The build quality is exceptional, as is to be expected, with a hint of flex in the lid and keyboard. You can even open the device with just one finger now, something the XPS laptops of the past have always struggled with.
Get the OLED
Photograph: Luke Larsen
There’s a bit of an issue with how Dell configures the displays on the XPS 14. The base configuration comes with just a very standard 1920 x 1200 LCD display, despite it costing $1,699. This is a pretty serious downgrade from the mini-LED display offered on the 14-inch MacBook Pro, which is sharper, more colorful, and significantly brighter. The MBP is even $100 cheaper and comes with an extra 8 GB of RAM.
The more expensive OLED model comes standard with the Core Ultra X7 configuration with the option to upgrade to the X9. This isn’t just standard OLED though—it’s tandem OLED, which the company first used on the XPS 13. The result isn’t more brightness (as it’s actually slightly dimmer than the LCD model), but instead higher efficiency for more battery life.
I tested both the LCD and OLED models, which are both good for what they are. The OLED model has beautiful, vibrant colors covering sRGB, AdobeRGB, and Display P3 color spaces at 100 percent. Even more importantly, the color accuracy is fantastic. The LED takes a step back from there in terms of color performance, but I do like that both options have a dynamic 120-Hz refresh rate.
On the plus side, the bezels along the frame of the base XPS 14 look better than most LED displays. Many matte LCD displays have a plastic bezel along the sides which make it look cheap. These super-thin bezels still look very modern and sleek—a hallmark of the XPS brand. The top bezel remains thin as well (though not as tiny as it once was), despite Dell squeezing an 8-megapixel, 4K camera module up there. I haven’t seen many 4K-capable laptop webcams, and this one is particularly great, and there’s no ugly notch to deal with either.
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