Dell’s unusual XPS 14 is better in nearly every manner

The 2026 XPS 14 is the finest premium pc pc we’ve considered from Dell in a while, with unbelievable carry out quality in a skinny machine and valid efficiency thanks to Intel’s Core Extremely Sequence 3 “Panther Lake” chips. A bonus: Dell killed its lame “Top rate Plus” naming arrangement. XPS is so assist!I will’t remember how noteworthy of a turnaround this unusual model is from the XPS 13 I reviewed last one year, which on the time develop into plight to be the line’s depressing swan track. The unusual XPS has improved in exactly about every manner, with an valid physical F-row, better audio system, and unparalleled battery life. Too inappropriate it’s wildly costly.$2000The GoodExceptional battery life thanks in part to variable refresh rate screensExcellent carry out qualityMercifully, it has a physical goal rowThe BadExpensive — in particular post-ticket increaseKeyboard is neatly tactile, but latticeless originate will not be for everyoneTrackpad haptics and palm rejection are loyal okayDell sent us two XPS 14 laptops to take a look at: A $1,999.ninety nine entry-stage model with an 8-core Intel Core Extremely 5 325 chip, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a 1920 x 1200 IPS point out, and a $2,899.ninety nine touchscreen OLED model with a 16-core Core Extremely X7 358H, noteworthy beefier graphics vitality, and double the RAM and storage. Every has three Thunderbolt 4 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack.Insist pronounce cardScreen (OLED): AScreen (IPS): BWebcam: BKeyboard: CTrackpad: CPort different: CSpeakers: BNumber of shocking stickers to get rid of: 1The carry out quality is spectacular. They’re easiest a tiny thicker than a MacBook Air, but about a Third of a pound heavier, feeling like a solid slab. The subsequent factor that strikes you, in particular must you’re insecure by XPS laptops previous, is that the seamless haptic trackpad has flippantly textured boundary lines and the keyboard has a upright goal row. No more utterly invisible trackpad and capacitive contact buttons for Inch and F-keys. Hallelujah!While these two changes are motive ample to acquire fun, I still obtain my quibbles. Boundary lines or not, this haptic trackpad is still easiest okay. I infrequently must press additional laborious for a click to register, and I infrequently salvage an accidental double-click even when urgent flippantly. I also infrequently salvage a misclick if my palms leisure too heavily on it while typing.Talking of typing, I still can’t salvage on the assist of this gapless keyboard. It has a paltry 0.8mm key lope, even though it doesn’t feel quite as shallow as it sounds. Here’s on account of its tactile bump on the pinnacle of every key press, which offers it an incredibly solid feel. No topic that tactility, I don’t like typing on it. I absorb slower, stilted, and more liable to typos. It’s a important improvement to acquire a physical goal row, but this keyboard is still not for me. On the least now it’s more of a “YMMV” more or less factor.In other locations, the 8-megapixel / 4K webcam appears bright in captivating light but loses a tiny little bit of its punch and color quality in dimmer lights or at the same time as you occur to’re backlit. The audio system are quite valid for this measurement of pc pc, producing a neatly-balanced sound that it is probably going you’ll maybe additionally crank up with out distortion — even supposing they unsurprisingly don’t obtain the strongest bass.Nevertheless the showstopper on the OLED model is, clearly, the purpose out. The 2880 x 1800 tandem OLED touchscreen gets captivating and is continually neatly off in deep inequity and animated colors. It’s a stunner. The 1920 x 1200 IPS panel on the decrease-cease configuration is kind of tedious by comparison. It reaches a reasonably brighter 500 nits and it controls glare moderately noteworthy, but subsequent to the OLED it’s a tiny boring. Nevertheless, the IPS camouflage camouflage has a assorted goal of its possess: a variable refresh rate that goes from 120Hz your total manner all of the manner down to 1Hz at the same time as you occur to’re viewing static utter material. The OLED suits that 120Hz, but its lowest refresh rate is 20Hz.1/5I still despise this keyboard. I will loyal tolerate it more now that it’s purchased a goal row.These low-dipping refresh rates assist give each and each XPS 14s wonderful battery life. On the OLED, I’d salvage over 10 hours of shut to-continuous combined usage (the everyday boatload of Chrome tabs, occasional song or video streaming, and a video name or two). The same workload on the IPS model reached over 14 hours, probably thanks to that decrease-res camouflage camouflage with 1Hz minimal refresh, and also it is probably going you’ll maybe additionally presumably stretch it longer must you’re being cautious. (I develop into not.) The IPS config even smashed our battery rundown take a look at with 26 hours of continuous runtime, even beating your total Arm-based entirely mostly laptops we’ve tested. I hope we perceive most of those panels in extra laptops. Admire telephones, dialing the refresh rate manner down at the same time as you occur to’re gazing documents helps protect battery.The Intel Panther Lake chips in these laptops also assist each and each XPS 14s with vitality efficiency, but they’re no slouches in the