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Dell 16 Premium: One-minute evaluation
The Dell 16 Premium is Dell’s latest flagship machine for professionals, creatives, and builders who demand a mix of portability, efficiency, and polish, and it has a fairly excessive bar to clear.
Its predecessor, the Dell XPS 16, was persistently the most effective laptops produced in yearly it was out there, and a variety of XPS followers have been disillusioned to listen to about its rebranding. However, on the finish of the day, that’s actually all it’s, because the 16 Premium is every thing folks cherished concerning the XPS 16 in recent times together with some fancy new tips.
Beginning at $1,799.99 / £1,699 / AU$4,379.10, the Dell 16 Premium isn’t essentially low-cost, however it’s pretty in keeping with comparable creative-focused laptops just like the MacBook Professional, and given how usually Dell has gross sales on its laptops, you’ll be able to usually discover it for less expensive than the competitors.
There are a number of configuration choices out there, however you do begin off with an Intel Core Extremely 7 255H CPU with Intel Arc 140V graphics, 16GB LPDDR5x RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 16.3-inch non-touch 2K show. From there, you’ll be able to add in RTX 5050, RTX 5060, and RTX 5070 GPUs, relying on the area, and configure it as much as 64GB reminiscence and 4TB SSD storage (although these choices will restrict which GPU you’ll be able to decide).
What really units it aside, although, is the excellent 16.3-inch 4K OLED touchscreen with 120Hz refresh price, good for high-res content material creation, modifying, and media consumption, although the OLED show will considerably lower into the machine’s battery life.
With premium construct high quality, nice audio system, and trendy I/O, this laptop computer nails virtually every thing it units out to do, although its borderless touchpad and keyless operate bar design stay controversial.
All that stated, chances are high you’re actually searching for efficiency with this laptop computer, and right here, the unit I reviewed usually ran circles across the competing MacBook Professional 16-inch with M4 Professional, particularly in artistic workloads the place the MacBook Professional’s sturdy trade popularity does a variety of heavy lifting. On this regard, the Dell 16 Premium is well one of the best laptop computer for artistic execs who need MacBook Professional efficiency on a Windows 11 machine.
Dell 16 Premium: Worth & availability
- How a lot does it price? Begins at $1,799.99 / £1,699 / AU$4,379.10
- When is it out there? It is out there now
- The place are you able to get it? You should buy it within the US, UK, and Australia by means of Dell’s web site and different retailers.
The Dell 16 Premium is obtainable now within the US, UK, and Australia by means of Dell’s official web site and main retailers. Costs begin at $1,799 within the US, £1,699 within the UK, and AU$4,379.10 in Australia.
Upgrading the configuration can considerably enhance the worth, however even when the worth is maxed out, the very best stage configuration continues to be considerably lower than a competing MacBook Professional 16-inch with M4 Professional, a lot much less one with an M4 Max chip.
Dell 16 Premium: Specs
- As much as RTX 5070 GPU
- As much as Thunderbolt 5
- Wi-Fi 7
Dell presents a number of configurations of the Dell 16 Premium laptop computer throughout totally different areas. The beginning fashions embrace a Core Extremely 7 processor, 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, 512GB SSD, and built-in Intel Arc graphics (Australia begins with an RTX 5050 GPU), in addition to a 2K IPS non-touch show.
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
US |
UK |
Australia |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Worth |
|||
|
CPU |
Intel Core Extremely 7 255H |
Intel Core Extremely 7 255H |
Intel Core Extremely 7 255H |
|
GPU |
Built-in Intel Arc 140T |
Built-in Intel Arc 140T |
Nvidia RTX 5050 |
|
Reminiscence |
16GB LPDDR5x – 7467MT/s |
16GB LPDDR5x – 7467MT/s |
16GB LPDDR5x – 7467MT/s |
|
Storage |
512GB PCIe NVMe |
512GB PCIe NVMe |
512GB PCIe NVMe |
|
Show |
16.3-inch non-touch 2K IPS 120Hz |
16.3-inch non-touch 2K IPS 120Hz |
16.3-inch non-touch 2K IPS 120Hz |
|
Ports |
1 x 3.5mm combo jack, 3 x Thunderbolt 4 Gen 2 (DP 2.1, Energy Supply), 1 x microSDXC 7.1 |
1 x 3.5mm combo jack, 3 x Thunderbolt 4 Gen 2 (DP 2.1, Energy Supply), 1 x microSDXC 7.1 |
1 x 3.5mm combo jack, 3 x Thunderbolt 4 Gen 2 (DP 2.1, Energy Supply), 1 x microSDXC 7.1 |
|
Battery |
99.5WHr |
99.5WHr |
99.5WHr |
|
Wi-fi |
Wi-Fi 7, BT 5.4 |
Wi-Fi 7, BT 5.4 |
Wi-Fi 7, BT 5.4 |
|
Digital camera |
1080p IR digital camera |
1080p IR digital camera |
1080p IR digital camera |
|
Weight |
4.56 lbs | 2.06kg |
4.56 lbs | 2.06kg |
4.56 lbs | 2.06kg |
|
Dimensions |
14.1 x 9.4 x 0.75 ins | 358.1 x 240 x 19mm |
14.1 x 9.4 x 0.75 ins | 358.1 x 240 x 19mm |
14.1 x 9.4 x 0.75 ins | 358.1 x 240 x 19mm |
The max spec on the 16 Premium fluctuate by area, with the US topping out at an RTX 5070 GPU, which additionally comes with three Thunderbolt 5 ports slightly than the three Thunderbolt 4 ports on RTX 5060 fashions and decrease. Within the UK and Australia, there aren’t any RTX 5070 configurations out there but, however they do max out with a 4TB PCIe SSD. All fashions max out at a UHD+ (2400p) OLED panel with 100% DCI-P3 shade protection.
