Dell - 14S - 14" 2K OLED Touchscreen Laptop - Intel Core Ultra 9 386H 2026 - 32GB Memory - 512GB Storage - Copilot+ PC - Celestial Blue

If you're looking for a high performance Windows machine with a MacBook-esque quality, the Dell 14S hits that mark. This isn't an XPS and it's missing some higher-end features like a high refresh rate display, but it hits almost everywhere that it matters and it's a great all around laptop that's easy to carry. The build is aluminum throughout and it feels as solid as could be and the corners are rounded out nicely with no sharp edges to rest your wrists on. The Celestial Blue is a very dark blue but it looks nice, especially when it catches the light. It is quite the fingerprint magnet though, so I'd recommend keeping a microfiber cloth with you if that sort of thing bothers you like it does me. It's pretty thin for a 14-inch laptop and though it's not the lightest laptop, it feels like it has the appropriate amount of heft for what it is. The ports are good for a 14-inch laptop and you get 2 Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, 2 USB 3.2 Type-A (5Gbps), a headphone jack, and an HDMI 2.1 out. I do wish the USB-C ports weren't both on the left side since they are used for charging and it'd be nice to have the flexibility to plug in on either side, but that's a minor annoyance. The specs for this model include the Core Ultra 9 386H, 32GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. The 386H is one of the new Panther Lake models, but this particular one does not include the new B390 iGPU. You do get the latest generation of Intel graphics, but with only 4 Xe3 cores versus 12 on the B390. Whether this matters to you will depend on how much GPU power you need, but having seen what the B390 can do on other laptops I am sad not to see it. The 32GB of RAM runs at 8533 MT/s and is soldered to the board, but it should be plenty for most use cases and it’s not to see in an age where 8GB of RAM is making a comeback. The 512GB SSD is a PCIe Gen 4 drive and it definitely feels like this would have been 1TB a year ago. It should generally be sufficient if you’re not storing a lot of media, but it’s low enough that I keep an eye on it. The touchscreen display is a 16:10 OLED and there's a fair bit of bezel surrounding it. It’s not egregious by any means, but it is one of the few ways this laptop shows it’s not quite the tippy-top of the stack. The display is not the brightest at 300 nits and it’s limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, but I’d still take an OLED over an LCD most days. The lack of brightness may be something worth considering though if you work outdoors or next to any bright windows. The setup follows the standard Windows 11 process of signing into your Microsoft account and downloading updates. Once I was into the desktop there were still more updates to install. I was probably completely up and running about an hour in. You get the standard Windows bloat and advertisements that need to be removed, but Dell’s contribution is relatively restrained aside from McAfee, which can be promptly uninstalled. The rest of what Dell has on there are mostly just settings management and updated tools that only show up when needed. Performance for everyday and non-GPU heavy tasks is excellent on the 14S. It flies through multiple windows and Chrome tabs without an issue both on and off the charger. Using the default ‘Optimized’ power setting in Dell’s utility, I don’t often hear the fans spin up at all and when they do they’ve never gotten loud enough to disrupt me or anyone else around. It stays cool to the touch as well. I did briefly try to run Halo Campaign Evolved, though I found that even at the very lowest settings and the most aggressive upscaling it could barely crack 30fps. I do think there is enough there to run some older and indie games reasonably well, but if you have gaming in mind I’d try to find a model with an X7 or X9 CPU to take advantage of the better graphics. Battery life has been excellent. I haven’t been able to run it all the way down yet, but based on what I’ve seen it should be able to get you through a full day no problem. It also sleeps and wakes reliably. Battery drain while sleeping is minimal and I noticed about a 6% drain every 24 hours. The keyboard and trackpad are both great on the 14S. The keyboard is backlit and the keys have the right amount of travel and nice typing feedback. Instantly felt at home typing on it. The trackpad is a standard multitouch pad, but it works well and I didn’t have any issues with tracking, gestures, or palm rejection. The webcam is 1080p/30fps and looks pretty good in most conditions, though it can look a little grainy in lower light. You also get the benefit of Windows Hello for faster login, which is always great to see. The microphone quality is also similarly pretty good and my voice came through clearly, if a bit echoey, in the recordings I took. The speakers sound very good. They get loud without distorting and the sound is clear. It’s not the fullest sound I’ve heard from laptop speakers and the bass definitely takes a backseat, but for anything with a voice focus like podcasts or calls I think most will be very happy. Getting inside of the 14S is pretty easy and only requires removing 6 Phillips head screws, 2 of which are captive. Once inside there isn’t much you can do though. The memory is not upgradeable and I could only find the single M.2 storage slot, so any storage upgrade would require an OS reinstall. The included 512GB SSD appears to be a 2230 form factor, though there is room for a full 2280. So overall I think the Dell 14S is a great laptop. Its current MSRP of around $2K certainly feels high for this laptop, but it’s not as if it’s alone there with how crazy pricing has been these days. If you can catch it on a good sale it’s worth a look to be sure.

