Dell XPS Is Back — And It's Brilliant

Dell spent the better part of three years losing the plot on its flagship XPS line. The 2024 and 2025 models stripped out function keys, hid the trackpad, and delivered a laptop that felt like it was designed by committee to frustrate the people actually using it. The 2026 XPS 14 and XPS 16 are a course correction so complete it feels like a different company made them.

Physical function keys are back. The trackpad is visible. The CNC-machined aluminium chassis has rounded corners and a weight the XPS line hasn't achieved in years — the XPS 16 is lighter than its predecessor despite a larger battery. And the headline number that has reviewers floored: the XPS 14 with its base 1920×1200 LCD display and a 1Hz variable refresh rate lasted 20 hours and 41 minutes in Tom's Hardware battery testing. Dell's own internal reports show 43+ hour results in browser use. That is not a typo.

The 1Hz Display Trick

The battery life story begins with the display. Dell equipped the base XPS 14 with a 1920×1200 LCD featuring a variable refresh rate that drops all the way to 1Hz when content is static — a rate so slow it essentially turns the display into an e-ink screen between redraws. The power saving is dramatic. During document editing or reading, the display draws almost nothing. It refreshes normally the moment you start scrolling or typing. The result is a Windows laptop that competes with Apple silicon on battery life — something that seemed impossible 18 months ago.

The premium OLED tandem display option on both models is stunning — 2880×1800 on the 16-inch with true black levels, HDR support, and Arc B390 integrated graphics for better GPU headroom. This is the configuration power users want. The base LCD is the configuration commuters want. Both are excellent at what they do.

Intel Panther Lake Performance

Both the XPS 14 and XPS 16 run Intel's Panther Lake processors — Intel's latest generation built on the 18A process node. Performance across CPU benchmarks is competitive with AMD's best mobile chips and edges closer to Apple M-series performance in multi-core workloads than any previous Intel generation. The Arc B390 integrated GPU in the higher-tier models handles 1080p gaming at medium settings, light 4K video editing, and AI inference tasks without requiring a discrete GPU.

The Keyboard Issue

Function keys are back — thank goodness — but the keyboard still has low travel without space between keys. Multiple reviewers report an adjustment period before muscle memory catches up. It is not a dealbreaker, but it is the one legitimate criticism of an otherwise exceptional machine. Anyone upgrading from an older XPS with the traditional keyboard should budget a week of relearning.