Dell XPS 14 (2024) review: Style and substance come at too high a price

Dell introduced a revamped XPS line in 2022, adding a “Plus” to the name to indicate a new design scheme. In the 2024 XPS lineup, that “Plus” is gone because the design of all of Dell’s XPS laptops has changed to the new look — a shift that may make sense since Dell has also changed its size options to accommodate 13-inch, 14-inch, and 16-inch displays.

The Dell XPS 14 inherits the stylish looks of its recent predecessors and packs in some powerful hardware to make doing serious work look good. But style alone isn’t enough to merit the lofty price tag the XPS 14 wears, and with so many cheaper alternatives running equally capable hardware in attractive packages of their own, the XPS 14 has its work cut out for it.

Looking for more options? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops.

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Specs and features

The new Dell XPS 14 9440 has a range of configuration options that can start it from a modest $1699 MSRP or range it up to $3479. All configurations run on the Intel Core 7 Ultra 155H, but Dell provides options for graphics, memory, storage, display, Windows version, color, and whether or not Intel vPro is included. 

• CPU: Intel Core 7 Ultra 155H
• Memory: 32GB LPDDR5
• Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 (30W TGP)
• Display: 14.5-inch 3.2K OLED
• Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
• Webcam: 1080p
• Connectivity: 3x Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C with Power Delivery and DisplayPort, 1x microSDXC card reader, 1x 3.5mm combo audio
• Networking: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
• Biometrics: Windows Hello fingerprint, facial recognition
• Battery capacity: 68 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 12.6 x 8.5 x 0.71 inches
• Weight: 3.95 pounds
• MSRP: $2,699 ($1,699 base)

Memory options range from 16GB to 64GB while storage ranges from 512GB up to 4TB. Intel Arc graphics are the base, but there’s an option to bump up to an NVIDIA RTX 4050 for $300 extra, which also comes with an automatic bump to transfer rate on the memory from 6,000MT/s to 7,467MT/s. The laptop can come with either a 1920×1200 anti-glare LCD display with 30-120Hz variable refresh rate or the 3200×2000 anti-reflective OLED with 48-120HZ refresh rate tested here, with the former covering the sRGB color space and the latter covering the DCI-P3 color space.

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Design and build quality

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

The design of the Dell XPS 14 calls for a lot of aluminum and glass, and in that way, it has much in common with the latest smartphones. The whole exterior is wrapped up in metal, which Dell says is 75 percent recycled aluminum. The display is covered up in Gorilla Glass Victus, a hard glass made to resist scratches and cracks that should be more than up the abuse it’ll get from frequent touchscreen use. The newer trackpad design, which effectively hides the trackpad sees the whole area under the keyboard covered in a single piece of Gorilla Glass 3. 

It’s a regal look that can certainly go toe to toe with Apple’s MacBook Air, right down to the wedge-like design. The XPS 14 has sneaky ventilation slits along the bottom sides and porting out just below the display — a design that risks creating a bottleneck for heat escape if the lid is open enough to touch whatever table or desk it sits on. 

Dell’s design is sleek, but has points of contention. With the remodel in 2022, Dell shifted to a new keyboard design that’s present on the XPS 14. This uses perfectly square, rather flat keys with minimal gaps between one another that can take some getting used to. The stealthy trackpad also can be tricky to find the bounds of. Then there’s the function row, which is now a series of illuminated capacitive buttons that show either secondary functions or F1-12. Dell says this allows for more cooling underneath the keys, but it doesn’t make getting used to capacitive buttons any easier. They simply don’t have the haptic feedback of an actual key. 

Where the XPS 13 sees its keyboard run all the way to the sides of the laptop, the XPS 14 has a little extra space and fits top-firing speakers in at the sides, just like the XPS 16 I tested but a little smaller. The bezels around the display are thin, even at the bottom thanks to the 16:10 aspect ratio, but Dell still managed to squeeze a discreet Windows Hello-capable webcam above the screen.

Overall, the build of the laptop feels sturdy and well put together, though the premium materials come with their own downsides. Despite being a thin laptop, the Dell XPS 14 weighs in at 3.95 pounds, effectively reversing the trend of laptops towards lighter and lighter weights. The iGPU-only model should be lighter, but I also have a 14-inch Lenovo Legion Slim 5 14APH8 with an RTX 4060 inside that weighs less than the XPS 14.

