2024 Dell XPS 14 Review

The Dell XPS 14 (9440) makes a design departure, as do the XPS 13 and 16 for 2024. They all resemble the XPS 13 Plus, a change that perhaps puts form ahead of function. Thanks to our sponsor Trend Micro's Premium Security Suite offers complete device and identity protection for up to 10 devices. Check it out here: 2ly.link/1xVwL and use code LISA10 (case sensitive) for 10% off your purchase! The XPS 14 has a 14.5” display with FHD+ and 3.2K OLED options and it sports Intel’s new 14th gen Meteor Lake CPU with an AI co-processor. As ever, this is a CNC aluminum unibody Windows 11 laptop that competes with the 14” Apple MacBook Pro, Razer Blade 14 and Asus ROG Zephyrus G14.
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[@lbgstzockt8493]

Whoever made the escape key touch only probably uses no program more complicated than Word, genuinly baffling design decision. Even Apple went back on it.

[@ivahos]

Apple's solution would have been good if it had been added on top of the keyboard instead of replacing the top row. Dell's version with fixed buttons that can't show any information is just bad.

[@MLHunt]

Dell has completely lost the plot

[@_modisekgosi]

Thought i was the only one who realised

[@agnieszkasmoreda3789]

Hi, just wanted to say that I still use my XPS 13 from 2016, which I decided to buy after watching your review. And it's been an amazing machine. But after 8 years, lately I started considering an upgrade. I was convinced I would just buy the latest XPS and be done with it but after checking in and realizing how they massacred my boy I no longer consider buying a new Dell XPS. Thank you for your great work, as always!

[@josephle2381]

If you need an upgrade go for the MacBook, but if you want windows go for Asus G14 or HP Spectre

[@williammaverick]

The Snapdragon X elite laptops are coming. It's the first real leap in mobile computer technology the past 10 years or so. Better t wait a few months more.

[@theprovost]

Asus G14 is the way to go, the 2024 version is the windows MacBook. Incidentally, Lisa just dropped a review for it today, you can check it out!

[@abcdabrayt8727]

the xps 15 is actually still a pretty neat option

[@ullibowyer]

Guys we've hired this awesome designer from Apple. You are not going to believe the idea they came up with for the function keys!

[@nnnnnn3647]

apple made it better.

[@ullibowyer]

@@nnnnnn3647 They said it couldn't be done, but Dell have achieved what was previously thought impossible and managed to make the touch bar worse

[@cameronbosch1213]

I'm betting they hired Jony Ive's intern...

[@atreusduvelll600]

Lisa always has the best shirts 😂

[@sillystuff6247]

She might make as much 💰 from selling wacky nerd shirts as she does from tech reviews❕

[@CareyHolzman]

I was an XPS believer for years. Not any more. I'm a GalaxyBook3 guy now and drooling over the GalaxyBook4 (except they are all touchscreens). Lisa nailed it! Give me back my internal HDMI and USB type-A ports DELL (without using an ugly add-on dongle that is prone to being damaged or lost).

[@shammyh]

Check out the HP Dragonfly G3/G4.

[@ocvjw8734]

I have the galaxy book3 pro and gifted an xps 14 to family. I'm waiting for the windows ARM world to get some traction before buying another laptop. Intel / x86 has stagnated.

[@abhinandanbanerjee5471]

Welcome to the ecosystem

[@SalemTechsperts]

Love the Porsche 911 reference! Amazing review as always. That touchpad I could get used to, but I would rather have a thicker keyboard (with a real esc key) than this silly flat keyboard design. I'm tired of companies copying the WORST design decisions from Apple (touchbar), instead of the GOOD ones (modular USB-C ports). ESPECIALLY considering how the ports jut out and all that empty space next to the speaker. Disappointing.

[@ldine783]

Dell: Everyone hated that touch thingy function rows on the MacBooks. Lets put that on our top of the line laptops. I bet everyone will love it.

