Dell's 14 Premium receives high praises, now rivaling the stature of the XPS lineup.
Dell 14 Premium: A Refinement of the XPS 14
The Dell 14 Premium, a rebranded version of the XPS 14, has hit the market, offering a sleek design, powerful performance, and a host of new features.
Design and Ports
The Dell 14 Premium boasts a minimalist and sleek design, with a machined aluminium case, an invisible Gorilla Glass touchpad, and a low-profile keyboard. It retains a similar port selection to the XPS 14, featuring three Thunderbolt 4 ports, Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, Bluetooth 5.4 wireless networking, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a microSD card slot.
Display
The display on the review unit is a 3.2K OLED resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate, providing vibrant colours and smooth visuals. Both models offer high-quality displays, with the 14 Premium defaulting to a 14.5-inch 2K 120Hz IPS panel, and an optional premium 3.2K 120Hz touch OLED screen available.
Performance
Base configurations are similar to the XPS 14, featuring Intel Core Ultra 7 255H CPUs, 16–32GB RAM, 512GB–1TB SSD, and an entry-level NVIDIA RTX 4050 discrete GPU. The GPU is capable of handling creative tasks and light gaming, but may struggle with higher resolutions.
User Experience
The Dell 14 Premium delivers solid all-around performance, with impressive battery life and thermal management. The laptop's battery life lasts 7 hours and 30 minutes in the PC Mark 10 battery test, but drops significantly when gaming. The touch function keys, located right above the keyboard, replace physical function keys with touch-sensitive spots on the glass cover, which can be hard to find by touch, particularly for games and apps that use function keys frequently.
Gaming and Power-hungry Apps
The Dell 14 Premium can handle 3D gaming at Full HD resolution at approximately 82fps, which looks great on the 120Hz refresh rate OLED screen. However, the performance in gaming requires some compromises, with the Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU capable of handling 3D gaming at medium resolutions but not the maximum resolution of the OLED screen. The laptop performs quickly and responsively in power-hungry apps like Photoshop and Premiere.
Pricing and Availability
The cheapest version of the Dell 14 Premium is priced at £1499 / $1,699 / AU$2799 and features 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, no dedicated graphics, a 2K LED display, and supports LDDPR5x memory. The most expensive version, priced at £1999 / $2299 / AU$3699, includes an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H processor, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, NVIDIA RTX 4050 graphics chip, and a 3.2K OLED display.
In conclusion, the Dell 14 Premium is more of a continuation of the XPS 14 than a new model, with the main difference being the rebranding and minor refinements rather than significant hardware changes. It is available in Platinum or Graphite finishes and replaces the previously popular Dell XPS 14.
The Dell 14 Premium, despite being a rebranded version of the XPS 14, showcases a blend of technology and stylish gadgets, with features like Thunderbolt 4 ports, Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, and a machined aluminum case.
The laptop's performance in power-hungry apps like Photoshop and Premiere, along with its capable NVIDIA RTX 4050 GPU, makes it an excellent choice for those seeking a blend of gadgets and advanced technology.
