Dell’s recent XPS 14 is extra healthy in practically each and every capability

The 2026 XPS 14 is presumably the most productive top rate computer computer we’ve seen from Dell in a whereas, with not doubtless get quality in a thin machine and correct performance due to Intel’s Core Ultra Series 3 “Panther Lake” chips. A bonus: Dell killed its lame “Top rate Plus” naming plot. XPS is so relief!I’m able to’t imagine how great of a turnaround this recent model is from the XPS 13 I reviewed closing 300 and sixty five days, which at the time became space to be the road’s unhappy swan tune. The recent XPS has improved in best doubtless about each and every capability, with an trusty bodily F-row, greater speakers, and great battery existence. Too wicked it’s wildly costly.$2000The GoodExceptional battery existence thanks in segment to variable refresh rate screensExcellent get qualityMercifully, it has a bodily unbiased rowThe BadExpensive — especially post-designate increaseKeyboard is nicely tactile, however latticeless make isn’t any longer for everyoneTrackpad haptics and palm rejection are best doubtless okayDell sent us two XPS 14 laptops to verify: A $1,999.Ninety 9 entry-stage model with an 8-core Intel Core Ultra 5 325 chip, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a 1920 x 1200 IPS expose, and a $2,899.Ninety 9 touchscreen OLED version with a 16-core Core Ultra X7 358H, great beefier graphics energy, and double the RAM and storage. Each has three Thunderbolt 4 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack.Component file cardScreen (OLED): AScreen (IPS): BWebcam: BKeyboard: CTrackpad: CPort need: CSpeakers: BNumber of grotesque stickers to put off: 1The get quality is spectacular. They’re best doubtless a chunk thicker than a MacBook Air, however about a third of a pound heavier, feeling luxuriate in a exact slab. The following allege that strikes you, especially if you’re by XPS laptops past, is that the seamless haptic trackpad has frivolously textured boundary lines and the keyboard has an valid unbiased row. No extra fully invisible trackpad and capacitive contact buttons for Rating away and F-keys. Hallelujah!Whereas these two adjustments are motive sufficient to get a great time, I unruffled get my quibbles. Boundary lines or no longer, this haptic trackpad is unruffled best doubtless k. I frequently wish to press extra laborious for a click to register, and I most frequently salvage an unintended double-click even when urgent frivolously. I also frequently salvage a misclick if my fingers leisure too heavily on it whereas typing.Speaking of typing, I unruffled can’t salvage within the relief of this gapless keyboard. It has a paltry 0.8mm key lumber, even though it doesn’t feel pretty as shallow because it sounds. That is due to its tactile bump at the halt of each and every key press, which affords it an extremely exact feel. Despite that tactility, I don’t luxuriate in typing on it. I have slower, stilted, and extra inclined to typos. It’s a considerable growth to get a bodily unbiased row, however this keyboard is unruffled no longer for me. On the least now it’s extra of a “YMMV” roughly allege.In other locations, the 8-megapixel / 4K webcam looks to be engaging in shining gentle however loses pretty of its punch and coloration quality in dimmer lights or when you’re backlit. The speakers are pretty correct for this size of computer computer, producing a successfully-balanced sound that you just would maybe maybe perchance maybe crank up with out distortion — even though they unsurprisingly don’t get the strongest bass.Nonetheless the showstopper on the OLED model is, obviously, the expose. The 2880 x 1800 tandem OLED touchscreen will get shining and is continuously wealthy in deep distinction and full of life colors. It’s a stunner. The 1920 x 1200 IPS panel on the decrease-halt configuration is practically stupid by comparison. It reaches a sexy brighter 500 nits and it controls glare pretty great, however next to the OLED it’s a chunk dreary. Alternatively, the IPS display mask has a strange feature of its beget: a variable refresh rate that goes from 120Hz the full capability down to 1Hz when you’re viewing static verbalize material. The OLED matches that 120Hz, however its lowest refresh rate is 20Hz.1/5I unruffled abominate this keyboard. I’m able to best doubtless tolerate it extra now that it’s obtained a unbiased row.These low-dipping refresh charges abet give both XPS 14s best doubtless battery existence. On the OLED, I might well salvage over 10 hours of come-continuous mixed usage (the long-established boatload of Chrome tabs, occasional tune or video streaming, and a video call or two). The an identical