ZDNET Highlights
- Dell’s latest high-performance laptop is currently on sale starting at $1,250.
- It is brilliantly designed with sleek, modern construction and powerful, yet accessible hardware.
- It runs hot, and requires the user to manage power to get the most out of the battery.
More Buying Choices
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Dell’s laptop rebrand may result in some shuffling of naming conventions, but the new dell 14 premium – Dell’s refreshed high-performance series of laptops – looks a lot like the Dell XPS at first glance. If you’re confused about this laptop’s placement in Dell’s product placement hierarchy, it’s in the consumer category, and is the highest-tier model in that group. This makes it a premium, yet accessible laptop for pro creatives, designers, and tech enthusiasts.
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From the zero-lattice keyboard to the edge-to-edge OLED display and invisible trackpad, the Dell 14 Premium lives up to its name with a sleek, future-oriented build. Due to its clever recessed design, it gives the impression as if it is hovering above the surface when sitting on the table.
Appearances aside, Dell wants to emphasize that this laptop is not an XPS, but an evolution of the line into something new. The idea here was to take what worked on its higher-end machines and improve on things that users saw as problems, and it does this to some extent, despite the obvious comparisons to its predecessor.
In terms of hardware, the Dell 14 Premium comes with an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H “Lunar Lake” processor, up to 32GB of LPDDR5X, 8400MT/s dual-channel RAM, and Intel Arc Graphics or Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU.
Opting for 32GB of RAM and an OLED display will bring the price up to $2,250 – which is the upper limit of what can be considered “affordable” for a premium-level laptop.
The review unit I tested had a different CPU than the retail version: an Intel Core Ultra 7 265H, which is available as a special order to consumers but is not standard on the machine. This resulted in a very modest increase in performance compared to the retail version (performance-core base clock speed of 2.2GHz versus the standard 2.0GHz).
The 14-inch OLED touchscreen is as gorgeous as you’d expect, with 3.2K resolution, 400nit brightness and a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The display’s thin bezels and seamless webcam module result in a clean and crisp design that gives the impression that the screen is larger than it is.
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Overall, this is a great laptop. The keyboard looks great, but there are some usability issues associated with its design. The first is that, although it has good key travel, it doesn’t feel as distinctly ergonomic as the keyboards of some other laptops like the HP EliteBook X G1a or even the Acer Swift 16 AI. If you’re a fast typer, you may need some time to adjust to the main layout here, as some people may find it a bit cramped.
The LED function key row is also another thing that sacrifices usability for aesthetics. In previous reviews for the XPS, I’ve expressed my lukewarm welcome for this feature, and it’s the same here. Personally, I find the always-on light a bit distracting, but after spending a week with the laptop, I’d say I’ve become accustomed to it.
The invisible haptic trackpad is one of the most premium elements of a laptop’s design. The texture is unlike any other laptop I’ve felt, with a smooth, silky texture that feels luxurious. Haptic clicks are very subtle, requiring very little finger movement, allowing the user to glide across a surface unobstructed by the confines of the trackpad. This is a design trick, as the trackpad itself is no larger than standard, but it certainly feels like it.
However, this design raises some concerns about durability, as this single glass sheet looks great, but a scratch or dent will spoil the otherwise pristine surface. Luckily, Dell emphasizes its durability, saying it can withstand up to 1,200 drops.
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Compared to the XPS model, the port selection has been streamlined with a few more options. You get three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports (instead of two), an audio jack, and a microSD card slot. It’s a welcome improvement that pushes the device firmly into Pro Creator territory and increases the laptop’s longevity, I’m glad Dell decided to settle for the premium line.
While a competing GPU, the RTX 4050 in the Dell 14 Premium is limited to 30 watts of TDP (thermal design power), which limits its performance. The constraints of this laptop’s cooling system become apparent during extended, demanding workflows, when the device gets warm and stays that way.
That being said, during everyday tasks, the laptop runs cool and quiet, and the 4050’s performance is good for video editing, photo rendering, and even gaming, but demanding workloads cause temperatures to rise quickly, which is especially felt on the wrist rest and keyboard.
The GPU here performs well for most games, but it’s not particularly optimized for PC gaming due to the heat it generates and the design of the laptop, which gets in the way of some gaming practicality. In particular, the LED function row, which, if you’re playing a game that uses the F1 key, will need to be reconfigured.
Instead of emphasizing the keyboard, it’s better suited for video editing and graphic design, with multiple ports for connecting an external monitor, connecting peripherals, and 32GB of RAM for large file transfers with an included microSD slot.
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For this reason, I would position this laptop more in the pro creators and business niche than a gaming laptop, even though it has the ability to run games due to its 32GB RAM and RTX 4050 GPU. Speaking of, let’s talk battery life here. This is a laptop that benefits greatly from active power management, as you’ll need to keep an eye on consumption to get the most out of the 69.5Whr battery.
During my testing, I found that the Dell 14 Premium reacts to battery life in a way that parallels heat production. During everyday use: web browsing, productivity software, and multitasking in various applications, battery life is very good, lasting eight hours and even more. But once you shift gears to a more demanding workflow, battery life starts to wane.
If you are working on high power consuming tasks then you will get less than this and if you stay in performance mode then you will get five hours or less. For these reasons, I’d say this is a laptop that requires some care in its use, as opposed to a light and airy device that you can just pop away from the charger and forget about.
Finally, while we’re on the subject, even though this laptop is sleek and compact, it weighs a hefty 3.66 pounds for the LCD display and 3.79 pounds for the OLED. It’s not the heaviest laptop by any means, but its design proves it weighs more than it looks.
ZDNET’s shopping advice
dell 14 premium It lives up to its name as an aesthetic laptop that is committed to its futuristic design. This isn’t a laptop made for everyone, and that’s okay. Dell has successfully improved the elements of its design that do not compromise its vision, such as expanded port selection and the balance of hardware and cost.
As the highest-performing laptop in Dell’s base tier of laptops, it’s a premium but accessible machine that’s suitable for professionals who need a balanced approach to performance. The luxury physical design makes a statement and is a pleasure to use, but users will have to be mindful of the hardware’s power demands and heat output.