efficiency division. They’ve purchased solid thermals, with the followers staying moderately aloof — even below load. And valid through stress assessments the backside case purchased moderately warmth but many of the keyboard remained frigid. The OLED model with the X7 chip and its integrated 12-core GPU is moderately courageous for graphics-heavy duties like 3D rendering in Blender, and it might maybe well even squeak by in playing some AAA video games. I ran Battlefield 6 at a intellectual 50fps at 1920 x 1200 decision on the Low preset with XeSS plight to Extremely Efficiency. No longer wonderful, but not potato quality — and in a skinny-and-light productiveness pc pc.Dell XPS 14 (2026) / Intel Core Extremely X7 358H / 32GB / 1TBDell XPS 14 (2026) / Intel Core Extremely 5 325 / 16GB / 512GBMacBook Decent 14 / Apple M5 / 16GB / 1TBMacBook Air 15 / Apple M5 / 16GB / 1TBAsus Zenbook A16 / Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Crude X2E94100 / 48GB / 1TBAsus Zenbook Duo (2026) / Intel Core Extremely X9 388H (Panther Lake) / 32GB / 1TBCPU cores16810101816GPUIntel Arc B390 (12 cores)Intel Graphics (4 cores)Apple M5 (10 cores)M5 (10 cores)Adreno X2-90Arc B390 (12 cores)Geekbench 6 CPU Single288026124208417536433009Geekbench 6 CPU Multi167281102717948165672204417268Geekbench 6 GPU (OpenCL)544732312949059476614110156839Cinebench 2026 Single505463736727628528Cinebench 2026 Multi297320474486341363273993PugetBench for Photoshop997668231235411513109318773PugetBench for Premiere Decent (2.0.0+)30517Not tested7112261861Not tested54920Blender faculty room take a look at (seconds, decrease is better)49145444619861Blender cosmos take a look at (seconds, decrease is better)165Not testedNot testedNot tested670204Premiere 4K Export (decrease is better)5 minutes, 40 seconds6 minutes, 21 seconds2 minutes, 47 seconds2 minutes, fifty three seconds6 minutes, 38 seconds3 minutes, 3 secondsSustained SSD reads (MB/s)6540.396808.937049.457049.457092.916762.15Sustained SSD writes (MB/s)5707.55177.147317.67480.555694.945679.413DMark Time Gaze graphics score49022770Not testedNot tested52896654Price as tested$2,899.ninety nine$1,999.ninety nine$1,949$1,499$1,699.ninety nine$2,699.99Still, noteworthy more cost effective MacBooks beat the unusual XPS fashions in raw efficiency. A fanless 15-creep M5 MacBook Air wipes the flooring with the entry-stage XPS 14, and it even beats the easier-cease OLED model in most non-GPU-heavy benchmarks. Step up to the 14-creep M5 MacBook Decent, and the scales tip even a tiny additional in Apple’s favor — plus you salvage an HDMI port and SD card slot.This brings us to the XPS 14’s excellent instruct: ticket. When it launched, the entry-stage IPS model ticket $1,600. Now it’s $2,000. The OLED model with the X7 chip started at $2,200, and it now costs $2,900. Here’s in the end all on account of “ongoing market prerequisites,” now and again called RAMageddon. Nevertheless it doesn’t commerce the truth that here’s a crap-ton of money for the efficiency you’re getting. Dell just not too lengthy prior to now launched a decrease-ticket XPS 13 priced at $700 ($600 for school students as a snappy lived slice worth). It’s nice to demand upcoming attempts at competing with the MacBook Neo, but in the length in-between Dell’s OLED XPS 14 went up in ticket by the worth of that total XPS 13.1/3Side by side, it is probably going you’ll maybe additionally perceive that the IPS camouflage camouflage (correct) is brighter, but the OLED (left) has nicer colors and deeper inequity.It’s heartbreaking to demand most of those costs. $2,200 for the OLED XPS 14 felt justifiable for a excessive-cease pc with unbelievable carry out quality. Nevertheless at $2,900? For $200 less it is probably going you’ll maybe additionally salvage an Asus Zenbook Duo with two 14-creep OLEDs and a just correct better Intel Panther Lake chip. And for decrease than the entry-stage XPS 14, the Zenbook A16 provides thrice the RAM and a 16-creep OLED in a lighter package. And at the same time as you occur to compare Apple’s offerings to the XPS 14 for ticket to efficiency? It’s a massacre.I commend Dell for righting the ship and revitalizing the XPS line after its rebranding blunder. Nevertheless even though the unusual XPS laptops are better than ever, they’re now a not easy sell for unusual reasons.2026 Dell XPS 14 specs (as reviewed)Point to (OLED): 14-creep (2880 x 1800) 20-120Hz OLED touchscreen, 400 nitsDisplay (IPS): 14-creep (1920 x 1200) 1-120Hz IPS LCD, 500 nitsCPU (OLED): Intel Core Extremely X7 358HCPU (IPS): Intel Core Extremely 5 325GPU (OLED): Intel Arc B390 (12 cores)GPU (IPS): Intel Graphics (4 cores)RAM (OLED): 32GB LPDDR5X (soldered)RAM (IPS): 16GB LPDDR5X (soldered)Storage (OLED): 1TB M.2 NVMe SSDStorage (IPS): 512GB M.2 NVMe SSDWebcam: 8-megapixel / 4K HDRConnectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0Ports: 3x Thunderbolt 4 USB-C (DisplayPort 2.1 / Energy Shipping), 3.5mm combo audio jackBiometrics: Windows Hi there face unlockWeight: 3.0 kilos / 1.36kgDimensions (OLED): 12.19 x 8.26 x 0.58 inches / 309.5 x 209.7 x 14.6mmDimensions (IPS): 12.19 x 8.26 x 0.60 inches / 309.5 x 209.7 x 15.2mmBattery: 70WhPrice (OLED): $2,899.99Price (IPS): $1,999.99Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The VergeFollow issues and authors from this story to demand more like this on your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Antonio G. Di Benedetto