Dell Brings Back the XPS Lineup with Refreshed 14-Inch and 16-Inch Models

Dell brings the XPS name back to life with their top-of-the-line laptops, starting with refreshed versions of the 14-inch and 16-inch models that just debuted at CES 2026, and followed later in the year with an even smaller 13-inch XPS notebook.

Inside and out, the 14-inch and 16-inch laptops are made of machined aluminum, which gives the laptop a sturdy feel, is toughened with Gorilla Glass on top to prevent it from scratches, and has a magnesium palm rest that feels silky smooth to the touch. Engineers worked hard to reduce the laptops to an incredible 14.6 millimeters, making them some of the thinnest laptops available, and the weight loss is just as impressive, with the XPS 14 weighing just over 3 pounds, half a pound less than the one it replaces, and the XPS 16 weighing only 3.6 pounds, nearly a full pound less.

When you pick it up and open the lid, one of the first things you’ll notice is the keyboard, which has a full range of physical function keys as well as suitable switches to provide the desired sensation. Dell removed the touch-sensitive strip from their previous laptops, and the keys themselves are so close together that there are almost no gaps between them, which takes some typists some time to adjust to because you have to put your fingers exactly so.

Under the keyboard is a large haptic touchpad that appears to melt into the palm rest, but Dell has added some smart etched lines to indicate exactly where the working section of the touchpad is. Dell has installed four drivers under the keyboard deck, which you would never see unless you looked for the grilles carefully buried in the surface, and they supply 10 watts of pure power. The interfaces are straightforward: three USB-C connections via Thunderbolt 4 (which is really fast) and a normal headphone jack.

One of the true attractions of these new laptops is the display, as consumers can choose between sharp LCDs or brilliant OLEDs, and it’s clear to see why OLEDs are so popular with their bright colors and deep blacks. LCD owners receive an LCD that can go all the way up to 120 hertz while also diving down to an almost amazing 1 hertz to save power. Meanwhile, OLED owners benefit from tandem technology, which brightens the display and provides deeper blacks, as well as the same possibilities at rates up to 120 hertz. The LCDs have a fairly typical resolution of 1920 by 1200, but the OLEDs go above and beyond, with 2880 by 1800 on the 14-inch model and 3200 by 2000 on the 16-inch behemoth. Finally, narrow bezels surround the displays, with a nifty small 8-megapixel webcam sitting on top that manages to shrink down to fit without adding any thickness.

The latest Core Ultra Series 3 processors, code-named Panther Lake, which appear in Intel’s new laptops, handle all of the hard lifting. You’ll start with eight-core chips and work your way up to 16-core alternatives with Intel Arc graphics built in. There is no external graphics card included, but for those who require a little more power, Dell recommends its gaming or workstation lines. RAM maxes out at 64 gigabytes of super-fast LPDDR5X, while solid-state drives can store up to 4 terabytes of data. A 70-watt-hour battery powers the entire system, which is aided by some clever battery cells that can pack more energy into a smaller space. Dell claims to have squeezed out up to 27 hours of battery life during testing, with even more than that for simple video viewing.

The XPS 14 costs $2,049 in its base configuration, while the XPS 16 sets you back $2,199. Look for some cheaper options later in February, but for the time being, you can start with the XPS 14 or XPS 16 in Graphite or Shimmer later on.