This Dell 14S is set up perfectly for travel or for a work computer that needs to be taken to meetings or put in a bag or backpack. I really like the 14” size. In my opinion, it's a Goldilocks size, not too huge and yet not so small it's difficult to work on. This is a feature packed grab and go, highly portable laptop. It comes with an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor and 32GB of high speed DDR5 RAM. In addition to the CPU, it also comes with an NPU for processing AI requests. It's a fast machine that's able to multitask multiple applications with ease. Personally, I don't consider a machine like this a “gaming” machine. But that doesn't mean it can't handle games. It's definitely got the processing power to do it with power to spare. I consider this machine more of an all around, does most things very well, workhorse. Those who are more hard core gamers might be better off looking for a more game forward laptop. But again, if you're a casual gamer that enjoys playing games on the go and when traveling, don't rule this guy out. The 2K OLED display is really one of the best parts of the whole PC. Not only are the colors deep and vibrant, but this display is also a touchscreen as well. When I'm actually doing “work” on a laptop I usually float back and forth between the touchpad and actually touching the screen. It's faster and easier most of the time. I think one of the main focuses that Dell had in mind with the 14S is uncompromising ease of use, meaning they've tried to include anything that can make working on this machine as easy as possible. The 2K resolution is really sharp on a display this size and even thin text is a pleasure to read. I see no blockiness whatsoever in any of the text I've read on it. Everything just looks very clean and clear. Now, does this machine include all the bells and whistles that it could? No, there are some noticeable items missing, which is why I don't consider it a straight up gamer. For starters, the SSD is is a somewhat disappointing 500GB. So if you plan on loading a lot of games or like to do video editing on a laptop, you should consider adding an external SSD with a size that would make you comfortable doing what you need to do without worrying about space. External SSDs are available in a huge variety of sizes, so it's nothing to add one if needed, but for the price of the 14S, one would expect it to already come with something like a 1TB drive. But such are the times we live in with memory product costs blowing the lid off the popper, so it's not surprising, and I understand. Another area where some might be disappointed is the fact that the graphics are integrated and not split out to a separate dedicated video card. With a beast of a CPU, that's really less of a concern, but photo and video editing, not to mention games, are very demanding to which I say again, this is not a dedicated gaming machine. You can play games on it, but you may not achieve the same graphical bliss that you might with a dedicated graphics card. So, moving on. Battery life seems to be quite good in my use. This is where the integrated graphics gets the appreciation it deserves on a machine like this, by saving battery life. The overall look is beautiful with a sleek, dark blue aluminum shell. It's strong and looks really cool. Dell calls it Celestial Blue. It's only 15.3mm thick (that's 6/10 of an inch, or just over ½ inch). It's easy to carry with either edge against your palm but if you carry it with the back edge down, you get the added security of being able to grip the full length rear foot. Even though it's thin, it still includes an HDMI port, 2- USB-A ports, 2- USB-C Thunderbolt ports and a standard audio jack. There's also a camera, backlit keyboard, Wi-Fi 7 and a small lightweight battery charger (that anyone who routinely needs to drag a laptop around will understand the benefit of). Sound quality is decent and the volume can go quite loud without becoming annoying. So my take on this machine is this: if you're looking for a very portable sized laptop that has great battery life, is lightweight, comes with a phenomenal touch display, is at home as a business machine or a personal machine, looks fantastic and has a killer CPU. Then I would say, you've found it. What some might consider short comings (like the integrated graphics or the not huge SSD) only means that those people are really, looking for something more specific in a machine. This laptop delivers a great experience in my opinion, and I hope to use it for quite a while. My review is based on who this machine is designed for and how well Dell delivered what it advertised, which I believe is a 5 out of 5.

This laptop is built to make use of Ai apps like Microsoft’s Copilot. The 32gb of Ram and the Ultra 9 processor provide plenty of processing power and memory to handle any office or home application. The lack of a dedicated GPU and the maximum resolution of FHD+ (1920x1200) may be a concern for anyone who is doing complex or heavy photo/video processing. The OLED screen is bright and beautiful and the size of the laptop makes it very portable. The laptop has limited USB ports – one USB-A and two USB-C/Thunderbolt-4 ports but one USB-C is needed for charging. Overall it’s a great laptop for anyone who wants to delve into Ai apps. Pros: - OLED Touchscreen - 32 gb of Ram - Built in NPU - Ai ready and capable - Screen folds flat Cons: - No dedicated GPU - No physical Privacy shield for camera - 512 gb is limited storage at this price point Display: The OLED display is eye catching and one of the primary benefits of this laptop. The colors saturation is deep and blacks are dark even at wide angle viewing. The FHD resolution at 1920 x 1200 isnt the highest resolution but I’ll take the OLED quality over a higher resolution IPS display. The display has a 60 fps max which is fine for most low level games and video media. The touch screen works nicely and you can fold the screen all the way back so it rest on the desk for touch screen use. It is not a full 2 in 1 because you cannot fold the screen 360 degrees. The display does have a glare guard but the screen does show background glare especially in very bright areas. Storage and Memory: The laptop comes with 32 gb of low powered LPDDR5 Ram which is hard wired to the motherboard. This should not be an issue for most because the 32gb is plenty for most business, home apps and games. There is only one NVMe slot for storage in this laptop so the storage is limited due to the 500 gb drive and the inability to upgrade without removing the current drive. Note that my laptop came with a M.2 NVMe 2230 and an extender to fit the NVMe 2280 slot so the laptop can support a longer 2280 with the extender removed. Performance: The laptop comes with an Intel Ultra 9 processor so it has lots of processing power. But because this laptop does not have a dedicated GPU the Ultra 9 performs both the CPU and GPU functions which can use valuable processing resources. The laptop is Ai ready because it has Intel’s Neural Engine (NPU) is its capable of 50 TOPS. I ran the laptop through several benchmarks including the Geekbench CPU and NPU testing and the fans stayed relatively quiet and the laptop got warm but not uncomfortably hot. Below are the scores I got from the Geekbench benchmark tests. Geekbench 7 Scores: Single Core: 2633 Multi-Core 17614 Open CL: 23489 Geekbench Ai Open VINO Scores: Single Precision Score: 4416 Half Precision Score: 36063 Quantized Score: 53704

