One of the nicest-looking laptops I’ve ever used, the Dell XPS 14 does everything well, even if it slightly favours style over functionality.
I have a soft spot for Dell’s premium laptop range; my first work laptop was an XPS 13, which was an absolute workhorse. It handled everything I threw at it, although it had some glaring design flaws.
The many-year-old laptop had a terrible keyboard that would routinely miss key presses, and the webcam inexplicably sat at the bottom of the screen. Not only was the angle unflattering but it also meant video callers enjoyed creepy close-ups of my fingers roaming the keyboard.
Nearly a decade later, the Dell XPS 14 reverses all of those frustrations, and even supports a discrete GPU, enabling a spot of gaming on the side. Not every design choice succeeds, though. In pursuit of sleek and clean aesthetics – which the laptop absolutely nails – it’s sometimes not effortlessly intuitive.
None of these annoyances are enough to hold the Dell XPS 14 back from its status as a bona fide laptop for all seasons. It motors through everyday productivity tasks, looks great, and plays Hades 2 flawlessly. What more could you want?
Dell XPS 14 (9440) review
First impressions
Computer manufacturers have just about perfected the clamshell laptop design at this stage. We’ve seen dual-screen laptops emerge as a potential disruptor but there’s nothing quite like a good-looking clamshell. And the Dell XPS 14 positively drips with style.
Armed with a silvery-white finish all over, it sure is a looker. Even its trackpad blends into the chassis, which I’ll get to later. If anything, it’s almost too clean a design. As someone who loves bold colour flourishes, the XPS 14 doesn’t make my heart sing but it’s undoubtedly cool to look at.
Functionality is a different discussion, however. In the years between my old XPS 13 and the XPS 14, Dell still relies heavily on USB-C ports. The XPS 14 has three USB-C ports, with no A-types to speak of. Nor does it have a built-in HDMI port. As a compromise, Dell includes a USB-A and HDMI adapter in the box which, like all dongles, is easy to misplace. Not all old ways are lost, mind you, with a MicroSD slot and a 3.5mm jack included.
It’s also a bit tricky to open, which sounds like an odd complaint to make in 2024. The Dell XPS 14 doesn’t have a slight groove to grip and lift the lid open, making it an awkward two-handed operation.
Dell XPS 14 (9440) specifications
| Display | 14.5-inch 3200 x 2000 OLED InfinityEdge touchscreen |
| Dimensions | 18mm x 216mm x 320mm 1.74 kg (OLED model) |
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 7 155H |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 |
| Memory | 32GB LPDDR5x |
| Storage | 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD |
| Battery | 69.5Whr 100W Type-C Adapter |
| Connectivity | Three USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports MicroSD card slot 3.5mm headphone jack Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth |
| Price (RRP) | From $2,498.10 (Review configuration was approx. $3,700) |
| Warranty | One year |
| Official website | Dell Australia |
Design
Most of my criticisms of the Dell XPS 14 concern its design. A stellar laptop in just about every other way, there are a couple of quirks that take getting used to.
Anyone who’s used a laptop is familiar with a conventional trackpad marked by clearly defined edges. Doing away with years of well-known design language, the Dell XPS 14 instead has a borderless trackpad. It seamlessly blends into the rest of the laptop, which is aesthetically pleasing, but isn’t immediately intuitive.
The XPS 14’s invisible trackpad also takes usability cues from Apple’s MacBook range, which might be unfamiliar to PC natives. A one-fingered press activates a left click, while two fingers is a right click. After some practice, it feels like second nature but fights against my years of using older Windows PCs.
At first, I outright disliked Dell’s design decision. How can you tell how wide the trackpad is? Would relatively new laptop users struggle to navigate the system? Admittedly, the touchscreen likely appeals to newer users who grew up using touch-based controls, mitigating the trackpad design.
Fast-forward to a few days of using the Dell XPS 14, I came to enjoy using the trackpad. It feels nice, courtesy of its smooth glass finish, and responds well to inputs.
Someone’s a bit touchy
I had less patience for the touch buttons replacing the function row, though. Again, it looks nice and fits with the laptop’s overall clean appearance, but usability is another matter. Not only are the function keys and corresponding media controls mapped to this section, but also important keys like escape and delete.
I use these keys frequently, but it’s not just my muscle memory it jars with. Yes, I was annoyed at pausing mid-typing to locate one of the keys in question, interrupting my workflow. However, it was the lack of feedback that threw me the most. Pressing a keycap provides a tangible response to your input, while these capacitive controls don’t. It causes slight hesitation at not knowing if you actually pressed the button.
Otherwise, the Dell XPS 14 has a pleasant keyboard to type on. Even though its keycaps sit flat with no separation between each key, they’re still tactile enough to generate the satisfying feedback the capacitive row lacks. I generally prefer slightly elevated and separated keys, but this keyboard is far better than my comparatively ancient XPS 13.
