Dell’s novel XPS 14 is healthier in practically every manner

The 2026 XPS 14 is basically one of one of the best premium notebook computer we’ve seen from Dell quickly, with incredible decide up quality in a thin machine and upright efficiency because of the Intel’s Core Ultra Series 3 “Panther Lake” chips. A bonus: Dell killed its lame “Top class Plus” naming blueprint. XPS is so back!I will be succesful to’t factor in how noteworthy of a turnaround this novel mannequin is from the XPS 13 I reviewed final 365 days, which on the time used to be characteristic to be the line’s depressing swan tune. The novel XPS has improved in only about every manner, with an precise bodily F-row, better speakers, and great battery existence. Too rotten it’s wildly costly.$2000The GoodExceptional battery existence thanks in section to variable refresh payment screensExcellent decide up qualityMercifully, it has a bodily characteristic rowThe BadExpensive — especially put up-payment increaseKeyboard is smartly tactile, but latticeless put is no longer for everyoneTrackpad haptics and palm rejection are correct okayDell sent us two XPS 14 laptops to verify: A $1,999.ninety 9 entry-level mannequin with an 8-core Intel Core Ultra 5 325 chip, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a 1920 x 1200 IPS negate their private praises, and a $2,899.ninety 9 touchscreen OLED model with a 16-core Core Ultra X7 358H, noteworthy beefier graphics energy, and double the RAM and storage. Each and each has three Thunderbolt 4 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack.Element file cardScreen (OLED): AScreen (IPS): BWebcam: BKeyboard: CTrackpad: CPort selection: CSpeakers: BNumber of unsightly stickers to take dangle of away: 1The decide up quality is spectacular. They’re only a little thicker than a MacBook Air, but a pair of third of a pound heavier, feeling love a solid slab. The next thing that strikes you, especially within the occasion you’re apprehensive by XPS laptops past, is that the seamless haptic trackpad has flippantly textured boundary lines and the keyboard has a correct characteristic row. No more completely invisible trackpad and capacitive touch buttons for Ruin out and F-keys. Hallelujah!While these two adjustments are motive sufficient to celebrate, I level-headed admire my quibbles. Boundary lines or no longer, this haptic trackpad is level-headed only k. I generally admire to press extra tough for a click on to register, and I occasionally derive an accidental double-click on even when pressing flippantly. I furthermore generally derive a misclick if my fingers rest too closely on it whereas typing.Talking of typing, I level-headed can’t derive within the back of this gapless keyboard. It has a paltry 0.8mm key trail, though it doesn’t feel reasonably as shallow as it sounds. Right here’s because of the its tactile bump on the discontinue of every key press, which affords it a shockingly solid feel. Despite that tactility, I don’t love typing on it. I have confidence slower, stilted, and more prone to typos. It’s a considerable development to admire a bodily characteristic row, but this keyboard is level-headed no longer for me. As a minimum now it’s more of a “YMMV” more or much less thing.In a mode of locations, the 8-megapixel / 4K webcam appears to be like entertaining in luminous mild but loses a little of its punch and coloration quality in dimmer lighting or within the occasion you’re backlit. The speakers are reasonably upright for this size of notebook computer, producing a smartly-balanced sound you might possibly crank up without distortion — even supposing they unsurprisingly don’t admire the strongest bass.However the showstopper on the OLED mannequin is, clearly, the negate their private praises. The 2880 x 1800 tandem OLED touchscreen gets luminous and is continuously prosperous in deep distinction and energetic colours. It’s a stunner. The 1920 x 1200 IPS panel on the lower-pause configuration is practically silly by comparison. It reaches a a little bit brighter 500 nits and it controls glare aesthetic noteworthy, but next to the OLED it’s a little tiring. On the opposite hand, the IPS be conscious has a particular feature of its private: a variable refresh payment that goes from 120Hz the total manner down to 1Hz within the occasion you’re viewing static screech. The OLED suits that 120Hz, but its lowest refresh payment is 20Hz.1/5I level-headed hate this keyboard. I will be succesful to correct tolerate it more now that it’s bought a characteristic row.These low-dipping refresh charges wait on give both XPS 14s very perfect battery existence. On the OLED, I could well well furthermore derive over 10 hours of near-valid blended utilization (the extraordinary boatload of Chrome tabs, occasional tune or video streaming, and a video name or two). The identical workload on the IPS mannequin reached over 14 