Dell XPS 16 Review: Well-Rounded, Big-Screen Laptop With Spiky, Big-Time Price

With the XPS 16, Dell seemingly has two aims: re-establishing the XPS model, which it shuttered final 12 months earlier than bringing it back at CES in January, and positioning it between heavier, pricier, however extra highly effective content material creation laptops such because the Asus ProArt P16, Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Aura Edition and Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro and cheaper, thinner and lighter 16-inch fashions just like the Asus Zenbook A16 and Acer Swift 16 AI. 

I might say Dell succeeded on the primary mission: the XPS 16 is a incredible laptop computer befitting of the premium XPS identify. Just like the smaller XPS 14 I reviewed, it has glossy appears to be like and a stable really feel at an affordable weight, in addition to an optionally available OLED show that is well worth the improve. For the second endeavor, the transfer to Intel’s Panther Lake processors permits it to supply sturdy total efficiency in an enclosure that is pretty skinny and lightweight for its measurement. It would not have discrete graphics, so it simply would not have the muscle for extra demanding graphics duties, however enhancing content material and doing slightly gaming are doable. 

Whereas the XPS 16 is a well-rounded laptop computer with a superb steadiness between energy and portability, I want its worth had been nearer to that of different 16-inch fashions with built-in GPUs. The configuration I examined prices nicely north of $2,000, which places it squarely in Nvidia RTX territory. And that is one thing not on supply with the XPS 16, whilst an improve that will additional drive up the value.

Dell sells a handful of mounted configurations of the XPS 16 and a customizable mannequin. Pricing begins at $1,750 for an Intel Core Extremely 5 325 CPU, 16GB of RAM, built-in Intel Graphics with 4 Xe3 cores, a 512GB SSD and a non-touch 1,920×1,200-pixel LCD.

I examined the following mannequin up within the line with a Core Extremely X7 358H, 32GB of RAM, built-in Intel Arc B390 with 12 Xe3 cores, a 1TB SSD and a 3.2K-resolution (3,200×2,000 pixels) contact OLED for $2,350. 

You possibly can outfit the XPS 16 with as much as a Core Extremely X9 388H, 64GB of RAM and a 4TB SSD for $3,550. Notably absent is any GPU improve. Your alternative is both the essential four-core Intel Graphics iGPU courtesy of the Core Extremely 5 325 or Core Extremely 7 355 or the 12-core Intel Arc B390 iGPU that comes with both the Core Extremely X7 358H or Core Extremely X9 388H. While not having to make room for a devoted GPU, Dell is ready to make the XPS 16 thinner and lighter than it will in any other case be and in addition run extra coolly and quietly.

The XPS 16 begins at £1,679 in the UK and AU$4,100 in Australia. 

Dell XPS 16 efficiency

My XPS 16 check system relies on an Intel Core Extremely X7 358H processor that options 16 cores made up of 4 efficiency cores, eight environment friendly cores and 4 low-power environment friendly cores. With it comes Intel’s built-in Arc B390 GPU that delivers 12 Xe3 cores. 

It turned in aggressive multi- and single-core scores on our Geekbench 6 and Cinebench 2024 assessments. It could not match the efficiency of the 16-inch MacBook Professional with Apple’s M5 Professional chip, however that MacBook Professional prices about $1,000 greater than the XPS 16 I examined. The XPS 16 got here nearer to the 14-inch MacBook Pro with Apple’s base M5 chip on the multicore check of Geekbench 6, however was nonetheless nicely off the tempo set by the smaller MacBook Professional on the single-core check in addition to each Cinebench 2024 assessments. And the 14-inch MacBook Professional we examined is $400 cheaper than the XPS 16. 

Amongst its Home windows competitors, the XPS 16 is correct within the combine however completed behind the Asus Zenbook A16 on the Geekbench 6 and Cinebench 2024, the place its 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite Excessive gave it a bonus in each multi- and single-core testing. The Zenbook A16 additionally loved a big benefit with on-device AI efficiency, enormously outpacing the XPS 16 on our Geekbench AI check that measures the capabilities of a processor’s neural processing unit, however the XPS 16’s end result was proper consistent with Apple’s newest MacBooks and different current Home windows laptops.

The place the XPS 16 has the benefit over the Zenbook A16 and most different laptops with built-in graphics is in 3D gaming efficiency. Its Intel Arc B390 graphics lend it some gaming chops. The XPS 16 produced playable body charges at 1080p on our Guardians of the Galaxy (76 frames per second) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider (73fps) benchmarks. These are spectacular body charges for a laptop computer this skinny, and it is so quiet, too.

The XPS 16 additionally runs longer than the standard big-screen, high-powered laptop computer. It could not match the 20-plus hours of battery lifetime of Apple’s newest MacBook Execs, but it surely lasted 14 hours in our YouTube streaming battery-drain check, which ought to allow you to get via most days on a single cost. 

