Dell’s XPS 16 (9640) is one of our favorite AI PCs on the market today. We tested and reviewed this laptop firsthand, and editor Rebecca Spear liked it enough to give it a top Windows Central award along with a near-perfect score.
The XPS 16 is the successor to the discontinued XPS 17 model, and despite the redesign, it remains Dell’s flagship laptop for power users who need elite performance and a large OLED display.
Pricing for the XPS 16 typically starts at about 1700 dollars before any discounts, climbing to more than $4,000 for the most powerful configurations. Even mid-range models like the one shown here usually cost more than $3,000, but that’s why this discount is so impressive.
An XPS 16 with an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor (CPU), Windows 11 Pro, NVIDIA RTX 4060 discrete laptop graphics card (GPU), 32GB LPDDR5x RAM, 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe solid-state drive ( SSD) and 16.3-inch UHD+ OLED Touchscreen is currently $645 off the regular price. This brings up the total up to $2,500.
That’s roughly the equivalent of a model with an FHD+ IPS display, half as much storage and a Core Ultra 7 CPU. Speaking of other configurations, Dell has less discounts on almost all hardware combinations. These are the best prices we’ve seen in the lifetime of the XPS 16.
Why we love the Dell XPS 16 (9640): Review the highlights
The entire XPS lineup took on a more futuristic look in 2024, absorbing the design we first saw on the experimental XPS 13 Plus. The changes make the XPS 16 stand out in a sea of 16-inch laptops.
It’s a great alternative to the MacBook Pro, but like Apple’s laptop, it’s usually not cheap. This is at least solved with this discount. The only other shortcomings editor Rebecca Spear noted in her review of the XPS 16 (9640) were the lack of a privacy shutter for the webcam, no HDMI or USB-A ports, and the fact that the redesign can be disruptive.
The buttons have minimal space between them, but the keycaps are larger for easier typing. The touchscreen, now using haptic feedback instead of moving parts, blends into the glass palm rests for a seamless look. And above the keyboard are capacitive touch buttons instead of physical keys. It may take some time to get used to the changes, but Dell has finally created a premium configuration that is unlike other high-end Windows laptops.
The XPS 16’s OLED display is definitely one of its best features, and it’s included in this mega deal. Spear tested the OLED display, seeing 100% sRGB and DCI-P3 color reproduction, as well as more than 400 nits of brightness. It has a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, an anti-reflective finish to reduce glare without a matte look, and touch functionality for added versatility. Here’s what Spear had to say about the OLED display:
“I was also not surprised in the brightness and contrast test to see that the OLED screen offered fantastic contrast. This result is because OLED screens produce true blacks by turning off pixels when they are supposed to be in their dark, making them seriously the colors around them pop in comparison As you can imagine, this makes for a nice viewing experience when playing games, watching shows, or working on creative software.
The XPS 16 model featured here has an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU), making it a PC with AI. The inclusion of an NVIDIA RTX 4060 laptop GPU, 32GB of LPDDR5x RAM and a 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD means you’ll be able to crush design, development and editing work, with some gaming on the side. I’d still recommend looking at a proper gaming laptop if you’re primarily looking to entertain, but the XPS 16 will be able to handle itself well with many titles.
of $645 off currently at Dell brings the top-of-the-line model to the best price we’ve ever seen, but it looks like all configurations are on sale. Prices start at $1,400, so there’s plenty of room to experiment.