The 2024 Dell XPS lineup goes all-in on a controversial redesign

CNN Underscored is on the ground at CES 2024 in Las Vegas to pick out the tech products that are actually worth your attention. Be sure to follow our CES 2024 coverage hub for the latest hands-on previews straight from the world’s biggest electronics show.

Unlike streaming services these days, Dell just slapped the “Plus” off of its XPS laptops. The company is debuting a trio of slim laptops at CES 2024 that replace its traditional XPS lineup with the design language it debuted in the Dell XPS 13 Plus. So, yes, the XPS 13 Plus is now simply the XPS 13, and it’s joined by two bigger siblings: the XPS 14 and XPS 16. And while doing so creates a bold and unified lineup, Dell risks ruffling some feathers as it evolves one of the best laptops.

For those ready to buy now, note that the newly re-christened XPS 13 starts at $1,300, the XPS 14 begins at $1,700 and the XPS 16 is at least $1,900. Simply put, these won’t compete for the title of top affordable laptop. All three laptops are marked to ship during the first quarter of 2024, and arrive with other shakeups in the lineup I’ll get to below.

Meet the new XPS family

If you missed our XPS 13 Plus review when it originally dropped, you might not realize that this is a pretty seismic shakeup for Dell. These laptops push for a minimalist look straight out of the Science Fiction section, complete with a seamless glass touchpad, edge-to-edge keyboard and glowing function and media keys.

If these laptops were a song, they’d be OutKast’s “So Fresh, So Clean,” especially when they’re lighter than the XPS 15 and XPS 17 they’re replacing. The XPS 14 punches in at 3.7 to 3.8 pounds, shaving upwards of half a pound off the XPS 15, and the 4.7- to 4.8-pound XPS 16 is up to 0.7 pounds lighter than the XPS 17. And since the screens are smaller, each laptop is smaller all around, too.

More good news, compared to the XPS 13 Plus, is that the new XPS lineup didn’t feel nearly as sharp to the touch when I got my hands on them at a private Dell event previewing the company’s CES announcements.

Dell’s choice to use capacitive touch buttons for the top row of function and media control keys, instead of physical keys, is a decision we weren’t a huge fan of in the past. There’s a certain pleasure and efficiency to clicking physical keys, because you actually know when the key is clicked, thanks to the tactile feedback.

In my brief hands-on time, I didn’t sense that anything has changed here, but I look forward to learning more once we get them in the lab for our extensive reviews. The move away from physical function keys is incredibly familiar, as it’s similar to what happened to Apple’s ill-fated Touch Bar, that thin strip of OLED display that replaced the function keys for a short while. Eventually, Apple moved back to physical keys.

That said, Dell is introducing one new physical key, a dedicated Copilot button for Microsoft’s AI assistant.

2024 Dell XPS specs at a glance

What’s new under the hood of the 2024 Dell XPS lineup

At the preview, we noticed bright and vibrant colors from the displays, and you’ll have both touch and non-touch panel options. The XPS 13 is available with 1080p non-touch and 3K OLED touch displays.

And while the XPS 14’s 14.5-inch screen and XPS 16’s 16.3-inch screen are smaller than what we got with the XPS 15 and 17, you’re not losing any detail if you get them with the OLED panels, which pack the same resolution we saw in the past. The XPS 14 has a 1920 x 1200 non-touch screen and a 3.2K OLED touch screen, while the XPS 16’s 16.2-inch panel is sold with either a 1920 x 1200 non-touch screen or a 4K+ OLED touch screen.

Your choice of XPS laptop may come down to the power you need. The Intel Core Ultra 5 in the XPS 13 will be enough for basic usage, though you could upgrade to the Core Ultra 7 in that laptop or the XPS 14 if you need more power. The XPS 16 rocks the Core Ultra 7, while also giving the option for Core Ultra 9, which only the power users will likely need. A similar story is found in the graphics options, as the XPS 13 is only available with integrated Intel Arc graphics, which won’t run demanding games. For those titles, Dell will sell the XPS 14 and 16 with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, while the XPS 16 can also be customized with the brawnier RTX 4060 or RTX 4070.

Oh, and since critics blasted Apple for only including 8GB of memory in its entry-level M3 MacBook Pro, I should note that Dell does the same thing with the basic XPS 13. This Dell, though, is $299 cheaper than that MacBook.

My favorite change in the new XPS lineup comes in the webcam, as Dell’s finally ditching 720p webcams for 1080p sensors. As someone who primarily works from home, I nearly exclaimed my thanks when I learned that bit. In other A/V news, the XPS 14 and XPS 16 upgrade from the downward-firing speakers for a pair of grills on the keyboard deck, with dual woofers and tweeters — which should enable a wider and more open sound that isn’t hitting your desk first.

The takeaway

After spending two years refining the XPS 13 Plus, Dell’s ready to declare it’s the new status quo for its top Windows laptops. The venerable titan of the laptop space risks alienating fans of actually-clickable keys, but we’re reserving full judgment for when we get more time with these laptops.

These new sizes for these 2024 models also mean the death or near-death of others. The XPS 15 will get much less love and attention going forward, with fewer configurations available and no updates. The old XPS 13 and the XPS 13 2-in-1, along with the battleship XPS 17, are effectively fading into history.