Club Benefits
Dell has over a decade of experience making its XPS laptops, and it’s putting all of that into its latest model of XPS 14.
In fact, it marks an excellent jumping-in point for anyone who hasn’t experienced a Windows 11 laptop with Copilot AI functionality in recent years, packing an awful lot of performance into the slimmest 14-inch laptop Dell has ever made while not compromising on performance or functionality.
Chip and design enhancements mean a Dell XPS 14 isn’t just a laptop for 2026 – it could last you years. Here are some common misconceptions around contemporary laptops, and why the Dell XPS 14 proves them to be false.
TL;DR
The Dell XPS 14’s latest incarnation is stylish, sleek, and powerful, while offering a great display and fantastic battery life.
AI laptops lack style
The first wave of AI-centric laptops may have felt a little ‘thrown together’, but every Dell machine with Copilot functionality has looked a cut above the rest – and the new XPS 14 shows there are levels to the manufacturer’s game.
Its new look is made of machined aluminum, and its keyboard is one of the sleekest around. The minimal branding is a nice touch, too, and we’d wager this is probably one of 2026’s best-looking laptops before the year has even begun.
Even the speakers have seen their parting lines removed for a sleeker look, without sacrificing the quality of the sound.
Powerful laptops have to be chunky
All of that style would be for nothing if this machine were too heavy to be transported in a backpack, but thankfully, that’s not the case at all.
In fact, this is Dell’s thinnest laptop at 14.6mm, and it weighs just 3 lbs, despite offering a larger display than a 13-inch MacBook Air in a lighter chassis (more on that in a moment).
Put simply, it’s a beautifully compact laptop, and if you thought that might require corners to be cut, then you’re wrong.
Laptop displays haven’t evolved in years
Dell has offered 4K laptop displays since 2015, but the company has hit an equilibrium between size, resolution, and efficiency with the XPS 14. In many ways, its 2K and 2.8K options are the result of years of designing impeccably built laptops.
The 2K resolution LCD panel is the first in the world to offer a 1-120Hz refresh rate, while the OLED alternative offers 20-120Hz and fantastic contrast and brightness, whatever you’re doing.
The display is also up to 30% more energy efficient than the last generation, which brings us nicely to…
Laptop batteries don’t last a full day
There was a time when you’d be required to stay close to a charger if you were getting work done, just in case your battery level dropped.
Now, though, that’s a thing of the past. In fact, the Dell XPS 14 has the longest battery life of any 14-inch laptop in the world, reaching a Herculean 27 hours of Netflix streaming on the 2K model.
That means you’re no longer at the mercy of your battery, and can instead focus on just about anything else, thanks to built-in battery saving tech and world’s first 900ED battery cells. It even lasts longer than the MacBook Air, too.
A laptop can’t replace a desktop
The Dell XPS 14 for 2026 is thin, light, stylish, and energy-efficient, but what about the power under the hood?
While laptops used to offer a form factor full of compromises and tradeoffs, the XPS 14 blurs those lines more than any other machine from the manufacturer.
Configurable with up to 4TB of storage and 64GB of RAM, as well as an Intel Ultra X9 chip, it’s perfect for complex, creative projects or AI-based workflows, all while offering plenty of USB-C ports for your peripherals, like a docking station and external monitor.
And when it really gets to work, the fans are larger and quieter than ever to keep it cool, even as it crushes all sorts of tasks or runs mainstream games.
If you think a Dell XPS 14 is for you, find out more on the Dell website: US readers click 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.