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
US |
UK |
Australia |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Worth |
|||
|
CPU |
Intel Core Extremely 7 255H |
Intel Core Extremely 7 255H |
Intel Core Extremely 7 255H |
|
GPU |
Nvidia RTX 5070 |
Nvidia RTX 5060 |
Nvidia RTX 5060 |
|
Reminiscence |
32GB LPDDR5x – 8400MT/s |
32GB LPDDR5x – 7467MT/s |
32GB LPDDR5x – 7467MT/s |
|
Storage |
1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe |
4TB M.2 PCIe NVMe |
4TB M.2 PCIe NVMe |
|
Show |
16.3-inch Contact 4K OLED 120Hz |
16.3-inch Contact 4K OLED 120Hz |
16.3-inch Contact 4K OLED 120Hz |
|
Ports |
1 x 3.5mm combo jack, 3 x Thunderbolt 5 (DP 2.1, Energy Supply), 1 x microSDXC 7.1 |
1 x 3.5mm combo jack, 3 x Thunderbolt 4 Gen 2 (DP 2.1, Energy Supply), 1 x microSDXC 7.1 |
1 x 3.5mm combo jack, 3 x Thunderbolt 4 Gen 2 (DP 2.1, Energy Supply), 1 x microSDXC 7.1 |
|
Battery |
99.5WHr |
99.5WHr |
99.5WHr |
|
Wi-fi |
Wi-Fi 7, BT 5.4 |
Wi-Fi 7, BT 5.4 |
Wi-Fi 7, BT 5.4 |
|
Digital camera |
1080p IR digital camera |
1080p IR digital camera |
1080p IR digital camera |
|
Weight |
4.65 lbs | 2.11kg |
4.65 lbs | 2.11kg |
4.65 lbs | 2.11kg |
|
Dimensions |
14.1 x 9.4 x 0.75 ins | 358.1 x 240 x 19mm |
14.1 x 9.4 x 0.75 ins | 358.1 x 240 x 19mm |
14.1 x 9.4 x 0.75 ins | 358.1 x 240 x 19mm |
All configurations include Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, a considerable enhance over the rival MacBook Professional 16-inch, in addition to a microSDXC 7.1 slot.
The configuration I examined for evaluation is the utmost configuration out there within the US.
Dell 16 Premium: Design
- Beautiful OLED show
- Wonderful port choice
- Trackpad and performance key row nonetheless controversial
Design-wise, there may be little distinction between the Dell 16 Premium and the Dell XPS 16 it replaces. The identical borderless trackpad and keyless operate bar stay from the XPS, and for probably the most half, the shape issue is basically unchanged.
The touchbar is certainly one of many extra controversial design decisions of the Dell 16 Premium, held over from the sooner XPS redesign from 2023. It’s kind of of an accessibility problem for many who battle with low imaginative and prescient, as the one factor that signifies the place a given operate secret is is a backlit label on a very easy and flat shiny floor.
Even when you do not have restricted imaginative and prescient although, if there’s an particularly brilliant mild (say, a sunny day outdoors), discovering any given F-key may be difficult.
Likewise, the borderless trackpad is not nice both, and for comparable causes. It takes a while to study and work out the place precisely the trackpad is, however when you do, it really works fairly effectively.
The keyboard is okay. It is by no means been one of the best function on the Dell XPS line, nevertheless it’s not horrible and capabilities effectively sufficient.
For ports, you get no less than three Thunderbolt 4 Gen 2 ports, a MicroSD card slot, and a 3.5mm combo jack. That is about as a lot as you’ll be able to count on on a chassis this dimension, and whereas it might be good to have a USB-A port, there may be an adapter dongle that you may purchase whereas configuring your laptop computer (about $35) that permits you to get HDMI 2.0 and USB-A 3.0 connectivity in case your have a mouse and monitor that require it.
The audio is fairly good on the 16 Premium, largely because of the top-firing audio system, nevertheless it’s not spectacular. Should you plan on engaged on audio initiatives, a headset could be suggested.
The webcam is a 1080p IR digital camera, that means that it is appropriate with Home windows Howdy, and it is pretty good for video conferencing and the like. That stated, it lacks a bodily privateness shutter, which is not actually acceptable in 2025, so I’ve to take some factors off for that.
