Dell XPS 14 (2026) review roundup: a lighter redesign with a keyboard caveat

Dell rebuilt the XPS 14 around Intel’s new Core Ultra Series 3 chips, known as Panther Lake, and made it smaller and lighter in the process. With the Core Ultra 7 355 models now shipping, reviews agree: the LCD version delivers outstanding battery life, while the keyboard remains the part testers keep coming back to.

This is a documented review: I brought together Dell’s official specs and the measured results published by testers such as Tom’s Hardware, Tom’s Guide and Notebookcheck, then added my own verdict.

At a glance

Design, ports and display

Dell announced the XPS 14 (model DA14260) at CES on January 6, 2026, and its blog says limited configurations went on sale that day at USD 2,049.99. The cheaper Core Ultra 7 355 models followed on February 12, a week ahead of the planned February 19, Notebookcheck reported.

The chassis starts at 1.36 kg (3.00 lb) and is 14.6 mm thick, per Dell. Notebookcheck’s OLED unit with the Core Ultra X7 358H weighed 1.444 kg (3.18 lb) on its scale. Reviewers liked the more compact redesign and the return of a physical function row, and praised the speakers.

The screen is now 14.0 inches, down from 14.5 inches on the previous model, and the ports are limited to three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) connections. There is no HDMI, no USB-A and no microSD slot, which the old model had. Above the screen sits an 8MP / 4K webcam, and the laptop runs Windows 11 Home as a Copilot+ PC.

You choose between two panels: a 1920 x 1200 LCD without touch, or a 2880 x 1800 tandem OLED with touch. Both support variable refresh up to 120Hz. The OLED is sharper but dim. Tom’s Guide measured 355 nits in SDR and 381 nits in HDR, Notebookcheck recorded a 389 cd/m2 average and a 396.1 maximum, and Tom’s Hardware got 365 nits. The LCD reached 466 nits in Tom’s Hardware’s test.

Performance and battery

Dell offers three processors: the Core Ultra 7 355, the Core Ultra X7 358H and the Core Ultra X9 378H, with Intel Arc graphics of up to 12 Xe cores (Arc B390 on the X7). Memory is 16GB or 32GB of soldered LPDDR5X, and storage is a 512GB or 1TB SSD.

The gap between the chips is large in multi-core work. Tom’s Hardware measured the X7 358H at 2,867 single-core and 16,927 multi-core in Geekbench 6, against 2,685 and 7,964 for the Core Ultra 7 355. Notebookcheck recorded 974 points in the Cinebench 2024 multi-core test on the X7.

Battery is where configuration matters most. Dell claims “up to 27 hours of Netflix streaming or 40+ hours with local video playback” from the 70Wh battery; those are Dell’s figures, not test results. In Tom’s Hardware’s battery test, the LCD model with the Core Ultra 7 lasted “20 hours and 41 minutes”, while the OLED model with the X7 managed “12 hours and 23 minutes”. Tom’s Guide reports the same 12:23, but both outlets share one lab, so that is one measurement, not two.

What reviewers agree on

Strengths:

• A lighter, more compact redesign.
• Strong Panther Lake CPU and integrated graphics.
• Long battery life, especially on the LCD model.
• The physical function row is back.
• Good speakers.

Weaknesses:

• A shallow keyboard with little feedback, which Tom’s Hardware found error-prone.
• An OLED panel dimmer than rivals.
• The microSD slot is gone.
• A smaller 14.0-inch screen than the previous 14.5-inch model.
• Expensive.

Who should buy it

The configuration that caught my attention is the entry one. The Core Ultra 7 355 is the chip in the starting price, and with the LCD screen it ran more than eight hours longer than the OLED X7 model in Tom’s Hardware’s test. For students and anyone working away from a desk, I would start there.

The X7 358H suits coding, photo work or light video editing, if you accept shorter battery life.

Try the keyboard before buying if you can; if you write for a living, take the reviewers’ complaints seriously. For readers in the region, I could not confirm Gulf availability or a local price for the new model at the time of writing, so check Dell’s regional store.

Verdict

The 2026 XPS 14 is a well-judged redesign: lighter, faster and, in its LCD form, remarkably long-lasting by Tom’s Hardware’s numbers. Notebookcheck scored it 87% and Tom’s Hardware gave it 4/5.

In my view the keyboard and the dim OLED hold it back from the top tier, and the lost ports will bother some buyers. Choose the LCD model and it becomes much easier to recommend. TechKahwa rating: 8.1/10.

Sources

• Dell, blog post introducing the 2026 XPS lineup, January 5, 2026, https://www.dell.com/en-us/blog/this-is-xps-now/
• Dell Newsroom, Dell Technologies at CES 2026 press release, January 2026, https://www.dell.com/en-us/dt/corporate/newsroom/announcements/detailpage.press-releases~usa~2026~1~dell-technologies-at-ces-2026.htm
• Dell, XPS 14 (DA14260) product page and specifications, January 2026, https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/xps-14-laptop-2026/spd/xps-da14260-laptop
• Notebookcheck, XPS 14 and XPS 15 with Core Ultra 7 355 now shipping, February 12, 2026, https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-14-and-XPS-15-with-Core-Ultra-7-355-now-shipping-a-full-week-ahead-of-schedule.1225204.0.html
• Notebookcheck, Dell XPS 14 2026 review, February 8, 2026, https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-14-2026-review-Fully-reborn-with-Intel-Panther-Lake-X7.1218670.0.html
• Tom’s Guide, Dell XPS 14 (2026) review, February 10, 2026, https://tomsguide.com/computing/laptops/dell-xps-14-2026-review
• Tom’s Hardware, Andrew E. Freedman, Dell XPS 14 (2026) DA14260 review, February 17, 2026, https://www.tomshardware.com/laptops/dell-xps-14-2026-da14260-review