Review: Dell XPS 14 and 16

Dell’s XPS laptops have always been Windows’ rough answer to Apple’s MacBook Pro line, so it shouldn’t be surprising that Dell, like Apple, has moved away from its 15-inch XPS laptop to two models, the XPS 14-inch and XPS 16-inch.

Both share nearly identical designs and features, though the 16-inch model has a larger screen and battery (in our tests, that balanced out to give roughly the same battery life as the 14-inch model). The result are a pair of premium Windows machines with premium prices to match.

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

Sorta Svelte

As a longtime fan of the XPS 13, I was really hoping the XPS 14 would be a slightly larger version of the XPS 13 Plus, but it really isn't. The XPS 14 is actually a slighter, smaller version of the XPS 15. While it's relatively light at 3.7 pounds, it is 0.71 inches thick and definitely leans more toward the 15-inch XPS of old than the ultralight, ultrathin XPS 13.

Once I got over this disappointment, though, there's a lot to like in these new form factors. The design is exquisite. The XPS team has out-Appled Apple in some ways, with the barren, uninterrupted off-white expanse that are the trackpad and palm rests. If you're into a clean, minimalist aesthetic, this is the laptop you want.

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

About that invisible trackpad: Turns out, your muscle memory of where a trackpad is is good enough that you probably don't need to see it. At least that was the case in my testing. Is it a little gimmicky? Sure. But putting lines in that smooth white expanse is like walking across an unbroken field of freshly fallen snow. What sort of monster would do that?

The trackpad is responsive, which is to say, better than the similar haptic pad in the XPS 13 Plus. Tracking, scrolling, clicking—everything was very smooth and reminiscent of Apple's MacBook trackpads (except you can't see Dell's version).

The keyboard is similarly controversial. First, let's say it: Yes, the XPS 14 and 16 have the capacitive touch buttons, instead of function keys that Dell debuted in the XPS 13 Plus. I am not especially bothered by this, because I have never touch-typed function keys. In fact, I just don't use function keys enough to be bothered by the capacitive buttons. However, if you do use them a lot or touch-type them, forget about the XPS—you will hate this keyboard.

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

I found the slightly large keys simultaneously annoying and easy enough to type with. In fact I even did a touch-typing test on this versus my daily machine (a Lenovo T14) and I was quite sure I'd be slower on the Dell, but I wasn't. I just don't like the look of this keyboard. Fortunately, the aesthetics of it have nothing to do with its effectiveness. The one exception to that is the backspace key, which is a little left of normal to make room for the power button (which is also a fingerprint reader). This wasn't a deal-breaker for me, but it did take a few days to adjust to.

The port selection on both the 14 and 16 is fairly limited. There are three—all USB-C, certified Thunderbolt 4. Dell also includes a dongle with USB-A and HDMI ports if you need them. There's a headphone jack on the right side (thank God) and a microSD card slot. I don't want to pick on Dell here because they're certainly not alone, but what the heck does anyone need a microSD card slot for? A full-size SD card slot would be fantastically useful. A microSD card slot ... not so much. Major kudos to the first laptop-maker to bring back the full-size SD card slot.

The webcams with the XPS 14 and 16 are surprisingly good—better than most other built-in web cams I've tested this year.

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

Pretty Pricey

Dell is selling a number of configurations between these two sizes, but I absolutely do not recommend the base model. The problem with the base model is the screen, which is a 1,920 x 1,200 screen. At 14 inches, that works out to a pixels per inch (PPI) of 154. While I have not used this model, I have spent plenty of time testing similar specced screens, and you should never pay $1,700 for a laptop with 154 PPI screen (for comparison, a 14-inch MacBook Pro has a PPI of 254). Worse, the 16-inch base model also ships with a 1,920 x 1,200 screen, which is a PPI so low that, frankly, it should only be in cheap laptops under $500.

Just don't buy the base model, mmmkay?

The models I tested both had the gorgeous 3,200 x 2,000 OLED screens, which are things of beauty, but do bring the base price of both models up by $300. That puts the price of the minimum config I would recommend at $2,000 for the XPS 14 and $2,200 for the XPS 16. Keep in mind that that price gets you only 16 GB of RAM, no dedicated graphics, and a 512-GB SSD. While you can always add your own SSD, the RAM is not upgradable.

Adding the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 bumps the price of the 14-inch model to $2,400. This is the config I tested; performance was wanting in demanding tasks. (Save on your big computer purchases with the latest Dell coupon codes.)

Performance Problems

I was surprised by the benchmarks I got from the XPS 14 with the RTX 4050, and not in a good way. My results were notably lower than with other laptops using the same chip, particularly in Geekbench, which measures graphics performance. After looking up some specs and puzzling through the test results, I've come to the conclusion that Dell is underpowering the RTX 4050 graphics. The XPS 14 gives the RTX 4050 only 40 watts, which is just above the bare minimum of 30 watts that Nvidia recommends. On one hand that keeps down heat, which means the fans spin up less and the battery lasts longer. Indeed, the fans on the XPS 14 and 16 ran less than other laptops I've been testing, at least until I started doing more demanding things like editing video.

The cost of that efficacy, though, is performance. The XPS 14 performed roughly on par with similarly specced Windows laptops we've tested this spring, and is very snappy for average tasks like browsing the web or editing documents, neither of which ever caused the fans to spin or the laptops to get warm. The bad news is that if you want a video editing workstation, the XPS 14 is not the answer.

The XPS 16 I tested had the more powerful RTX 4070 cards, and performance was much better, but it'll set you back $800 more for the RTX 4070. More to the point, based on my testing and benchmarks around the web, the MacBook Pro with the M3 Pro chip (9/10, WIRED Recommends) costs the same as the XPS 16 with RTX 4050, and it crushes the XPS, which is disappointing for anyone wanting a MacBook Pro–equivalent Windows machine.

For all that performance hit, battery life is still just okay. In everyday use browsing the web, writing documents, and watching the occasional YouTube video, I managed about six hours. That's actually pretty much smack-dab in the middle of the pack for a laptop with an OLED screen and dedicated graphics. If there's anything to complain about, it's really Windows laptops in general. Will anyone ever manage to make a Windows machine with the kind of battery life Apple gets out of the Macbook Pro? So far the answer is no, which is disappointing.

Side note for Linux users: As you would expect, battery life was worse under Linux. Dell also confirmed that for now there will be no official developer edition of the XPS 14 or 16. The Linux-support version of the XPS is limited to the 13-inch Plus model. I was able to get Arch running on the XPS 14, but the trackpad never worked correctly.

The XPS 14 and 16 are both beautiful, well-designed machines. They're plenty capable for most use cases, though heavy gamers and video editors will want to look elsewhere. They're expensive for what you get, but if you don't mind paying a premium for first-class build quality with very clean, eye-catching design, then the XPS 14 and 16 are solid laptops.