Yes, the Latitude 5420 is more beast than beauty, but that's sort of the point. From the bumpers covering each corner to its magnesium-alloy materials, this laptop's utilitarian design may as well have been contrived in a secret military lab. Exposed screws, geometric angles and chunky bezels assure the user that no expense was spared in creating the Latitude 5420's practically indestructible chassis.

The Latitude 5420 performed equally well on our synthetic benchmark test, topping the premium laptop average (88,502) with a score of 117,381 on the 3DMark Unlimited test.

Unless you intend on gaming at the highest graphics settings on this rugged laptop, you won't run into any problems with its AMD Radeon RX540 GPU. The discrete graphics card enabled the Latitude 5420 to run the racing game Dirt 3 at a swift 146 frames per second, nearly doubling the premium laptop average (76 fps). The Latitude 5420 just beat out the average premium laptop (21:48) on our Handbrake test, converting a 4K video to 1080p resolution in 21 minutes and 23 seconds.

I do have a few minor qualms with the keyboard. For one, some of the keys, especially the arrow keys, are undersized, which could be a problem for those who work with gloves on. Also, the optional handle installed on the front of the laptop doesn't make for the most comfortable wrist rest, and the RGB lighting settings are very basic. For that reason, the Latitude 5420 Rugged is the better option for most people, and a highly recommended laptop for the world's toughest jobs.

The Latitude 5420 Rugged runs Windows 10 Pro, an operating system meant for enterprise users. And yet, bloatware apps like Candy Crush Saga rear their ugly head once again. Other pre-installed apps courtesy of Microsoft include Netflix, Fitbit Coach and Xbox.

Apple Silicon still has it beat, though. The MacBook Pro we recently tested handled 14 hours of our battery life, a full four and a half hours more than the Latitude 5420. The speakers sound powerful

The fans inside the Latitude 5420 did a reasonable job of keeping this beast cool, but the underside warmed to uncomfortable temperatures. After playing a 15-minute HD video in full screen, the bottom of the laptop, near the hinge, reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Fortunately, that was the only location on the laptop that breached our 95-degree comfort threshold. The Latitude's touchpad peaked at just 86 degrees, while the center of the keyboard remained a bearable 94 degrees.

Dell Optimizer extends runtime and improves battery performance by adapting to your patterns. ExpressCharge Boost delivers up to 35% charge in about 20 minutes, or up to 80% charge in an hour with ExpressCharge. * Nothing seems wrong with the Latitude 5420’s touchpad at a glance. It looks spacious and its plastic feel, although not enjoyable, is hardly unusual for a Windows business laptop. Nothing about the Latitude 5420 suggests it might be a good laptop for anything unrelated to work, so perhaps it’s no surprise the display fails to hold up. I typed at 119 words per minute with a 95 percent accuracy rate on the 10fastfingers.com typing test, which matches my average on both accounts. Audio quality is not where we’d expect the Latitude 5420 to excel. Work laptops often don’t prioritize audio, and this laptop makes no claims about enhanced sound.

Connectivity: Notebook with a Lot of Security Features

Take charge: Keep working with outstanding battery life plus intelligent settings to preserve power when you're running low. Choose from a 42WHr battery for lighter weight or a larger 63Whr battery for longer run time. Get longer battery life when you choose the Super Low Power panel, which consumes less power than a standard display without impacting the brightness of the screen. The Latitude 5420 we tested had Intel’s Core i7-10610U quad-core processor. It’s an upgrade from the Core i3 processor found in the base configuration, but it certainly didn’t feel like it. I was also impressed by the screen's excellent color reproduction and blinding brightness. The red jumpsuit worn by our protagonist had a rich tone, while the giant lightning bolt on his chest looked like it was going to pierce my screen and zap me.