Dell XPS 16 (2024) Review
A beastly all-rounder laptop
Verdict
A stylish powerhouse with a great screen, the Dell XPS 16 (2024) has executed a winning combination. The Intel Core Ultra CPU performance is backed by a bold Nvidia RTX GPU choice for strong results. It’s ideal for strenuous work and high-level play. A need for better battery life and a keyboard choice that will split opinion means it isn’t perfect but, overall, the XPS 16 is a triumph.
Pros
- Gorgeous 4K OLED screen
- Impressive gaming chops
- Excellent Intel CPU performance
- Sleek design
Cons
- Slim, but heavy
- Keyboard won’t be for everyone
Key Features
- Large displayThe 16.3-inch panel. The refresh rate maxes out at 90Hz though.
- Intel and Nvidia graphics optionsThis is the most gaming-capable Dell XPS laptop ever featuring up to RTX 4070 graphics.
- Intel Core UltraIntel’s latest generation of chips, which represented a solid step forward.
Introduction
The Dell XPS 16 (2024) is quite the specimen. With the option of a 4K OLED display, Intel’s Core Ultra 7 processors and up to an extremely capable RTX 4070 GPU, it pushes the boundaries of what we’ve seen from the XPS in its illustrious history.
The XPS 16 is the largest and, on paper, the most capable in the 2024 line-up. It carries all the design hallmarks of the Dell XPS 14 (2024) and the XPS 13 Plus (2023), but is a far more expressive model.
It also carries a hefty price tag, with our review model costing £3299/$3399. That cash can get you most of the way towards the 16-inch M3 Max MacBook Pro, meaning this Dell has tough competition.
Dell has moved to an online retail model where it now only sells from its own store rather than typical third-party retailers. You can buy the XPS 16 in the UK here, and the US here. Here’s my full Dell XPS 16 (2024) review.
Design and keyboard
- Stylish, sleek but weighty build
- Capacitive function keys
- Some keys feel too large
First off, the Dell XPS 16 (2024) is heavy. It weighs close to 5lbs for the OLED configuration (2.2kg, 4.8 lbs) and it’s not the most comfortable to pick up with one hand.
That’s not rare for a 16-inch laptop, and it’s still lighter than something like the Razer Blade 16 (2.4kg, 5.29 lbs) which we reviewed in April 2024. If you go much lighter with these models you can end up with something that feels a little cheap ��� like the 1.23kg, 2.7lbs Asus Swift Edge 16.
The Dell XPS 16 certainly doesn’t feel cheap. The design is very sturdy and the platinum colour adds a premium sheen. The finish is less susceptible to fingerprints than the black XPS 14 for example.
Open the lid (there’s no accessible lip for some reason) and the workspace feels very expansive and a little less proportionate than the XPS 14.
The speakers are larger on either side of the keyboard – about twice as wide – and there’s much more room for the bases of the palms, on either side of the spacious, invisible trackpad, which is coated in Gorilla Glass and stretches either side of the Alt keys. The haptic motors give you feedback on trackpad presses, in a wide sweet spot.
It’s a clean look overall. The keyboard will split opinion though, largely due to the choice of capacitive touch keys. As with the XPS 14, I’m not a fan of this approach. Having regularly used keys like Escape and Delete in this row breaks typing rhythm and it feels just awkward.
The main keyboard is designed for touch typers with very soft landings for the fingertips. There is hardly any travel between the keys at just 1mm. For me, this led to some errors when gliding between the keys.
The additional size makes some of the keys unnecessarily wide. Like the Tab and Caps Locks keys for example. Pretty much every ‘A’ I attempted was an accidental Caps Lock tap, for example. It was infuriating, but you’d likely get used to it over time. Despite this increase in keyboard size, the up and down arrow keys are still too small compared to the left and right. Notably, this is also the first generation of XPS models with the Windows 11 Copilot button next to the space bar.
The display feels every bit 16.3-inches. The bezels are slim too, at just 3mm on the side and slightly larger at the top to accommodate the new 1080p camera – up from 720p on previous XPS generations.
There are a trio of USB-C (Thunderbolt 4 ports), a 3.5mm jack and a microSD slot. Dell kindly includes a dongle that broadens connectivity options to USB-A and full HDMI. It would be nice if Apple did this too.
