TL;DR
- The new Dell XPS 14 has arrived and it's a compelling upgrade over last year’s Dell 14 Premium, boasting improvements in six key areas and a raft of refinements besides
- The Intel Panther Lake chip inside is a cutting-edge processor that delivers excellent performance (and top-notch integrated graphics for casual creation), while being highly power-efficient and helping to keep the XPS 14 very slim (it's the thinnest 14" model ever)
- The XPS 14 also hits new heights for battery life, and sports an excellent display with some impressive innovations, alongside a nifty new webcam and a stylishly modern redesign
The new XPS 14 has arrived and it represents a compelling upgrade on previous 14-inch laptops from Dell. How exactly? Well, the Dell XPS 14 takes sizeable strides forward on a number of fronts, improving on the already critically acclaimed Dell 14 Premium from last year (which may not have carried the same branding, but was the predecessor model for the XPS line that's returned this year).
Dell has upped the ante not just on the performance front with the new XPS 14 – although that's one of the more notable differences, for sure – but also beefed up battery life, provided some remarkable innovations with the display, as well as the overall design and portability of the laptop, and more besides.
The new Dell device is such a standout, it was included in TechRadar’s Best of CES 2026 list – and won Best Laptop. Dubbed as, “without question, the most exciting laptop of CES 2026,” the XPS 14 is certainly making waves.
If your curiosity is piqued as to exactly what's new with the Dell XPS 14, here are six key ways in which this laptop improves upon its predecessor (and other XPS 14 models in the past, too).
1. Is the Dell XPS 14 appreciably faster than last year's laptop – is the performance boost really noticeable?
The new XPS 14 is indeed a good deal faster than the Dell 14 Premium from 2025, mainly thanks to the new Intel Panther Lake processor at the heart of the laptop, which delivers a generational leap in power-efficiency, allowing for better performance in an even slimmer form factor than before.
Even though the Dell 14 Premium was no slouch in terms of overall performance itself, the XPS 14's Intel CPU is even more impressive. The top-end Panther Lake chip (Core Ultra X9 388H) offers 24% better multi-threaded performance versus an Arrow Lake processor (Core Ultra 7 255H, as used in the Dell 14 Premium) at the same level of power usage, according to Intel's own benchmarking. On top of those efficiency gains, there's a major stride forward with integrated graphics, as Intel shows the Core Ultra X9 388H outperforms the Arrow Lake Core Ultra 9 285H by up to 75% for graphics performance (measured using 3DMark – note that this is comparing relative integrated GPUs, and not any previous discrete options).
What that means in practical terms is seriously snappy and responsive apps, whether you're running a browser with lots of tabs open, productivity apps, maybe photo editing software (such as Adobe Photoshop), or a combination of the above – multi-tasking won't cause the Panther Lake CPU to break into a sweat.
The on-board NPU accelerates AI tasks, and for gaming, those integrated graphics are a revelation if you think a thin-and-light laptop cannot be used for mainstream gaming. With the mentioned performance boost from the integrated GPU, the XPS 14 is good to go for moderate gaming needs, so you can run titles like Fortnite at 1080p resolution (Full HD) achieving over 60 frames per second (widely regarded as the magic number for a smooth gaming experience).
The Intel Core Ultra processor is a cutting-edge model – Panther Lake has only just been introduced – and it's backed up by faster system RAM than last year's 14-inch laptop from Dell, too (running at a speedy 9600MT/s). A fast PCIe 4.0 SSD completes the triumvirate of key components delivering swift performance across all bases for apps, and great gaming chops (though you'll still want a dedicated gaming laptop, such as the Alienware 16 Area-51, for more intensive gaming).
2. What about new screen tech on the Dell XPS 14 – is the display markedly better?
Dell again offers LCD and OLED options this year, and both of these screens for the XPS 14 represent impressive advances on the displays for the previous models – with a battery-saving ace up their respective sleeves.
You get a high-quality InfinityEdge display with a 2K resolution in the case of the LCD, and a 2.8K resolution for the tandem OLED screen. The latter's vibrant colors and deep blacks make this display particularly good for creatives who value lifelike color accuracy (it boasts 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut).
The key innovation that takes the screens on the XPS 14 to a new level, though, is a new twist on the variable refresh rate (VRR) feature. This tech allows the display to adjust the refresh rate intelligently, so it can run at the maximum of 120Hz if necessary – such as when you're gaming and want a really fluid frame rate – but otherwise, that rate can be kept much lower.
With the Dell XPS 14, it's now possible for the screen to drop to a 1Hz refresh rate (with the LCD model – the floor is 20Hz on the OLED). The advantage here is saving system resources and battery life to a considerable degree when you're looking at a static image – say you're just reading an email – and you don't need the screen to be constantly refreshed (that's just a waste of power).
It's worth noting that the ability for VRR to drop as low as 1Hz is new for the laptop market, so the Dell XPS 14 is at the forefront of display tech in this regard.