[@JustAnotherDayToday]

Another great review Lisa!

[@k1ng617]

When form kicks function in the nuts... Smart one Dell.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Seems to be the theme now with ALL tech, unfortunately

[@brightboxstudio]

You talked about the Esc key being mostly about getting out of unstable situations, but for me it isn’t about that. I press the Esc key all the time because the OS and so many apps use Esc as the shortcut for the Cancel button, and in a lot of apps Esc has other uses, such as deselecting focus from objects and text fields. For me it’s faster and easier to hit Esc than to move the mouse over to wherever the Cancel button is right now. Even Apple was eventually convinced that a touch-only Esc key was a bad idea, and went back to a physical Esc key. I use the Esc key so much that the way Dell did it here is basically a deal-breaker for this model, I would move on to something else. (And this is not even going into how other videos show this XPS 14 getting beaten by the cheaper, fanless M3 MacBook Air on many benchmarks.)

[@ShainAndrews]

That is literally what she said...

[@subbiaharun]

Another comprehensive and fantastic review from Lisa! Thank you for your hard work making the videos.

[@JustJoshTech]

Agreed

[@Coksnuss]

As excellent as ever! Very good, concise, yet exhaustive review!

[@Prof.BARAK1234]

Thanks for sharing! I gave it back after a few days. I couldn’t manage the border less trackpad and the terrible keyboard

[@jaketyler2702]

Genuinely curious how you can't manage a borderless trackpad? Its not like you ever look down to move the mouse

[@Prof.BARAK1234]

@@jaketyler2702 genuinely curious, is this a serious question!? You don’t have to look for the borders of the trackpad. You just feel it while using it.

[@jaketyler2702]

@@Prof.BARAK1234 So how do you miss the trackpad is my question 😂 It's massive. I find it hard to believe your fingers would miss the trackpad each time

[@loopy7776]

You rock, Lisa. Cheers.

[@silvermica]

I haven't seen your channel pop up in my feed in a long time. Just the other day was wondering what had happened to you. Good to see you're still 'on the air!'

[@kahvac]

I would rather have a thicker laptop with a better keyboard.

[@NamelessPassenger]

And better gpu…

[@RM-el3gw]

sorry, best we can do is even thinner laptop and more anemic performance. See how good it looks? Aesthetic!

[@abcdabrayt8727]

the keyboard is actually really nice

[@jego207]

Thanks for this review, I've been eyeing thin 14" laptops for quite some time.

[@Jrome4life]

Great review as always and where do you get your shirts from.

[@asan1050]

Thank you for posting.

[@andyH_England]

The pricing makes the XPS 14 a tough buy, well, for the average premium laptop buyer. It is pretty, and if that is your thing, and you are rich and do not care about efficiency, performance or usability, then good luck. I am unconvinced that 2024 is a good year for buying Windows laptops per se, well, from a techie perspective, as it seems to be a stop-gap release from AMD and Intel, with the CPU being a sideways upgrade and the iGPU on the Intel side, it catching up only. If you can, wait for something better from the next cycle, do. If you must buy an ultrabook or semi-pro laptop, avoid the XPS 14. Although all Core Ultra premium ultrabooks are around £1600 in the UK for 512GB/16Gb, this equilibrium price for Windows is now in line with the MB Air M3 with the same specs. At least with the MB Air, you can downgrade the RAM and SSD and get one for £1000 (Amazon). You cannot get a premium Core Ultra 7 155H for below £1600 outside discounts. For a casual premium ultrabook for light use, the MB Air is priced at £1000 or £1200 for the 15-inch. There are cheaper mid-range and budget Core Ultra machines.

[@janquieldapper]

I still have my Dell XPS 14 from 2013 with i7, 8gb, 2 ssd and a GT630m, lovely laptop, keyboard and connections

[@loosabway3400]

Interesting to see another viewpoint on this; Lisa is always so diplomatic. Just Josh, for instance, destroyed this thing for its poor physical interfaces and poor heat management.