Screen and sound
- 4K HDR OLED display is detailed and bold
- 3.2K resolution is delightfully sharp
- Decent Dolby Atmos experience via speakers
The 16.3-inch 4K OLED touch display model of the Dell XPS 16 costs $300 more than the FHD+ non-touch, non-OLED configuration and, overall, that feels like money very well spent.
When you initially power the laptop, the desktop shows a purposely chosen aerial image of the Indonesian archipelagos. The detail within the 4K display is striking, as is the boldness and richness of the colours of the ocean, sand, and moss-clad cliffs.
However, on the spec sheet, it isn’t without caveats. The variable refresh rate of 48-90Hz feels like a compromise compared to the 3.2K OLED panel on the XPS 14, which offers 48Hz to 120Hz. There is support for Dolby Vision HDR.
The rest of the display specs performed largely as promised. Dell states its display is capable of 400 nits of max brightness, but using the DisplayCal software, I hit a peak brightness of 424 nits in HDR mode and 410 in the standard dynamic range setting.
Elsewhere the promise of the deepest blacks was delivered upon, while colour reproduction was impressive too, hitting 100% on the sRGB, reaching 99.8% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut and 88.4% when it comes to Adobe RGB.
This is a detailed and accurate display that won’t let creative users down. When gaming, the powerful GPU ensured I made the most of the display’s capabilities.
Cyberpunk 2077 was made for OLED, with its stunning high contrast world shining, while the faithfully reproduced deep, dark black of outer space lends itself to Returnal. I was able to enjoy both in QHD at high frame rates thanks to the RTX 4070, although pushing to the full 4K resolution for Cyberpunk was a little beyond the GPU unless DLSS superscaling was enabled.
The speakers are surprisingly powerful. Combined with the large display, it can be a relatively cinematic experience. The stereo speakers are Dolby Atmos-enabled so the audio can be fairly immersive, and produces a wide and atmospheric soundscape for a laptop speaker.
However, when pushed too far it was a less than comfortable experience. Take Apple TV’s WWII drama Masters of the Air, for instance. At the higher end, the dogfights didn’t give you the sense of IMAX immersion, more a sense of “turn that down”.
Music-wise, the speakers are decent at about mid-volume. Streaming tracks like Jimmy Eat World’s The Middle sounded distorted even at mid-volume without much consideration for the low end. The playback of Jay-Z’s Dirt Off Your Shoulder didn’t do the bass any justice. However, there is a little nuance and sonic pleasantness in acoustic tracks like Paul Simon’s American Tune and Beyoncé’s Texas Hold ‘Em.
Performance
- Intel ‘Ultra’ CPU shines brighter in this model
- Bold GPU choice pays off for gamers
- Not quite as powerful as a MacBook Pro
The Dell XPS 16 (2024) has an impressive spec sheet. The model I reviewed arrived with the latest generation Intel Ultra 7 155H processor, which has been clocked at 4.8GHz.
I got a sense it was a little restrained within the XPS 14, but I was more impressed by Dell’s deployment of this powerful chipset in XPS 16 benchmarking tests.
Geekbench 6 measured single-core CPU performance similarly, scoring the XPS 16 at 2262, compared to the XPS 14’s 2241. Multi-core performance broadened the gap to 13239 vs 12042. The PCMark 10 tool, which measures the performance for modern office tasks, also favoured the XPS 16, scoring 6853 compared to the XPS 14’s 6502.
Multi-core performance also defeated a key rival running the same CPU in Geekbench. The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED won at 2334 for single core, but the 12425 multi-core score was behind. PCMark also has Dell ahead 6853 to Asus’ 6279.
Neither Dell model touches the Acer Predator Triton 17X gaming laptop, which uses last year’s top dog CPU, the Intel Core i9 13900HX. That achieved 2731 single-core/17505 multi-core in Geekbench 6 and an impressive 8634 score in PCMark 10. The XPS 16 also falls below the MacBook Pro with M3 Max, which Geekbench 6 rates as 2355 (single), a mind-blowing 29980 (multi).
Nevertheless, the Dell XPS 16 still offers fantastic performance that was more than speedy enough for my workloads, and should ease through more demanding tasks such as creative production too.
