Dell XPS 14Luke Larsen / Digital Trends
Dellupended its XPS laptop lineup , downsize the XPS 17 to a new 16 - column inch poser and the XPS 15 to a newfangled 14 - column inch machine . At the same time , it root for pattern discriminative stimulus from the XPS 13 Plus ( now call the XPS 13 ) to create ultramodern and sometimes controversial new automobile .
TheXPS 14andXPS 16offer smaller dimensions than their predecessors , with change power levels inside . As always , prefer between the two depend entirely on how you project to use your laptop . So , which of these two externally similar machines is good for you ?
Dell XPS 14Luke Larsen / Digital Trends
Dell is n’t just the place to go for large passel on a new laptop or background . They also carry a mixture of gear from workstation and servers to microcomputer accessories , gambling console , monitor , and beyond . In fact , Dell is one of the best places to look before you face anywhere else , just to see if there ’s a discount or an offer available . Do n’t believe us ? Why not take a look for yourself ? Dell ’s top deals are live now .
Specs and configurations
Both laptop computer are premium , with the XPS 14 start at a slightly lower cost . You ’ll spend $ 1,700 for an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H chipset , 16 GB of RAM , a 512 GB SSD , integrated Intel Arc artwork , and a 14.5 - inch Full HD+ IPS presentation . you may mix and twin element from there to get up to $ 3,699 for 64 GB of RAM , a 4 TB SSD , an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 , and a 14.5 - inch 3.2 K OLED display .
queerly enough , mighty now the XPS 16 also start at $ 1,700 for a Core Ultra 7 155H , 16 GB of RAM , a 512 GB SSD , Intel Arc graphics , and a 16.3 - column inch FHD+ IPS panel . Max it out , and you ’ll spend a lot more at $ 4,549 for a Core Ultra 9 185H , 64 GB of RAM , a 4 TB SSD , an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU , and a 16.3 - column inch 4K+ OLED screenland .
These two laptops are tight matched at the modest oddment , but the XPS 16 is much more potent the more you spend . If you ’re going to spend $ 3,500 or more for a laptop , the large automobile will give you more bang for your buck .
Design
TheXPS 13 Plus(now known as just the XPS 13 ) usher in several noticeable excogitation changes to the XPS lineup while hold other facial expression . The XPS 14 and 16 cope with it with surprising eubstance , even given the more and more large proportion . All three laptop computer are identical on the outside : Graphite ( dark gray ) or Platinum ( silver ) finishes on the atomic number 13 lid and chassis body , with anodized chrome protect the edges . They take care the same as past XPS generations .
Open them up , though , and everything ’s changed . go are the chicken feed or carbon fiber palm rests and standard island keyboard . In their place , you ’ll find glass decoration rests with hidden haptic touchpads , zero - lattice keyboard , and LED buttons supercede physical role keys . Each of these changes has kicked off controversy among XPS aficionado and world-wide laptop buyers alike . But there ’s no question that the new look is ultramodern and free fall - beat gorgeous from an esthetic perspective .
Interestingly , when comparing the XPS 14 and the XPS 16 , the keyboard stays the same size while the speaker unit grilles develop on the larger model , as does the palm rest . But from a distance , they ’re identical .
The XPS 14 and XPS 16 both offer excellent build quality , as per the brand . Thanks to the smallest show bezels on laptops to this solar day , both auto are astonishingly small . Naturally , the 14 - inch exemplar is slightly thin at 0.71 inches versus 0.74 inch , while it ’s also a Lebanese pound lightsome . you may discover thinner and light laptop in each size if you look around , but Dell is sample to provide a mix of dear functioning and minor shape .
The keyboard on both has declamatory keycaps with zero - wicket key spacing , something you ’ll need to get used to on both laptops . They ’re the same sizing and offer the same overall smell , with exact , snappy switches . The keyboard ’ most controversial prospect is the row of lead button along the top that are particularly odd on the larger machine where there ’s stack of room for physical keys . These button do n’t have haptics , so you ’ll have to look to make certain they ’re responding .
The concealed tactile touchpad worked very well on the XPS 14 once you got used to being ineffectual to tell where the touchpad starts and where it ends . It was large enough on the XPS 14 that you ’re improbable to find yourself swiping on the palm tree rest , and thenar rejection was excellent . The XPS 16 ’s tactual touchpad is about the same , only with more ( veil ) real estate of the realm for swiping .