[@farmersbasketuganda2964]

I love the zero latice keyboard

[@JimKanaris]

Finally jumped ship! I always got XPS's until I finally figured out there's a lot more out there that's better priced. Just sold last year's 9530 and am currently loving my Legion Slim 7--and my trusty "old" 16" M1 Pro. In a word, Lisa's diagnosis is spot on! Too expensive for what you get!

[@qurbansiddiqui9033]

Best information' I have been watching you since you were young (:

[@thesecondtonone3010]

Hope you review the 2024 G14/16 as well!

[@gyanprasad5537]

Was finally thinking of replacing my XPS 9380 but will hold on till XPS is redesigned. Thanks Lisa

[@mightylotan]

Bring back the netbook trend. I want small laptops.

[@janquieldapper]

More than 10 years watching this channel

[@seanwalsh999]

I was thinking about the Dell Insperion 14 with or with out touch for under $800. Canadian?

[@A4orce84]

I'll be hanging on to my 2016 XPS 13 9360 for a few more years now.

[@leonardwise5807]

I'm just curious if the layout didn't bother you much on the xps plus why does it here. The 14 has very limited power 45 watts total the 16 has 70.

[@williammaverick]

Hi Lisa. What are your thoughts on the Snapdragon X Elite? Do you think it's worth holding on and wait for it? It's seemingly faster than an M3 even, plus the emulation seems to be as good as the Mac finally.

[@ocvjw8734]

That's what I'm doing before buying my next laptop

[@Trey_Dobbs]

Will you cover the 2024 ASUS G14?

[@foureight84]

Cant wait for butterfly key switches next year.

[@JD-hu9sg]

The most striking thing of this video is that MASSIVE watch Lisa is wearing. Looks like one of those ones the rich wrappers wear that is comicically oversized.

[@clayanderson3553]

I really like the exterior design language of Dell laptops, My Inspiron 14 from 2021 looks nearly identical at first glance but has a more usable interior design and costs half the price at $1k 😅

[@barryscroggins8450]

My XPS 13 has started doing the random shut down thing where everything goes off and it just restarts and carries on like nothing has happened. Don't fancy paying mega bucks for another Dell, the quality just isn't there.

[@armandovalmont9762]

This would be such a great laptop, if only it had normal function keys. They could have askes ANY semi professional user and they would have told them exactly this. Incredible

[@cyberpsychosis5367]

The Engineer and the business guy who decided to make it a touch ESC-F1-F12 must be on crack.

[@mr1234567898766]

Dell need to remember they don't have m3 chips to put in these machines.

[@brylesmith1374]

Pls review the 2024 LG Gram 😇

[@akin242002]

Dell XPS 14 got their 14/15-inch Prosumer title taken away by M chip 14-inch MacBook Pros. Now Asus Zenbook 14 line and HP Spectre x360 14 line are moving into 2nd and 3rd place. Dell is a 4th best option now. Dell XPS 16/17 are still excellent laptops. Not a fan of the electronic F keys, but the rest of those laptops are excellent.

[@theprovost]

with it's 2024 redesign G14 is simply the superior laptop compared to xps. Save your money (and sanity) and just get the Zephyrus G14

[@chuckles2040]

I have the Zephyrus G16.... its hands down the better laptop... only thing that can reach it is the M2 MAX. G16 is a competitor.

[@theprovost]

@@chuckles2040 I use the original 2020 G14. It lacks a webcam, but is otherwise perfect. And it has only gotten better over the years! The 2024 version with the industrial design easily eats the XPSs lunch, both for the 14 and the 16

[@misterhoeflak]

Great, straight-up review as always Lisa ♥️ Beautifully designed but not a great value prop, this... Sadly!

