Dell revived its XPS 16 with a striking 16‑inch OLED, making the premium line a serious contender.
Build, Design and Display
Under a sleek aluminum chassis, the XPS 16 sits at just under two kilograms while the glass palm rest keeps the touch surface smooth.
The OLED panel runs 3200×2000 at 120 Hz, delivering deep blacks and saturated hues without oversaturation.
- Screen: 16″ OLED, 3200×2000, 120 Hz
- Processor: Intel Core Ultra X7 358H, 4.8 GHz max
- Graphics: Intel Arc B390
- RAM: 32 GB LPDDR5X 9600 MHz
- Storage: 1 TB NVMe SSD
- Battery: 70 Wh
- Weight: < 2 kg
Connectivity and Internal Architecture
The laptop offers three Thunderbolt 4 USB‑C ports and a 3.5‑mm headphone jack, but omits USB‑A, HDMI and an SD card slot.
Its Wi‑Fi 7 chip processes 200‑Mbps household traffic with minimal latency, while Bluetooth 5.1 supports simultaneous peripherals without a dongle.
Manufacturers locked the board: only a single M.2 slot is present and both RAM and Wi‑Fi/BT modules are soldered, preventing upgrade after purchase.
Performance, Gaming and Battery
The Core Ultra X7 runs at 4.8 GHz, powered by 16 total cores, and was benchmarked at a Geekbench 6 single‑core score of 2,299 and multi‑core 14,480.
Arc B390 delivers about 90 fps in Fortnite and Marvel Rivals at high presets, with the glass panel’s 120 Hz smoothness visible; temperatures peak at 94 °C.
Daily use grants nearly 12 hours of battery life with Office and Lightroom, stretching to 20+ hours on video playback, while gaming drains the 70‑Wh tank to two hours.
Audio, Keyboard and Touchpad
Four speakers (10 W total) pair with Dolby Atmos via the Dolby Access app, filling a room without resorting to headphones.
Keyboards return to a traditional function row after a stint of touch strips, with a zero‑gap layout offering tactile feedback.
The large glass touchpad, subtle etched border, and glass chassis beat competing smoothness and precision metrics.
Worth the Premium Price If You Can Afford It
The XPS 16’s premium display, robust performance and long battery make it a standout, though the locked internals and $2,000 price may deter budget buyers.
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