Dell Precision 7540 vs. Surface Duo: Which is better?

Here is a side by side comparison between Dell Precision 7540 and Surface Duo specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

Dell Precision 7540 Pros

Reasons that Dell Precision 7540 is better than Surface Duo.

Supports larger memory

Dell Precision 7540 supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface Duo. It supports up to 128GB versus 6GB of system memory on the Surface Duo.

Max system memory size
Dell Precision 7540
128 GB
Surface Duo
6 GB
Supports discrete graphics

Configurable up to Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 6GB GDDR6 vs. integrated

92% larger display

Dell Precision 7540 has a 15.6-inch screen size 92% larger than the 8.1-inch Surface Duo.

Display size
Dell Precision 7540
15.6-inch
Surface Duo
8.1-inch

Surface Duo Pros

Reasons that Surface Duo is better than Dell Precision 7540.

Newer manufacturing

2020 vs. 2019

About 91% lighter

Surface Duo weighed 0.55 pounds, 91% lighter than the 5.57 pounds Dell Precision 7540.

WeightDell Precision 7540Surface Duo
Pound
5.57 lbs.
0.55 lbs.
Kilogram
2.53 kg
0.25 kg

Prices

Here are the latest price updates and offers for both devices.

Dell Precision 7540 Price
Dell Precision 7540 Laptop 15.6 - Intel Core i7 9th Gen - i7-9850H - Six Core 4.6Ghz - 512GB SSD - 32GB RAM - 1920x1080 FHD - Windows 10 Pro (Renewed)
Dell Precision 7540 Laptop 15.6 - Intel Core i7 9th Gen - i7-9850H - Six Core 4.6Ghz - 512GB SSD - 32GB RAM - 1920x1080 FHD - Windows 10 Pro (Renewed)
By Dell
$602.28
Dell Precision 7540 Mobile Workstation - Intel Xeon E-2276M 2.8GHz Hexa-Core (6) - 16GB (2 x 8GB) 2667MHz DDR4 Memory - 256GB M.2 NVMe SSD - 15-inch FHD 1920x1080 Display - Windows 10 (Renewed)
Dell Precision 7540 Mobile Workstation - Intel Xeon E-2276M 2.8GHz Hexa-Core (6) - 16GB (2 x 8GB) 2667MHz DDR4 Memory - 256GB M.2 NVMe SSD - 15-inch FHD 1920x1080 Display - Windows 10 (Renewed)
By Dell
$479.99
Dell Precision 7540 Laptop 15.6 - Intel Core i5 9th Gen - i5-9400H - 4.3Ghz - 512GB SSD - 16GB RAM - Nvidia Quadro T2000 - 1920x1080 FHD - Windows 10 Pro (Renewed)
Dell Precision 7540 Laptop 15.6 - Intel Core i5 9th Gen - i5-9400H - 4.3Ghz - 512GB SSD - 16GB RAM - Nvidia Quadro T2000 - 1920x1080 FHD - Windows 10 Pro (Renewed)
By Dell
$339.26
$399.00 15% OFF
Surface Duo Price
Microsoft Surface Duo 256GB (Unlocked) - Glacier
Microsoft Surface Duo 256GB (Unlocked) - Glacier
By Microsoft
$750.00
$1,094.99 32% OFF
Microsoft Surface Duo 128GB AT&T Locked, Glacier
Microsoft Surface Duo 128GB AT&T Locked, Glacier
By Microsoft
$349.99
Microsoft 8WV-00001 Surface Slim Pen 2, Black (8WV00001)
Microsoft 8WV-00001 Surface Slim Pen 2, Black (8WV00001)
By Microsoft
$83.89
$129.99 35% OFF

Availability

Dell Precision 7540Surface Duo
Released20192020
Release Date
  • Announced at Computex 2019.
  • Available from early July 2019.
  • Introduced: Microsoft October Event (October 2, 2019)
  • Pre-ordered: August 12, 2020
  • Released: September 10, 2020
PricingStarting at $1,149
  • $1,399 - 128 GB
  • $1,499 - 256 GB
Generations-

Exterior

Dell Precision 7540Surface Duo
Dimensions
  • Non-touch models
    • 14.87 x 9.89 x 0.98 - 1.18 in (377.60 x 251.30 x 25.0 - 29.97 mm)
  • Touch models
    • 14.87 x 9.89 x 1.02 - 1.21 in (377.60 x 251.30 x 25.9 - 30.85 mm)
  • Aluminum Cover models
    • 14.87 x 9.89 x 0.94 - 1.19 in (377.60 x 251.30 x 24.0 - 30.4 mm)
  • 7.35 x 5.71 x 0.18 (186.9 mm x 145.2 mm x 4.8 mm)
    Open
  • 3.67 x 5.71 x 0.38 (93.3 mm x 145.2 mm x 9.9 mm) 
    Closed
WeightStarting at 5.57 lbs (2.53 kg)0.55 lbs (250 g)
Colors
  • Carbon Fiber LCD Cover
  • Aluminum Titan Gray LCD Cover
Glacier
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Full-size with optional backlit keyboard.
  • 3.92 x 2.09 in (99.50 mm x 53 mm) touchpad with multi-touch gesture support.
-