[@dancallahan970]

My thinkpad sh*t one of these last night

[@pacificsword1632]

Cool T-shirt. Don’t know about the laptop

[@oz457]

My XPS 15 9570 was the last Dell laptop I ever bought! What a nightmare. Overheating, throttling, issues with cracking audio due to bios issues (it took them a year to solve this issue), sleep mode never worked, resulting in overheating laptop and flat battery all the time, hinge issues, and the cherry on the cake, the NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1050i GPU stopped working all along. Now they even make a decission to get rid of the Function key row! And a power button next to the delete key, so you accidently turn off your laptop. What are they thinking. I won't spend my money any more on DELL. I now have a Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 and woaw, what a beast! Bye bye DELL. You won't have me as a customer again soon and I totally recommend everybody to STAY away from DELL. They are gone from hero to zero!

[@10tenman10]

I like the xps series but would likely buy a Razer Blade for a similar price.

[@ErikaRosas-ym1ls]

My daughter is going to college, studying engendering, what Laptop you recommend, she like a 13 or 14 inch size?

[@basdfgwe]

I actually like the Apple implementation, it would have been great if it was in addition to the physical keys - they could have combined the Fkeys with the top number keys - but all the media controls etc... could have been in the capacitive screen. But this is an abomination.

[@billwayzata]

Cool shirt!

[@sillystuff6247]

i feel sorry for xps users. can't believe dell copied apple's worst ideas. hated every minute of my macbook pro with glass function keys & no travel keyboard. apple users had no choice, but windows users do. buy a competing slim laptop (eg hp). punish dell with heavy revenue & market share losses to make them stop their madness.

[@vintagewander]

Yeah even a brand as stubborn as apple has to admit the touch function keys and super low travel keyboard was a bad idea and decided to go back

[@tscharf34685]

XPS-13 owner for 8 years, that's what I did. Bought a HP Spectre 2024. Very disappointed in this product functionally and pricing. It's like they were begging me to leave.

[@cameronbosch1213]

Yeah, Dell doesn't have the luxury of being the only one running Windows, unlike the Mac with macOS (which I don't like either, but that's not the point). It's like Dell just killed any reason to buy these XPS laptops. The price is just the nail in the coffin.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Spot on. I truly wonder if it's the result of the accountants trying to copy the poor designs that the more profitable company (Apple) does. Because every engineer knows these are poor designs that consumers have proven to loathe.

[@akin242002]

2024 HP Spectre x360 14-inch has entered the chat.

[@ITGuru1]

I think I'll continue to buy the Lenovo X1 Carbon, maybe a boring but reliable design!

[@Teltharion]

that keyboard though...

[@chewylandlive]

LISA #1.

[@sokdara6243]

Love the haircut. You look 10 years younger.

[@anneritchie8264]

I am rocking a 6-year-old XPS 15. It's a great machine, but it's time to upgrade. However, I'm not getting a newXPS. These new things are horrible. I have no idea what I'm going to get.

[@jj8383]

0:20, 0:35, 1:20, 2:50, 4:40

[@Origen17]

Honestly, the ASUS you put it up against looks better and more functional to me. The keyboard is far superior in layout, IMO

[@RoastBeefSandwich]

Stick with the X1 Carbon, folks. What a shame.

[@mikayel18ify]

change the processor to AMD, fix the keyboard touch keys to real keys and it'll be great

[@noreacharounds]

I must be the offspring from an alien abduction because I like the capacitive touch bars. My only problem is the keyboard. My long skinny fingers with octopus like suction cups on my finger tips have difficulty .

[@hqtravel]

In 2016 I bought Dell Xps 13 9350. It was great laptop, still workin. But I had to change the battery many times because the battery life is 300 cycles while MacBooks have 1000 cycles life span. It is difficult to get support from dell. typing now form MacBook Air I won't ever to back to windows again. it was bad decision to get dell in 2015 over MacBook . it has cool design but not practical and reliable. It really represent windows vs Mac. lots of features vs Reliability

[@HydroTech23]

Need Gaming Laptops in Silver / White / Grey 👍🏼

[@kenya8716]

I wanted then16 inch , but the keyboard...why

[@DannyMexen9]

I wonder if Linus Torvalds still uses these.

