A first look at Dell's MacBook Pro rival
The Dell 14 Premium ditches the XPS brand, but retains its design.
Hey everyone,
For years, the Dell XPS line has been a top recommendation for professionals, creatives, and remote workers needing a powerful, premium Windows laptop. It was an icon.
So, when Dell announced they were retiring the XPS brand for their consumer flagship, it sent ripples through the tech community. What could possibly replace it?
The answer is the new Dell 14 Premium, and I just got my hands on one. Is this the new go-to machine for our work-from-anywhere lifestyle? I decided to find out, and you can watch my full unboxing and first impressions.
For those of you looking for the highlights, here’s what stood out to me from a remote worker's perspective.
First Impressions: A Solid, Professional Build
Right out of the box, the Dell 14 Premium makes a statement.
The laptop itself, finished in a dark Graphite color, feels sturdy and well-built. It has a reassuring heft, too. It’s not the lightest 14-inch laptop on the market, but it feels like a durable tool ready to be tossed in a backpack and taken from the home office to a coffee shop without worry.
For comparison, the Dell 14 Premium is a rival to a MacBook Pro 14 or Razer Blade 14. It’s a thicker, heavier, and more luxurious laptop than a MacBook Air 13/15, LG gram 14, or Lenovo IdeaPad 7 Pro.
Controversial design remains
While the Dell 14 Premium ditches the XPS name, it retains the XPS 14’s most divisive design traits. Dell opts for a unique, futuristic design.
The Keyboard & Function Row: The keyboard is spacious and edge-to-edge, which I appreciate for comfortable typing. Above it, the physical function keys are gone, replaced by a row of capacitive touch buttons. They’re backlit and provide haptic feedback, but it’s a big change that will take some getting used to.
The Invisible Touchpad: Look below the keyboard, and you’ll notice… nothing. The trackpad is completely integrated into the palm rest with no visible border. It’s a stunningly clean look, and thankfully, it’s a haptic touchpad that provides excellent feedback. With that said, the touchpad’s usable surface is similar in size to other 14-inch laptops, and perhaps even towards the small side. It’s not an edge-to-edge touchpad, which is what you might assume by looking at it.
All in on Thunderbolt 4
This is where the Dell 14 Premium really shines for productivity. If you have a Thunderbolt 4 hub or dock, at least.
It comes equipped with three Thunderbolt 4 ports, making it a single-cable solution for connecting to a full desk setup—a huge plus for hybrid workers. It also includes a microSD card reader (a win for creatives!) and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The audio-visual experience is also top-tier. The quad-speaker system is one of the most impressive I’ve heard on a Windows laptop this size, delivering clear, rich audio that’s more than capable for video calls without needing a headset. My unit features the upgraded 3.2K OLED touchscreen, which is gorgeous for both detailed work and media consumption after hours.
What’s Next?
My initial take is that the Dell 14 Premium is a bold and beautifully built machine that takes some daring design risks. It has the power and the ports to be a remote work powerhouse, but the keyboard and touchpad design won’t be to everyone’s tastes.
This unboxing is just the beginning. Stay tuned for my full, in-depth review coming soon to PC World, where I'll put this laptop through its paces with benchmarks, battery tests, and real-world use to see if it can match the alternatives.
This is a hotly contested market and at $1,899 currently, the Dell 14 Premium isn’t cheap. So, I hope to see excellent CPU performance and solid battery life from this machine.