Dell XPS 14 Gets Your Attention With Its Design And AI Endurance

Dell XPS has been a trendsetter for years, mostly known for its design, the display and overall value. The PC market has undergone a drastic shift in recent years which has increased the cost of the products, pushing it further than ever. The XPS 14 2024 model looks to build on that heritage albeit with the focus on graduating into the AI PC era.

The premium laptop was once reserved for the Macs but the changing industry dynamics and engineering changes have allowed other laptop brands to stake their claim. Can Dell live up to the XPS billing once again and deliver a product that stands true to its moniker and a hefty price tag as well?

Edge-to-Edge Beauty

Dell has ensured that the premium lineup is a looker. The edge-to-edge display isn’t limited to smartphones anymore and the XPS 14 shows the value of having this OLED panel which truly enhances your viewing experience on the 14-inch form factor. Dell is calling it the Infinity Edge but the rich colours and 120Hz fluidity display gives it the right quotient.

Having said that, using an OLED panel means the screen is reflective which could be a deal breaker for some users. The support for Dolby Vision on the 14.5-inch with 3.2K resolution adds further gloss to the movies that you like watching or even your favourite binge shows.

Intel AI Power Comes Through

Intel’s new Core Ultra processors are aimed at the AI PC era and the Dell XPS 14 looks to benefit from this adoption. Performance wise, the XPS 14 delivers on most fronts, especially if you indulge in heavy computing tasks for work and personal use. However, the gaming levels of this processor aren’t tuned to the levels of a gaming laptop and most people would admit that doesn’t bother them much.

You can still rely on it for editing and other multimedia tasks but heavy-duty games, even with a dedicated graphics unit, is not its favoured mode of usage. The good news is that the hardware doesn’t feel the extra strain of this power and heat up, in fact, most of our experience with the XPS 14 was a breeze, at least with its temperature.

As for the AI part of the Intel processor, you can activate Copilot using the dedicated key next to the Alt key on the right side of the keyboard.

What About The Design

While there is little to complain about the screen and its quality, the overall design of the XPS 14 screams Dell which is good and not so good in equal measures. Firstly, the so-called thin laptop weighs 1.70 kg which isn’t the lightest in its segment and you can easily get lighter models at much less price these days.

Secondly, we expect Dell to overhaul the design of the XPS series especially the front panel which now looks dated. It seems like all the love has been offered to the display. It’s time we see the whole profile get an upgrade.

The invisible trackpad is a neat inclusion and we would like others to incorporate this tech into their laptops in the near future. There are no borders to cover the area of the trackpad but intuitively you hit the right mark to scroll and navigate.

The other interesting addition is the soft-touch Fn keys instead of the regular physical keys. Not sure the reason behind this change but Dell clearly feels some use case or demand for it. The keys are not deep so their tactile feedback and travel is limited. The size of the keys is adequate but the spacing can take some time to get used to, especially if you are coming from a larger sized model.

The other inexplicable part about the XPS 14 is that you don’t have even one regular USB port, all of them feature USB C or Thunderbolt units that will need a dock to let you use other devices.

All-Day Long, Truly

The other good part about the new Intel processors is that the menial tasks have been handed over to less power-hungry cores, which translates into longer battery life. Dell XPS 14 has an impressive standby mode which was evident when we put the laptop on sleep mode for a few hours and barely lost any juice. We had the screen running at 60 percent brightness and multiple tabs open on Chrome which is a good measure of how the hardware churns out power without taking much out of it.

The bundled charger with the XPS 14 is one of the smallest units we have tested recently and supporting USB C charge means you don’t need to solely rely on it for charging. You will never feel let down on the endurance front with the XPS 14 and that is a strong takeaway for most users.