Dell XPS 16 (2026) review: The signature XPS is back but creators may want more (HT Tech)

And after using this laptop for a while, I can confidently say this is one of the best premium 16 inch Windows laptops available right now.

The unit I tested came in the Graphite finish and it looks absolutely stunning in person. Pricing starts at around ₹2,78,000 which is obviously expensive, but the XPS lineup has always been positioned as a premium series. And honestly, the laptops it competes against also sit around the same price bracket or sometimes even higher.

What matters more is whether this laptop actually justifies that premium pricing and thankfully, for the most part, it really does.

The overall design still follows the same minimalist approach, but everything feels more refined this time. The CNC machined aluminum chassis feels incredibly sturdy and premium. Despite being a large 16 inch laptop, there is practically no flex anywhere on the machine. The hinge also feels solid and stable while using the touchscreen, and opening the lid with one hand feels effortless.

One very welcome change this year is the removal of the capacitive function row. I never liked that design choice in the previous generation because physical keys simply work better, especially on a creator focused laptop. Dell finally brought proper function keys back and the experience instantly feels more natural.

The fingerprint sensor is gone this time, but honestly, I did not miss it at all because Windows Hello face unlock is super fast and reliable here thanks to the 8MP webcam setup.

The keyboard is still using Dell’s signature zero lattice design and I absolutely love typing on it. The keys feel clickier this time, feedback is much better, and typing overall feels more satisfying. The spacing between keys is also excellent which makes long typing sessions very comfortable.

Dell also improved the trackpad experience this year. The seamless glass wrist rest design is still here and the trackpad still remains hidden underneath the surface, but this time Dell added subtle etched borders around the active area. They are not immediately visible, but you can feel them while using the trackpad which helps a lot with usability. I criticised this heavily in the previous XPS because there was no clear indication of where the trackpad area ended, so it is good to see Dell actually listening.

The haptics are also significantly better this time around. Click feedback feels natural, precision is excellent, and overall this is easily one of the best haptic touchpads on a Windows laptop right now.

Another unusual thing about the XPS 16 is the speaker setup. There are no visible speaker grills anywhere on the deck which gives the laptop an incredibly clean look. Dell calls them invisible speakers and honestly, they sound fantastic. You get a quad speaker setup with Dolby Atmos support and 10 watts of total output. The sound is loud, clear, and surprisingly bass heavy for a laptop this thin. XPS laptops always had a good reputation for audio quality and the XPS 16 continues that tradition.

My only complaint with the design is the port selection. You only get three Thunderbolt 4 Type C ports and a headphone jack. Now yes, Thunderbolt ports are versatile, but on a premium creator focused laptop, I expected slightly better connectivity options. Especially when creators often work with cameras and external storage devices regularly. An SD card slot or even an HDMI port would have made this setup much more practical.

The OLED panel itself looks gorgeous. Colors are rich, blacks are perfectly deep, and contrast levels are exactly what you would expect from a premium OLED display. Dell also added Dolby Vision and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification support which makes content consumption an absolute treat.

This is genuinely one of those laptop displays that immediately grabs your attention. The display covers 100 percent DCI P3 color gamut which makes it excellent for creators working with photo editing or video editing workloads. Watching movies, editing videos, browsing photos, everything simply looks beautiful on this panel.

The touchscreen support is also nice to have and viewing angles are excellent as expected from OLED.

Brightness is one area where I expected more from Dell. The display offers around 400 nits of standard brightness and peaks at 500 nits in HDR content. Indoors, the experience is perfectly fine, but outdoors the glossy coating can make reflections slightly distracting. Thankfully, the overall display quality is so good that it never became a major issue during my usage.

I already tested this processor in a couple of laptops recently, but this is the first time I tested it inside a larger 16 inch chassis and honestly, the difference is noticeable. The processor simply performs better when it gets more thermal headroom.

Daily usage feels effortless on this laptop. Multitasking, browser based work, editing, media consumption, everything runs smoothly without any issues. But honestly, almost every Panther Lake laptop performs similarly in lighter workloads. The real difference starts showing up during heavier workloads.

I tried editing videos, running multiple applications together, exporting projects, and the XPS 16 handled everything comfortably. The laptop sustains its performance much better because the larger chassis allows the cooling system to work more effectively.

Dell also redesigned the cooling setup with larger fans and improved airflow this year. And surprisingly, the laptop stays relatively quiet even under load.

Gaming performance is also pretty decent for integrated graphics. Intel Arc has improved massively over the last few generations and casual gaming feels completely possible here. This is obviously not a gaming laptop, but for creators who occasionally game, it is more than capable enough.

Dell also gives you multiple thermal modes through its software like optimized, performance, quiet, and cool mode. For most part I kept the laptop on optimized mode and never felt a need to switch the modes during my testing period.

But thanks to Intel’s efficient Panther Lake processor and Dell’s optimization work, battery life is actually very solid.

The runtime obviously depends heavily on your workload, but overall this laptop intelligently delivers the maximum battery life possible for the type of work you are doing. During lighter workloads like browsing, writing, streaming content, and regular productivity usage, battery backup felt comfortably reliable for a full day.

Dell also includes a 100W Type C charger in the box and charging speeds are pretty quick as well.

Yes, the port selection still feels limited. And yes, I do think the OLED display could have been brighter. But outside of those complaints, there is honestly very little to dislike here. This is easily one of the best premium Windows laptops you can buy right now if you want a large display machine that still feels slim, elegant, and easy to carry around.