WIRED has reviewed the Dell 14S, a new mid-tier laptop that slots below the Dell XPS 14 and succeeds the Dell 14 Plus, awarding it 7 out of 10. Arriving in a period of unusually newsworthy laptop pricing, the 14S aims to blend premium build quality and features with a slightly lower cost, though the reviewer notes it is more expensive than its predecessor and no longer genuinely budget-friendly. The verdict is broadly positive on performance and battery life, while flagging value concerns given strong competition from cheaper machines.

The aluminium laptop is 0.61 inches thick, can be configured with an OLED display, and starts at $1,270, with a $1,469 configuration offering an eight-core Intel Core Ultra 7 355 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Its Core Series Ultra Series 3 chips deliver standout efficiency — losing just 50 per cent of charge after 20 hours of local video playback — and it offers plentiful ports including two USB-A, HDMI 2.1, two Thunderbolt 4 and a headphone jack. Downsides include a glossy, reflective screen, a noisy webcam, mediocre 2-watt speakers, charging from only one side, and a Smart Charging feature capping the battery at 80 per cent that is awkward to disable. The reviewer notes it struggles to justify its price against rivals such as the $630 HP OmniBook 5 and Dell's own older 14 Plus, which still starts at $860.