94°C @ 49W 3.23 GHz @ 2.50 GHz @ 97°C @ 38W 2.00 GHz @ 1.55 GHz @ 72°C @ 19W Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 8 3.67 GHz @ 2.81 GHz @ 82°C @ 49W 3.32 GHz @ 2.53 GHz @ 94°C @ 39W 2.17 GHz @ 1.64 GHz @ 76°C @ 20W Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 5 3.49 GHz @ 2.65 GHz @ 69°C @ 42W 3.28 GHz @ 2.46 GHz @ 82°C @ 38W 2.20 GHz @ 1.62 GHz @ 77°C @ 23W Lenovo ThinkPad L15 Gen 4 (Intel) 3.34 GHz @ 2.54 GHz @ 86°C @ 39W 3.16 GHz @ 2.45 GHz @ 93°C @ 35W 2.38 GHz @ 1.77 GHz @ 77°C @ 20W Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 4 3.78 GHz @ 2.93 GHz @ 82°C @ 48W 3.45 GHz @ 2.71 GHz @ 90°C @ 41W 2.52 GHz @ 1.87 GHz @ 78°C @ 22W Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 4 3.83 GHz @ 2.89 GHz @ 78°C @ 51W 3.7 GHz @ 2.82 GHz @ 93°C @ 49W 2.38 GHz @ 1.75 GHz @ 64°C @ 21W Acer Aspire 5 (A514-56M) 3.82 GHz @ 2.82 GHz @ 64°C @ 55W 2.18 GHz @ 2.26 GHz @ 65°C @ 37W 1.43 GHz @ 1.98 GHz @ 60°C @ 28W Dell Vostro 15 3530 2.06 GHz @ 2.70 GHz @ 94°C @ 40W 1.56 GHz @ 2.22 GHz @ 96°C @ 26W 2.06 GHz @ 2.25 GHz @ 95°C @ 26W Lenovo Yoga Book 9 (13IRU8) 2.23 GHz @ 2.58 GHz @ 76°C @ 40W 2.13 GHz @ 2.42 GHz @ 85°C @ 35W 1.64 GHz @ 2.03 GHz @ 77°C @ 24W ASUS Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304) 3.46 GHz @ 2.47 GHz @ 80°C @ 41W 3.06 GHz @ 2.24 GHz @ 91°C @ 31W 2.36 GHz @ 1.68 GHz @ 75°C @ 21W The optional Core i7-1355U inside this Dell machine can sustain decently high clocks in short and long loads. In the long run, the CPU temperatures are low but the same doesn't apply to the medium loads where the processor hits 90°C. Comfort during full load The four power presets can be found in the BIOS. During full loads in "Ultra Performance" mode, the fan noise is average. In this case, the keyboard doesn't feel too hot for normal work which is good news. Battery Now, we conduct the battery tests with the Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. The 54Wh battery pack lasts for 9 hours and 5 minutes of Web browsing, or 8 hours and 20 minutes of video playback. To achieve that, you have to apply the “Balanced” preset in the Windows “Power & Battery” menu and select the "Optimized" power plan in the BIOS. Disassembly, Upgrade options, and Maintenance To open this laptop, you have to undo 9 captive Phillips-head screws. Raise the bottom panel close to one of the top two corners to create a gap. After that, you can pop the plate with a thin plastic tool starting from the sides. Then, you can work your way around the front and the back. Here's how the bottom plate looks on the inside. Our laptop has the optional 54Wh battery, the default version is a 42Wh variant. To remove it, pull out the connector from the motherboard, and undo the 5 Phillips-head screws that fix the unit to the base. The optional capacity lasts for 9 hours and 5 minutes of Web browsing, or 8 hours and 20 minutes of video playback. You can rely on two SODIMMs that fit up to 64GB of DDR4-3200MHz RAM in dual-channel mode. Below the cooling fan is placed the single M.2 slot for 2280 or 2230 Gen 4 SSDs. Beneath the NVMe, there are two small thermal pads. The cooling system has a single fan, one heat pipe, a heat sink, and a heat spreader. Storage performance Our notebook has a 512GB Micron 2550. Below you can see some benchmarks of this Gen 4 SSD. Its temperature during benchmarking reached 63°C which is a bit high but still fine. Verdict The Dell Latitude 15 3540 is suitable for office or home usage because of the comfortable keyboard and the optional PWM-free IPS display (AUO MCX7D-B156HAN (AUO4599)). The latter has wide viewing angles and a good contrast ratio. The sRGB coverage and the color accuracy are nothing to write home about but that's fine since the laptop isn't meant for content creation of color-sensitive work. We bought a machine with the top-end CPU option for the series which is the Core i7-1355U. During long max loads, the Team Blue chip can maintain 2.37 GHz for the P cores and 69°C temperature which is good enough for normal tasks. The fan isn't quiet but it's not too noisy either. By the way, the overall performance of our machine is a bit limited by the fact that there is just one 8GB RAM stick installed that works in a single-channel mode. As always, if you want to see the full potential of the notebook, dual-channel memory is a must. Speaking of which, there is no soldered RAM here which is great. You can rely on two SODIMMs for future upgrades and on a single M.2 slot for Gen 4 SSDs. The I/O is fine for the class - four USB ports + LAN connector. The optional 54Wh battery lasts for around 9 hours of Web browsing and that's a good result. The Dell Latitude 15 3540 is intended for regular work and thanks to the decently high CPU clocks during max processor loads you can expect snappy performance. The machine could attract future buyers with its good battery life, decent port selection, and PWM-free IPS panel. You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/dell-latitude-15-3540-2/