This laptop is just right for our business needs. It’s thin and lightweight, has the perfect sized 16x10 OLED touchscreen for portability with enough real estate to get stuff done, a responsive and accurate keyboard and touchpad, high-quality webcam with Windows Hello compatibility, and excellent all-day battery life. More than enough processing power and memory to run all our multitasking on the web and office suite, and all the right ports for plugging in at multiple sites throughout the day. It feels like a premium product with an aluminum chassis and although the screen resolution is not as good as I would have preferred it still looks great and has no issues outputting to a higher resolution external monitor for additional workload. The webcam and audio are perfectly suited to our many video calls and chats, it supports Bluetooth and WiFi 7, and has an HDMI, 2 USB-A and 2 USB-C as well as 3.5mm audio ports. The power supply uses its own dedicated port so the rest are freed up for regular use. In typical pre-built fashion it comes pre-loaded with lots of bloatware, which was deleted right away, and since then it has been working wonders compared to the aging laptop it replaced. Overall, it is a great business workhorse and I am pleased with what it can do.

The new Dell Ultra 9 14S laptop is a powerful device for people who need to do a bit more than the basics. Out of the box I was impressed with how well built it feels. Very solid, and has a little bit of heft at just over 3 pounds, with zero cheap plastic feel to it. When initially setting up, you’re dealing with a 14 inch 2K touch OLED screen at 1920 x 1200 pixels. Sharp and colorful but only has a peak brightness of 300 nits at 60 Hz. I would have liked to see more brightness, but indoors it looks good. Plan on spending a fair amount of time setting the 14S up though, as initially it will download quite a few updates, and once you’re in, once you go to the update area manually in settings, there’s a huge list of more updates from major to lots of drivers and more. All in all, I’d say I was updating for two hours (at least?), but it’s wise to do these right off the bat. You’re getting the Intel Ultra 9 processor and 32 gids of RAM on this machine, so you do have power to do all basics plus a fair amount of video editing, and a decent amount of gaming. Unfortunately, the graphics are of the integrated Intel type with no dedicated video card or video RAM, so you are limited a little by that, even though integrated graphics have improved a bit over time. At this price point, I would still have liked to see some dedicated graphic RAM. The 512 gig SSD drive gives you a decent amount of storage space. The keyboard is firm and feels good to type on. At this size you don’t get a dedicated numeric keypad, though. The trackpad feels good and has all of the usual shortcuts on it. There’s no fingerprint reader key, and just a standard power button, but you can use the full res 1080p web cam to log in. The keyboard has a backlight with (just) two brightness settings, but it gets the job done. Speakers are decent enough for your basics, and that web cam works well even in soso light but falls a little once it gets low light in the room. More than good enough for typical online meetings, though. On one side you have a USB-A port with ear/mic jack, and on the left side you have your HDMI port, another USB-A port, and two USB-C thunderbolt 4 ports for charging and accessories. Unfortunately, no slot for a memory card of any sort. The included 65 watt charger and cable will charge up the 14S quickly enough, and I’ve had no issues with battery life. It will easily get you through a day and more with normal use. The usual newer AI features come built in, like a photodirector to edit and create images, Copilot+, translation features, and more. I haven’t had any issues with the 14S running hot or loud. During the initial setup and downloads of new firmware and drivers, the fan kicked in a lot but hasn’t made any odd noises – just a normal fan sound that isn’t very loud. The machine itself has (so far) never got “hot”… just a little warm when doing more demanding tasks. It’s a comfortable laptop to use from typing to visuals, and small enough to carry around easily. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth have both been very strong with no disconnect issues at all, even from a distance from my router in my house. My gripes? I understand there’s a RAM And storage shortage and price war going on in the computer world, but at this price point, I repeat, would still have liked to see some dedicated video RAM and maybe a larger hard drive. The body while very solid and nice looking, is a fingerprint magnet, but that’s a minor gripe. I would like to see some more nits of brightness on the screen as well, but you can if you want to budget for it, get a 16 inch variant of this laptop that has a higher res screen with 400 nits, and a dedicated numeric keypad if that’s what you need. Overall, I would still recommend the Dell 14S, though as with anything, I always say to look for it to maybe go on sale.