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Keyboard, trackpad

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

I’ve had some time to get used to Dell’s new keyboard design, having tested the first XPS 13 Plus and more recently the Dell XPS 16. But no matter how I come at it, I can’t quite get past the discomfort of it. Between the minimal dish of the caps and the very tight spacing — such that you can’t feel the edge of a key without also having a finger overlap the neighboring key — it’s difficult to ever feel quite at home on. 

In use, I was able to reach a typing speed of 118 words per minute in Monkeytype with 95 percent accuracy. While the speed is sufficient, the accuracy is an issue, and low enough that autocorrect isn’t likely to clean up every mistake. While it might seem decent, the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus, with its more basic keyboard design, let me reach 128 words per minute with 100 percent accuracy within minutes of picking it up. More than a week into testing the XPS 14, and I can’t even come close. The switches are poppy and have surprisingly high actuation force, which helps keep the keyboard from feeling even less predictable.

The capacitive function row is no more pleasant to use. Tapping the Delete key more than once is awkward, as it provides no feedback, and it often misses taps in a series. Hitting Ctrl + Shift + Esc is also incredibly awkward when one of the keys in that shortcut isn’t a key at all.

As on the XPS 16, the XPS 14 trackpad is gigantic. It’s close to the size of the 6.8-inch smartphone screens out there. Even though it’s impossible to feel out the edges of the trackpad area, it almost doesn’t matter since it’s so large that anywhere you’re likely to touch it will still register. With excellent palm rejection and pleasing haptics, it’s a solid piece of hardware. It can be a little hard to double-click on, but double-tapping is just as viable. If Dell was going to change anything, I’d just want to see it go even wider (all the way to the sides, ideally), for more ergonomic mousing. That would be especially helpful in select cases, as XPS 14 has a tendency to ignore any swipes that start from outside the actual trackpad region, though it’s somewhat inconsistent on the matter. 

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Display, audio

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

The Dell XPS 14 has a gorgeous display. While the LCD option is probably half decent, the OLED alternative offers a lot. It’s as sharp as could possibly be needed at this size, and 120Hz refresh rate allows for smooth visuals. It can move between 120Hz and 48Hz though to save on battery when necessary. 

The OLED display is bright and colorful, hitting full screen peak of 393.2 nits (small HDR highlights can go higher still) and 99 percent DCI-P3 coverage with the default color profile. I measured accurate color as well, with colors deviating on average by only a dE of 0.91 and at most 1.73, making this a display viable for design work. The touch panel is also responsive and a handy complement to the trackpad, though I found little reason to use it given the quality of the trackpad. The anti-glare finish to the display isn’t as effective as some I’ve seen, but it generally keeps the display easy to see. 

The XPS 14 combines four speakers — a pair of tweeters and a pair of woofers — to deliver surprisingly robust and full sound for a laptop with such a small footprint. For music, it provides life that most laptops lack. The bass is still on the weak side, but it’s still audible rather than being effectively erased by the speakers. There’s no struggle with speech either, which comes through easily, as the speakers emphasize the vocal range. The speakers get a little unpleasant at full volume, if I’m sitting close, but it’s not so much an issue of distortion as it is of their volume. 

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Webcam, microphone, biometrics

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

Dell has put together a decent package for conferencing. The 1080p webcam captures reasonably bright and crisp video footage that will serve well in video calls, though it’s still not up to the level of quality you might want to rely on if you’re making frequent presentations where you’ll be the focal point. The mics do a good job picking up my voice and shutting out background noise, even other voices, but they capture a bit too much echo in small rooms. 

The XPS 14 can also use its webcam for Windows Hello facial recognition, which proves an especially quick way to sign into the system. There’s also a fingerprint scanner at the top-right corner of the keyboard.

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Connectivity

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

As with most thin-and-light laptops, the Dell XPS 14 has gone fairly lean on ports, though not as lean as some. It features three USB-C ports, each boasting bandwidth-buff Thunderbolt 4 support. Those ports are split with two on the left side and one on the right., giving flexibility for how you dock or charge the laptop. Dell has also included a microSD card reader and 3.5mm headphone jack. A single USB-A port would have been a plus, but Dell at least includes a incredibly lightweight dongle to offer up USB-A and HDMI through one of the USB-C ports.

Wireless connectivity is also a strong point, with the XPS 14 offering Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, both of which have offered stable connections in my testing. Bandwidth over Wi-Fi hasn’t been an issue, and spotty connections on Bluetooth and failed pairing hasn’t stood in the way of using the XPS 14 with wireless headphones.