My review model also included the excellent Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU (8 GB GDDR6, 60W), which provides admirable gaming chops. I was able to enjoy Cyberpunk 2077 at a respectable 34 frames per second in QHD. However, without any artificial help from DLSS, the frame rate struggled to get above 15fps when pushed to 4K.
When taking on less demanding games like Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Extraction, frame rates got as high as 143fps in FHD and a healthy 59fps in 4K. For Sony’s Returnal, QHD 1440p was a sweet spot with a really smooth 59fps.
Remember, this is an XPS laptop not something like Dell’s offshoot Alienware M16 R2 gaming laptop, so the laptop isn’t designed for prioritising gaming performance above all else. Yet it can still do a great job here whenever you want to dip into a game during your break.
SSD performance is excellent too, recording a 6989MB/s read speed and 5227MB/s write speed. These are supremely speedy results, which means the Dell XPS 17 boots up in a flash, and is rapid when loading up applications and installing large files. Storage options are very flexible, ranging from 512GB all the way up to 4TB.
Software
- Mostly clean Windows 11
- Copilot is prominent
Thankfully, I don’t have a lot to say here. Dell deploys a clean version of the Windows 11 operating system, keeping custom skins and bloatware to an absolute minimum. As such the OS feels lightweight and very rapid.
This is, of course, the first XPS update to offer the dedicated Microsoft Copilot experience on the keyboard. Tapping that key quickly brings up the sidebar, allowing you to ask questions or make requests of Microsoft’s AI chat bot.
However, it still feels like the experience needs work from a usability perspective. As reams of text roll up the screen, it’s an unsettling experience.
Battery life
- Large battery equals longer charging time
- Battery life around 10 hours
The Dell XPS 14’s 66.9Wh battery let me down somewhat, clocking in at just under eight hours in productivity tests. The Dell XPS 16 has a much larger cell, at 99.5Wh, utilising the extra space within the chassis to eke out more stamina.
We use the PC Mark 10 Modern Office battery life test, which simulates a workday, accessing videos, documents, spreadsheets, web browsing, video calls and more. The XPS 16 managed just over 10 hours, which is a pretty good result for a Windows laptop of this ilk with a dedicated graphics chip, but lags far behind the MacBook Pro.
There’s a bundled-in 130W charger, providing a boost over the 60W charger you get with the XPS 14. However, the much larger battery offsets any charging time gains and I was back to 100% from 3% in 2 hours and 9 minutes. It’s very similar to the XPS 14 overall.
Should you buy it?
You should buy if you want a does-it-all premium laptop
With a pro design, a large and terrific screen, a powerful CPU and a more-than-capable gaming GPU, the Dell XPS 16 can be all things for every side of you.
You should not buy if you only need basic productivity power
The Dell XPS 16 has a lot of power under the hood, which is reflected by the price. If you only need a laptop for basic tasks, then the more affordable Dell XPS 14 is a better option.
Final Thoughts
The Dell XPS 16 (2024) excels beyond the XPS 14 by getting more from Intel’s Meteor Lake CPU and including a higher-end graphics chip. The 4K OLED display helps you extract the most from the chipset. It is genuinely impressive and excels in content creation, video and gaming. The latter is a real bonus with the RTX 4070 living up to its billing in this configuration.
The revamped XPS design is a strong suit, with a sleek machine that’ll be at home in the office while rocking your favourite PC games in the evening. The keyboard won’t be for everyone though, and while the battery life is very good, it’s still not long enough to match the MacBook Pro.
There may also be greater value from other manufacturers offering similar configurations. Nevertheless, this is a brave expression and expansion of the XPS range from Dell that makes it in the conversation for the best laptops around as well as a strong MacBook alternative.
How we test
Every laptop we review goes through a series of uniform checks designed to gauge key factors, including build quality, performance, screen quality and battery life.
These include formal synthetic benchmarks and scripted tests, plus a series of real-world checks, such as how well it runs popular apps.
Used as our main laptop for two weeks during testing.
We test the performance via both benchmark tests and real-world use.
We test the screen with a colorimeter and real-world use.
We test the battery with a benchmark test and real-world use.
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FAQs
The 4K OLED configuration we reviewed here does have a touchscreen by the FHD+ version is non-touch
In our tests, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU performs admirably, enabling you to play 4K games at a moderate and, in some cases, higher frame rate.
Trusted Reviews test data
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
