Dell’s Latitude 5000 series has been one of the most stable performers in the business market. In the past, we’ve seen great battery life, a whole deal of comfort during working sessions, and not on the last place – security.
However, we feel that Dell is relying on Intel quite too much, as it is the third year in a row, where they equip the Latitude 15 5510 (previously called other names) with a 14-nm processor. At least, now they offer it with a six-core, twelve thread unit, like the Intel Core i7-10810U, but still, the technology is archaic in computer terms.
On the bright side, it comes with amenities like the Full HD IPS display, and Dell’s new Optimizer technology, which relies on AI optimizations.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/dell-latitude-15-5510/
Contents
Specs Sheet
Dell Latitude 15 5510 - Specs
All Dell Latitude 15 5510 configurations
What’s in the box?
Apart from the notebook, inside the package, you get a 65W USB Type-C power brick and some paper manuals.
Design and construction
Once again, Dell is using sustainable sources for the building materials of one of their notebooks. This particular model is a combination of aluminum, plastic, and carbon fiber, with the last including up to 18% “post-consumer recycled material”. For a 15-incher, the laptop is reasonably light at 1.82 kg, and it stands at 21mm in the front, and 22.4mm in the back. Additionally, both the chassis and the lid are pretty strong, so you should expect almost no flex from either of them.
Sadly, the lid won’t be opening with a single hand. On the other side, the camera, placed above the display, has its privacy shutter, so you can keep the government away … at least in this aspect.
In terms of color, this notebook comes with the contrasting black and grey, for the around display rim and the base. However, what is more, important is the comfortability of the input devices. Here, Dell uses marginally smaller keycaps than the average, but this results in decent spacing between the keys, while the mechanism is clicky, and the travel – long. Moreover, the unit has a full-sized NumberPad portion, which is great for accountants. Once again, however, we are a bit disappointed by the size of the Arrow keys, and the placement of the “Page Up” and “Page Down” buttons.
By the way, the Latitude 15 5510 includes a Nipple, and it has its own set of dedicated buttons above the touchpad. You know, we’ve seen it on numerous occasions, where the Nipple-related buttons are being the only mouse keys, as the other couple is basically embedded into the touchpad. Well, this is not the case here, as the touchpad is treated to its own set of tactile buttons.
Another thing we are pretty happy about is that the hot air is exhausted from the left side of the notebook, and not from in between the lid and the base. This definitely allows for more space, so the heat does not get trapped where it shouldn’t be. And on the bottom panel, you would find the intake vents, as well as the speaker cutouts.
Ports
This notebook is pretty generous on ports. You get the barrel-style plug, a USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 2) port with Power Delivery and DisplayPort capabilities (also some options come with a Thunderbolt 3 support), a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, and an optional Smart Card reader on the left. Then, on the right, you will find an RJ-45 connector, an HDMI 1.4 connector, two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports, an audio jack, a MicroSD card reader, and an optional SIM card tray. By the way, our device came with a USB Type-C charging brick, hence we can confirm that the laptop is able to charge via the aforementioned port.
Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance
To secure the bottom panel of this notebook, Dell is using 8 Phillips-head screws. After you undo them, they will stay attached to the plate. Then, you just need to pry the panel away with a plastic tool.
In terms of cooling, we see two relatively thin heat pipes, as well as an average-size fan.
Thankfully, as a typical business outfit, the Latitude 15 5510 supports up to 32GB of DDR4 memory, via its two SODIMM slots. Additionally, you can install a 2.5-inch SATA drive, but interestingly, Dell has limited your choice to only one of the two, as the M.2 drive stands in the way of the SATA drive bay.
Battery-wise, there is a beefy 68Wh unit. However, Dell sells the notebook also with a 42Wh and a 51Wh variants.