Display

Dell Precision 7540Surface Duo
Size15.6 Inches8.1 Inches
Info
  • 15.6" FHD
    • 1920x1080 Anti-Glare non-touch, 45% Adobe color gamut.
  • 15.6" UltraSharp™ FHD
    • 1920x1080 AG, NT, w/Prem Panel Guar 100% sRGB Carbon Fiber, IPS.
  • 15.6"UltraSharp™ UHD
    • 3840x2160 AG,NT,w/Prem Panel Guar 100% AdobeRGB, Aluminium, IGZO.
  • Dual PixelSense™ Fusion Displays open: 8.1” AMOLED, 2700x1800 (3:2), 401 PPI
  • Single PixelSense™ Display: 5.6” AMOLED, 1800x1350 (4:3), 401 PPI
  • Display Material: Corning® Gorilla® Glass

Ports

Dell Precision 7540Surface Duo
Dell Precision 7540 Ports
Image Source: Dell
  • 2 x USB Type-C with Thunderbolt™ 3 
    Supports Power Delivery and DisplayPort (4 lanes of PCI Express Gen 3).
  • 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports
    1 port support PowerShare.
  • 1 x HDMI 2.0b Port
  • 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1.4
  • 1 x headset jack
  • 1 x RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet port
  • 1 x SD-card reader
  • 1 x Smart Card reader (optional)
  • 1 x Wedge-shaped lock
  • 1 x Power adapter port
Surface Duo Ports
Image Source: Microsoft
Right (1)
  • 1 x nanoSIM card slot
Bottom (1)
  • 1 x USB-C

Internal Specs

Dell Precision 7540Surface Duo
Processor
  1. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.50 → 4.30 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 45W
  2. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H
    6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 4.50 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W
  3. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H
    6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 4.60 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W
  4. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.30 → 4.80 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
  5. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.40 → 5.00 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
  6. Intel Xeon E-2276M
    6 cores, 12 threads, 2.80 → 4.70 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W
  7. Intel Xeon E-2286M
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.40 → 5.00 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
  1. Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855
    8 cores, 8 threads, 2.84 GHz, 5MB Cache, 5W
Integrated Graphics
  1. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1100 MHz
  2. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz
  3. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz
  4. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz
  5. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz
  6. Intel Xeon E-2276M
    Intel® UHD Graphics P630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz
  7. Intel Xeon E-2286M
    Intel® UHD Graphics P630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz
  1. Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855
    Qualcomm® Adreno™ 640 GPU
    585 MHz
Memory
  • Memory Slots
    • 4 x DDR4 SODIMM
  • Memory Configurations
    • Minimum Memory: 8GB
    • Maximum Memory: 128B
    • Memory Type: DDR4 ECC or Non-ECC memory
    • Memory Speed: 2666 MHz or 3200 MHz
6GB DRAM
Discrete Graphics
  • AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (Optional)
    GCN 4.0 Architecture, 4GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1295 MHz, 640 Shading Units.
  • NVIDIA Quadro T1000 (Optional)
    Turning Architecture, 4GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1395 → 1455 MHz, 768 Shading Units.
  • NVIDIA Quadro T2000 (Optional)
    Turning Architecture, 4GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1575 → 1785 MHz, 1,024 Shading Units.
  • NVIDIA Quadro RTX 3000 Mobile (Optional)
    Turning Architecture, 6GB GDDR6 256-bit, 945→ 1380 MHz, 2,304 Shading Units.
  • NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 Mobile (Optional)
    Turning Architecture, 8GB GDDR6 256-bit, 1110→ 1560 MHz, 2,560 Shading Units.
  • NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 Mobile (Optional)
    Turning Architecture, 16GB GDDR6 256-bit, 1035→ 1545 MHz, 3,072 Shading Units.
-
Storage
  • Hard Drive Slots
    • 3 x M.2 2280 PCIe SSD slot
    • 1 x 2.5 inches hard drive slot
      Available only on a 4-cell 64Wh battery model.
  • Hard Drive Configurations
    • Up to 6TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD
    • Up to 2TB SATA Hard Drive
  • 128GB 256GB
    UFS 3.0 of internal storage

