Dell Latitude 5300 review

Where the Latitude 5300 stands

The Dell Latitude 5300 is a 2017 business-class laptop priced around $256 — below the $297 category median, in the ultra-budget band. Configured with an 8th-gen Core i5-8250U and 32 GB of RAM, it is a solid office machine whose real distinguishing feature is not raw speed but endurance: battery capacity is where it genuinely separates from the pack.

Battery life: the standout

The 5300's battery capacity of 60 Wh is 33% above the business-class median of 45 Wh, placing it in the top quarter of its category. In practical terms, this is a laptop built to last through a full day of meetings, travel, or off-desk work on a single charge — a meaningful advantage for a mobile professional that most peers in this price band cannot match. Combined with the Core i5 and 32 GB of RAM, it is a dependable long-running office companion.

Graphics: the honest limit

The weak spot is graphics: a score of zero against a 3.84 median means the 5300 has no usable GPU headroom for gaming or GPU-accelerated workloads. This is an integrated-only configuration, and it should be evaluated purely as an office and productivity machine. Reliability (22 versus a 42.5 median) and overall performance (26 versus 41.5) also sit below the class midline, reflecting an eight-year-old chassis rather than any specific defect.

Price trajectory

From a $1,300 launch price, the 5300 has declined to about $256, losing value at roughly 7.6% per year. The projected price two years out is near $219 — a further 14.62% drop. The steepest depreciation has passed; the remaining decline is gradual, and in absolute dollar terms modest given the already-low price.

How it compares

At $256 the 5300 sits in the middle of its peer group. Above it, the HP EliteBook 845 G7 ($291) and Lenovo ThinkPad T490s ($288) are pricier but newer and generally better-rounded. Below, the HP ProBook 450 G5 ($219) and HP EliteBook 830 G6 ($232) undercut it on price. The 5300's specific edge is battery capacity paired with 32 GB of RAM — for buyers who prioritize all-day runtime over graphics, it is the stronger pick in this band.

Bottom line

The Latitude 5300 is a battery-first business laptop: 60 Wh of capacity and 32 GB of RAM make it worth the asking price for buyers who need long runtime and solid office multitasking above all else. The honest trade-off is graphics — this is emphatically not a gaming or creative machine. For a dependable, long-running office device, the value is real; for anything GPU-dependent, look elsewhere.