Dell's Colorful New 14S Laptop Takes Aim At $699 MacBook Neo
The back-to-school season is upon us (so long, summer) and Dell is taking direct aim at the student market with the debut of the Dell 14S. While Dell has not announced final pricing yet, the company explicitly designed the 14S to sit below the XPS 13 as a more accessible, student-focused option, and is clearly targeting would-be Apple MacBook Neo buyers with a selection of colors to choose from.
Also setting the stage for affordability, the Dell 14S strips back luxury features in favor of practical everyday utility, such as a lightweight design, all-day battery claims (up to 21 hours of Netflix streaming on a single charge, according to Dell), and a splash of color to stand out from the crowd.
Despite some tradeoffs to hit a more affordable price point, there are some noteworthy aspects, including the purported build quality.
"What sets the 14S apart is not just how it looks; it is also how it feels. The chassis is aluminum rather than the plastic common in this price range, making it solid and sturdy. At 13.5mm thin and just 1.15kg (about 2.5 lbs), it disappears into your bag without weighing you down. For students moving from a lecture hall to a coffee shop to a dorm, that difference shows up every time you pick it up," Dell states in a blog post.
Unsurprisingly, Dell is tapping Intel's Wildcat Lake architecture for its student-focused 14S. Wildcat Lake, which is based on the same cutting-edge Intel 18A process node as Panther Lake, is designed specifically for this market segment.
Here are the key specifications at a glance:
- Processor: Intel Core Series 3 (Wildcat Lake, Core 5 320 / Core 7 350)
- Display: 14-inch 16:10 aspect ratio LCD (Base: 1920x1200 @ 60Hz, 300 nits | Top-tier: 2880x1800 @ 120Hz)
- Memory & Storage: 8GB or 16GB LPDDR5X-7467 RAM | 256GB to 1TB PCIe SSD
- Battery: 61.2Wh battery
- Ports & I/O: 2x USB-C (10Gbps w/ Power Delivery and DisplayPort), 1x HDMI 1.4, 3.5mm headphone jack
- Colors: Linen, Dusty Rose, Washed Denim, and Velvet Green
"Earlier this year we introduced the XPS 13, a premium laptop that raised the bar for the Dell consumer portfolio. The Dell 14S expands that story for students and young adults who want a lightweight laptop they can carry all day, battery life they can depend on and a design that feels personal, at a price point that makes it accessible to more people," said Konstantin Tuv, head of consumer and gaming products, Dell Technologies.
Not to be confused with the 14S that Dell introduced earlier this year, Dell says the difference is its previous entry targeted "creator enthusiasts and early professionals" with higher-end configuration options, whereas the new 14S is designed to be more accessible on the pricing front while still hitting on metrics that matter to students.
Dell says the 14S will be available in North America this fall, and will disclose pricing closer to its retail release.