Connectivity

Dell Precision 7540Surface Duo
Wi-Fi
  • Intel® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2x2 .11ax 160MHz
  • Intel® Dual Band Wireless AC 9560 (802.11ac) 2x2
  • Qualcomm QCA61x4A 802.11ac Dual Band, 2x2, Wireless Adapter
WiFi-5 802.11ac (2.4/5GHz)
Bluetooth
  • Bluetooth 4.2
  • Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology
Ethernet
  • Integrated Intel i219LM 10/100/1000 Mb/s Ethernet (RJ-45 ) with Intel Remote Wake UP and PXE
-
More-
  • LTE: 4x4 MIMO, Cat.18 DL / Cat 5 UL, 5CA, LAA.
    Up to 1.2Gbps Download / Up to 150Mbps Upload
  • Bands Supported:
    • FDD-LTE: 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,12,13,14,19,20,25,26,28,29,30,66
    • TD-LTE: 38,39,40,41,46
    • WCDMA: 1,2,5,8
    • GSM/GPRS: GSM-850, E-GSM-900, DCS-1800, PCS-1900
    • Location: GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS
  • One eSIM and one Nano SIM
    Note: AT&T locked device will not support eSIM

Battery

Dell Precision 7540Surface Duo
Size
  • 64 Wh (4-cell lithium-ion)
  • 97 Wh (6-cell lithium-ion)
3577 mAh
Battery Life-
  • Up to 15.5 hours of Local Video Playback
  • Up to 10 days of Standby Time
  • Up to 27 hours of Talk Time
Power Supply180 W power adapter
Power rated at 19.5 VDC/9.23 A.
  • 18W USB-C PD charger

Software

Dell Precision 7540Surface Duo
OS
Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro Ubuntu 18.04 LTS RedHat 7.5
Upgradable to Windows 11
Android™ 10
3-years of software updates.
Built-in Apps
  • Microsoft Office 30-days trial
  • McAfee® Small Business Security 30 Day Free Trial
  • Microsoft built-in applications:
    • Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Office Lens, PDF Reader, and more
    • Microsoft Outlook
    • Microsoft Teams
    • Microsoft OneDrive
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Microsoft OneNote
    • Microsoft To Do
    • Microsoft News
    • Microsoft Authenticator
    • Microsoft Bing Search
    • Intune Company Portal
    • LinkedIn
    • Microsoft Solitaire Collection
    • Surface Audio
  • Microsoft Surface Duo UI core features:
    • Dual screen windowing
    • Adaptive modes
    • App Groups
    • Microsoft 365 Feed
    • Dynamic dock
    • Universal Search
    • Adaptive Camera
    • Microsoft SwiftKey Adaptive Keyboard
    • Your Phone Companion - Link to Windows
  • Other preinstalled apps:
    • Google Search
    • Google Assistant
    • Google Calendar
    • Google Drive
    • Google Duo
    • Google Photos
    • Google Play Movies & TV
    • Google Play Store
    • Google Maps
    • Chrome
    • Gmail
    • YouTube
    • YouTube Music
    • Contacts
    • Messages
    • Phone
    • Files
    • Clock
    • Calculator
    • Sound recorder
    • Spotify (Unlocked)
    • HBO MAX (AT&T)
    • AT&T TV (AT&T)
    • My AT&T (AT&T)
    • Call Protect (AT&T)
    • Amazon Shopping (AT&T)
    • NBA (AT&T)

Camera & Audio

Dell Precision 7540Surface Duo
Camera
  • Front-facing camera
    Top-mount front camera with fixed focus lens, 0.92 Megapixels (1280 x 720 HD) at 30 fps.
  • Optional Windows Hello Infrared Camera
  • Adaptive camera 11MP, f/2.0, 1.0 µm, PDAF and 84.0° diagonal FOV optimized with AI for front and rear
  • Photos:
    • Auto mode with low-light & HDR multi-frame photo capture and dynamic range scene detection
    • Super-resolution zoom, and super zoom up to 7x
    • Portrait mode with adjustable depth control
    • Panorama mode
    • Burst mode
  • Video recording:
    • 4K video recording at 30 fps and 60 fps
    • 1080p video recording at 30 fps and 60 fps
    • HEVC and H.264 video recording formats
    • Gyro-based digital video stabilization
  • Video Conferencing
    • Microsoft Teams and Skype video conferencing up to 1080p at 30fps
    • High CRI LED Flash for both front and world facing photo and video scenarios
Audio
  • Realtek ALC3281 MaxxAudio® Pro by Waves
  • Two speakers (2W x 2)
  • Noise-reducing array microphones
  • Mono speaker
  • Dual Mic noise suppression and echo cancellation optimized for productive use in all postures
  • Best-in-class Full Duplex communication for voice calls in hands-free mode
  • Audio formats supported: 3GP, MP3, MP4, MKV, WAV, OGG, M4A, AAC, TS, AMR, FLAC, MID, MIDI, RTTL, RTX, OTA, IMY
  • Qualcomm® aptX™ Adaptive