Display quality
Dell Latitude 15 5510 has a Full HD IPS panel with a model number BOE NV156FHM-N4H (BOE0869). Its diagonal is 15.6″ (39.62 cm), and the resolution 1920 х 1080 pixels. The screen ratio is 16:9, and we are looking at a pixel density of – 142 ppi, and a pitch of 0.18 х 0.18 mm. The screen turns into Retina when viewed at distance equal to or greater than 60cm (24″) (from this distance one’s eye stops differentiating the separate pixels, and it is normal for looking at a laptop).
Viewing angles are comfortable. We offer images at 45° to evaluate image quality.
The measured maximum brightness of 242 nits in the middle of the screen and 227 nits as an average for the whole area, with a maximum deviation of 8%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen is 6370K – slightly warmer than the sRGB standard of 6500K, which is great.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. In other words, the leakage of light from the light source.
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. The contrast ratio is decent – 1160:1.
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 in 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 5510’s color gamut coverage.
Its display covers 50% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.
Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.
We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.
Below you can compare the scores of Dell Latitude 15 5510 with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).
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 = 29 ms
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 backlight 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 5510’s display uses PWM to adjust its brightness at all levels. Additionally, the flickerings have a 1000 Hz frequency, which is slightly uncomfortable for long work periods.
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.
Conclusion
Dell Latitude 15 5510 has an IPS panel with a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, good contrast ratio, and somewhat adequate default settings. Sadly, it covers only 50% of sRGB, and its backlight does flicker at all brightness levels, except for the maximum (our Health-Guard profile fixes the issue).
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 5510 configurations with 15.6″ FHD IPS BOE NV156FHM-N4H (BOE0869).
*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 [email protected]
Read more about the profiles HERE.
In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.
Office Work
Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.
Design and Gaming
This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.
Health-Guard
THealth-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.
Sound
Dell Latitude 15 5510’s speakers produce a sound with decent quality and not very high maximum volume. Additionally, its low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations.
Drivers
All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/latitude-15-5510-laptop/drivers
Battery
Now, we conduct the battery tests with 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. As our unit was blessed with the biggest possible battery Dell offers the series with (68Wh), we were expecting a decent result. And we definitely got one – 15 hours and 33 minutes of Web browsing, 15 hours of video playback.
In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.
For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.
We use F1 2017’s built-in benchmark on loop in order to simulate real-life gaming.
CPU options
You have the choice of five different processors, all part of the Comet Lake family. There is the Core i3-10110U, Core i5-10210U, Core i5-10310U, Core i7-10610U, and the Core i7-10810U. Additionally, the last three CPUs are vPro-enabled.
Results are from the Cinebench 15 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Fritz chess benchmark (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
Dell Latitude 15 5510 CPU variants
Here you can see an approximate comparison between the CPUs that can be found in the Dell Latitude 15 5510 models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which Dell Latitude 15 5510 model is the best bang for your buck.
Note: The chart shows the cheapest different CPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / CPU.
Results are from the Cinebench 15 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Fritz chess benchmark (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
GPU options
In terms of graphics cards, you can pick from the integrated Intel UHD Graphics, or the AMD Radeon RX 640, equipped with 2GB of GDDR5 memory.
Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 3.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 4.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Gaming tests
| CS:GO | HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) | HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings) | HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average FPS | 34 fps | 20 fps | – fps |
| DOTA 2 | HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) | HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings) | HD 1080p, High (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average FPS | 56 fps | 29 fps | – fps |
Temperatures and comfort
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 core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.
