Dell Premium 14 Review: A Name Change Doesn’t Ruin a Great Laptop
Dell recently made a questionable decision by rebranding its iconic XPS line, replacing the well-known XPS 14 with the generic-sounding “Premium 14.” It’s a baffling move, like Ford renaming the Mustang to “The Prime Sportscar.” But despite the uninspired new name, Dell’s latest 14-inch ultraportable remains one of the best Windows laptops available.
Design and Display: Still Sleek and Premium
Rather than overhauling the design, Dell kept the same chassis as last year’s XPS 14—and that’s a good thing. The aluminum body is elegant, with clean lines, a Gorilla Glass 3 surface, and a practical selection of ports: three USB-C Thunderbolt 4 slots, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a microSD card reader. That’s a notable advantage over the XPS 13, which lacks a headphone jack and card slot.
Weighing between 3.66 and 3.79 pounds, the Premium 14 is slightly heavier than competitors like the 14-inch MacBook Pro (3.4 pounds), but the difference is negligible. The laptop also features a seamless glass wrist rest with an invisible touchpad that spans the entire space below the keyboard. Despite its hidden appearance, the large tracking area makes it easy to use.
One potential downside is the touch-sensitive buttons above the keyboard. While volume and brightness controls are fine, replacing physical Escape and Delete keys with touch buttons feels awkward, especially when using shortcuts like CTRL + ALT + DEL.
The base model comes with a 14.5-inch 2K 120Hz IPS display, but the optional 3.2K 120Hz OLED panel is worth the extra $200. Though slightly dimmer (400 nits vs. 500 nits on the IPS), the OLED screen delivers richer colors and superior contrast.
Performance: Versatile but Slightly Dated
The base Premium 14 configuration includes an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. Our review unit, however, was upgraded with 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and an NVIDIA RTX 4050 GPU.
This setup provides solid performance for everyday tasks, and the discrete GPU makes it capable of handling video editing and light gaming. In Cyberpunk 2077, the RTX 4050 managed 60 fps at 1080p on high settings with DLSS enabled—impressive for a thin-and-light laptop. That said, the GPU is now a generation old, so it’s not the most cutting-edge option.
Battery Life: Decent but Not Outstanding
The Premium 14’s 69.5WHr battery delivers respectable but not exceptional endurance. In PCMark10’s Modern Office test, it lasted 8 hours and 30 minutes—better than gaming laptops like the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 (6:54) and Razer Blade 14 (6:46) but still behind power-efficient ultraportables like the ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED (12:43) and Dell’s own XPS 13 (13:15).
Verdict: Still a Top-Tier Ultraportable
Despite the name change, the Dell Premium 14 remains one of the best Windows laptops on the market. Its sleek design, excellent display options, and strong performance make it a compelling choice. While our fully specced review unit costs $2,450 (currently discounted by $200), the base model starts at $1,650, with the OLED upgrade pushing it to $1,850—still a fair price for what you get.
With the XPS 13 not receiving updates this year and lacking key ports, the Premium 14 is the better pick. If you’re in the market for a premium Windows ultraportable, this is the laptop to beat.
