Dell 14S Review: Higher Price, Better Quality
Laptop Pricing has never been so newsworthy. MacBooks just got a price hike, just months after the budget-friendly MacBook Neo made its grand debut. It's
Laptop Pricing has never been so newsworthy. MacBooks just got a price hike, just months after the budget-friendly MacBook Neo made its grand debut. It's a rocky landscape to introduce a new laptop into, especially one that aims to be even slightly “budget-friendly.” Enter the Dell 14S, a new mid-tier laptop that sits below the Dell XPS 14 in the lineup. It aims to walk the delicate balance between high-end features and build quality at a slightly lower cost. I wish the Dell 14S was more affordable, but in 2026, that's just not the reality.
Premium Design The Dell 14S is the successor to the Dell 14 Plus, which itself came from the old Inspiron sub-brand. Historically, this has always been the company's midrange line, but the Dell 14S is certainly the most premium version to ever come out of it. It's made of aluminum, is fairly thin at 0.61 inches, and can even be configured with an OLED display. But the real indicator is the price. The Dell 14S starts at $1,270, which is hundreds more than its predecessor.
Taken on its own, the Dell 14S feels very much like a premium laptop. In terms of size, it shares a lot in common with the 14-inch MacBook Pro. There are a few minor hints that this model isn't quite top-end, though. The edges of the laptop seem to be made with shiny plastic. It only has a pair of 2-watt speakers, and they sound pretty mediocre. The same is true of the webcam. Even in a room with plenty of light, the feed adds lots of noise to the image.
It especially feels like a downgrade compared to the 4K webcam in the Dell XPS 14. The keyboard feels fine, though the keys can be a little tiring to type on. I'm not sure if it's the actuation force or the travel length, but each key requires a bit more effort to press than I prefer.
The BriefWire