Skinny and lightweight and latticeless

The XPS 16 is a trimmed-down model of 2024’s Dell 16 Premium, but it surely retains most of the design parts, together with a latticeless keyboard and big, haptic touchpad. The XPS 16 weighs 3.8 kilos, making it almost 1.5 kilos lighter than the tank-like 16 Premium that tipped the scales at greater than 5 kilos. It is also virtually a pound lighter than the 4.7-pound MacBook Professional 16. However should you want an on the go 16-inch laptop computer, then the two.9-pound Zenbook A16 is the higher alternative.

Whereas Dell stored the keyboard and touchpad the identical because the 16 Premium, it made enhancements to every. It changed the 16 Premium’s touch-sensitive icons within the Perform row with regular, bodily keys which might be simpler to make use of. Let’s not overthink the Perform row: preserve it easy and provides me precise keys that present tactile suggestions so I do know if I’ve pressed the important thing. The touchpad is gigantic and offers energetic and customizable haptic suggestions for clicks, and Dell has added delicate however useful etched borders on its sides so you already know the place its energetic floor ends. 

I approached the latticeless keyboard with some trepidation, nervous that the dearth of key spacing would result in typos and a irritating typing expertise. My fears had been unfounded. I loved utilizing the keyboard; the keys supply a shallow however springy response that allowed me to kind quick and precisely. The inflexible, all-aluminum body additionally aids the typing expertise; I felt no flex beneath my fingertips as I banged away on the keys.

One other fear: The seams that run alongside the sides of the keyboard deck and the underside of the keyboard may acquire crumbs, filth and different particles. Dell says the XPS 16 has a “seamless unibody development,” but it surely have to be overlooking these seams in making that assertion. This isn’t the identical as Apple’s really seamless unibody design for its MacBooks.

The baseline show for the XPS 16 is a primary 1,920×1,200-pixel, non-touch IPS LCD. The three.2K OLED improve provides solely $150 to the associated fee, and it is cash nicely spent for the higher-resolution and higher distinction alone. However you additionally get contact help and a variable refresh price as much as a clean 120Hz. It additionally offers nice shade efficiency. On my assessments with a Spyder X Elite colorimeter, it coated 100% of the sRGB and P3 gamuts and 97% of the bigger AdobeRGB shade area. It additionally achieved a peak brightness of 414 nits, which, mixed with the OLED panel’s efficient zero black ranges, creates a fantastically dynamic image with vibrant whites, deep blacks and wealthy, vivid colours.

The audio system beneath the show and the webcam above it are each top-notch. The quad audio system produce richer, extra detailed sound than the common laptop computer, and the 8-megapixel webcam produces crisp, detailed 4K photographs and 1440p video. The webcam is an IR cam, which implies you should utilize it for Home windows Hi there facial recognition logins. And that is vital as a result of the XPS 16 lacks a fingerprint reader.

The XPS 16 additionally lacks a bountiful port choice: you get a trio of Thunderbolt 4 ports together with a headphone jack. And with out an adapter within the field, you will want to offer your individual for connecting to older USB-A peripherals or an HDMI monitor. And for a laptop computer with some content material creation capabilities, I used to be disillusioned to see that the XPS 16 has no SD card slot — microSD or full-size.

Inside, growth can be restricted. The RAM is soldered to the motherboard, so you’ll be able to’t substitute or improve it. And and not using a second M.2 slot, you will want to interchange the laptop computer’s SSD to extend storage. That is a a lot trickier operation than merely including a second SSD. The three USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, nevertheless, are modular and will be changed.

Is the 2026 Dell XPS 16 value shopping for?

The XPS 16 is an effective match for laptop computer customers searching for a do-it-all, big-screen laptop computer that provides a roomy 16-inch OLED show inside a reasonably trim bundle, backed by stable however not groundbreaking efficiency. It would allow you to interact in some content material creation, however lacks the extra energy you’d get from a laptop computer with devoted Nvidia RTX graphics. The Asus Zenbook A16 is extra moveable and presents higher on-device AI efficiency, whereas the Asus ProArt P16 and Lenovo Yoga Professional 9i 16 Aura Version every supply higher graphics efficiency. In between is the Dell XPS 16 that provides a superb steadiness of energy and portability. 

I might really feel higher about recommending the XPS 16 I reviewed if it had been nearer to $2,000 than its worth of $2,350 on the time of this writing. In case you can catch considered one of Dell’s rotating reductions, the XPS 16 makes extra sense since you’re getting it for lower than an identical 16-inch laptop computer with RTX graphics. 

Dell by no means discounted the XPS 16 whereas I used to be engaged on this assessment, however it’s at present providing a “Create & Recreation” software program bundle with the XPS 16 to assist justify the laptop computer’s elevated worth. It consists of two video games — Battlefield 6 and Everwind — and a free six months of both Adobe Inventive Cloud Images or Premiere.