hours, likely because of the that lower-res be conscious with 1Hz minimal refresh, and also you can presumably stretch it longer within the occasion you’re being cautious. (I used to be no longer.) The IPS config even smashed our battery rundown take a look at with 26 hours of valid runtime, even beating the total Arm-based laptops we’ve examined. I hope we inquire these kinds of panels in more laptops. Address phones, dialing the refresh payment manner down within the occasion you’re observing paperwork helps sustain battery.The Intel Panther Lake chips in these laptops furthermore wait on both XPS 14s with energy effectivity, but they’re no slouches within the efficiency department. They’ve bought solid thermals, with the fans staying aesthetic soundless — even below load. And at some stage in stress tests the backside case bought aesthetic warmth but so a lot of the keyboard remained cool. The OLED mannequin with the X7 chip and its built-in 12-core GPU is aesthetic formidable for graphics-heavy initiatives love 3D rendering in Blender, and it can probably well even squeak by in playing some AAA games. I ran Battlefield 6 at an even 50fps at 1920 x 1200 choice on the Low preset with XeSS characteristic to Ultra Performance. No longer amazing, but no longer potato quality — and in a thin-and-mild productiveness notebook computer.Dell XPS 14 (2026) / Intel Core Ultra X7 358H / 32GB / 1TBDell XPS 14 (2026) / Intel Core Ultra 5 325 / 16GB / 512GBMacBook Expert 14 / Apple M5 / 16GB / 1TBMacBook Air 15 / Apple M5 / 16GB / 1TBAsus Zenbook A16 / Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Indecent X2E94100 / 48GB / 1TBAsus Zenbook Duo (2026) / Intel Core Ultra 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 Expert (2.0.0+)30517Not tested7112261861Not tested54920Blender classroom take a look at (seconds, lower is healthier)49145444619861Blender cosmos take a look at (seconds, lower is healthier)165Not testedNot testedNot tested670204Premiere 4K Export (lower is healthier)5 minutes, 40 seconds6 minutes, 21 seconds2 minutes, 47 seconds2 minutes, 53 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 Survey graphics score49022770Not testedNot tested52896654Price as examined$2,899.ninety 9$1,999.ninety 9$1,949$1,499$1,699.ninety 9$2,699.99Still, more payment efficient MacBooks beat the novel XPS devices in raw efficiency. A fanless 15-accelerate M5 MacBook Air wipes the bottom with the entry-level XPS 14, and it even beats the higher-pause OLED mannequin in most non-GPU-heavy benchmarks. Step as a lot as the 14-accelerate M5 MacBook Expert, and the scales tip even a little extra in Apple’s favor — plus you derive an HDMI port and SD card slot.This brings us to the XPS 14’s preferrred snarl: payment. When it launched, the entry-level IPS mannequin payment $1,600. Now it’s $2,000. The OLED mannequin with the X7 chip started at $2,200, and it now prices $2,900. Right here’s indubitably all because of the “ongoing market prerequisites,” furthermore known as RAMageddon. But it absolutely doesn’t replace the very fact that here is a crap-ton of cash for the efficiency you’re getting. Dell currently announced a lower-payment XPS 13 priced at $700 ($600 for students as a momentary bargain). It’s good to appear upcoming makes an attempt at competing with the MacBook Neo, but within the duration in-between Dell’s OLED XPS 14 went up in payment by the pricetag of that total XPS 13.1/3Side by facet, you can inquire that the IPS be conscious (correct) is brighter, however the OLED (left) has nicer colours and deeper distinction.It’s heartbreaking to appear these kinds of costs. $2,200 for the OLED XPS 14 felt justifiable for a excessive-pause computer with incredible decide up quality. But at $2,900? For $200 much less you can derive an Asus Zenbook Duo with two 14-accelerate OLEDs and an even better Intel Panther Lake chip. And for lower than the entry-level XPS 14, the Zenbook A16 affords three cases the RAM and a 16-accelerate OLED in a lighter kit. And within the occasion you evaluation Apple’s choices to the XPS 14 for payment to efficiency? It’s a massacre.I commend Dell for righting the ship and revitalizing the XPS line after its rebranding blunder. But even supposing the novel XPS laptops are better than ever, they’re now a sophisticated sell for current reasons.2026 Dell XPS 14 specs (as reviewed)Exhibit (OLED): 14-accelerate (2880 x 1800) 20-120Hz OLED touchscreen, 400 nitsDisplay (IPS): 14-accelerate (1920 x 1200) 1-120Hz IPS LCD, 500 nitsCPU (OLED): Intel Core Ultra X7 358HCPU (IPS): Intel Core Ultra 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 / Strength Birth), 3.5mm combo audio jackBiometrics: Windows Hello face unlockWeight: 3.0 pounds / 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 matters and authors from this memoir to appear more love this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Antonio G. Di Benedetto