Dell XPS 14 (Base Model, 2026)

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Introduction

The Dell XPS 14 (2026) revives the age-old name for the American brand’s slim and modern ultrabooks after a deviation last year.

With it, there have been some noteworthy changes, such as a move to Intel’s shiny new Panther Lake processors, a redesigned chassis and more besides to hopefully make this Dell’s most compelling ultrabook yet.

The model I’ve got to hand is the base model choice that makes some sacrifices against higher-end variants, being supplied with a modest Intel Core Ultra 5 325 processor alongside 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, plus a 14-inch 1920×1200 IPS screen and a hefty 70Whr battery.

This revived XPS 14 (2026) is pricier than models of old, being priced at £1599.99/$1699.99 for the base model – opt for one of the higher-end choices, and costs soon go up to £2000/$2000+. Other manufacturers have also raised their prices, meaning Dell’s new ultrabook is on an even keel with the likes of the Asus Zenbook A14 (2026), the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI and the Asus Zenbook S 14 (2026).

To see whether this Dell option is one of the best ultrabooks we’ve tested, I’ve been putting it through its paces for the last couple of weeks.

Design and Keyboard

• Redesigned, more industrial look
• One-dimensional port selection
• Tactile keyboard and smooth, large trackpad

With the return to the XPS branding, Dell has redesigned the chassis to give it more of an industrial chic I’d expect from a modern MacBook Pro or one of its own business laptops. There is some correlation between this XPS 14 (2026) and the bigger, beefier Dell Pro Max 16 Plus with its thicker, rounded corners, for instance.

A weight of 1.36kg makes this a little heavier than some other 14-inch ultrabooks, not least the sub-1kg Asus Zenbook A14 (2026) and the Asus Zenbook S 14 (2026) variants I’ve tested. It’s still light enough to make this Dell laptop portable, not least with its more slender chassis in tow.

With this in mind, the port selection on the XPS 14 (2026) feels a little one-dimensional, as on the left you get a pair of Thunderbolt 4-capable USB-C ports, and on the right, there’s another USB-C and a 3.5mm headphone jack. No USB-A, no HDMI, no SD card reader – it’s only one more port than you’ll find on a new MacBook Air or even the MacBook Neo.

Open up the lid, though, and you’ll see some things have changed. There’s still a smaller form factor keyboard layout in Dell’s highly tactile, but divisive, lattice style, although we’ve seen the return of a physical function row rather than the vintage Apple-style touch bar on the older XPS models.

The trackpad here is also has a seamless edge, so it blends into the rest of the surface, and features a smooth, slick surface alongside good haptic feedback.

Display and Sound

• IPS screen is okay on base model
• Punchy brightness, decent contrast
• Improved speakers over predecessors

With the XPS 14 (2026), you have the choice of either a 14-inch 2K resolution (1920×1200) LCD screen or a 2.8K resolution (2880×1800) OLED panel, both with up to 120Hz refresh rate. My base model sample ships with the former.

In a general sense, this panel performs as you’d expect a decent IPS option to, with reasonably deep blacks (0.08 at 50%, rising to 0.22 at peak brightness) and solid contrast (1950:1 contrast ratio), plus a perfect 6500K colour temperature. I also measured 434.6 nits of peak SDR brightness here, making this a punchy panel in that sense.

Colour accuracy here is perfectly cromulent for mainstream workloads, with 99% coverage of the mainstream sRGB gamut, alongside 79% DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB results. This means this panel is okay for general productivity tasks, although it isn’t the best for more creative, colour-sensitive tasks.

The XPS 14 (2026) features a quad-speaker array that’s much improved over older variants of this laptop, with a richer and more full-bodied sound that makes this okay for casual listening.

Performance

• New Panther Lake chip inside
• Meagre graphical performance
• Fast SSD, although meagre capacity

The XPS 14 (2026) can be specced with up to an Intel Core X7 358H chip, which is one of the brand’s new Panther Lake chips that comes kitted out with the Arc B390 iGPU and beefy performance.

However, the sample I have is the base model that features the eight-core Intel Core Ultra 5 325 processor, which is the Panther Lake successor to Intel’s Lunar Lake Core Ultra 200V chips that we saw in a range of laptops in 2025. 

As with other non -X prefixed Panther Lake chips I’ve tried in other laptops, performance has only moved a handful of percentage points in the Geekbench 6 and Cinebench R23 tests, although it remains decently strong in single and multi-threaded workloads.

3D performance is reasonable, although without the beefed-up Arc B390 integrated graphics you’ll find in the higher-end variants of this laptop, you are left lacking if you want to use the base model XPS 14 (2026) for any prolonged creative tasks or gaming tasks.

This base model comes with 16GB of RAM, providing enough headroom for multi-tasking and some intensive loads, plus a 512GB SSD which feels a little stingy at this price. It’s nonetheless a brisk PCIe Gen 4 drive, with measured reads and writes of 6970.15 MB/s and 5401.27MB/s.

Software

• Especially clean Windows 11 install
• Not much in the way of Dell-specific software
• Copilot+ PC functionality is present

The XPS 14 (2026) comes running Windows 11, and comes with very little additional software, be it from Dell itself or from a third party.

The most useful pieces of Dell-specific software are Dell Optimizer, which is an app for checking on your system’s vitals and allowing for changing power modes and similar settings to get your machine running how you wish. There is also Dell Command, which is a system updater.

Otherwise, most of the other system apps come in the form of Microsoft’s AI features, as the XPS 14 (2026) has enough AI horsepower (or TOPS) to be considered a Copilot+ PC. This gives you access to features such as the clever Windows Studio webcam effects for auto-framing and background blur, as well as generative AI capabilities in Photos and Microsoft Paint.

Battery Life

• Lasted for 15 hours 38 minutes in the battery test
• Capable of lasting between one and two working days

Dell has put a larger 70Whr cell into the XPS 14 (2026), which, combined with its efficient Panther Lake internals, meant I had high hopes for its endurance. These smaller Dell machines have traditionally done well in our battery tests, so it would make sense to expect a lot out of this new one.

In running the PCMark 10 Modern Office battery test at the requisite 150 nits of brightness, this Dell laptop lasted for 15 hours and 38 minutes before conking out, meaning you’ll get roughly two working days out of it away from the mains. It also puts it right in the mix against key rivals, although it sits some way behind the likes of the Asus Zenbook A14 (2026) and last year’s Dell Pro 14 Premium.

The XPS 14 (2026) also comes with a beefy 100W charger in a compact brick, and is decently fast at putting go-juice back into the laptop. It took 35 minutes to get it back to 50%, while a full charge took 70 minutes.

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