[@sillystuff6247]

he changes laptops frequently. he briefly used xps, when dell first sold it with linux & support.

[@eglausch]

Bought it and used it for a month ... using 3x Excel + Whatsapp + Chrome + Outlook makes it get hickups repeatedly. Any ideas on how to solve ?

[@davejarcher]

Been using the new XPS 16 for a couple of weeks. Everyone has focused on the lower spec version, however this is one of the few Windows laptops you can spec up to 64GB RAM (which gives RTX 4070 at 60W). So far, its been an amazing laptop. Fast, incredible display, love the trackpad, and decent battery. Keyboard is okay, and the capacitive keys not as bad as I thought (I'm a developer, so I hammer the Fn keys).

[@cameronbosch1213]

Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i?

[@davejarcher]

@@cameronbosch1213 Yoga 9i maxes out at 32GB. The new X1 Carbon goes to 64GB but was not released when I ordered my Dell. For the same spec, its about the same price.

[@dynamiszmx]

I don't understand why Dell put nvidia gpu into this power and cooling limited machine. And its expensive. I just bought a Alienware x14 with bigger battery, better cooling and a rtx 4060, with a lcd screen some people don't like. But its a lot cheaper, only 1400 USD last month and this model you pay at least 1800.

[@1centimetre]

Who looked at a laptop and said, hey you know what would make this better? A white keyboard! No one does. Not at that price range. Reminds me of 2009 MacBook.

[@alpzepta]

Laptop these day. There are no laptop like my Fujitsu Celsius H780 these days

[@1msirius]

Wow, ma'am, I've been following you for the past four years, and you seem to age like fine wine! ♥

[@kahvac]

I don't like the keyboard.

[@BrodieChree]

The car industry seems to have touchscreen's number calling them out as CHEAPER alternatives to physical interfaces like knobs, dials or keyboards... are these capacitive touch "areas"on old MacBooks and now Dell a cost cutting measure that reads premium?! Do keys cost more?

[@maddominican879]

Well i guess my next laptop will be a none dell.if i wanted solder parts i buy a macbook pro.time to look at other brands

[@cameronbosch1213]

Not first, not last, but damn this is such a bad lineup of laptops!

[@RobloxianX]

The XPS went from the best laptop to the worst, I really hope they bring back the old design.

[@nexusyang4832]

I wonder if Dell went more to form over function.... :-/

[@valentinzambelli9930]

Dell being 5 years behind copying Apple and still not being able to cherry pick the good stuff is really peak windows laptop market...

[@dantem306]

It's like dell only seeks out physical innovation

[@tscharf34685]

I don't want to dogpile but the keyboard choice was just an epic blunder. Somebody should be fired for that. I'm willing to pay a premium for Dell XPS, but not pay a premium for less functionality. Swing and a miss. Advice: Put the Latitude keyboard in next year's model.

[@spectra7gaming471]

Dell did a thing. lol dell does many things like design an alienware laptop with 2 full size usb ports

[@bananawarriorwootwoot]

I work for this company and even I didn't know they came out with a new one lol.

[@FlypodTNT]

no way!

[@Maclabhruinn]

No physical function keys is an immediate no-buy for me. Maybe I'm not Dell's target market here, but ... anyone using VSCode, Visual Studio, IntelliJ, Eclipse or any other mainstream IDE *must* have function keys. Otherwise the machine is unusable. It's a shame, because I quite like the specs and Dell's reputation for quality.