Misc

Dell Precision 7540Surface Duo
Inking-Supports all in market generations of Surface Slim Pen, Surface Pen and Surface Hub 2 Pen
4096 levels of pressure
Tilt sensing
Best in class latency
Paper feel
magnetic storage
Sensors
  • Windows Hello compliant fingerprint reader on the keyboard deck
  • Dual Accelerometer
  • Dual Gyroscope
  • Dual Magnetometer
  • Dual Ambient Light Sensor
  • Proximity Sensor
  • Hall Sensor
  • Fingerprint Sensor
Security
  • Intel® vPro™ Technology (iAMT 12) (optional, requires Intel WiFi® Link WLAN and a vPro compatible processor), Dell Client Command Suite available (dell.com/command), Factory Installed Dell Client Command | Update, Dell Command | Power Manager,
  • Intel® Platform Trust Technology,
  • Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0
  • Chassis wedge-shaped security lock
  • Support for Computrace and SmartCard Reader
  • Fingerprint reader or FIPS Fingerprint reader
  • Touch Fingerprint Reader with Control Vault 3.0 (Advanced Authentication with FIPS 140-2 Level 3 Certification)
  • Contacted Smart Card (FIPS 201 with Control Vault 3.0 Advanced Authentication with FIPS 140-2 level 3 Certitication)
  • Contactless Smart Card
  • NFC/CSC (Check regional availability)
  • Biometric lock type: Fingerprint reader (1:100K FAR <3% FRR)
  • Lock type: Swipe, PIN, password
  • Security applications pre-loaded on the device: Microsoft Authenticator
In the box-
  • Surface Duo
  • Surface Duo Bumper (Color: Glacier)
  • Surface Duo USB-C® Power Supply (18w)
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Warranty and Compliance Guide
  • SIM Ejector tool
Warranty3 Years Hardware Service with Onsite Service After Remote Diagnosis
  • One-year limited hardware warranty
More-
  • Exterior Material: Corning® Gorilla® Glass

Key Features

Dell Precision 7540Surface Duo
At Glance
Released in
2019
16:9 4K UHD
15.6”
2160p 60Hz
Weight
5.57 lb
2.53 kg
Up to
Intel Xeon E-2286M
8C/16T, 2.40 → 5.00 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,192
Single Core
Geekbench 5
6,910
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics P630
24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz
Upgradable up to
128GB
3200 MHz DDR4 ECC
Dell Precision 7540 Ports
Nvidia Quadro
RTX 5000
6GB GDDR6
Released in
2020
3:2 2.7K
8.1”
1800p 60Hz
Weight
0.55 lb
0.25 kg
Powered By
Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855
8C/8T, 2.84 GHz
With integrated
Qualcomm® Adreno™ 640 GPU
585 MHz
6GB
Memory
Surface Duo Ports

Comparison Summary

Dell Precision 7540 vs. Surface Duo

Dell has released the Precision 7540, a 15.6-inch machine, in 2019. It is powered by up to an octa-core Intel Xeon E-2286M with a boost clock speed up to 5.00 GHz. The laptop has a dedicated GPU option up to Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 with 6GB GDDR6.

On the other hand, we have the 8.1-inch Surface Duo was introduced by Microsoft about a year later in 2020. It comes with an octa-core Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855. It has an integrated graphics option up to Qualcomm® Adreno™ 640 GPU (585 MHz).

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Dell Precision 75401
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H98482.55%
2
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H1,04487.58%
3
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H1,08090.60%
4
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H1,06689.43%
5
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK1,11493.46%
6
Intel Xeon E-2276M1,12093.96%
7
Intel Xeon E-2286M1,192100.00%
Surface Duo01,192

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Dell Precision 75401
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H3,69053.40%
2
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H4,88070.62%
3
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H4,91471.11%
4
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H6,10088.28%
5
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK6,50494.12%
6
Intel Xeon E-2276M5,16574.75%
7
Intel Xeon E-2286M6,910100.00%
Surface Duo06,910

The Dell Precision 7540 has a 15.6-inch display which is way larger than the 8.1-inch Surface Duo. In addition, the Dell Precision 7540 weighs 5.57 lbs. about 912% heavier than the 0.55 lbs. Surface Duo. Moreover, measured at 14.87” x 9.89” x 1.18”, the Dell Precision 7540 is much bulkier than the Surface Duo at 7.35” x 5.71” x 0.18”.

Dell Precision 7540Surface Duo

Moving over to upgradability, Dell claims that the Dell Precision 7540 supports up to 128GB 3200 MHz DDR4 ECC memory that you can upgrade with four memory module slots on the motherboard. It also comes with three M.2 slots that users can easily upgrade and install additional SSDs to expand the storage on the device. On top of that, it also has a single SATA slot that users can use to install a 2.5-inch SATA SSD, SSHD, or a hard disk drive to add even more storage.

For Surface Duo, it supports 6GB memory.

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