I tested Dell's new midrange work PC - It nails the sweet spot of price and performance

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?

ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.

When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.

For much of 2026, I figured HP had the midrange laptop market on lockdown. Over the past year or so, the company has released one impressive low-cost notebook after another, from the OmniBook 7 to the OmniBook 3 . I almost thought the race was over. Then I received the new Dell 14S and my mind changed. HP has stiff competition.

Also: The best Dell laptops of 2026: Expert tested and reviewed

The Dell 14S doesn't reinvent the wheel. Instead, the laptop excels at the fundamentals. The device pairs a premium, lightweight design with dependable hardware, an outrageous battery life, and one of the best OLEDs you'll find at this price. The result is a work laptop that feels as premium as a machine twice the price. At a time when laptop prices continue to climb, this PC provides exactly the kind of value buyers are looking for.

The Dell 14S is a solid all-rounder running the latest energy-efficient Intel processor. However, the laptop's highly reflective screen can be annoying.

I'm a big fan of the laptop's aesthetics. It is a sleek, lightweight computer completely adorned in a Celestial Blue finish -- at least, my review unit was. The colour shifts between hues depending on how the light hits the device. You can see this change in the image below. Under bright outdoor light, the Dell 14S takes on a deep midnight blue, but under warmer indoor light, it's more of a dark gray.