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Performance

The Dell XPS 14 has strong performance, to be sure, thanks to its Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and RTX 4050 pairing. That’s more than enough muscle for everyday computing and then some. And even though Dell shows fairly successful cooling for the parts inside, with scores not dropping precipitously over longer stress tests, it doesn’t manage to ultimately keep up with some of its competition. And that’s bad news, since the XPS 14 is hands down the most expensive option of the bunch, and it’s not even the only one offering a high level of polish. 

Turning to PCMark 10, which assesses a system’s capabilities in a variety of common and office-related tasks, we see the Dell XPS 14 has modest overall performance, but not quite as much as its competitors. It’s not far off, and much of the difference is unlikely to be tangible in everyday use, but as more and more demand is put onto these systems by future applications, those with the extra muscle now will likely prove better able to keep up down the line. 

It’s not Dell’s raw multi-core performance that has held it back, though. In Cinebench R20, we see it can plainly let it rip, beating out all of its competition in the test. That plays out in our Handbrake encoding test, where the Dell XPS 14 was able to encode our 4K video file faster than the rest at just under 13 minutes. There’s some variability to the performance, though, as the XPS 14 didn’t rank as highly in Cinebench R15 or Cinebench R23. So it’s not the all-out champ of CPU performance. And while multi-core performance shows off a systems ability to manage heavy loads, single-core performance can suggest the responsiveness of the system, and in that department the XPS 14 is closer to the middle of the pack, notably lagging behind the Lenovo Slim Pro 9.

While its performance is competitive, particularly in the CPU department, the Dell XPS 14 has to contend with much cheaper competition that leaves it little room to breathe. But competition from the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED, Dell Inspiron 14 Plus, and MSI Prestige 15 AI Evo B1MG isn’t quite 1-to-1 since those all run on integrated graphics. As configured, the Dell XPS 14 includes a discrete GPU that gives it a leg up in graphically demanding tasks. 

We see that in 3DMark’s Time Spy benchmark, the most GPU-intensive test of the bunch, where the Dell XPS 14 distances itself greatly from its iGPU competition. However, the power-limited RTX 4050 it packs inside shows the downsides of that low wattage when faced with the Lenovo Slim Pro 9, which also features an RTX 4050 but well outpaces the XPS 14. It wouldn’t have helped that the XPS 14 also saw the lowest CPU performance in this test, and if a CPU doesn’t carry its weight in a gaming scenario, it’ll let extra available GPU performance go to waste.

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Battery life

Dell’s minor performance shortfalls come with a solid positive: the battery life is no slouch. In our testing, the XPS 14 lasted over 13.5 hours playing back a video file on repeat with the display set as close as possible to 250 nits. That longevity sets it apart from Lenovo Slim Pro 9 that hounded it so thoroughly in performance. That said, Dell still has its competition cut out for it.

Dell’s own Inspiron 14 Plus may have a lackluster display compared to the XPS 14 Plus’s OLED panel, but it’s a power sipper and lets the Inspiron 14 Plus run for over 3 hours longer. The Asus ZenBook 14 OLED pulled off a similar feat and still had the benefit of a regal OLED panel. The MSI Prestige 16 AI EVO B1MG may have fallen short by more than an hour, but it also had to illuminate a 16-inch OLED panel.

Dell XPS 14 (2024): Conclusion

The Dell XPS 14 is a good laptop with plenty of performance for everyday tasks and some creative workloads paired with some seriously impressive battery life. It puts that capability into a stylish package with a gorgeous display. But all of that comes at a price. Next to its competition, the Dell XPS 14 asks a considerable premium and all it seems to offer in return is its looks. 

The XPS 14 isn’t the fastest of the bunch. It’s not the only one offering a splendid OLED display. And as long as its battery life is, it’s still a ways off from being the longest. If Dell’s design were as pleasant to use as it is to look at, it might have some merit, but the design presents as many hurdles and headaches as it provokes oohs and aahs. There’s some ground for the XPS 14 to stand on if you need a wonderful display, excellent battery life, and absolutely require the advantages of discrete graphics.

But for anyone who can make do without one of those three aspects, there are much more compelling options at much lower prices, and that puts the XPS 14 in a tricky position that makes it hard to recommend — at least, for the configuration tested here. The base spec that omits discrete graphics may be a more viable competitor, but it still has its work cut out for it, especially since it loses the sharp OLED touchscreen.