| Intel Core i5-10310U (15W TDP) | 0:02 – 0:10 sec | 0:15 – 0:30 sec | 10:00 – 15:00 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dell Latitude 15 5510 | 3.39 GHz (B+99%) @ 88°C | 2.49 GHz (B+46%) @ 79°C | 1.83 GHz (B+8%) @ 65°C |
| Intel Core i5-10210U (15W TDP) | 0:02 – 0:10 sec | 0:15 – 0:30 sec | 10:00 – 15:00 min |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X13 | 2.59 GHz (B+62%) @ 75°C | 1.84 GHz (B+15%) @ 74°C | 1.54 GHz @ 67°C |
| MSI Modern 14 | 2.33 GHz (B+46%) @ 61°C | 2.32 GHz (B+45%) @ 71°C | 2.07 GHz (B+29%) @ 80°C |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E15 | 2.47 GHz (B+54%) @ 76°C | 2.50 GHz (B+56%) @ 91°C | 1.97 GHz (B+23%) @ 79°C |
| HP Probook 440 G7 | 2.68 GHz (B+68%) @ 59°C | 2.68 GHz (B+68%) @ 67°C | 2.20 GHz (B+38%) @ 72°C |
| Lenovo ThinkBook 15-IML | 3.08 GHz (B+93%) @ 73°C | 3.00 GHz (B+88%) @ 82°C | 2.55 GHz (B+59%) @ 80°C |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L13 | 3.04 GHz (B+90%) @ 97°C | 2.10 GHz (B+31%) @ 97°C | 2.12 GHz (B+33%) @ 79°C |
| ASUS ZenBook Duo UX481 | 3.26 GHz (B+104%) @ 94°C | 2.77 GHz (B+73%) @ 98°C | 2.06 GHz (B+29%) @ 71°C |
| Dell Vostro 5590 | 3.50 GHz (B+119%) @ 94°C | 2.68 GHz (B+68%) @ 97°C | 2.36 GHz (B+48%) @ 79°C |
This laptop’s cooling is definitely not the best out there. But thankfully, it does the job perfectly, handling the Core i5-10310U with ease, and maintaining a very low temperature in the long run.
Comfort during full load
The laptop may become a bit loud under extreme load, while the keyboard gets a bit warm, but never too hot.
Verdict
Obviously, this notebook has been made with business people in mind. It’s not a powerhouse, neither it has an incredibly color-accurate display with 100% of Adobe RGB and pupils stimulation. It’s quite the opposite, actually…
Dell Latitude 15 5510 has an IPS panel with a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, good contrast ratio, and somewhat adequate default settings. Sadly, it covers only 50% of sRGB, and its backlight does flicker at all brightness levels, except for the maximum (our Health-Guard profile fixes the issue).
One of its biggest features, apart from hardware and software security enhancements, is the battery life. We got up to 15 hours and a half of Web browsing and just half an hour less of video playback. Ultimately, its 68Wh battery is exceptional, but some models come equipped with significantly smaller units – 51Wh or 42Wh. Make sure you contact your retailer to get the maximum available option, as it is definitely worth it both in the short and the long term.
And if you’re wondering how the upgradability holds up, there are two RAM SODIMM slots for up to 32GB of DDR4 memory in total and two storage options. However, Dell has done something weird here, at least with our unit. If you put an M.2 drive, you won’t be able to place a 2.5-inch SATA device, and vice versa. This is because of the tiny space that both slots share.
Aside from this bizarre design setback, the laptop is solid – the input devices are exceptional – especially the keyboard. Not only it has clicky feedback and a long key travel, but it has by far the best NumberPad – its keys are the same size as the rest, and there are dedicated keys for deleting, changing the status of the number, a shortcut for clear entry and for launching the calculator app, itself – pretty useful stuff, if your work involves a lot of calculations.
So, are there better laptops on the market right now? Sure, there will always be. But for the purpose it is made for, the Latitude 15 5510 will definitely do the job!
Pros
- Strong body
- One of the best keyboards on a laptop
- I/O and upgradability are on point
- Great battery life
- Optional fingerprint reader
- Great viewing angles and contrast ratio (BOE NV156FHM-N4H (BOE0869))
- Optional Thunderbolt support and PCIe x4 M.2 slot
- Environmentally-conscious with up to 18% of recycled Carbon fiber
Cons
- A bit pricey
- Covers only 50% of sRGB (BOE NV156FHM-N4H (BOE0869))
- Uses PWM to adjust its brightness (fixed by our Health-Guard profile) (BOE NV156FHM-N4H (BOE0869))
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/dell-latitude-15-5510/
I agree! Great touchpad and great keyboard! Why can’t all laptops have this!