[@engx3733]

damn psycho designs

[@visalserei]

Introducing the keyboardless, touchpadless, screenless, headphoneless and batteryless. Now everything is just in the air, we call this DELL Air. Its only weight 1 gram, and it can follow you anywhere in the world. Just close your eyes and imagine you are using your shapeless laptop. You don't need wifi, since everything will connect to your brain. And when you want to share a file, just write it down on the paper and take out your phone to take a picture and send it via your phone. We call this Dell ecomode.

[@FRAMEDSKATEKREW69]

Idk how dell dropped the ball for 6 years straight

[@trevorelvis1355]

Finally, I found my FATHER.

[@timweydert3490]

you know what I never thought? "I wish I couldn't see the trackpad on my notebook". Wanna know another thought I'd have never could have imagined having? "Let's do away with the ESC key on the normal keyboard". Dell - Innovating stupidity.

[@ianbrooke6342]

I've had two Dell laptops but I would never buy another. Both were loaded with bloatware and modified software and they were also very unreliable, failing in under a year.

[@BA-xx5en]

I really think you were way too nice and diplomatic about how BAD THIS NEW DELL LAPTOP IS. It's horrible. I will DEFINITELY NOT BUY A NEW DELL LAPTOP. I cannot understand what they are thinking. Some people seriously need to lose their jobs! They basically took a winning design and removed everything that was appealing about it. I've had (2) XPS models and the power and freedom to upgrade RAM is a big deal. No new design compromise that solders RAM on the board is acceptable. The stock RAM, also, failed on one of my Dell XPS units and I had to replace it after warranty. All I had to do was order a replacement stick from Crucial. Imagine if it was soldered on the board!! The flexibility to change out and upgrade RAM and SSD's is a big deal. It's amazing they forgot to solder the SSD on the board, too! Bet that will be coming in 2025! This upgraded trackpad design being added to more models is just somebody being stubborn to validate the stupid idea and ram it down the throats of everyone. It was not a hit. It was not heralded as any kind of great innovation. It's not appreciated and does nothing, in terms of convenience or anything. I'll bet most people would agree it is stupid. If it was such a great idea, you'd see other manufacturers trying to duplicate it just like they did with backlit keyboards after Apple innovated with that, years ago. As much as people complained about the heat issues in the design of the old XPS, while it gets hot, it never failed. My old unit still works fine. Only issue, as mentioned, is one of the RAM sticks had to be replaced. Maybe that was from the heat. Don't know. I was ready to buy a new XPS this year. As you know, Dell has been late to the game in upgrading the cameras from 720p and it would be nice to not have to use an external Logitech camera to get 1080p resolution. But, now, Dell is off my list. As you mentioned, the price point on these new models is crazy. I think Dell has lost their mind. Even if the price of these models was more in line with the competition, I still would not buy it. To me, they have completely ruined what was once a very appealing laptop design. They have made everything worse and improved nothing. Maybe the 2024 chips are faster and the graphic card is faster and it now has a 1080p camera, but, it is a loser. No price point value, annoying changes like the keyboard (Escape key) and their mouse design and worst of all, no removable or upgradeable RAM. Bye, Dell. I won't be back!!

[@testus86]

No miniled no buy!

[@vivek73]

if you use Linux, the ESC key is a very big letdown. Not sure what Dell has been smoking lately. They just lost all thier linux users.

[@abysmal5422]

Did Dell lose a bet and the penalty was reviving a mistake Apple already made and walked back from?

[@BlindMansRevenge2002]

A keyboard and borderless trackpad would make that laptop basically unusable for me. Completely blind computer user here I would most likely have to carry around a wireless keyboard to make this work. What a bunch of crap. This makes me almost wanna move over to Mack. At least I get, a discernible trackpad and click throughout the whole entire thing.

[@jt663]

the original xps 13 was such a great piece of design. Those designers have surely moved on from Dell because this thing looks pretty tacky and poorly thought out

[@Imjustabilly]

Dell fumbled the XPS line so hard

[@1sonjohn44]

So they went the Apple route......okay.