And without wanting to make it sound like an afterthought, the Dell XPS 14 has a beautiful OLED display. OLED technology is becoming more ubiquitous among laptops, for good reason. It produces vibrant colours and contrast, with a wide viewing angle an added benefit.
The only drawback is that you need to factor in lighting conditions. Dell’s OLED screen is glossy, attracting plenty of reflections and glare. Granted, this isn’t a criticism unique to Dell; matte OLED displays, like that used by the new Samsung OLED TV, are rare.
Performance
This is where the Dell XPS 14 truly comes into its own. Powered by an Intel Core Ultra processor, it’s an efficient machine. My review model also wielded an Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU, which added a decent bit of graphical oomph.
Keep in mind that battery life takes a hit any time a discrete GPU enters the equation. As far as this was concerned, the Dell XPS 14 still lasted a decent while, getting through most of the day before needing a top-up.
Most importantly, the laptop handled my daily workload without any issues. I usually have 50 million (gratuitously rounded up) browser tabs open at any given time while writing and editing photos. It’s not the most demanding computing workload, but lesser devices would struggle with this level of multitasking.
Benchmarks
Quantifying the Dell XPS 14’s performance via synthetic benchmark tools showed it sits highly among productivity-centric laptops. Equipped with an entry-level Nvidia RTX 4050 discrete graphics card, it’s a laptop you can also trust to handle moderate amounts of multimedia work.
| Device | CPU (Single-core) | CPU (Multi-core) |
| Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 | 2,903 | 17,385 |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 8) | 2,870 | 17,089 |
| MacBook Pro M2 Max | 2,701 | 14,916 |
| Dell XPS 14 | 2,349 | 12,941 |
| Macbook Air M3 | 3,075 | 12,015 |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 | 2,581 | 12,160 |
| Asus ROG Ally | 2,543 | 12,181 |
| Lenovo Legion Go | 2,346 | 9,619 |
| Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 | 1,567 | 8,761 |
| Device | CPU (Single-core) | CPU (Multi-core) |
| Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 | 123 | 1,395 |
| MacBook Pro M2 Max | 122 | 1,031 |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 | 86 | 927 |
| Asus Zenbook Duo (UX8406) | 105 | 763 |
| Dell XPS 14 | 102 | 660 |
| Macbook Air M3 | 141 | 550 |
| Device | GPU (OpenCL) |
|---|---|
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 8, RTX 4070) | 158,787 |
| Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (RTX 4070) | 119,970 |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 4060) | 96,452 |
| MacBook Pro M2 Max | 72,833 |
| Dell XPS 14 | 65,396 |
| Macbook Air M3 | 30,479 |
Compared to dedicated gaming laptops, the Dell XPS 14 doesn’t contain eye-wateringly high raw power. Nor does it carry the corresponding price tag, proving to be a versatile laptop for work and leisure.
Gaming
Considering the Dell XPS 14 isn’t designed to be a gaming laptop per se, I didn’t throw my usual gauntlet of test games at the machine. However, it ran well using the 3DMark Time Spy gaming benchmark, bolstered by its discrete GPU. This means it comfortably outpaces laptops reliant on integrated graphics, helpful for a bit of gaming and video editing.
| Device | Score |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 8, RTX 4070) | 13,796 |
| Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (RTX 4070) | 12,881 |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (RTX 4060) | 9,620 |
| Asus TUF A16 | 9,196 |
| Dell XPS 14 (RTX 4050) | 5,445 |
| Asus Zenbook Duo (2024) | 3,235 |
| Asus ROG Ally (30W) | 3,198 |
| Lenovo Yoga 9i (2023) | 1,655 |
Speaking of gaming, I did play a heavy amount of Hades 2, an early access game on Steam that’s only available on PC. It’s a game with lots of moving parts, so any performance issues are highly noticeable. Fortunately, the Dell XPS 14 breezed through my time with the game. Its vibrant OLED display also brought out the best of the flashy art direction.
Who is the Dell XPS 14 for?
Although I can only speak to the RTX 4050 configuration, the Dell XPS 14 strikes a decent middle ground of a laptop suited to both work and media consumption. Its undoubtedly stylish design leaves me torn: it looks fantastic but at the cost of usability.
You do get used to the unconventional trackpad design over time, but the capacitive function row instead of physical keys is a misfire. A 14-inch laptop without built-in USB-A or HDMI ports is also annoying. Including a dongle as a stopgap doesn’t make up for the convenience of natively integrated I/O ports.
In all other facets, the Dell XPS 14 is a great laptop. If it weren’t for some design quirks, it’d almost be perfect.
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