Dell XPS 14 (2026) evaluation: A fantastic laptop computer that excels at virtually every part… besides typing

There may be a lot to like about Dell's new XPS 14, it's laborious for me to debate it with out sounding like a complete fanboy. Its new design makes it extremely skinny and light-weight. And Intel's Panther Lake chips give it a ton of energy, even relating to video games. After reviving the XPS model from final yr's ignominious rebranding, it's as if Dell was laser-focused on fixing all the problems we've had with the XPS 14 thus far.

Sadly, a shallow, unresponsive and hilariously error-prone keyboard stored me from actually loving the XPS 14. Merely put, it has hassle recognizing keys when you press them too shortly in succession. And for quick and demanding typists like myself, that results in numerous errors that disrupt your move. Within the final sentence alone, I counted ten instances the place I had to return and ensure commas appeared earlier than an area, or tweak easy spelling errors. What good is a quick, gentle and exquisite machine if I can't sort a sentence in peace?

It's common for laptop computer keyboards to require a little bit of person coaching. However my points with the XPS 14 aren't from a scarcity of follow — it merely doesn't acknowledge key presses as shortly as each different laptop computer I've examined. As you may see within the video under, fast key presses are virtually at all times acknowledged in reverse, or typically aren't acknowledged in any respect. These points principally go away when you sort extra slowly and intentionally, however that looks as if a ridiculous compromise for a premium machine in 2026.

Dell engineers are presently testing one of many two evaluation samples I acquired, each of which exhibited the very same keyboard difficulty. Different reviewers have additionally famous that they should sort extra slowly for the keyboard to work greatest. Gizmodo's Kyle Barr appears to be simply as annoyed with the keyboard as I’m, however he thinks it's attributable to Dell's seamless key design, which doesn't have any areas between keys. My brother, who’s an IT skilled, additionally seen the enter points when he typed on the XPS 14.

I'm not loopy, I swear!

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

In response to Dell, its engineers say that “a small batch of early XPS models” have the short typing difficulty I bumped into. Additionally they say the difficulty is presently resolved and doesn’t have an effect on XPS models delivery now. The corporate plans to launch a firmware repair later this month, and I’ll you should definitely replace this evaluation as soon as I get my fingers on it. However on condition that these laptops have been out within the wild for weeks, I made a decision to evaluation the XPS 14 as is. TL;DR, it's the prettiest machine I've ever used that I hate to sort on.

Severely, this factor is beautiful. Dell's designers outdid themselves with the machine's clean metallic case, which is extra MacBook-like than its boxy predecessors. It's astonishing this technique weighs simply three kilos, placing it proper between the three.4-pound 14-inch MacBook Professional and the two.7-pound 13.6-inch MacBook Air. It's additionally only a third of a pound heavier than the MacBook Neo, Apple's try at an underpowered entry-level laptop computer.

I'm additionally glad to see that Dell has heard my complaints about how over-designed the final XPS line was. For instance, the corporate has caught with its "invisible" trackpad, which sits flush with the laptop computer's wrist relaxation. However now there are two faint traces that designate the place, precisely, the trackpad begins and ends. It's an answer paying homage to Apple's MacBooks, which all characteristic massive glass trackpads separated by a lightweight border from their metallic circumstances. Thanks to those two small traces, which don't detract from XPS 14's minimalist aesthetic, I really feel extra assured swiping round.

Dell additionally reversed course on the wonky capacitive perform row from the earlier fashions — which once more, seemed cool, however had some severe usability points. It was robust to the touch sort with them, since they didn't really feel as tactile as regular keys. And most crucially, the capacitive perform row fully disappeared in direct daylight. God forbid you have been outdoors and needed to vary the quantity stage! This XPS 14 brings again a standard keyed perform row, which is less complicated to the touch sort on and really works in direct daylight. (I typically marvel if Dell's designers ever went outdoors with the final XPS 14.)