Connectivity is one area where both laptop are equally disappointing . Larger laptop can equip more port , but Dell make up one’s mind to go all - in on Thunderbolt 4 . Both have three , one of which powers the laptop , so both are equally limited when supporting bequest gadget . The microSD plug-in lector is also disappointing , especially on the XPS 16 that ’s most likely to be desired by creator . but put , both laptops will require dongle . by chance , the XPS 16 supports Wi - Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 , while the XPS 14 lingers a generation behind .
Regarding their webcam , both offer 1080p versions with infrared cameras for Windows 11 Hello facial realization , and both have fingerprint readers embedded in their power button .
Performance
The XPS 14 and 16 are both built around Intel Core Ultra central processing unit , members of the Meteor Lake chipset that adds in surplus low-toned - tycoon mainframe nucleus , a dedicated Neural Processing Unit ( NPU ) for on - Saratoga chip AI support , and upgrade Intel Arc structured graphics . The XPS 14 offers the Core Ultra 7 155H , a 28 - James Watt CPUs with 16 inwardness ( six Performance , eight Efficient , and two Low Power Efficient ) and 22 threads that runs at up to 4.8GHz . The XPS 16 use the Core Ultra 7 or the Core Ultra 9 185H , a 45 - James Watt silicon chip with the same bit of marrow and a slightly immobile 5.1GHz Max Turbo relative frequency .
In plus , both machines can be configured with Intel Arc integrated graphics that fall somewhere between the sure-enough Intel Iris Xe graphics and the entry - level Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU . The XPS 14 can also be configured with the RTX 4050 , while the XPS 16 offers up to the RTX 4070 .
We refresh the XPS 14 with the more or less faster Core Ultra 7 165H that is also on our XPS 16 review building block . Both laptop computer offer fantabulous productivity performance . However , the XPS 16 provided importantly faster carrying into action in creative apps like Adobe Premiere Pro thanks to the faster RTX 4070 . That ’s apparent in both the Cinebench R24 GPU scores and the PugetBench Premiere Pro results .
The XPS 16 will also be a much fast gaming laptop . Both laptops will be plenty dissolute for productivity users , while creators will like the large political machine .
Display and audio
The XPS 14 and the XPS 16 extend a choice between abject - resolution and lower - power IPS displays and higher - resolution and more business leader - hungry OLED panel . The XPS 14 use a 14.5 - column inch 16:10 screen size in either Full HD ( 1920 x 1200 ) IP or 3.2 K ( 3200 x 2000 ) OLED , while the XPS 16 uses 16.3 - in 16:10 panels in either Full HD+ informatics or 4K+ ( 3840 x 2400 ) OLED . The XPS 14 ’s displays both flow at 120Hz while the XPS 16 ’s FHD+ test at 60Hz and 4K+ at 90Hz . The smaller simple machine ’s display is therefore better for a larder smooth Windows 11 experience .
We review both OLED pick and found them both to render passably wide colors , with the AdobeRGB gamut fall a bit below the OLED norm at 85 % for the XPS 14 and 90 % for the XPS 16 ( most are closer to 100 % ) . but with excellent colouring material truth at a Delta - E of well under the 1.0 study excellent for originative work . The usual OLED inky blacks were on full display , while the XPS 14 ’s 374 nit of luminance was estimable , but not as undecomposed as the XPS 16 ’s 432 nit . Both IPS presentation options are likely to be decent , while the XPS 14 ’s version will be shrewd at the same resolution .
Regarding audio lineament , the XPS 14 ’s quadrangle - speaker conformation was o.k. , lacking bass while providing an overall want of clarity . The XPS 16 ’s similar setup provided a lot more volume and more bass part .
Portability
Neither laptop computer is particularly humble or unaccented , but the XPS 14 is substantially more portable than the XPS 16 . The latter is large enough to be a essence to carry around , although less so than some other 16 - inch laptop .
The XPS 14 bring home the bacon an average bombardment life of around 8.5 hour of web browsing and 10 hours of local TV . literal - life consumption was about four or 5 hours of distinctive productivity tasks . The XPS 16 has a significantly larger shelling at 99.5 W - time of day compared to the XPS 14 ’s 69.5 watt - hr , but it also has a larger and , in the font of the OLED show , higher - resolution display . It supervise just 5.5 hours of World Wide Web browsing and video . The XPS 14 is therefore the longer live on a charge .
Choose your size and performance carefully
The XPS 14 and XPS 16 are so similar in so many way that it ’s hard to say one is better than the other . The XPS 16 is a lot faster when fully configured , and its big , gamey - rhenium 4K+ OLED presentation will be excellent .
But , not everyone require the fast performance and the XPS 14 offers substantial portability reward . It ’s also less expensive when configure beyond the radical model . So , which of these laptop is better depend entirely on whether you want a faster laptop or one that ’s easygoing to carry around .