3. Has battery life improved with the new Dell XPS 14 compared to the Dell 14 Premium?
The short answer to this is yes, battery life is considerably improved with the Dell XPS 14, which adds to the staying power of its predecessor courtesy of some progressive new tech.
That includes a fresh take on VRR for the display as mentioned above, plus the fact that the new screen is 30% more power-efficient than the one on Dell's last-gen XPS model.
On top of that, there's the XPS 14's Panther Lake processor, which isn't just a standout chip for Intel with performance, but also efficiency – meaning more frugal power consumption overall. All of which adds to the battery longevity of the XPS 14, but beyond that, there's a key breakthrough on the energy density front with the new Dell laptop.
Namely that the XPS 14's battery has 900ED (energy density) cells, which is a first for battery tech in the laptop market, and means in simple terms that more power can be packed into a given battery size. The end result is excellent battery life for a thin laptop, and Dell claims that the XPS 14 offers the best battery life of any 14-inch notebook currently.
What does this mean in practice? That you can take the Dell XPS 14 with you wherever you go and expect up to 31 hours of battery life away from the power socket (as measured by streaming the Netflix app at 250 nits brightness). That's with the LCD model – you get up to 24 hours with the OLED screen, but either way, if you need the XPS 14 to last all day, it will.
4. Given that video chatting is more commonplace these days, did Dell improve the webcam on the XPS 14?
While there was a perfectly good webcam on the last-gen Dell notebook which was great for video calls, the XPS 14 brings in a nifty new advancement, and another first-to-market feature – an ultra-narrow design.
You get a high-quality 8-megapixel sensor (with infrared for Windows Hello secure logins) that sports an ultra-narrow 940nm design. What this means is that the webcam fits seamlessly into the thin bezel atop the laptop's screen, but this slick implementation doesn't interfere with the quality of the image you're getting – it's a no-compromise solution for the best of both worlds.
Indeed, according to Dell, this is the thinnest 8-megapixel 4K-capable camera on a notebook today, for a better video chatting experience that in no way interferes with the premium lines and appearance of the XPS 14.
5. What other hardware features make the Dell XPS 14 a more premium laptop than its predecessor?
The aforementioned webcam is just one element of a bigger picture here, and there are an array of features and design refinements that make the new XPS 14 more premium by nature than any other 14-inch model from Dell before.
The most obvious change in this respect is that the XPS 14 has been given a new look which is easy on the eyes and smartly contemporary. The laptop has a unibody chassis made from machined aluminum that has very few gaps or lines to maximize the overall seamless and modern appearance.
However, that striking effect doesn't come at any loss in terms of practicality, and a good example of this is the touchpad. Dell has made this a comfortably large trackpad and it features tactile markings that outline the perimeter – a subtle effect so you know where it begins and ends without having to guess, yet it doesn't interfere with the XPS 14’s sleek look. Furthermore, there's a row of standard mechanical function keys with the new laptop, which is a more practical choice rather than the adaptive touch function (capacitive touch) bar used before. These are changes that help considerably in making the input peripherals of this laptop more intuitive and accessible.
Underneath those bigger design decisions lie a raft of touches to hone the XPS 14, such as the noise reduction Dell has applied to the cooling fans, which benefit from a new bearing design and are quieter than ever before as a result. Or the improved speakers (four of them producing 10W of audio) that are cleverly hidden under the keyboard deck. So, if you're enjoying a gaming or movie-watching session, you'll get high-quality sound that won't be in any danger of being spoiled by distracting fan noise.
Wherever you look – and indeed inside the laptop, where you can't see – Dell has advanced the new XPS 14's design over its already impressive predecessor in a multitude of ways.
6. Does the XPS 14 remain as portable as previous Dell models?
The XPS 14 is Dell's thinnest 14 inch laptop to-date; it's very light and easy to carry with you when you're out and about.
The XPS 14 is 14.6mm thin (for the OLED version, 15.2mm for the LCD), which is a big reduction on the already trim Dell 14 Premium from last year (which was 18mm). Considering the design innovations packed into the XPS 14, as already outlined in the previous points, this is quite an achievement for the redesigned laptop.
Dell's XPS 14 is impressively lightweight, too, at 3lbs (down from 3.66lbs with the previous model). The overall footprint of the laptop is more compact than Apple's MacBook Air 13-inch, so if you want a notebook that'll easily fit in your backpack or case, the XPS 14 is about as good as it gets for portability, while not compromising on performance as already noted.
This Dell laptop doesn't compromise in terms of robustness either. It feels not just lighter, but also sturdier than previous XPS models, benefiting from a reinforced chassis where the structural side walls are integrated with the base to make the construction of the XPS 14 more rigid overall.
If you think a Dell XPS 14 is for you, find out more on the Dell website: US readers click here, AU readers here and UK readers here.
And there’s one more thing to know before you buy: Dell offers a price match guarantee. To learn more about the Dell price match and price guarantee, including the terms, exclusions and restrictions, US readers can click here, AU readers here and UK readers here.