Whereas it would seem to be I’ve a variety of complaints concerning the design of the 16 Premium, I solely spotlight the above points as a result of they’re considerably controversial in some corners, as is the rebranding away from XPS to Premium.
I get these considerations, however in my estimation, that is an exceptionally constructed laptop computer, and the problems I’ve with it do not detract that a lot from the general high quality of the machine. Should you go for the OLED panel slightly than the bottom IPS, just about each different consideration looks like nitpicking for a tool that appears and feels nice—higher than the MacBook Professional in some ways.
Dell 16 Premium: Efficiency
- Usually outperforms the MacBook Professional 16-inch with M4 Professional
- Discrete RTX GPU embarrasses the MacBook Professional in a number of workloads
- Not a nasty gaming laptop computer both
In the end, when you’re paying this a lot for this laptop computer, efficiency goes to be entrance of thoughts, particularly since that is actually focused towards the MacBook Professional artistic crowd.
In that regard, the 16 Premium would possibly even be a higher artistic laptop computer than the MacBook Professional 16-inch, regardless of the sturdy efficiency of the MacBook Professional 16-inch in some areas.
By way of artificial CPU efficiency, the MacBook Professional 16-inch with M4 Professional tremendously outperforms the Dell 16 Premium in workloads like GeekBench 6.4.
Nevertheless, when you begin including in real-world checks that really check its efficiency in workloads creatives and avid gamers are literally fascinated with, the MacBook Professional solely wins out in our PugetBench Photoshop benchmarks. In any other case, the RTX 5070 GPU within the 16 Premium wrecks the MacBook Professional 16-inch nearly all over the place else.
Now, the MacBook Professional 16-inch might be configured with an M4 Max chip, which could considerably change the comparative evaluation, however it might add greater than a grand to the worth you’d pay in comparison with one of the best Dell 16 Premium.
Plus, regardless that the MacBook Professional 16 can now play Cyberpunk 2077 natively, Macs simply aren’t severe PC gaming gadgets. They’ve come a great distance in recent times, however you merely haven’t got something considerations about that with the Dell 16 Premium. If a sport is on Steam, the Dell 16 Premium will have the ability to play it, one thing that even the best MacBook won’t ever have the ability to declare.
Dell 16 Premium: Battery Life
- How lengthy does it final on a single cost? 5 hours, 18 minutes
So, there’s a main caveat with regards to battery life on the 16 Premium unit I examined. OLED shows are notoriously unforgiving towards battery life. Add within the power-hungry RTX 5070 GPU, and we’re actually speaking about battery life that’s simply barely higher than you’d discover with the best gaming laptops.
With a max battery lifetime of about 9 hours, based on Dell, the OLED configuration can’t hold tempo with the MacBook Professional 16-inch, which might make it about 20 hours on a cost in our testing. In my testing, the Dell 16 Premium solely will get about 5 hours in combined use, and at greatest, about 2.5 hours underneath heavy load.
After all, the MacBook Professional 16-inch is not going to make it 20 hours if it is taking part in Shadow of the Tomb Raider or rendering a 4K video in a single day on battery energy, so the distinction between the 2 laptops might be nearer than my checks present. However there is not any getting round the truth that the MacBook Professional 16-inch goes to final far longer than the Dell 16 Premium, and that is one thing to think about.
Must you purchase the Dell 16 Premium?
|
Class |
Notes |
Score |
|---|---|---|
|
Worth |
Premium priced, however delivers wonderful efficiency and options |
4 / 5 |
|
Specs |
Plenty of choices, together with highly effective GPUs with Thunderbolt 5 and a beautiful OLED show. |
5 / 5 |
|
Design |
Although it has nice port choice, show, and aesthetics, there are legacy points from its XPS heritage. |
4.5 / 5 |
|
Efficiency |
Merely excellent efficiency throughout each workload, beating out the MacBook Professional 16-inch in all however a number of circumstances. |
5 / 5 |
|
Battery Life |
Not nice when you get an OLED panel, however higher than different comparable laptops with its specs. |
3 / 5 |
|
Remaining Rating |
On stability, if the Dell 16 Premium mounted a few of its design points, it might be a real MacBook Professional killer, nevertheless it does battle Apple’s greatest to a draw. |
4.3 / 5 |
Purchase the Dell 16 Premium if…
Do not buy it if…
Additionally think about
How I examined the Dell 16 Premium
- I spent about two weeks with the Dell 16 Premium
- I used it for on a regular basis work and artistic duties
- I ran it by means of our commonplace battery of benchmark checks
I used the Dell 16 Premium for on a regular basis work and artistic duties for about two weeks, together with scripting this evaluation and modifying all of the images therein on the machine.
I put it by means of our commonplace battery of benchmark checks, in addition to used it for every thing from artistic work to gaming to essentially push it to its limits.
I’ve examined a number of dozen laptops for TechRadar over the previous a number of years, so I’m very accustomed to what makes a laptop computer an awesome worth for its market, and my intensive expertise offers me perception that lets me higher assess its benchmark outcomes.
- First reviewed August 2025