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Our evaluation mannequin's 2.8K 14-inch OLED touchscreen seemed spectacular, with daring colours and splendidly deep black ranges. However that's just about what I've come to count on from OLED by this level. I can't get sufficient of the additional eye sweet OLED provides to images and movies, and it makes an enormous distinction with video games as properly. However take be aware that OLED is just accessible for the priciest XPS 14, all different fashions get a regular non-touch 2K LCD.

In terms of connectivity, three USB-C ports and a headphone jack are all you get with the brand new XPS 14. The microSD card slot from the earlier mannequin is gone, and there's additionally no HDMI or USB Kind A connections such as you'd discover on related methods from ASUS and Acer. Apple's 14-inch MacBook Professional, notably, options three USB-C ports, a full-sized HDMI slot, a big SD card reader and a headphone jack.

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

Past Dell's redesign, the primary star of the XPS 14 is Intel's new Panther Lake Core Extremely X7 358H chip, which affords some severe graphics upgrades during the last era. Our evaluation unit, which featured 32GB of RAM and Intel's built-in Arc B390 GPU, was in a position to attain 130fps in Arc Raiders whereas enjoying in 1080p with medium graphics settings, in addition to XeSS upscaling and body era. I used to be in a position to play via just a few rounds with no lag — my solely distraction was the lingering realization I used to be enjoying so easily on an ultraportable's built-in graphics.

I definitely wouldn't suggest the XPS 14 for heavy players. However when you're pressured to decide on a brand new non-gaming system for work or faculty, it's definitely good that it might probably play some fashionable titles properly. I additionally noticed 63fps whereas enjoying Cyberpunk 2077 in 1080p with medium graphics settings and XeSS tech energetic. Not unhealthy for one of the vital demanding PC video games in current reminiscence!

Benchmarks additionally level to loads of energy below the hood: The XPS 14 scored equally to the MSI Status 14 AI+, which additionally has the Extremely X7 358H chip, in PCMark 10 and Geekbench 6. I used to be additionally stunned to see that its single-core Geekbench 6 rating was larger than ASUS's ProArt PX13 GoPro Version, a beastly machine with 128GB of RAM and a strong AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 chip. The XPS 14 additionally scored 3,000 factors larger than the Acer Predator Triton 14 AI gaming laptop computer (powered by a last-gen Core Extremely 9 288V chip) in Geekbench's multi-threaded CPU check.

Clearly, this was a development yr for Intel's {hardware}. Simply understand that all of our figures come from Dell's highest-end XPS 14 configuration, which presently begins at $2,250 with 64GB of RAM on the corporate's web site. The bottom-end configuration, which begins at $1,450, comes with an Intel Core Extremely 7 355 chip, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Once I briefly examined that system (it needed to be despatched again to Dell for that keyboard difficulty), it scored 2,000 factors decrease than the Extremely X7 mannequin in PCMark 10. I didn't get to sport on the entry-level XPS 14, however I wouldn't count on a lot, since Intel's beefy Arc graphics are reserved for its pricier X7 and X9 CPUs.

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

I used to be additionally stunned to see that the XPS 14 lasted simply 10 hours and 21 minutes in PCMark 10’s Fashionable workplace battery check. The MSI Status 14 went for a whopping 22 hours and quarter-hour — that’s way more according to Intel’s effectivity claims for Panther Lake methods. I examined each the XPS 14 and MSI Status 14 in Window’s “balanced” battery profile, so that you might be able to eke out extra life with extra battery saving options turned on.

If I have been to evaluate the XPS 14 based mostly purely on its specs and design alone, it might be my favourite Home windows laptop computer accessible right now. However I swear, I can't stay with its keyboard points. I needed to critically decelerate my typing simply to get this evaluation written, and even then I nonetheless needed to again up and make extra corrections than common. Dell is so shut to creating a PC that’s a real MacBook Professional competitor, it's a disgrace a easy keyboard difficulty holds the XPS 14 again from true greatness.

Replace 3/6/26 2:20PM ET: Added additional details about the XPS 14’s keyboard difficulty and a possible firmware repair.

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