XPS returns: The laptop brand is back after a year

Jan Johannsen

6.1.2026

Translation: machine translated

One year after Dell said goodbye to XPS, the manufacturer is bringing the notebook brand back and is now also writing it on the lid of its laptops.

At CES 2025 Dell ditched its numerous brands in favour of supposedly clearer naming categories. But Dell, Dell Pro and Dell Pro Max, each with three sub-segments, don't seem to have gone down well. At CES 2026, the manufacturer has now announced the return of XPS as a brand for its premium laptops.

XPS instead of Dell on the lid

With the return of the name, Dell is also introducing two new notebooks: the XPS 14 and the XPS 16, which feature the XPS lettering prominently on the lid - and no longer the Dell logo as in the past.

The unibody housing of the XPS notebooks is made of aluminium and is 14.6 millimetres thick. Dell relies on Intel chips from the new third Core Ultra generation, including integrated Intel graphics chips with twelve Xe cores. This should increase graphics performance by 50 per cent compared to its predecessors and make AI up to 78 per cent faster. The RAM ranges from 16 to 64 gigabytes and the SSDs are 512 gigabytes to 4 terabytes in size.

Dell is particularly proud of the new battery cells with a higher energy density (900 ED). This means that the 70 watt hours require less volume than older batteries. The manufacturer claims a battery life of 27 hours for video streaming and over 40 hours for local video playback.

Both notebooks are available with either an LCD screen and 2K resolution or a 3.2K OLED display including touch option. The XPS 14 weighs in at 1.38 kilograms. The XPS 16 weighs 1.7 kilograms. The OLED versions are even slightly lighter.

The equipment includes an 8-megapixel webcam with 4K resolution. There are three Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C) ports, all of which support DisplayPort 2.1 and Power Delivery. The 3.5 millimetre audio connection remains the only non-USB-C connection.

Dell offers the XPS 14 and 16 with Windows 11 Home or Pro. Later this year, the XPS 14 will also be available with pre-installed Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

XPS 13 and other devices

XPS 14 and 16 will not remain alone. Dell wants to bring more XPS devices onto the market and probably not just use the brand name for notebooks. The manufacturer has already publicly mentioned the new edition of the XPS 13 as the thinnest and lightest XPS notebook. It is also set to be the most affordable device in the series. Further details will follow in the course of 2026.

Price and availability

Dell is already offering the first configurations of the XPS 14 and XPS 16 in the USA. In this country, you can expect the first devices in February. When the time comes, you can find the devices available here here - and the older XPS models until then.

Not the only name change at Dell

The return of Dell is not the only name change in Dell's portfolio. On a recent chart, it looks clearer than it did a year ago and «Pro Max» has also been replaced by an old brand.

For private customers, there are Dell devices and the higher-end XPS devices. Alienware remains Dell's brand for gaming. For business customers, there is still Dell Pro and, if more performance is needed, Dell Pro Precision is the next brand to return, which was discontinued twelve months ago.

Note (07 January): Feel free to discuss notebook specs or Dell's brand strategy in the comments; however, name-calling, insults and the like will be removed.

Jan Johannsen

Senior Editor

Jan.Johannsen@galaxus.de

As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus. more

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