workload on the IPS model reached over 14 hours, doubtless due to that decrease-res display mask with 1Hz minimum refresh, and you would maybe maybe perchance maybe maybe stretch it longer if you’re being cautious. (I became no longer.) The IPS config even smashed our battery rundown take a look at with 26 hours of fixed runtime, even beating the full Arm-essentially based entirely laptops we’ve examined. I hope we look these kinds of panels in extra laptops. Fancy telephones, dialing the refresh rate capability down when you’re watching documents helps relief battery.The Intel Panther Lake chips in these laptops also abet both XPS 14s with energy effectivity, however they’re no slouches within the performance department. They’ve obtained exact thermals, with the followers staying pretty unruffled — even below load. And for the period of stress tests the bottom case obtained pretty heat however many of the keyboard remained frigid. The OLED model with the X7 chip and its constructed-in 12-core GPU is reasonably gallant for graphics-heavy initiatives luxuriate in 3D rendering in Blender, and it might maybe most likely even squeak by in enjoying some AAA video games. I ran Battlefield 6 at an even 50fps at 1920 x 1200 resolution on the Low preset with XeSS space to Ultra Performance. Not amazing, however no longer potato quality — and in a thin-and-gentle productivity computer computer.Dell XPS 14 (2026) / Intel Core Ultra X7 358H / 32GB / 1TBDell XPS 14 (2026) / Intel Core Ultra 5 325 / 16GB / 512GBMacBook Pro 14 / Apple M5 / 16GB / 1TBMacBook Air 15 / Apple M5 / 16GB / 1TBAsus Zenbook A16 / Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Outrageous 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 Pro (2.0.0+)30517Not tested7112261861Not tested54920Blender faculty room take a look at (seconds, decrease is extra healthy)49145444619861Blender cosmos take a look at (seconds, decrease is extra healthy)165Not testedNot testedNot tested670204Premiere 4K Export (decrease is extra healthy)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 Question 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, great more affordable MacBooks beat the recent XPS fashions in raw performance. A fanless 15-lumber M5 MacBook Air wipes the bottom with the entry-stage XPS 14, and it even beats the greater-halt OLED model in most non-GPU-heavy benchmarks. Step as much as the 14-lumber M5 MacBook Pro, and the scales tip even a chunk extra in Apple’s desire — plus you salvage an HDMI port and SD card slot.This brings us to the XPS 14’s best doubtless allege: designate. When it launched, the entry-stage IPS model price $1,600. Now it’s $2,000. The OLED model with the X7 chip started at $2,200, and it now costs $2,900. That is now not wise to claim all due to “ongoing market conditions,” also called RAMageddon. Nonetheless it surely doesn’t trade the indisputable truth that that is a crap-ton of money for the performance you’re getting. Dell recently announced a decrease-price XPS 13 priced at $700 ($600 for students as a momentary within the discount of designate). It’s good to explore upcoming makes an attempt at competing with the MacBook Neo, however within the meantime Dell’s OLED XPS 14 went up in designate by the designate of that entire XPS 13.1/3Side by facet, you would maybe maybe perchance maybe look that the IPS display mask (best doubtless) is brighter, however the OLED (left) has nicer colors and deeper distinction.It’s heartbreaking to explore these kinds of costs. $2,200 for the OLED XPS 14 felt justifiable for a high-halt computer with unbelievable get quality. Nonetheless at $2,900? For $200 less you would maybe maybe perchance maybe salvage an Asus Zenbook Duo with two 14-lumber OLEDs and an even greater Intel Panther Lake chip. And for no longer as much as the entry-stage XPS 14, the Zenbook A16 affords three times the RAM and a 16-lumber OLED in a lighter equipment. And when you evaluate Apple’s offerings to the XPS 14 for designate to performance? It’s a bloodbath.I commend Dell for righting the ship and revitalizing the XPS line after its rebranding blunder. Nonetheless even supposing the recent XPS laptops are greater than ever, they’re now a anxious promote for recent reasons.2026 Dell XPS 14 specs (as reviewed)Insist (OLED): 14-lumber (2880 x 1800) 20-120Hz OLED touchscreen, 400 nitsDisplay (IPS): 14-lumber (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 / Energy Shipping), 3.5mm combo audio jackBiometrics: House windows Hello 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 topics and authors from this story to explore extra luxuriate in this to your personalized homepage feed and to acquire electronic mail updates.Antonio G. Di Benedetto