For the last few years, Dynabook has been widely known for its business-focused laptops. Recently, we got to try out the new Dynabook Tecra A40-G, and here are our thoughts about the new laptop.
Design
While most consumers are looking out for a laptop that performs well for an affordable price, most of the budget laptops in today’s market do not come with a premium build and instead are made of cheap plastics. The new Tecra A40-G falls in that category and it does appear that Dynabook is solely focusing on just the productivity of the laptop, rather than on the build and style. That said, the laptop features a weight of just 1.4kg, The weight is suitable for business users who are looking for lightweight laptops and travel on a daily basis.
The Tecra A40-G is just 19.9mm thick, even with the number of ports that are available. Speaking of ports, the Tecra A40-G comes with a USB Type-C port, an HDMI port, a headphone jack, and a microSD card reader that is located on the left side. The Type-C port brings support for power delivery and for display connectivity. On the right side, you get the Ethernet port, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, and a security lock. One of the USB 3.0 ports also allows charging their devices while the laptop is in sleep mode.
Since the Tecra A40-G is a business laptop, Dynabook ensured that the device can survive the harsh usage of business users. The device features the MIL-STD-810G certification that indicates the laptop is durable to withstands hard shocks and accidental drops. The Tecra A40-G that we got for review features a 14-inch anti-glare display with 1920 x 1080 as the screen resolution. While the display is just mediocre in the brightness department, the viewing angles are decent when looked at sideways. However, the viewing angle gets affected if you view anything from below.
If you want a better display, then Dynabook also has a variant that comes with an IPS panel and complimented with touchscreen functionality. The keyboard is something that may be disappointing for some users. First and foremost, a business laptop will surely benefit from having backlit keys, something which the Tecra A40-G lacks, unfortunately. This could even be a dealbreaker for many users.
And for some reason, getting used to the keyboard did take a bit of time, since the keys are quite cramped. But we must admit that this will vary from person to person. The typing experience is just decent, to say the least. On a positive note, the keyboard is spill-resistant so you don’t need to panic if you accidentally tipped that coffee mug over the laptop. We also wished that Dynabook could at least have made the trackpad a bit wider. The trackpad does perform well, except for the fact that there isn’t enough room to move your fingers.
That said, the palm rest of the laptop does feature a clean design pattern that we like. There are parallel lines running throughout the laptop surface. Dynabook also sells a model of the Tecra A40-G that features a fingerprint scanner atop the trackpad. For those who are expecting a decent speaker, the Tecra A40-G does have stereo speakers with DTS Sound support. However, even if the volume is cranked up, the laptop audio isn’t that loud. It could be an issue if your trying to show a presentation to a client and could make matters worse if you’re using the laptop outdoors.
Specs and Performance
While we have covered most of the design factors, let’s take a look at the internal hardware and performance of the laptop. The Tecra A40-G that we got for review features the Intel 10th generation i5-10210U processor that is clocked at 1.6 GHz speeds. The chip is paired with a modest 8GB DDR4 RAM and a 256GB PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD (C-E80T256G4-P3D3B3E13). The system comes preinstalled with the Windows 10 Pro OS. While the 10th generation Intel chips aren’t the latest, they still perform well to handle daily day-to-day office tasks. The 8GB DDR4 RAM may very well be the minimum required for a decent Windows experience but we still recommend 16GB DDR4, at the least, since many business users tend to keep open a lot of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and even dozens of Chrome tabs that are memory-intensive applications.
The processor can turbo-boost up to 4.20 GHz speeds. The integrated graphics over here is based on the older Intel UHD Graphics and not the current Intel Iris iGPU performance on the latest chipsets. The laptop performed well for normal tasks and should be able to handle basic office jobs. While the Dynabook Tecra A40-G isn’t meant for gaming, we did run some basic benchmarks, including PC Mark 10, 3D Mark FireStrike/Night Raid, Geekbench 5, and CineBench R23 to test the processor performance. We also ran CrystakDiskMark to test the SSD performance.
Benchmarks
Our PC Mark 10 Extended scores hit 2698 points, 3DMark FireStrike at 1042 points, and 3DMark Night Raid at 4953 points. We also got Geekbench 5 single-core performance at 1086 points, multicore at 3234 points, OpenCL GPU tests at 5428 points, and Vulkan GPU test at 5455 points. Our Cinebench R23 single-core and multi-core performance figures are 1091 points, and 3105 points, respectively. The SSD also performed well and we got about 2505MB/s read speeds and 1700MB/s write speeds with CrystalDiskMark.
Dynabook has also included its own native system BIOS that gives the brand the advantage to enhance its laptop security and to protect vital data that concerns your business. Some of the Tecra A40-G also feature a front-facing IR camera for Windows Hello login capability.
Battery
Depending on the nature of the work, business laptops should be able to last throughout a day of use. But in this case, we were able to use the laptop for half a day or so while browsing the web, writing articles, and so forth. The laptop packs an internal 4-cell, 42Whr Lithium-Ion Polymer battery. We also ran the PC Mark 10 Battery Test and the laptop lasted for 9 hours and 7 minutes in normal battery mode. That said, the Tecra A40-G does bring support for the fast charge via its USB Type-C port. Dynabook mentions that by just charging the laptop for half an hour, you will be able to get up to 4 hours of battery life. This can be a game-changer for many business users who travel around the city meeting clients.
Verdict
While we mention a lot of our concerns regarding the design, we think Dynabook made this laptop with the aim that enterprise companies will be able to choose a reliable laptop that is affordable, secure, fast, and durable. And not for the purpose of offering premium features. The Dynabook Tecra A40-G is a low-cost laptop that features a decent 14-inch display with Full HD screen resolution. The build quality may not be in the lines of premium laptops, but it’s durable enough to resist drops and shocks.
While the keyboard and trackpad maybe just be okay for many, the laptop does feature multiple connectivity options that are beneficial for business users. The lightweight laptop is also suitable for those who travel a lot. And the performance of the device is sufficient enough for daily business tasks. The battery life may be mediocre but the fast charge support helps to quickly squeeze some extra hours when you’re in a hurry to meet your deadlines.
