Dell’s 2026 revival of a consumer favorite comes with a few dollars attached
Dell has reintroduced its XPS laptop line during CES 2026 after retiring it in 2025, in an attempt to hit several consumer price points.
Dell is going back to basics with a revamp of its XPS laptop line, following the scrapping of its consumer laptops in 2025 in favor of a more streamlined Dell branding.
The original rebrand, which focused on AI-first pro and enterprise products, was a shock to journalists and enthusiasts alike. Admitting its misstep at a media preview event, Dell said that the return of the XPS models is a solid commitment to its consumer business. The new models being showcased at CES 2026 include the Dell XPS 14 and XPS 16, which have a focus on display, design, performance, and battery life for everyday users.
The new laptop models are made of CNC aluminum and durable Gorilla Glass to provide a premium look and feel and include the XPS branding embossed on the back panel of the front cover. Dell said this detail was a direct request from fans of the XPS line. Both models are 14.6mm in height, and the XPS 14 weighs 3lbs less and is more compact than a MacBook Air 13, Dell noted. The XPS 16 weighs 3.6lbs, down nearly one pound from its prior generation. Both models will be available in Graphite color options at launch, with a Shimmer color scheme launching later in the year.
The brand paid special attention to the keyboard design, bringing back a traditional function key layout. The keys themselves are set within a deeper dish inside the chassis, which allows for more accurate and faster typing. While visually seamless, the glass touchpad has a subtle etching that allows users to tactilely identify the boundaries.
Coming in 14-inch and 16-inch options, the laptops feature a tandem OLED display. This is a technology that Dell debuted in 2024, which allows for improved brightness, efficiency, color stability, and longer lifespan of the component. It supports variable refresh rate between 1 and 120Hz, with a demo showing how the lowest refresh rate was still comfortably visible. The laptop is also customizable with a 2K LCD panel, which offers impressive battery efficiency. The 70-watt battery on both models supports 27 hours of Netflix streaming or over 40 hours of local video playback, which Dell touts as the best battery life on a product to date.
The new XPS laptops are powered by the Intel Core Ultra 3 Series processors, which include built-in 12 XE cores Intel Arc Graphics. The hardware setup provides 57% better performance and 50% faster graphics performance than the prior generation chips. The components also power several of the most high-power experiences on the devices with precision, including Copilot+ PC, image editing, video playback, and gameplay. This is coupled with a new thermal system with fans that are the largest and thinnest on a Dell laptop, allowing the XPS models to maintain performance while remaining cool and quiet, with optimal battery life.
In addition to the Dell XPS 14 and XPS 16, Dell also teased the XPS 13 as its thinnest and lightest XPS laptop to date. The model is expected to be 13mm in width and will feature InfinityEdge screens and Dell’s most accessible price point for the XPS. The XPS 13 will be available later in 2026.
The XPS 14 and XPS 16 will be available starting January 6 in limited configurations in the US and Canada. The XPS 14 will start at $2,049.00, and the XPS 16 at $2,199.99. The XPS 14 will also be available in an Ubuntu 24.04 configuration later this year.
How well will XPS compete?
The return of the XPS line does not get rid of Dell’s 2025 product revamp. The new tiers replacing the Inspiron, Precision, and Latitude lines remain; the XPS brand just stands as an option alongside the base-tier Dell model laptops as a consumer option. Notably, the Dell brand options did not get a refresh for 2026.
With the introductory price point, the XPS line isn't the cheapest product on the market, especially compared to the 2025 base model Dell 14 Plus and Dell 16 Plus, which launched for $1,099 and $1,149, respectively. The brand is promising more price-conscious models coming soon.
Dell said it does not want to “cherry-pick” the portion of the industry it wants to participate in but rather play in all price brands and product categories. This is where the XPS line comes in, as an option for the all-in-one consumer, a creative, a gamer, who does everything on one device. Meanwhile, the base model Dell line is considered for the light consumer user, who does work, browses the internet, and checks email.
Dell’s closest comparison to the XPS 14 is the MacBook Air 13, which starts at $999, a whopping $1050 less than the laptop, and performs relatively the same tasks as both the XPS and the base model Dell.
While options are good for any brand, internal cannibalization could also be a slippery slope for the XPS line at this point, as not everyone is a media member or computer enthusiast. If looking at price points, an average consumer could easily look at a cheaper Dell option to save money, a higher-tier Dell option for more power, or Alienware for gaming specialty, leaving the XPS line out in the cold.