The Dell XPS 16 continues to excel.
The Dell XPS 16 continues to excel.
One of the most impressive laptops we encountered at CES in January was the innovative Dell XPS 16, featuring a distinctive 1–120Hz variable refresh rate display that conserves power when high-speed screen performance isn’t required.
How minimal is its power consumption? Notebookcheck evaluated a version of the laptop equipped with that LG Display screen and a new Intel Panther Lake processor — which seems to be the most efficient laptop to have gone through its Wi-Fi web browsing benchmark ever. In idle mode, the Core Ultra 325 laptop consumed only 1.5 watts and achieved nearly 27 hours of web browsing with just a 70 watt-hour battery. This is significantly less than the 99.5Wh Dell sometimes fits into its 16-inch variants.
This is more battery duration than Notebookcheck has recorded from any MacBook or MacBook Pro, and it seems more than all except two laptops since starting this evaluation in 2014. Of those two devices, one depended on a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip, a larger 84Wh battery, and a mere 60Hz screen — while the other carried two batteries totaling 149Wh, along with a 60Hz display.
I must warn you that actual workday battery performance typically falls short of the figures seen in standardized battery life assessments. Nevertheless, compared to other laptops, this Dell + Intel + LG Display combination appears to be the latest battery life leader. Be aware that Dell also markets it with a higher-resolution tandem OLED screen; to optimize battery longevity, you’ll have to opt for 1920 x 1200, without OLED or touchscreen features.
While Dell deserves significant recognition as the system integrator, this technology may not remain exclusive to Dell for long. LG Display revealed it has become the global pioneer in mass-producing a 1–120Hz laptop LCD panel (branded as Oxide 1Hz) and intends to begin mass production of an OLED version in 2027. Intel is also collaborating with multiple display manufacturers: Last October, it announced its collaboration with BOE, a Chinese panel producer on 1Hz refresh rate devices as well.
Similar display technology has been present in our smartwatches and smartphones for a considerable time: the Apple Watch Series 5 from 2019 introduced a 1-60Hz display for reduced power consumption, while the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra in 2021 was likely the first device to feature a 10-120Hz screen (although reports suggest it only reached down to 48Hz in practice), and that year’s OnePlus 9 Pro could go down to 1Hz, while Apple integrated 1-120Hz into its pro iPhones in 2022.
